.gif)
Ice (Dukaj novel)
Encyclopedia
Ice is a Janusz A. Zajdel
and Kościelski
awards-winning novel
written in 2007
by the Polish science fiction
writer Jacek Dukaj
, published in Poland by Wydawnictwo Literackie
. The novel mixes alternate history
with science fiction
elements, in particular, with alternative physics
and logic
.
According to this article Ice will be published in English by Atlantic Books in June 2012; and possibly in other languages too.
never occurred and Poland is still under Russian rule
. Following the Tunguska event
, the Ice, a mysterious form of matter, has covered parts of Siberia
in Russia and started expanding outwards, reaching Warsaw
. The appearance of Ice results in extreme decrease of temperature, putting the whole continent under constant winter, and is accompanied by Lute, angels of Frost, a strange form of being which seems to be a native inhabitant of Ice. Under the influence of the Ice, iron turns into zimnazo (cold iron), a material with extraordinary physical properties, which results in the creation of a new branch of industry, zimnazo mining and processing, giving birth to large fortunes and new industrial empires. Moreover, the Ice freezes History
and Philosophy
, preserving the old political regime, affecting human psychology
and changing the laws of logic
from many-valued logic of "Summer" to two-valued logic of "Winter" with no intermediate steps between True and False.
Dukaj noted that in this book, science in science-fiction stands for the philosophy of history
.
on his work on many-valued logics. The Ministry of Winter's officials visit Gierosławski and make him embark on a Transsiberian journey to find his lost father, who is said to be able to communicate with Lute. During his journey Gieroslawski finds out that he is caught in a political intrigue, brought about by rivalry between two palace factions, liedniacy (conservatives and Siberian entrepreneurs backing the idea of "frozen Russia") and ottiepelnicy (mostly revolutionaries aiming for a literal and political "thaw"), supported also by the Tsar. He also meets Nikola Tesla
in disguise, who has conceived a technology for manipulating and eventually destroying the Ice and has been hired by the Tsar
to relieve Russia from the Winter. During the journey and upon his arrival in Irkutsk
Gierosławski discovers that various political forces, including Followers of St. Marcyn, a sect worshiping the Ice led by Rasputin, followers of Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov
, who strive for assuring human immortality, and Siberian industrial potentates, are interested in his person and that Józef Piłsudski, in this reality leading a group of Sybiraks and Siberian separatists
fighting for Polish independence, may possess knowledge about his father.
- was published in 2004. Around the time of book's premier, Dukaj was interviewed by Radio Kraków
(one of Polish local radio stations) and by TOK FM (another Polish radio station). In December 2007, the book received the honorary prize at the Poznań
Review of New Publications and was named "Book of Autumn 2007" organized by Raczyński Library in Poznań
.
In his review Wojciech Orliński
writes that unlike many previous books by Dukaj, this one has excellent action, and names it a "sensational novel par excellence", and compares it to books by Ludlum
(albeit in the science-fiction, alternate history genre). Maciej Lewandowski writes that it features "an incredibly interesting plot, full of amorous and political intrigues, presenting readers the remote world of the twentieth century history, the history that never happened".
, 6 December 2007 Wojciech Orliński
, Dukaj, Jacek: Lód (review), Gazeta Wyborcza
, 3 December 2007
Janusz A. Zajdel Award
The Janusz A. Zajdel Award , often called just Zajdel,is the annual award given by the Polish science fiction and fantasy fandom for the best stories published in the previous year...
and Kościelski
Koscielski Award
The Kościelski Award is an independent Polish literary award, awarded since 1962 by the Geneva-based Kościelski Foundation. The jury issues annual awards to "promising writers" 40 years of age or younger...
awards-winning novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written in 2007
2007 in literature
The year 2007 in literature involves some significant new books.-Events:*November 19 - First Kindle e-book reader released.*December 11 - Terry Pratchett informs fans on-line that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.-Literature:...
by the Polish science fiction
Science fiction and fantasy in Poland
Science fiction and fantasy in Poland dates to the late 18th century. During the later years of the People's Republic of Poland, social science fiction was a very popular genre of science fiction. Afterwards, many others gained prominence. Currently there are many science fiction writers in Poland....
writer Jacek Dukaj
Jacek Dukaj
Jacek Dukaj is a Polish science fiction writer. Winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award , Śląkfa , Żuławski Award , Kościelski Award and the European Union Prize for Literature .-Career:Dukaj studied philosophy at the Jagiellonian University...
, published in Poland by Wydawnictwo Literackie
Wydawnictwo Literackie
Wydawnictwo Literackie is a Kraków-based Polish publishing house. Since its foundation in 1953, Wydawnictwo Literackie has been focused on publishing modern prose and poetry by both renown and emerging authors, both Polish and foreign...
. The novel mixes alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
with science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
elements, in particular, with alternative physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
.
According to this article Ice will be published in English by Atlantic Books in June 2012; and possibly in other languages too.
Universe
The story of the book takes place in an alternate universe where the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
never occurred and Poland is still under Russian rule
Russian partition
The Russian partition was the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that were acquired by the Russian Empire in the late-18th-century Partitions of Poland.-Terminology:...
. Following the Tunguska event
Tunguska event
The Tunguska event, or Tunguska blast or Tunguska explosion, was an enormously powerful explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, at about 7:14 a.m...
