Customer Reviews

Ice

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you love Science Fiction, you are going tolove this book. Better still, it's Christian Science Fiction. That combination is very hard to find but author Shane Johnson does a wonderful job. As a space flight historian and consultant to the HBO miniseries FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, Johnson writes a very credible fictional version of NASA's last flight of the Apollo Moon Mission. Sometimes the NASA technical jargon is tedious but the glossary is very helpful.

I have to admit that I had a bit of a problem with another of Johnson's SFs, THE LAST GUARDIAN. His portrayal of the symbolic "Christ" (savior) character made me somewhat uneasy. This being the case, I was concerned that ICE was going to follow suit with an equally odd twist when, in the story, an amazing discovery was made at the moon's south pole. The more I read, the more concerned I became about how he was going to resolve the tale yet it was very exciting and kept me racing to the next page. He kept me just a little off balance because I couldn't foresee where he was going (which, in my opinion, makes
the reading all the more enjoyable). At one point, nearing the end, I thought I saw a similarity to a scriptural event but never dreamed that I was, after all, correct, until it was wrapped up in the last chapter. I was overwhelmingly pleased at his surprising perspective of a very familiar Bible story we all learned in Sunday School. His proposition was very believable and very satisfying.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading it again. It is the best piece of Christian Science Fiction I have read; one I'm glad to have in my library. Be prepared for a lovely surprise!

--- reviewed by Ginny Sutton for Christian Bookshelf

Don't start reading this unless you're prepared to do nothing until you've finished. I had purchased this for my husband thinking it a typical sci-fi. After finishing it, he insisted I had to read it for the Christian msg. I was amazed at how much depth it had. It is one of our favorite bks and we've purchased several copies for friends. Enjoy.

This is a very good book about a potential Apollo 19 launch to the moon. The characters are well developed and engagingly written. I was impressed by the 'behind the scenes' information provided as well as the human drama. Not too much science as to feel like a lecture, and enough to seem very realistic. The story is great and poses many questions. What if that booster engine just would not fire? What if you were stranded on the moon? How would you deal with being the astronaut who had to return without his buddies? These are all examined and the book is really a page turner. I enjoyed it all the way through to the end. Well worth the price. A truly enjoyable read.

I found it difficult to give a numerical score to this novel. As hard science fiction I found the Apollo-related story outstanding. Woven throughout the story, however, was a Christian theological plot that to me became stronger and increasingly heavy-handed until the end of the novel. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it is not for me. Towards the end I almost felt as though a televangelist was standing in my house pushing upon me a literalist view of the bible that I do not subscribe to. If you do not mind a sermon incorporated into every part of your life, and you like good science fiction, you will enjoy this book. Otherwise, you may find it difficult to suspend your disbelief, particularly in the last chapters.
I am not saying that this is a bad book but it is not for everyone.

Shane Johnson, graphic artist and space flight historian, weaves together an awesome tale in his novel, ICE. Johnson's knowledge of NASA's space program makes this novel have such a realistic undergo that I found myself forgetting that his is a work of fiction. In this story, we are taken back to 1975, when an Apollo 19 mission (one that never actually happened) finds an amazing discovery on the lunar south pole of the moon. This discovery challenges one of the astronauts to reexamine his faith.

But what I found even more enjoyable than a believable plot, was Shane Johnson's writing style. He has sentence structures that flow, dialogue that works, and just the right amount of information with each scene or developing plot. Just when I began wondering what the astronauts' wives were thinking, Johnson would cut back to the women and their story. And, likewise, just when I wondered how Lucas and Shepherd were doing on the moon, Johnson moved back to events there. Johnson has a good sense of keeping the story moving.

There are a few parts of the book where I found myself wondering where in the heck Johnson was taking this story, but it all worked out in the end. It is a very interesting story, with a few unexpected twist and turns along the way.

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best, here are my ratings:

Writing style - 9
Plot development - 8
Believable Characters - 7
Believable Dialogue - 7
Suspense - 8
Drama - 8
Action - 7
Technical Information that I enjoyed learning - 10
Possibility that I am going to purchase another Shane Johnson novel - 10

This book kept me up late reading and not many books can do that. I don't want to give too much away from the story, but I love the way things are woven together by the end of the book. Suspense and drama with the flavor of space flight that I like. Highly recommend for any sci-fi lover.

I just finished a new-to-me Christian SF novel, ICE by Shane Johnson (Waterbrook Press 2002). Johnson is a great writer, spinning a tale that makes you want to keep reading until the end, then he surprises you with an ending that's both satisfactory and theologically provocative. Even unbelievers will appreciate the inferences. ICE is an alternative history of NASA in the mid 1970s that postulates a 1975 Apollo 19 moon landing. Johnson, who served as the design consultant for the HBO miniseries; FROM EARTH TO THE MOON, has a good grasp of NASA and the Apollo program, which greatly aids the believablity of this story. I highly recommend this novel - a 3 on Gregg's scale, 5 stars on Amazon, and a 9.5 on everyone else's.
~Bob

This book has a great premise of what could have happened if the Apollo missions had continued. The author does a great job of throwing enough technical jargon in to make it seem realistic, all the while not flooding you with enough to make you feel ignorant. I was a little confused toward the end, but when it finally dawned on me what was happening I was very satisfied with it. I did have some problems though with a civilization being advanced enough to get on the moon, but not advanced enough to deal with the situation that provided the climax of the book. Doesn't make much sense really. I do applaud the author's creativity though, and really enjoyed his idea of what things MIGHT have been like. There are some rough parts in places to wade through, but for the most part it's a real page-turner that keeps your interest all the way until the end. I love a book that just starts with a bang and doesn't start with chapters upon chapters of character introductions and backgrounds, and this one delivers! We meet our heroes as it looks like they're experiencing their last days on earth, and from there it just gets better. I look forward to a sequel and will definitely pre-order a copy when/if it becomes available!

Shane Johnson (author of "The Last Guardian") has written a fast-paced scientifically-based thriller that starts right in the middle of the action and continues to build in intensity throughout. Johnson paints a vivid and fathomable portrait of a fictional lunar landing, without overusing the same synonyms, adjectives and expressions that most authors resort to. The book is tightly edited (with NO grammatical errors), contains only the essential background information readers need and doesn't get bogged down in useless history from the characters lives; every detail is vital to advancing the narrative and helping immerse the reader in the fantastic imagery Johnson has crafted. Most impressively, Johnson manages to infuse the plot with solid theological truth without preaching and helps readers to see God's providence (contrasted with man's depravity) from a fresh perspective that will appeal to persons who might normally balk at the idea of "Christian fiction".

Mr. Johnson definitely made me scratch my head on this one. I put it down several times at first, swimming in the NASA jargon and not really identifying with anyone except the astronaut's wives, who didn't get many pages.

But I hung in there and kept reading and boy am I glad I did. Talk about a pace change! Somewher in the middle, this book blasts off like the Apollo 19 team whose story is told within the pages. I started flipping pages like mad and ended up staying up all night and having to go to the second service for church. (Now that's a book!)

There were some confusing parts (and some scary ones). There were times when I stopped and thought,"Where is this guy going with this?" but when he got there at the end...man. I had glimpses of things but I kept thinking I was wrong. He got me for sure. I had to stay up and finish it. I was thinking too hard to go to sleep. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it worked somehow! I'll be looking for the next book, Mr. Johnson. It'll be interesting to see what you think up next!