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Iceworld
Mottled with sinister colors, the planet gleamed in the spacecraft's viewport. Sallman Ken could not believe that such a bleak and icy globe could ever have produced intelligent life. Yet the expedition had contacted natives of some sort when it sent in unmanned landers.
More important, smugglers from his own planet had begun trading with the natives of that Iceworld for a new and virulent narcotic...the most dangerous drug ever to come into their universe.
Now Sallman Ken wondered what manner of creature could exist on a planet so cold that sulfur was a solid, not a gas, and water actually existed as a liquid. But he wouldn't wonder for long, for Ken had to find a way onto the surface of that planet so he could locate the source of that deadly drug.
More important, smugglers from his own planet had begun trading with the natives of that Iceworld for a new and virulent narcotic...the most dangerous drug ever to come into their universe.
Now Sallman Ken wondered what manner of creature could exist on a planet so cold that sulfur was a solid, not a gas, and water actually existed as a liquid. But he wouldn't wonder for long, for Ken had to find a way onto the surface of that planet so he could locate the source of that deadly drug.
221 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
7 people are currently reading
604 people want to read
About the author
Hal Clement
178 books115 followersHarry Clement Stubbs better known by the pen name
Hal Clement
, was an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction subgenre.
Further details at Wikipedia.
Further details at Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
August 28, 2016
Very thankful to have discovered this little gem from 1951. Iceworld turns the search for extraterrestrial life on its head, in that instead of humans doing the searching, it's the ETs searching for us.
It seems natural that once interstellar travel becomes a practical option, intelligent beings will venture out to other worlds in search of resources that have been exhausted or that are unobtainable on their own planet. Or maybe, like us, their curiosity about other life forms will lead them right to our front door, Fermi's paradox be damned.
In the case of the Sarrians, tobacco is foreign and new and impossibly addictive—a commercial win-win back home. If only they can get their hands on enough of it. Will they establish trade with the natives on Planet Three, or take it by force? Could they learn to communicate with us and grasp how to grow it themselves in a replicated environment back home? Or will the barriers of language and culture present an insurmountable challenge?
Since Clement is one to keep his narrative cards close to his chest, it's perhaps best I don't elaborate any more of the story for fear of spoiling it. While firmly on the "hard" end of the genre, there's enough here to please any sci-fi fan. And unlike Clement's other works, this one is stand-alone, so there is no need to pick up sequels in order to finish the story. Overall, this is an intriguing look into what a first-contact scenario might look like, replete with all of the complexities differently adapted life forms entail.
It seems natural that once interstellar travel becomes a practical option, intelligent beings will venture out to other worlds in search of resources that have been exhausted or that are unobtainable on their own planet. Or maybe, like us, their curiosity about other life forms will lead them right to our front door, Fermi's paradox be damned.
In the case of the Sarrians, tobacco is foreign and new and impossibly addictive—a commercial win-win back home. If only they can get their hands on enough of it. Will they establish trade with the natives on Planet Three, or take it by force? Could they learn to communicate with us and grasp how to grow it themselves in a replicated environment back home? Or will the barriers of language and culture present an insurmountable challenge?
Since Clement is one to keep his narrative cards close to his chest, it's perhaps best I don't elaborate any more of the story for fear of spoiling it. While firmly on the "hard" end of the genre, there's enough here to please any sci-fi fan. And unlike Clement's other works, this one is stand-alone, so there is no need to pick up sequels in order to finish the story. Overall, this is an intriguing look into what a first-contact scenario might look like, replete with all of the complexities differently adapted life forms entail.
May 7, 2013
This is a wonderful old classic, that still holds up very well more than half a century later.
Salmon Ken is an ordinary high school science teacher, who gets recruited by the narcotics cops to help track down the source of a new drug. It's been around in small quantities for about twenty years, but authorities are worried because it is dispersed in the air (making it possible to expose the unwilling) and a single dose is enough to create a powerful addiction. It is, potentially, the most dangerous drug in the galaxy. The narcotics agency persuades him to accept a job with the smuggler, who wants someone with some science background to help him synthesize the drug rather than buy it. The narco cops hope Ken will be able to find the source so they can stop it.
He quickly learns two things. One is that his new employer is completely ruthless. The other is that the source of the drug is a horrifically cold planet--an iceworld.
