Ice Station Zombie

Ice Station Zombie #1

by J.E. Gurley

For most of the long, cold winter, Antactica is a frozen wasteland. Now, the ice is melting and the zombies are thawing. Arctic explorers Val Marino and Elliot Anson race against time and death to reach Australia, but the Demise has preceded them and zombies stalk the streets of Adelaide and Coober Pedy.

Genres: Zombies, Horror

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 2, 2012

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I'm to be honest, the title is what first caught my attention. I'm a huge Alistair Maclean fan, and Ice Station Zebra is a favored novel. The deliberate riffing on the title stopped me cold. Then, I noticed the cover, the book blurb, and said, "Yeah, worthy of a gander." I purchased it, because it grabbed me, and the 99 cents price was just icing on that cake.

Ice Station Zombie is just another Zombie Apocalypse novel with unique settings, fun characters, and not-quite-so-riveting exposition. I admit the writing was not-so-great, but I found the novel scary- good fun. It was different in some cool ways, and way-too-similar in other ways.

The book starts with a research station in Antarctica, where a formula for super soldiers is being developed far from the oversight of the United States government. The problem lies in the inadvertent bypassing of protocols which allow the escape of a zombie virus, and when the general returns to Washington, he does not arrive alone.

One of the scientists, returns to his home in Australia which offers an especially intriguing insight into the Zom Poc from an international perspective which I found enriching. Of course, whenever you have zombies, you get blood and gore. There's plenty of that, but you also get the snow, ice, winter, and cold of Antarctica.

Good, not great, but definitely a fun, read for me.

[Kaisersoze · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like skiing and the snow that comes with it. I like zombies. I like reading stories set in my home country. So I thought Ice Station Zombie: A Post Apocalyptic Chiller was going to be a home run for me.

Instead, it was barely a popped fly ball

Baseball euphemisms aside, Ice Station Zombie lacked many of the components I consider essential to a decent zombie apocalyptic read. There was no tension-filled beginning, or relatable characters who avoided being overly cliched. Likewise, there was a severe deficit when it came to how much of a threat the zombies posed.

Gurley instead serves up an opening that happens so quickly I assumed I had somehow missed the first book in a series and this one was looking at the fall of the world from a different perspective. Yet as far as I could determine, this was not the case. The characters here are mostly straight up stereotypes. Every major Australian character, for example, is either a loner Crocodile Dundee type, or a salt-of-the-earth bear of a man who knows how to do everything. Sigh. And then there's the fact that almost no characters who survive the fall of the world is killed by the zombie infestation. No, it's yet again humans killing humans, as we are found to be the true monsters in a world of monsters.

The writing technically is fine - I can say that for Ice Station Zombie - aside from numerous grammatical and spelling errors which a copy editor really should have caught. There's even a chapter by-line which incorrectly labels the action as taking place on one continent, when it is very clearly taking place on the other.

So, sadly, this was a big miss for me. Others might like to try it with far lower expectations that I brought in.

1.5 Nanite-Powered Undead Uprisings for Ice Station Zombie.

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, not a bad read. This was one of those whim purchases that looked pretty interesting from the description, and I would say it lived up to expectations. My biggest gripe with the novel was not the story itself, but with the quality of the Kindle edition. There were quite a few grammatical and syntax errors. Additionally, there were a few glaring continuity errors on the part of the writer (or editor, as the case may be). While they were relatively minor, they served to break the narrative flow for me on several occasions, and that is never a good thing. Regardless, the technological zombie apocalypse was a nice twist on the theme. I would recommend this to lovers of horror and zombie fiction.

[Shana Festa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out my review here

[Riayl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The very beginning, in Antarctica, was pretty good but then it began a rather quick plummet. This is the second zombie book I've read recently where the zombies are less of a threat than the remaining humans and I read zombie books to read about humans surviving (or not) zombies. If I wanted to read about humans surviving or not surviving other humans I could just read the news.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting and Gory

Good plot. I am surprised the military didn't have better precautions in place. The EMP idea makes sense and hopefully works out. Hopefully the next story has more survivors. Nicole doesn't seem very smart as far as believing that everyone is decent and safe ...

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review shortly

[mark capo]

Liked it. I want more

[Vincenzo Bilof · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like many of the reviews already posted on Amazon thoroughly discuss some the book's issues, as well as the plot. The author is a very strong writer; the survival tactics each character plans out, as well as their reactions to the crises, are very well thought-out. The characters, and the author, don't waste time attempting to deny or define what has happened, but rather, they're attempting to cope with their new reality while trying to understand how they can rebuild. The most interesting character, Alex, undergoes some interesting character changes that were predictable, though the slow progression rewards the reader with intense action sequences and conflicts that help inform the character's change.

The story is extremely well-written, and the dialogue is strong. Descriptions are adequate and not overblown. The word "zombies" is used without hesitation; no matter how many other authors attempt to use a different word to describe the undead, it's obvious that the first thing we might think is this very word, so why complicate things with different terminology? Indeed, Gurley's characters are very pragmatic in their approach to the apocalypse.

It's important to note that the plot is slow to move forward; rather than one coherent event, there seems to be a series of challenges that obstruct the characters. From a survival point of view, this is spot-on; the book serves to create a more broad picture of what might be required to survive, including several challenges one might face. Since this is a survival tale, the book is light on action, and it some of the sequences really seem to drag, with not a lot happening. The book may seem a bit slow to some readers. There is one important similarity to "The Walking Dead:" these characters aren't going to save the world, and the zombies are hardly the greatest threat. If you're a zombie action buff, you may not enjoy this one as much, however, if you love survival tactics, solid writing, and excellent character development, this one is for you.

I will check out more of Gurley's work in the future, because I truly feel like this is a gifted writer. With so much talent, an author like Gurely can craft an interesting story.

[J.W. Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found parts of this book fascinating in many respects and there were some slow spots that did not seem terribly relevant to the overall story. The author did a very nice job telling the story and struggles of the characters in Antartica, those were the sections I could not put down or stop reading! Their encounters with other bases & the new zombies and the airplane was fast moving and full of suspense. The second plot line in Australia started very strong as well, but sort of slowed to a crawl once the second & third players appeared. Honestly, for me, this would have been a five star book without the second plot line at all. I don't regret buying this book at all though and would recommend it to other Zombie fans!

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of The Walking Dead and Z Nation on TV, so I thought why not try reading a zombie-themed book? I liked how the novel took place in Antarctica and Australia--for whatever reason, I don't really read much that takes place on either continent. I also grew to love the characters, which makes me excited for the sequel (although I do believe the second novel follows a different set of people).

I will definitely be looking into more from this author!

[Teresa Tidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read!

Great book! The story starts out fast and never lets up. Tons of zombies and action, just the way I like my books.