''Icerigger'' is a 1974

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel by American writer

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghost ...

. Like many of Foster's science-fiction novels, ''Icerigger'' takes place within his

Humanx Commonwealth The Humanx Commonwealth is a fictional interstellar ethical/political entity featured in the science fiction novels of Alan Dean Foster.fictional universe A fictional universe, also known as an imagined universe or a constructed universe, is the internally consistent fictional setting used in a narrative or a work of art. This concept is most commonly associated with works of fantasy and scie ...

. The book's two sequels are ''

Mission to Moulokin '' Mission to Moulokin '' (1979) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. It is the second entry in Foster's ''Icerigger Trilogy'' and is a part of his ever-growing series of books taking place within his Humanx Commo ...

'' and ''

The Deluge Drivers ''The Deluge Drivers'' (1987) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 sta ...

''.

Plot

Following a criminal kidnapping gone wrong, Ethan Frome Fortune, a simple salesman and sophisticated interstellar traveler, finds himself stranded on the alien, deadly frozen world of Tran-Ky-Ky. With him are professional adventurer/soldier of fortune Skua September, the interstellar tycoon and his daughter who were the targets of the kidnapping, a vacationing schoolteacher, and the sole surviving kidnapper. They survive the frigid conditions and indigenous flora and fauna in their wrecked lifeboat long enough to be rescued by representatives of the local feudal government—who are facing a crisis of their own. Their arrival, and the fantastic wealth represented by the worked metal of their lifeboat, has coincided with an upcoming visit of The Horde. This nomadic swarm descends on various city-states every one to two years, exacting tribute as the price for ''not'' destroying their community... while rampaging through it. This time, the locals have decided to put up a fight. Fortune and his companions soon realize that their only hope of reaching the planet's sole interstellar outpost—a year's perilous journey away by local wind-driven ice-rafts—lies in actively supporting their hosts in their fight for survival.

References

External links

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Alan Dean Foster homepage
1974 American novels 1974 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Ballantine Books books Humanx Commonwealth Novels by Alan Dean Foster {{1970s-sf-novel-stub