The Wing family lives very well from the proceeds of Mr. Wing's successful "prospecting"--very success, and not really prospecting, as we soon discover. They spend every summer as Mr. Wing has since shortly after the war, when he stumbled upon an incredible opportunity in the still-wild lands of the west, and had the sense to keep his mouth shut.
He's trading with aliens, getting platinum and iridium (but not gold; it would attract too much attention of the wrong kind) in exchange for something readily available on Earth.
Ken and the Wing family have a lot to learn about each other. The only question is whether they'll survive the process.
Recommended.
I borrowed this book from a friend.
Salmon Ken is an ordinary high school science teacher, who gets recruited by the narcotics cops to help track down the source of a new drug. It's been around in small quantities for about twenty years, but authorities are worried because it is dispersed in the air (making it possible to expose the unwilling) and a single dose is enough to create a powerful addiction. It is, potentially, the most dangerous drug in the galaxy. The narcotics agency persuades him to accept a job with the smuggler, who wants someone with some science background to help him synthesize the drug rather than buy it. The narco cops hope Ken will be able to find the source so they can stop it.
He quickly learns two things. One is that his new employer is completely ruthless. The other is that the source of the drug is a horrifically cold planet--an iceworld.
The Wing family lives very well from the proceeds of Mr. Wing's successful "prospecting"--very success, and not really prospecting, as we soon discover. They spend every summer as Mr. Wing has since shortly after the war, when he stumbled upon an incredible opportunity in the still-wild lands of the west, and had the sense to keep his mouth shut.
He's trading with aliens, getting platinum and iridium (but not gold; it would attract too much attention of the wrong kind) in exchange for something readily available on Earth.
Ken and the Wing family have a lot to learn about each other. The only question is whether they'll survive the process.
Recommended.
I borrowed this book from a friend.
November 19, 2025
Dre knows. 💯🫡
May 14, 2020
This is a nice hard-science puzzle novel that's been overshadowed by Clement's more popular Needle and the classic Mission of Gravity. Iceworld examines super-cold conditions, of course, and there's a nice drug running/alien crime plot framework for the story. Clement was always more interested in showing scientific and engineering problems and how they might be solved than he was in developing characters, but this is a still a fine thought-provoking and engaging book.
Read
July 8, 2020Of this one, I recall only the cover, which likely means I owned a copy, back in the day. I see that others, notably including Lis Carey, liked the book a lot. Perhaps I should reread it, should I come across a copy?
November 17, 2021
A different take on the first contact theme.
Overall a good read, but sometimes the writing is a bit stilted. This is 1950s hard SF though, and Clement's first novel
Overall a good read, but sometimes the writing is a bit stilted. This is 1950s hard SF though, and Clement's first novel
February 8, 2025
Told from an alien perspective in a fun truely vintage adventure down a generally optimistic scifi lane…
Ken is a sulfer based lifeform who gets asked to work as an undercover chemist for the government investigating a criminal drug runner who just came out with this 100% addictive substance that takes away all will except your need for the drug. Getting hired is the easy part, its trying to science hard enough to get the lifeforms of a backworld cold planet to give it to them. The science is a heavy part of this story and to be honest wasnt needed for my enjoyment.
I had a great time with this story while it was snowing outside and with small suspensions of my disbelief it was a solid vintage tale, weirdly showed more about human thought processes than alien but was also slightly prescient with some of its plot points.
Small spoiler from page 39- the substance is known as “tobacco”— but written before it known that it was actually addictive! Oh the irony!!!
Ken is a sulfer based lifeform who gets asked to work as an undercover chemist for the government investigating a criminal drug runner who just came out with this 100% addictive substance that takes away all will except your need for the drug. Getting hired is the easy part, its trying to science hard enough to get the lifeforms of a backworld cold planet to give it to them. The science is a heavy part of this story and to be honest wasnt needed for my enjoyment.
I had a great time with this story while it was snowing outside and with small suspensions of my disbelief it was a solid vintage tale, weirdly showed more about human thought processes than alien but was also slightly prescient with some of its plot points.
Small spoiler from page 39- the substance is known as “tobacco”— but written before it known that it was actually addictive! Oh the irony!!!
