''Orion's Belt'' () is an action-thriller

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

written by Norwegian author Jon Michelet. It was published by

Oktober Forlag Forlaget Oktober is a Norwegian publishing house. Oktober focuses on Norwegian contemporary fiction. In addition, they publish a small selection of non-fiction, poetry, and translated fiction. Annually they release around 50 new titles, and around ...

in 1977 and became a popular seller. It was translated into English by Ellen Nations.Skagen: 10 The novel was adapted into a 1985 film by the same name, which is regarded as Norway's first modern action film. The novel follows three shabby

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

-based seamen who discover a Soviet bearing station. They are subsequently both targets of Soviet liquidation and American interrogation in an attempt quiet them and retain the political ''status quo''. The

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

topics were a critique of the Norwegian policy of allowing a Soviet presence on Svalbard. The book received mixed reviews. It was appreciated by ''

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

'', but criticized by ''

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

''.Skagen: 9 The book's popularity came in part from the public interest in what 3,000 Russians were doing living on the Norwegian archipelago. The title is a reference to that Svalbard was as central located in a potential Cold War war theater as

Orion's Belt Orion's Belt is an asterism in the constellation of Orion. Other names include the Belt of Orion, the Three Kings, and the Three Sisters. The belt consists of three bright and easily identifiable collinear star systems – Alnitak, Alnilam, ...

. The novel also played on the fear of

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

and the lack of information from Norwegian media about the issue.Skagen: 17

References

;Bibliography * ;Notes 1977 novels Novels set during the Cold War Norwegian novels adapted into films 20th-century Norwegian novels Norwegian-language novels Svalbard in fiction Novels set in the Arctic Novels set in Norway Novels set on islands Forlaget Oktober books {{ColdWar-novel-stub