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Title: Ice Station by Matthew J. Reilly, Matt Reilly ISBN: 0-312-97123-0 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.73 (222 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Fast-paced but a few too many plot holes
Comment: One of the conventions of military adventure fiction, especially in the high-tech Tom Clancy vein, is that the technical details are accurate enough to make you think that the author has some secret source inside the military. This author has ignored that convention a little too often to make this a truly satisfying read, although the action sequences are very crisply written and the book moves along at a terrific pace - despite the occasionally annoying glitches, I could not put it down.
Some of the most bothersome problems are in areas that are crucial to the development of the story. The space ship locked in the ice is in a cave 500 meters beneath sea level, with the entrance at 1000 meters, yet divers in wetsuits have no trouble reaching this place to start the book. In fact, even military divers don't go deeper than about 300 meters, because the nervous system shuts down beyond that. The action takes pace in Antarctica in June (mid-winter, when it should be dark), yet characters have no trouble seeing things at great distances with the naked eye. A secret conspiracy within the US government has placed "sleepers" in elite military units whose task is to kill their comrades if they should discover some piece of high technology, so that they cannot reveal that the US has the technology. If this conspiracy of the Joint Chiefs and the NSA were for real, why would they not simply create an elite unit to handle those missions where alien artifacts are reported? Too contrived.
O'Reilly writes with good dash and avoids many of the classic cliches of characterization in this genre, so I hope that as he matures he will iron out the plot and detail problems. It was still a fun read.
Rating: 4
Summary: So what if it's unrealistic?
Comment: I'm fairly sick of all the reviews complaining about how unrealistic and implausible Matthew Reilly's books are. That'd be like if I hated James Bond, Indiana Jones or Arnold Scharzenegger films for the same reasons. These are not your typical "tech-thrillers" or espionage books. They read like action flicks, with sensational, broken prose reminiscent of a movie script. They do not have any symbolism, deeper meaning, and very little character development. However, they are fun as hell to read. Matthew Reilly manages to make 600+ pages go by in a just a couple days with Ice Station.
This book is extremely addictive, and I had a lot of trouble putting it down. It isn't in any way a very memorable story--I read it 3 years ago, and remember near-nothing of the unfolding of its events. However, none of that matters when you're looking for some literary enjoyment. I think that I read this book (along with Temple) faster than any other book I have ever read. Are they the best books I have ever read? Certainly not. But they are some of the most entertaining, and I think that Matthew Reilly accomplishes with great triumph what he sets out to do. This is a fine action novel, probably like nothing you have ever read. I dare you to find a book that is more relentless and fun.
Rating: 3
Summary: Do killer whales eat U.S. Marines? No, they prefer SEALS!
Comment: Sorry about the title of this review, but I just couldn't resist. I was engrossed in reading Ice Station and remarked to my wife, "Do you think that killer whales would eat U.S. Marines?" My wife, with a perfectly straight face, replied, "Oh, no, killer whales prefer SEALS!"
Ice Station is the third Matthew Reilly book that I've read, and I must admit that I didn't like it as much as the other two. I think that a certain "Matthew fatigue" has set in: Mr. Reilly's super-charged action style was fascinating at first, but after a while it gets a bit tedious.
In addition, I think that Ice Station is even more unrealistic than either Temple or Area 7, which is saying quite a lot considering how unrealistic all of Matthew Reilly's books are. Especially the diving sequences are totally crazy: diving to 3000 feet, diving bells that are open to the sea at the bottom and yet implode when a window is damaged, pills that prevent the blood from absorbing nitrogen, etc., etc.
Matthew Reilly wrote Ice Station when he was 23 years old and going to university, and I think that it shows in that this book is not as well researched and the tone is a bit immature. Both Temple and Area 7 had a more polished feel to them.
Despite my negative comments I must say that I liked the plot and think that Matthew Reilly is very good at creating and developing an imaginative story line. In fact, I wish that he'd tone down the non-stop action and instead concentrate more on the story, with treachery and surprising twists and turns, and many competing forces, each with their own agenda.
This book introduces Lieutenant Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield of the U.S. Marines, and tells the story of his background. Scarecrow returns in Area 7 and Scarecrow, and if you intend to read any of these books it would be an advantage to read them in the correct order.
In conclusion, lots and lots of non-stop (totally unrealistic) action. The three stars are mostly for the clever story line, which unfortunately is somewhat buried in the never-ending action sequences.
Rennie Petersen
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Title: Temple by Matthew Reilly ISBN: 0312981260 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Area 7 by Matthew Reilly ISBN: 0312983220 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Scarecrow by Matthew Reilly ISBN: 0312289588 Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Deep Fathom by James Rollins ISBN: 0380818809 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 03 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Contest by Matthew Reilly ISBN: 0312286252 Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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