June 30, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. The author does a great job confronting some of our typical assumptions about the necessary conditions for life by imagining an alien species from a very hot planet (and with a silicon-based organic structure) who've discovered earth and have a hard time imagining how people can live there as cold as it is (and without knowing water, carbon-based organic molecules, etc.). I really enjoyed the discussions of chemistry that occurred in the book, and while I'm no expert, the chemical knowledge I do have made it that much more interesting. At times I thought the dialogue seemed too canned and formal, but later I found that it was just the author's way of characterizing the alien species, as the humans' speech seemed much more natural. Of course, the book is set in the 50s (before space travel), so that affects the setting of the characters and the humans' understanding and assumptions about space, but I didn't find it to detract at all from the story. It did have a sort of abrupt ending that I didn't see coming, but it didn't really leave anything unresolved. Overall, a fun book showing the wonder of scientific exploration from a unique perspective - everything I always enjoy about science fiction!
March 19, 2016
A science fiction classic from the early 50s. The premise: the main character is a scientist investigating a planet that may be the source of a very dangerous drug; it has only appeared in very small quantities so far, but law enforcement is very worried about it. The planet seems to have intelligent life, but it's very difficult to investigate that because the planet is so extremely cold; cold enough that sulfur exists in solid state, not gaseous, and water exists as a liquid.
The planet is Earth, and the book is told primarily from the POV of an alien investigating it. (That's not a spoiler; this revelation comes at the end of Chapter 1.) There are chapters told from the point of view of the human characters, too (a very intelligent family with a summer home in an isolated region of rural Idaho), although most of the focus is on the alien Sallman Ken.
There's not much character development here, and a modern reader who's accustomed to character-driven science fiction may not be too impressed. What this book does, though, it does well. There's a lot of hard science (Sallman Ken's efforts to determine the composition of Earth's atmosphere, by sending down samples of various elements to see how they react with the air, are described in loving detail) and intelligent problem-solving as both the human and alien characters attempt to learn about each other, despite the extreme difference in the temperatures each race must live in. (Some of the science is now outdated, particularly Clement's stab at describing the surface of Mars, but never mind.) There's also a greedy alien drug-smuggler to provide dramatic tension.
A very enjoyable read, if you like "hard" science fiction.
The planet is Earth, and the book is told primarily from the POV of an alien investigating it. (That's not a spoiler; this revelation comes at the end of Chapter 1.) There are chapters told from the point of view of the human characters, too (a very intelligent family with a summer home in an isolated region of rural Idaho), although most of the focus is on the alien Sallman Ken.
There's not much character development here, and a modern reader who's accustomed to character-driven science fiction may not be too impressed. What this book does, though, it does well. There's a lot of hard science (Sallman Ken's efforts to determine the composition of Earth's atmosphere, by sending down samples of various elements to see how they react with the air, are described in loving detail) and intelligent problem-solving as both the human and alien characters attempt to learn about each other, despite the extreme difference in the temperatures each race must live in. (Some of the science is now outdated, particularly Clement's stab at describing the surface of Mars, but never mind.) There's also a greedy alien drug-smuggler to provide dramatic tension.
A very enjoyable read, if you like "hard" science fiction.
March 3, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"Hal Clement, an Oxford educated astronomer who contributed immensely to the hard-science fiction movement, is best known for his books Mission of Gravity and Needle, however Iceworld (sadly neglected) is also a very good effort.
Iceworld is about a tentacled [...]"
"Hal Clement, an Oxford educated astronomer who contributed immensely to the hard-science fiction movement, is best known for his books Mission of Gravity and Needle, however Iceworld (sadly neglected) is also a very good effort.
Iceworld is about a tentacled [...]"
January 2, 2022
I first read this book when I was a teenager. Reading the back cover blurb in the library, it all seemed fairly straightforward (investigating an alien world) until I got to this line: "a planet so cold that sulphur was solid and water was liquid". That was a very effective hook, to make me realise that the story was actually about aliens coming to Earth.
Re-reading it as an adult, I still enjoyed it, although it's certainly a product of its time (e.g. the assumption that washing dishes is women's work). It feels like hard SF, e.g. when it talks about the difference in air pressure caused by combustion, although I'm not really qualified to assess its accuracy.
Initially it seemed a bit weird for the aliens to use units like feet and yards. However, the omniscient narrator makes it clear that this is a loose translation. E.g. they wouldn't say "Iceworld" because they're not familiar with the concept of ice. It's also explicitly clear that the aliens aren't speaking English, so I'm ok with other terms being adapted for convenience. However, "Ken" seems like a rather mundane name for the protagonist, given that the other aliens have names like "Feth" and "Drai"; it's a surname rather than a forename, but even so.
