it was hard to rate this one because on one hand, i felt it deserves at least 3 stars for the bleak yet beautiful prose and on the other hand, less than 3 stars if rating based solely on enjoyment because while there were parts i enjoyed, the surrealism infused throughout the book gets way ott (which i know is the point or one of the points of the book and i do enjoy surrealism) and as a result, the reader and the narrator are both lost and meandering in this starkly beautiful world of ice described without any anchor or way out to find the meaning of it all.


i loved the narration though id give it a 4/5!

I couldn't get into this audiobook despite how many times I tried. To be transparent, I DNF'd at 50%. If halfway through I am still struggling to get invested in the story, it's not going to happen. The writing is disjointed, and the story for me was hard to follow. I believe that it is intentionally confusing and vague to lean into being a surreal sci-fi story, which I am sure works for some people, but I am not one of them. I also did not enjoy the narrator, as I found their way of reading this to be boring to listen to as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for the early release audio version of this classic book.

Thank you NetGalley for the audio release of this classic. It gave Fever dreams of Alice in wonderland and The Bear type vibes. The warden is Alice and the girl is the white rabbit in this apocalyptic world. Nothing mind blowing but perhaps on original release in the 1960, it was. I rounded up but I was along for the ride and had no inclination to not finish the book. It’s a short fast read. I enjoy the narrator, Nigel Patterson, his voice is clear with only a slight accent.

ICE by Anna Kavan is a post-apocalyptic novel about the world being overrun by towers and towers of ice. While the setting is total destruction at every level, the story follows a delusional man who is chasing a creature/woman, who is (perhaps) made of ice. Published in 1967, it was named the best sci-fi of the year. Knowing that the author was addicted to heroin for many years before the death, definitely explains the elusive nature of this peculiar book which happens to be her last published work. I felt that the narrator fit the character and his unstable emotional state very well. I liked it. I recommend it to those who enjoy a puzzle and don’t mind a few strange loose ends.

Ice is an ethereal apocalypse. Part memory and part dream with frequently shifting points of view throughout. There are no names, just stark blue eyes, pale skin, and silver hair. The world is coming to an end, and it's never quite clear if war or a new ice age will deal the final blow.

I was confused for a bit at the beginning while reading Ice but eventually had to let go of understanding and just enjoy the journey. The story comes back around on itself again and again as if chasing its own tail but never quite catching it. The imagery is captivating, and Nigel Patterson's voice is mesmerizing.

An unnamed man chases a white-haired girl across the land which is being overrun with ice. We are given no background as to their relationship, how they met, why he is chasing her, only that he is completely obsessed with her and does not treat her well. While I was captivated enough to listen to the audio all the way through, hoping to get answers to my questions about the plot, the characters and such, I felt let down by the ending. Confusion, unsettling and unsatisfied. I would not recommend this to anyone in search of a solid story.

3 stars

This sci-fi classic from the late 1960s is being reissued as an audiobook. It takes place in a future where an encroaching ice age is creating havoc for governments and a refugee crisis for humans. But that is just background, not terribly important nor well explained. This disturbing book is mostly about a man who stalks a young woman with the idea in his head - his certainty - that he should be her savior. He knows her, and may have dated her at one point, but this takes place years afterwards, when her current partner invites the narrator to visit the two of them. The why of this is not clear - but it starts the narrator on his quest to “protect” her. It is entirely in first person narrative so we don’t know what she is thinking, just her actions as described by the narrator. It’s creepy, but well narrated and compelling like a car crash.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @TantorAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #Ice for review purposes. Publication date: Jan 16, 2025.

(3.0 Stars)

Thank you to #NetGalley for making this audiobook available for review.

I liked this book, but also felt it had a lot of "cringe" to it.

This is a apocalyptic dystopian dysfunctional love story. The premise if great, the writing is very good, and conceptually I really liked it. I also thought the narrator did a decent job building up tense moments and giving voice to the characters.

What I didn't like it was that the characters felt very flat, and were unlikeable. I also had a hard time believing in the possibility of "the ice". There were a lot of parts where I couldn't seem to visualize what was going on, and never really got a true sense of the characters or what motivated them.

The book was written in the late 1960's and feels dated. I mention this not to excuse the book, but because it stands in stark contrast to more modern writing styles and attitudes.