Maximum Ice [Mass Market Paperback]

Kay Kenyon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 29, 2002

Zoya Kundara has lived on the space vessel Star Road for two hundred fifty years. As its Ship Mother, kept alive in a state of pseudoimmortality, she has provided wisdom and counsel to succeeding generations of its crew, self-exiled survivors of earth’s great plague.

But now, to escape the ravages of space radiation, the giant starship has returned to earth, only to discover a world on the verge of extinction, its barren surface blanketed in a crystalline substance that resembles ice and that is slowly, inexorably encapsulating the planet. Zoya is chosen as emissary to this strange new earth, and now she must approach its denizens and find a suitable home for her desperate crew among the shrinking lands.

But what she finds shakes Zoya to her core: groups of humans huddled like moles in underground techno-warrens called preserves, and a pseudospiritual order known as the Ice Nuns, who seek control of the physics-defying crystals and enslave their disciples in their crazed quest for truth. For on this once green land, Ice and the science behind it are now the only God–and mastering this grand ecology of information the only higher calling. Allies are few and far between, but somehow Zoya must uncover the secrets of Ice and halt its expansion.

That is, if the snow witches don’t get her first...

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The generation ship Star Road returns to Earth after 250 years to revitalize its failing population and discovers that the planet is enveloped in a crystalline substance referred to as Ice. Zoya Kundara, the Ship Mother, acts as emissary to the planet's underground inhabitants, hoping against hope to find a way to rescue Earth and her own people from extinction. The author of The Seeds of Time and Leap Point delivers an ecological adventure set against an Earth peopled by Ice Nuns, snow witches, and renegade cannibals. For most sf collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

It has been 250 years since Zoya's starship left Earth, and upon finally returning, the crew discovers a planet nearly swallowed by a peculiar crystalline, icelike substance. As Ship Mother, Zoya has spent most of the long years in suspended animation, wakening occasionally to reconnect with the crew, an extended Romany family that fled after being scapegoated for a virulent plague. They are desperate to rebuild their lives on Earth, but communications with its few surviving inhabitants, who live in stinking warrens under the ice's surface, don't bode well. Then a transmission from a mysterious community called the Ice Nuns, which claims to be studying the ice as an information storage medium, entices Zoya down to the surface to investigate. Unbeknownst to her, Swan, an old enemy of the Rom, still wanders the surface, and when he hears of their return, he vows a singular, bloody vengeance for the deaths of his family. A vivid cast of characters, some interesting asides on religious authority, and the bleakly beautiful landscape make this a uniquely powerful tale reminiscent of Greg Bear. Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (January 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 055358376X
• ISBN-13: 978-0553583762
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kay Kenyon has a message for aspiring writers: Never give up! Although she has published 10 science fiction novels, she remembers how tough it was to break in. She'd been working full time to support herself and her son, commuting two hours a day, and stealing time in the evenings to write, and finding only rejections from agents and publishers. Then she wrote The Seeds of Time, and after eight years of work she was an overnight success. Since then her work has been published in French, Spanish, Czech and Russian, and is available in audio versions.

Kay's best known work is The Entire and The Rose series. She is very grateful for the reception of these books, beginning with Bright of the Sky--named one of the best books of 2007 by Publishers Weekly--and ending with Prince of Storms. Also, she has been buoyed by the incredible artwork on these covers, the work of the phenomenal Stephan Martiniere. (Authors love all their books, but when you get an ugly cover, you just have to hold your head up and act proud!)

Kay is hard at work on a new novel, believing--as writers usually do--that it is her best yet. You can catch up with her latest work at www.kaykenyon.com, where she often blogs on the craft of writing and trends in the industry. You can also follow her on Face Book.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 6.0 Performance, April 3, 2003

By 

lb136 "lb136" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Maximum Ice (Mass Market Paperback)

Kay Kenyon's dazzling, glittery tale features an out-of-control planet-wide optical computer (the Ice of the title), space-faring gypsies, nuns who shun things religious, predator rats, and cannibalistic insane "snow witches."

The gypsies have returned to earth after 10,000 Earth years (they have become infertile) only to find the that a crystalline structure has covered the planet's green hills and blue oceans. Ship Mother Zoya (she spends most of her time in stasis) is awakened as the ship goes into Earth orbit, and is soon dispatched down to the planet to find out what's going on.

After much travail she manages to find out.

The story glides along (often at strange angles) with intelligence and flair. Well plotted, well crafted. Smile and wave from the "Kiss and Cry" area, please, Ms. Kenyon. Oh, and here's a bouquet just for you!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book that is hard to put down!, February 14, 2002

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maximum Ice (Mass Market Paperback)

Some Authors I read for their ideas, some for their characterization, and some for their storytelling abilities.
Kay Kenyon combines all three. Maximum Ice is no exception - a unique concept, wonderful characters, and a story not to be put aside.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars maximum fun, February 3, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maximum Ice (Mass Market Paperback)

For star road ship mother Zoya Kundara the circuitous journey from and back to earth last 250 years. She is the only original crew member still alive. However, the years of radiation while seeking a planetary haven has led to a barren population unable to reproduce itself. Since no planet was found, the shrinking desperate crew return to Earth praying that the plague that sent them solar finally ended. Though there has been no communication with earth in most of the time since they left, the star road crew have good reason to believe the plague is gone since ten thousand years have passed in earth time.

The Earth has dramatically changed as a quasi crystal defying the laws of physics dominates much of the surface. After a deadly first encounter with a cannibal witch queen, Zoya goes forward as an envoy to the apparent power, the ice nuns. Though Zoya seeks peace, the ice nuns and an enigmatic ally attuned to the ice like substance plan to destroy the space travelers and use their technology for personal gain.

Maximum Ice will provide maximum fun to fans of science fiction. The story line is loaded with action and several exciting subplots that cleverly tie back to the main trunk of the tale. The characters, including the enigmatic ice, seem genuine and earth a realistic cold, foreboding planet. Kay Kenyon allows her vivid imagination to go wild, but places her concepts into a cohesive, powerful novel that will send sub-genre fans leaping for other creations by this talented author.

Harriet Klausner