The plot involves narcotics (drug smuggling), in a way that's now almost topical.
The book has a fairly small cast, because the aliens have been dealing with a specific person (family). That raises interesting questions about a First Contact situation: if aliens dropped out of the sky in a remote location, who should you actually report it to? Is that a job for the police or the military? I suspect it would be best to keep things vague, e.g. you could report a smuggling operation without mentioning that they're from another planet. Anyway, this book doesn't address that topic, but I'd be interested to read any other stories that do.
There are a few typos in the ebook (e.g. "files" instead of "flies") but it's certainly above average in that respect.
Re-reading it as an adult, I still enjoyed it, although it's certainly a product of its time (e.g. the assumption that washing dishes is women's work). It feels like hard SF, e.g. when it talks about the difference in air pressure caused by combustion, although I'm not really qualified to assess its accuracy.
Initially it seemed a bit weird for the aliens to use units like feet and yards. However, the omniscient narrator makes it clear that this is a loose translation. E.g. they wouldn't say "Iceworld" because they're not familiar with the concept of ice. It's also explicitly clear that the aliens aren't speaking English, so I'm ok with other terms being adapted for convenience. However, "Ken" seems like a rather mundane name for the protagonist, given that the other aliens have names like "Feth" and "Drai"; it's a surname rather than a forename, but even so.
The plot involves narcotics (drug smuggling), in a way that's now almost topical.
The book has a fairly small cast, because the aliens have been dealing with a specific person (family). That raises interesting questions about a First Contact situation: if aliens dropped out of the sky in a remote location, who should you actually report it to? Is that a job for the police or the military? I suspect it would be best to keep things vague, e.g. you could report a smuggling operation without mentioning that they're from another planet. Anyway, this book doesn't address that topic, but I'd be interested to read any other stories that do.
There are a few typos in the ebook (e.g. "files" instead of "flies") but it's certainly above average in that respect.
October 5, 2013
First of all, some of my criticism might be negated if you read the book in english with the mindset of someone in the 1950s - or a profound knowledge of the technological advances regarding space up to this point.
I don't think this is a good book. I don't really think it's a bad book either, but it's leaning towards that and here is why. (Minor spoilers ahead)
1. The Writing: As I said before, I read a translation, so parts of this point might be mood. There are some internal inconsistencies, e.g. at some point in the book the main alien protagonist finds some astral coordinates which tell him where his homeplanet lies and the distance to it; the very first sentence of the very next paragraph tells the reader, he doesn't know how far away it is - excuse me, WHAT?
Then there's the usage of phrases like "He did X what would be a Y" for the aliens and the very confusing fact, that they use the same words for time periods, distances, etc. while the time periods at the very least differ greatly from earth's ones. I get it's supposed to make it all understandable, but couldn't you have worked with some kind of a glossary?
There is also the fact, that we never get an actual description of the aliens, not even when one of the earthlings sees on of their faces for the first time. Instead we have to piece it all together from small snippets: apparently they have tentacles instead of arms, lipless speech-organs seperated from their breathing system, they don't sit but rather hang from the ceiling(?) and can move their eyes individually from the other(s?). Somehow I had the impression they had more than two eyes, but it's never been told, as far as I can tell.
The dialogues are a bit strange too - mostly on the alien-side bit that might be intendend - as they tend to be very very in-depth and factual lines, even when they had an heated argument beforehand (again, possibly translation related).
2. The Characters: Let's start with the humans. The Rogers are a very... peculiar kind of people; the mother appears from time to time, but is basically an outline of a character. I can't even remember if she actually says anything. John Wing, the father, as far as I remember only once mentioned with his first name, is some kind of proto-Vulcan from Star Trek: he always is portrayed as a very thoughtful man and the only emotion the reader is told about is, how proud of his children he is (though mainly his two older sons). Yeah, the children... I'm fine with the two youngest ones, though they have as much impact as the mother, at least they act their age... as far as I can tell.
Donald, the oldest, is also rather alright, if you see him as a nerd. The feeling I had about him is he's more or less a more realistic version of his father, but in retrospect I can't really tell if he had any impact on the story, just like most of the rest of his family.
Edith was okay for the most part, I guess. The ten-year-old wanted to prove herself and her brothers and father, that she could do everything as well as they did, which is fine, all in all she seemed to be kind of tomboy-ish. The few times she actually left an impression, it seemed age-appropiate.