, the Ice, a mysterious form of matter, has covered parts of Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in Russia and started expanding outwards, reaching Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The appearance of Ice results in extreme decrease of temperature, putting the whole continent under constant winter, and is accompanied by Lute, angels of Frost, a strange form of being which seems to be a native inhabitant of Ice. Under the influence of the Ice, iron turns into zimnazo (cold iron), a material with extraordinary physical properties, which results in the creation of a new branch of industry, zimnazo mining and processing, giving birth to large fortunes and new industrial empires. Moreover, the Ice freezes History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, preserving the old political regime, affecting human psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and changing the laws of logic
Classical logic
Classical logic identifies a class of formal logics that have been most intensively studied and most widely used. The class is sometimes called standard logic as well...
from many-valued logic of "Summer" to two-valued logic of "Winter" with no intermediate steps between True and False.
Dukaj noted that in this book, science in science-fiction stands for the philosophy of history
Philosophy of history
The term philosophy of history refers to the theoretical aspect of history, in two senses. It is customary to distinguish critical philosophy of history from speculative philosophy of history...
.
Plot
The protagonist of the novel is Benedykt Gierosławski, a Polish mathematician and notorious gambler, collaborating with Alfred TarskiAlfred Tarski
Alfred Tarski was a Polish logician and mathematician. Educated at the University of Warsaw and a member of the Lwow-Warsaw School of Logic and the Warsaw School of Mathematics and philosophy, he emigrated to the USA in 1939, and taught and carried out research in mathematics at the University of...
on his work on many-valued logics. The Ministry of Winter's officials visit Gierosławski and make him embark on a Transsiberian journey to find his lost father, who is said to be able to communicate with Lute. During his journey Gieroslawski finds out that he is caught in a political intrigue, brought about by rivalry between two palace factions, liedniacy (conservatives and Siberian entrepreneurs backing the idea of "frozen Russia") and ottiepelnicy (mostly revolutionaries aiming for a literal and political "thaw"), supported also by the Tsar. He also meets Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
in disguise, who has conceived a technology for manipulating and eventually destroying the Ice and has been hired by the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
to relieve Russia from the Winter. During the journey and upon his arrival in Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
Gierosławski discovers that various political forces, including Followers of St. Marcyn, a sect worshiping the Ice led by Rasputin, followers of Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov
Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov
Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov was a Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher, who was part of the Russian cosmism movement and a precursor of transhumanism...
, who strive for assuring human immortality, and Siberian industrial potentates, are interested in his person and that Józef Piłsudski, in this reality leading a group of Sybiraks and Siberian separatists
Siberian separatism
Siberian regionalism , is a political movement to form an autonomous Siberian polity. It originated in the mid-19th century and reached a high tide with the military activities of Aleksandr Kolchak and Viktor Pepelyayev during the Russian Civil War....
fighting for Polish independence, may possess knowledge about his father.
Critical reception
Lód was planned as a short story for Król bólu anthology, but has grown into an epic-length novel. The book, counting over 1,000 pages, was published in early December 2007 (samples were released in October issue of Nowa Fantastyka). It had been long awaited by fans, as Dukaj's previous book - Perfect ImperfectionPerfect Imperfection
Perfekcyjna niedoskonałość. Pierwsza tercja progresu. is a science fiction novel published in 2004 by the Polish science fiction writer Jacek Dukaj, published in Poland by Wydawnictwo Literackie. The novel received the prime Polish award for science-fiction literature, Janusz A...
- was published in 2004. Around the time of book's premier, Dukaj was interviewed by Radio Kraków
Radio Kraków
Radio Kraków is one of the regional stations of Polish Radio. It was created in 1927 as the second regional station of the Polish Radio, after Polish Radio Warsaw. It was one of the first radio stations to transmit a soccer match. It can be received in the Kraków Voivodeship and bordering...
(one of Polish local radio stations) and by TOK FM (another Polish radio station). In December 2007, the book received the honorary prize at the Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
Review of New Publications and was named "Book of Autumn 2007" organized by Raczyński Library in Poznań
Raczynski Library in Poznan
The Raczyński Library was founded by Edward Raczyński in Poznań. The library's building was erected in 1822–1828 with the financial support of Edward Raczyński Foundation. The structure of a classical building features a colonnade reminiscent of the eastern façade of the Louvre.-External links:*...
.
In his review Wojciech Orliński
Wojciech Orlinski
Wojciech Orliński is a Polish journalist, writer, and blogger. Since 1997, he is regular columnist in Gazeta Wyborcza. He has published science-fiction stories and opinion pieces in Nowa Fantastyka.-Books:...
writes that unlike many previous books by Dukaj, this one has excellent action, and names it a "sensational novel par excellence", and compares it to books by Ludlum
Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum was an American author of 23 thriller novels. The number of his books in print is estimated between 290–500 million copies. They have been published in 33 languages and 40 countries. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.-Life and...
(albeit in the science-fiction, alternate history genre). Maciej Lewandowski writes that it features "an incredibly interesting plot, full of amorous and political intrigues, presenting readers the remote world of the twentieth century history, the history that never happened".
External links
First four chapters free for download as a sample Jakub Demiańczyk Interview with Jacek Dukaj and discussion of "Lód", Dziennik.pl, 21 December 2007 Chat with Jacek Dukaj on "Lód", Wirtualna PolskaWirtualna Polska
Wirtualna Polska is the sixth-largest Polish web portal. It was founded in 1995. It has often been the leader in offering new services on the Polish market...
, 6 December 2007 Wojciech Orliński
Wojciech Orlinski
Wojciech Orliński is a Polish journalist, writer, and blogger. Since 1997, he is regular columnist in Gazeta Wyborcza. He has published science-fiction stories and opinion pieces in Nowa Fantastyka.-Books:...
, Dukaj, Jacek: Lód (review), Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...
, 3 December 2007