Bill Evans’ climate-based novel, Dry Ice, nicely skirts the question of whether global warming is man-made, man-assisted or just imaginary. His characters have mastered the secret science of manipulating weather, and the author has mastered the art of making that science sound plausible. There’s big business with huge investments in food crops and parallel interests in technology. There’s government with political investments in favored regimes. And there’s Tess Beauchamp, scientist, who’s invested her life in honest science.
Sent to take over Flint Agro-Chemical’s super-modern facility in Antarctica, Tess is reunited with former lover, Nik Forde, and her intellectual nemesis, Greg Simpson. But no-one has realized how far Greg will go to avenge losing control of TESLA, or how far his rather shady military controllers may have already gone.
High-tech science and low-tech action combine in this meteorological thriller, and the author’s clear understanding of climate and weather gives a fine sense of plausibility to the tale. The use of recent events certainly gives verisimilitude to the story, though it can sometimes be distracting—memory replaying the details left out, giving rise to a few too many questions. Perhaps that says more about me than about the book.
The writing is clear, the science well-written, dialog convincing, and scenery beautifully described. The tension builds as the story progresses and the final action, though delayed, makes a great movie-scene. In fact, the whole story would make a great movie. In the end, I still believe the scientists who study global warming. But this is a very scary, very intriguing tale of man’s control over nature exceeding his control over himself. In a world of disasters, Dry Ice suggests man might cause the biggest disaster of all—and might equally resolve it. A fun science fiction novel, set firmly in the present day, with the whole world hanging in the balance, it’s a fine addition to the genre.
Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book by a generous friend and enjoyed reading it.