In total contrast to her brother Roger. Supposed to be twelve or thirteen he just acts... totally strange. I guess this is one serious case of "Like father, like son", but he seemed even more contrived than Mr. Wing. His total acceptance of the whole "if the girls think, they can do that, then you should show them and we'll see"-thing his father came up with, without him (Roger) showing any sign of reluctance is... mindboggling. I know they are supposed to be raised in this spirit of prove-it-mentality, but still... also when he was younger, he supposedly said to the kids of his elementary school (or something like that), that his dad found that mine in the mountains and THEY started to demand prove, until he stopped talking about it and they... I guess, forgot about the whole thing?
In contrast, the aliens are a bit more relatable. Sure, they are alien and have strange concepts and all, but as characters, I can't really any blame with them; they're just strange enough not to fall into the Alien-is-Human-trap but, up to a degree, also understandable. I don't quite see how Drai with his immense holes of knowledge came to be (and more to the point, stayed) the captain of the ship and the whole operation, but there might be some story to be told there.
3. The logical aspects: this here bothers me the most, to be honest. I feel there are so many logical gaps in this story, you could actually fly that spaceship of the aliens through those without scratching the paintjob. For example they've been in our solar-system for 20-30 of our years and didn't even notice any planets beyond Saturn or moons other than ours? They are supposed to be a highly advanced species, do they not? They cover several hundred parsecs in less than twenty-two days and can't even recognize a fluid on a planet? It's even moving, for god's sake! Plus, they're calling Earth "Iceworld", without having any idea of Ice, as far as I can tell. Also they're constantly worried about the planets temperature and never once about the temperature of outer space.
There is one mentioning in passing of another species they encountered, so they should know even more than they do present in this book.
I don't know whether any of this was general knowledge (well, other than thins like the planets and stuff) back when it was written, but from today's point of view it's just... wrong.
I like the general plot idea of tobacco being a very potent drug for other species and the aliens coming from a planet where sulfur isn't found as a solid or liquid, but only gaseous.
I do want to like Iceworld, I really do, but it needs so much polishing to do. It has so much potential. It could be a really great book I would recommend to everyone I know, but the way it is... I wouldn't buy it for any price. And that is just sad.
I don't think this is a good book. I don't really think it's a bad book either, but it's leaning towards that and here is why. (Minor spoilers ahead)
1. The Writing: As I said before, I read a translation, so parts of this point might be mood. There are some internal inconsistencies, e.g. at some point in the book the main alien protagonist finds some astral coordinates which tell him where his homeplanet lies and the distance to it; the very first sentence of the very next paragraph tells the reader, he doesn't know how far away it is - excuse me, WHAT?
Then there's the usage of phrases like "He did X what would be a Y" for the aliens and the very confusing fact, that they use the same words for time periods, distances, etc. while the time periods at the very least differ greatly from earth's ones. I get it's supposed to make it all understandable, but couldn't you have worked with some kind of a glossary?
There is also the fact, that we never get an actual description of the aliens, not even when one of the earthlings sees on of their faces for the first time. Instead we have to piece it all together from small snippets: apparently they have tentacles instead of arms, lipless speech-organs seperated from their breathing system, they don't sit but rather hang from the ceiling(?) and can move their eyes individually from the other(s?). Somehow I had the impression they had more than two eyes, but it's never been told, as far as I can tell.
The dialogues are a bit strange too - mostly on the alien-side bit that might be intendend - as they tend to be very very in-depth and factual lines, even when they had an heated argument beforehand (again, possibly translation related).
2. The Characters: Let's start with the humans. The Rogers are a very... peculiar kind of people; the mother appears from time to time, but is basically an outline of a character. I can't even remember if she actually says anything. John Wing, the father, as far as I remember only once mentioned with his first name, is some kind of proto-Vulcan from Star Trek: he always is portrayed as a very thoughtful man and the only emotion the reader is told about is, how proud of his children he is (though mainly his two older sons). Yeah, the children... I'm fine with the two youngest ones, though they have as much impact as the mother, at least they act their age... as far as I can tell.
Donald, the oldest, is also rather alright, if you see him as a nerd. The feeling I had about him is he's more or less a more realistic version of his father, but in retrospect I can't really tell if he had any impact on the story, just like most of the rest of his family.
