It wasn't the diamond as big as the Ritz but it was a pretty big chunk of ice and it got the precocious pranksters of The Mad Scientists' Club entwined in an international intrigue that only the intrepid investigators of Interpol could unravel. Take the seven young mad scientists of Mammoth Falls, stick them in an antiquated blimp bound for the Austrian Alps, along with two "hep" young college girls and a zany professor of mysterious Rumanian origins, and you have the makings of a high-flying fun fest that could only come from the author of The Mad Scientists Club and The Big Kerplop! If you're not already a fan of superbrain Henry Mulligan, dinky Dinky Poore, fat Freddy Muldoon, and the other unpredictable troublemakers that populate this series of mad, mad adventure stories, you will be, once you read the Big Chunk of Ice.
The Big Chunk of Ice
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At long last, after thirty years, here's the fourth installment of the Mad Scientists' Club!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Mad Scientists Retire,
By fredtownward "The Analytical Mind; Have Brain... (Mocksville, North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)
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This review is from: The Big Chunk of Ice: The Last Known Adventure of the Mad Scientists' Club (Mad Scientist Club) (Hardcover)
If you enjoyed Bertrand R. Brinley's three previous books in this series: The Mad Scientists' Club, The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club, and The Big Kerplop!: The Original Adventure of the Mad Scientists' Club, then you'll certainly want to read "The Big Chunk Of Ice", lost and unpublished for over 30 years. The boys return in the second novel-length adventure of the Mad Scientists of Mammoth Falls, which is also their last known adventure.
Professor Igor Stratavarious, the world-famous geologist (and borderline nutcase) first introduced in The Big Kerplop!: The Original Adventure of the Mad Scientists' Club is having trouble recruiting people beyond his entire class (of two students, Angela Angelino and Angelina Angelo) for a month-long summer expedition to study the Pasterzen Glacier in the Austrian Alps so his friend Henry Mulligan talks him into inviting the entire Mad Scientists' Club. Mayor Scragg and the Mammoth Falls Town Council are so enthusiastic about getting our heroes out of town that they pass a resolution offering to pay the expenses of the expedition for an additional two weeks. After some initial difficulties in communicating with the two college girls, who speak "hep" rather than English, they find common ground while playing the game of Geography, a truly pun-ishing contest involving replacing English phrases with sound-alike geographic place names in a sentence: "Hawaii?" instead of "How are you?", etc. (Don't worry; they get MUCH worse!) However, upon arrival in the nearby village of Heiligenblut, the group hear's a legend about a diamond the size of an apple supposedly lost out on the glacier a century before and during their following weeks of research out on the glacier begin to suspect that somebody wants them to leave, dead or alive! I almost knocked a star off my review of this, my least favorite in the series, but decided to keep it at 5 stars after the clever finish. The problem is certainly not the writing. Mr. Brinley shows improvement with every book, and TBCoI is no exception. His vividly sketched characters and detailed descriptions of places make this tiny spot in the Austrian Alps and its peculiar inhabitants come alive before our eyes. The problem is rather that by this point IMHO Mr. Brinley was starting to forget what made the Mad Scientists stand out in the first place. First of all, Professor Stratavarious, a minor though important character at the end of The Big Kerplop!: The Original Adventure of the Mad Scientists' Club, utterly destroys the atmosphere of scientific realism that has always been a key part of the appeal of these books. Based on a broad Sid Caesar parody of a paranoid smart-aleck of a scientist, Professor Stratavarious continuously spouts such utter if hilarious nonsense that having the boys play his straight men makes them look like fools, particularly when they accept without objection his repeated inversions of the scientific method involving discarding any evidence that doesn't fit your hypothesis! Second and far worse IMHO, for most of the book the boys are little more than guest stars in their own story. The prime movers of the first three books are reduced to passive passengers for most of this ride, the people things keep happening to rather than the people who make things happen. Even their contribution to solving the central mystery is primarily a matter of dumb luck by their dumbest member; only at the very end do the Mad Scientists of Old swing back into action. Nevertheless, this final book is a must-read if not necessarily a must-have for fans of this series. It's a lot of fun watching our old friends develop a little more (and discover girls!) even if we wish they had more to do and a less obviously unscientific scientist for a tutor.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Final Installment of a Memorable Saga,
By
This review is from: The Big Chunk of Ice: The Last Known Adventure of the Mad Scientists' Club (Mad Scientist Club) (Hardcover)
I grew up with "The Mad Scientists' Club" and "The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club." Thus it was with great anticipation that I read "The Big Kerplop" and now "The Big Chunk of Ice." The late Bertrand Brinley did not disappoint.
"The Big Chunk of Ice" takes the story of the Mad Scientists' Club to a more mature level spinning an elaborate mystery for our heroes to solve. The story is set in the context of a geological expedition to a remote Austrian village. Prof. Stratavarious (the geologist introduced in "The Big Kerplop") makes an encore appearance, recruiting our heroes to help him investigate the eponymic glacier. The title refers to more than just the glacier, however. Another big chunk of ice - a diamond - was lost in the glacier years ago, and its location may be determinable through our hero's efforts. The professor's two female students bring an interesting element to the mix (when they aren't being annoyingly cool with their dated hep-cat lingo). Finally, the conclusion takes a satisfyingly bizarre twist that manages to surprise just when the reader thinks he's figured it all out. Overall, this is a very satisfying last adventure whose sole defect is leaving the reader wishing there could be additional installments.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The long awaited final adventure!,
By Mr Perfect (Mammoth Falls, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Big Chunk of Ice: The Last Known Adventure of the Mad Scientists' Club (Mad Scientist Club) (Hardcover)
After hearing rumors about this book for years, we finally get to read it. I was pleased with the story, and it does indeed show the characters in greater depth as they enjoy their European expedition and try to solve the mystery of the long lost diamond.
I could've done without Angela and Angelina's overdone "hip" slang, as it definitely gets annoying and makes the story seem dated. But that is a minor quibble, and Brinley has crafted a fine tale for all lovers of the Mad Scientists' Club. It's a shame this is the last one we'll see, and I almost didn't want it to end for that very reason. Thanks to Purple House Press for bringing this one to life.
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