Edith was okay for the most part, I guess. The ten-year-old wanted to prove herself and her brothers and father, that she could do everything as well as they did, which is fine, all in all she seemed to be kind of tomboy-ish. The few times she actually left an impression, it seemed age-appropiate.
In total contrast to her brother Roger. Supposed to be twelve or thirteen he just acts... totally strange. I guess this is one serious case of "Like father, like son", but he seemed even more contrived than Mr. Wing. His total acceptance of the whole "if the girls think, they can do that, then you should show them and we'll see"-thing his father came up with, without him (Roger) showing any sign of reluctance is... mindboggling. I know they are supposed to be raised in this spirit of prove-it-mentality, but still... also when he was younger, he supposedly said to the kids of his elementary school (or something like that), that his dad found that mine in the mountains and THEY started to demand prove, until he stopped talking about it and they... I guess, forgot about the whole thing?
In contrast, the aliens are a bit more relatable. Sure, they are alien and have strange concepts and all, but as characters, I can't really any blame with them; they're just strange enough not to fall into the Alien-is-Human-trap but, up to a degree, also understandable. I don't quite see how Drai with his immense holes of knowledge came to be (and more to the point, stayed) the captain of the ship and the whole operation, but there might be some story to be told there.
3. The logical aspects: this here bothers me the most, to be honest. I feel there are so many logical gaps in this story, you could actually fly that spaceship of the aliens through those without scratching the paintjob. For example they've been in our solar-system for 20-30 of our years and didn't even notice any planets beyond Saturn or moons other than ours? They are supposed to be a highly advanced species, do they not? They cover several hundred parsecs in less than twenty-two days and can't even recognize a fluid on a planet? It's even moving, for god's sake! Plus, they're calling Earth "Iceworld", without having any idea of Ice, as far as I can tell. Also they're constantly worried about the planets temperature and never once about the temperature of outer space.
There is one mentioning in passing of another species they encountered, so they should know even more than they do present in this book.
I don't know whether any of this was general knowledge (well, other than thins like the planets and stuff) back when it was written, but from today's point of view it's just... wrong.
I like the general plot idea of tobacco being a very potent drug for other species and the aliens coming from a planet where sulfur isn't found as a solid or liquid, but only gaseous.
I do want to like Iceworld, I really do, but it needs so much polishing to do. It has so much potential. It could be a really great book I would recommend to everyone I know, but the way it is... I wouldn't buy it for any price. And that is just sad.
January 16, 2024
Such an interesting read! Just enough science to be legible, but it was veiled well enough for me to not pick up the now obvious implications. The two sides of the story were spaced out very rhythmically. I especially appreciated that Clement started to lean into the Sarrian side in the middle. The characters were likable (and dislikable in the case of a few, which was nice), and each had their own personality, save for the youngest wing children, I wish they were more meaningful. I thought the conclusion was well-played. I did have to go back and re-read some sections very well to make sure I got it, but once I was sure, I was impressed. This book challenged my reading skills in a very welcome way.
May 12, 2024
What if first contact with us was made, not by ambassadors from another world, but by alien drug dealers? Complete with an undercover agent, trying to determine the source of a new dangerous, highly addictive drug.
Super interesting premise, and plenty of hard sci-fi facts; only this one was hard sci-fi in the chemistry department.
There is a LOT of chemistry in this book. Almost every page includes chemistry. Not quite my thing, and some times the indulgence in this subject dragged on for a bit too much (for my taste).
The humans in this story were shallow and frankly a bit boring, but the aliens were interesting, at least. Ultimately, it kinda lost me a bit, sadly.
Super interesting premise, and plenty of hard sci-fi facts; only this one was hard sci-fi in the chemistry department.
There is a LOT of chemistry in this book. Almost every page includes chemistry. Not quite my thing, and some times the indulgence in this subject dragged on for a bit too much (for my taste).
The humans in this story were shallow and frankly a bit boring, but the aliens were interesting, at least. Ultimately, it kinda lost me a bit, sadly.
August 27, 2025
If you're a fan of 1950s SF, this is a fun little tale. I really enjoyed the unique premise behind the story, the characters & duplicity, and the storytelling (although dated, still enjoyable). If you're not a fan of older SF, it's probably one to pass on. I really enjoy these "classic" tales that clock in around the 200 page mark - concise, fun, inventive.
February 3, 2014
2014 Reading Project: Finally Getting Around To... (Book 1)
So, my goal for 2014 is to clear off some of the books that have been sitting on my to-read shelf for what feels like forever. (My real world to-read shelf, that is, not my Goodreads list.) With that in mind, I chose to kick things off with the one that's been on the list since about 1979.
When I was a kid at Denham Springs Elementary, the tiny public library across the street had exactly three science fiction paperbacks: Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids , E.E. Smith's Spacehounds of IPC , and this one, Iceworld by Hal Clement. I eventually read the other two but never did crack this one, even though 4th-grade me found the idea of approaching Earth from an alien's point of view intriguing. For my "Finally Getting Around to" project, I even managed to track down a copy with the same cover that my old library had.
As a hook, it's fantastic: beings from a super-hot planet who find even Mercury chilly discover life on Earth and try to solve the mystery of what kind of beings could exist on a planet so cold that sulfur is a solid. Clement throws another twist in: the aliens who contact Earth aren't scientists or military, but drug dealers from a species for whom tobacco is even more addictive than it is for humans. One of their smugglers has been trading platinum for cigarettes with a family of Earthers for years, but he employs a science teacher named Sallman Ken (who's actually a narcotics agent) to discover a way to grow this "tobacco" substance offworld.
So basically, Ken spends the whole book trying to solve a mystery that isn't a mystery at all for anyone from Earth. Oddly, that makes the story work better than it would have otherwise - all of Ken's convoluted science experiments would have been awfully boring if the reader wasn't constantly itching to jump in over his shoulder and say "that blue stuff is water!" or something like that. The weird gyrations that Clement has his protagonist go through just to determine the elemental structure of Earth's atmosphere are particularly strange, since you'd think the aliens would have understood basic spectroscopy. (We've had it on Earth since the 1860s.)
That probably makes Iceworld sound like a boring technobabble book, but it's not. It's actually a fun, forgotten Golden Age gem about first contacts, misunderstandings, and plucky problem solving.
Next up: A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
So, my goal for 2014 is to clear off some of the books that have been sitting on my to-read shelf for what feels like forever. (My real world to-read shelf, that is, not my Goodreads list.) With that in mind, I chose to kick things off with the one that's been on the list since about 1979.
When I was a kid at Denham Springs Elementary, the tiny public library across the street had exactly three science fiction paperbacks: Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids , E.E. Smith's Spacehounds of IPC , and this one, Iceworld by Hal Clement. I eventually read the other two but never did crack this one, even though 4th-grade me found the idea of approaching Earth from an alien's point of view intriguing. For my "Finally Getting Around to" project, I even managed to track down a copy with the same cover that my old library had.
As a hook, it's fantastic: beings from a super-hot planet who find even Mercury chilly discover life on Earth and try to solve the mystery of what kind of beings could exist on a planet so cold that sulfur is a solid. Clement throws another twist in: the aliens who contact Earth aren't scientists or military, but drug dealers from a species for whom tobacco is even more addictive than it is for humans. One of their smugglers has been trading platinum for cigarettes with a family of Earthers for years, but he employs a science teacher named Sallman Ken (who's actually a narcotics agent) to discover a way to grow this "tobacco" substance offworld.
So basically, Ken spends the whole book trying to solve a mystery that isn't a mystery at all for anyone from Earth. Oddly, that makes the story work better than it would have otherwise - all of Ken's convoluted science experiments would have been awfully boring if the reader wasn't constantly itching to jump in over his shoulder and say "that blue stuff is water!" or something like that. The weird gyrations that Clement has his protagonist go through just to determine the elemental structure of Earth's atmosphere are particularly strange, since you'd think the aliens would have understood basic spectroscopy. (We've had it on Earth since the 1860s.)
That probably makes Iceworld sound like a boring technobabble book, but it's not. It's actually a fun, forgotten Golden Age gem about first contacts, misunderstandings, and plucky problem solving.
Next up: A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
November 22, 2017
This follows the usual structure of Clement novel: alien meets human, they fail to understand each other, learn each other's language, form a relationship based on intelligence and respect. All the characters are too rational to be true; with one exception they are decent and reliable, as well. The aliens have a curiously mixed technology: they travel faster than light yet they have lousy remote sensing. Even in geosynchronous orbit, they cannot identify the most important gasses in a planet's atmosphere or the main ingredient in a planet's oceans. I guess remote sensing really was pretty primitive in Clement's day: he assumes that Mars' ice caps are made of water. Still, the aliens' bafflement provides most of the humour. (This is much the funniest of Clement's books, in an intellectual way, of course.) By contrast, the humans are much quicker on the uptake. The science is mostly good and interesting, and is the main driving force of the action. Science fiction in its truest sense. The plot is sound and the events work both as set pieces and as a continuous narrative. However, the good guys win far too quickly and easily at the end. There is no final face-off and no battle.
December 29, 2010
Another nostalgia trip replete with Vaccum tube technology. Hal Clement was the first author to really think about aliens. Before then they were just tentacled things with names like KRrrtG'H from a methane world. Mr Clement would take the time to apply a little thought and some elementary science to work out what a creature from such a place would be like.[return]For this particular story things are reversed The aliens, from a planet that makes Mercury seem cold, are invesigating the Earth and speculating on what sort of life could exist in such a hostile enviroment. [return][return]The plot of this first Contact novel concerns Alien drug smuggling. Dont expect to get emotionally involved in this one. He is far to wooden a writer.
September 26, 2025
This was Clement’s second novel, and the story flows much better than in the first. The plot is more lively and interesting. It’s a nice little story and makes pleasant reading, if you don’t mind that:
1. It reads like a book for children, or maybe for teenagers.
2. Clement was clearly fascinated by science in general, and expected his readers to be much the same: for him, science fiction is fiction with plenty of scientific content. You don’t need to be a scientist to follow the story, but if scientific details bore you to death then this may not be the right author for you.
1. It reads like a book for children, or maybe for teenagers.
2. Clement was clearly fascinated by science in general, and expected his readers to be much the same: for him, science fiction is fiction with plenty of scientific content. You don’t need to be a scientist to follow the story, but if scientific details bore you to death then this may not be the right author for you.
May 24, 2017
This is NOT yet another story of an ice age.
Clement is known as an SF writer who appeals more to science people than literary people. This is a story that gives perspective of how different things can seem from different backgronds, and how assumptions based on past experience can mislead us. It's also a different kind of first contact story. Although it's only developed so far, it may be noteworthy that it was written in 1951 and its main characters are non-human aliens (and they're mostly not bad guys.)
Clement is known as an SF writer who appeals more to science people than literary people. This is a story that gives perspective of how different things can seem from different backgronds, and how assumptions based on past experience can mislead us. It's also a different kind of first contact story. Although it's only developed so far, it may be noteworthy that it was written in 1951 and its main characters are non-human aliens (and they're mostly not bad guys.)
June 2, 2014
Hard Sci-fi from the fifties! By an american WWII pilot and science teacher, this is as good as they get when you do it for the fun, the way it's supposed to be done. Back then, that is before Asimov turned sci-fi into cool literature for a few decades, this genre was just like today, a niche contended with itself and not trying to lure general fiction readers in. It also features one of my favorites sci-fi tropes: Humans Seen Through Aliens Eyes.
March 5, 2009
This is the book i always give people who have never read science fiction, it is a very human story. I met Hal Clemet at a con in asheville in the early 80's and he gave a talk on world building that was delightful.
December 4, 2009
What would Earth be like to a life-form which used sulfur vapor instead of oxygen to support their metabolism?
Bone up one your inorganic chemistry! Clement's second novel is a fascinating Science jaunt answering this question.
Bone up one your inorganic chemistry! Clement's second novel is a fascinating Science jaunt answering this question.
August 29, 2015
Hard SF done right and in a good story. Maybe not as good as "Needle" or "Mission Of Gravity" it still achieves its main goal - to view Earth through the eyes of a sentient that has lived in a very different environment and to understand how 'alien' we are to it.
April 23, 2018
A breezy story that revolves around aliens so remotely different in biology and preferred clime that it is difficult for them to grok humans and vice versa. Crafted around a couple of solid jokes and interesting scenarios. Enjoyable.
November 1, 2007
This book describes events occuring between two worlds and/or two universes. It has a very interesting ending.
October 8, 2010
Can you imagine a world so cold where even sulfur freezes to a solid? Great hard sci-fi. Little slow in the middle, and the ending came on pretty sudden.
November 6, 2014
1978 grade A+
2003 grade A
2003 grade A
May 22, 2015
Detective Sallman Ken is investigating an interstellar drug ring. He follows a trail to a frozen planet - a world so cold that water exists as a liquid. That planet is Earth!
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