The Sixth Winter

by John Gribbin, Douglas Orgill

The inexorable advance of a new Ice Age plunges the northern hemisphere into chaos and panic and prompts Dr. William Stovin to explore the conditions of a frightening new world of savage cold and peril

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

297 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

John R. Gribbin is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. His writings include quantum physics, human evolution, climate change, global warming, the origins of the universe, and biographies of famous scientists. He also writes science fiction.

Reviews

[George K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ο 6ος Χειμώνας", εκδόσεις Ωρόρα.

Βαθμολογία: 9/10

Λογικά η ταινία The Day After Tomorrow βασίστηκε σε μεγάλο βαθμό στις ιδέες και σε επιμέρους στοιχεία της πλοκής του βιβλίου αυτού, αν και υπάρχουν μεγάλες διαφορές σε διάφορους τομείς. Ο Τζον Γκρίμπιν είναι ένας αρκετά γνωστός και με ανοιχτούς ορίζοντες επιστήμονας (έχει ασχοληθεί με την αστροφυσική, την κλιματολογία, την ανθρώπινη εξέλιξη κλπ και έχει γράψει ένα κάρο βιβλία), ενώ ο Ντάγκλας Όρτζιλ ήταν απόμαχος του Β'ΠΠ, συγγραφέας περιπετειών και ιστορικών βιβλίων και μεγάλος ταξιδευτής. Οι δυο τους έγραψαν αυτό το συγκλονιστικό, ιδιαίτερα καλογραμμένο και ενδιαφέρον οικολογικό θρίλερ καταστροφής.

Το σενάριο είναι απλό: Μια (θεωρητικά) μικρή μεταβολή στο κλίμα του βόρειου ημισφαιρίου, που συνίσταται σε μόλις έξι συνεχόμενους σκληρούς χειμώνες, είναι ικανή να επαναφέρει μια εποχή των Παγετώνων. Στο βιβλίο παρακολουθούμε τις τεράστιες αλλαγές στον οικολογικό χάρτη της Γης και πως αυτές επηρεάζουν, μεταξύ άλλων, την ανθρώπινη κοινωνία. Ειδικότερα όμως παρακολουθούμε μια ομάδα χαρακτήρων, μεταξύ των οποίων είναι και ειδικοί επιστήμονες, που βρίσκονται αντιμέτωποι με τον ψυχρό κόσμο των Παγετώνων και όλους τους απίστευτους κινδύνους που αυτοί επέφεραν σε μεγάλο κομμάτι της Γης.

Λοιπόν, το βιβλίο μου φάνηκε εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον, ιντριγκαδόρικο και συναρπαστικό, τόσο που ειλικρινά δεν το περίμενα. Απόλαυσα περιπέτεια, πολλές δυνατές σκηνές δράσης και ακόμα πιο πολλές τρομερές εικόνες, οι χαρακτήρες μου φάνηκαν ενδιαφέροντες και συμπαθητικοί, ενώ και το επιστημονικό υπόβαθρο της ιστορίας και όλες οι τεχνικές λεπτομέρειες δεν με κούρασαν ούτε στιγμή. Η γραφή πολύ ωραία και ευκολοδιάβαστη, καθόλου κουραστική ή επίπεδη, με ζωντανές περιγραφές τοπίων και καταστάσεων. Γενικά είναι πολύ καλό βιβλίο, με δυνατό και αρκετά ρεαλιστικό σενάριο καταστροφής, που εκτός από ψυχαγωγία προσφέρει και τροφή για σκέψη.

[Stephen Silber · Rating 3 out of 5]

FYI, this is the book that "The Day After Tomorrow" ripped off. The book is better, but (caveat lector) does not feature Emmie Rossum's smile.

[Mia Tryst · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is such a timely book. Anyone hear of climate change? I am half way through this book, but alas I am struggling through it. The language feels archaic, narrative is written in a fuddy duddy manner, like someone's grandpa wrote this book. I feel like the main character, Dr Stovin, is boring and prudish. I'll get through this one way or another and then maybe I'll be inspired to write up a fuller review. Help.

[Wally Aguilera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Por el momento no deja de ser una novela catastrófica, aunque su tema y analisis es uno de los posibles desenlaces de muestro propio cambio climático.
Escrito en colaboración entre un novelista y un científico británico, El Sexto Invierno, se basa en las investigaciones sobre meteorología. Douglas Orgill, novelista, historiador especializado en temas militares y colaborador del Sunday Express, viajó a Siberia y Alaska para documentarse y así escribir El Sexto Invierno. John Gribbin, después de haber estudiado astronomía y astrofísica en la Universidad de Sussex y en Cambridge, ha colaborado en Nature, una de las más prestigiosas revistas científicas del mundo. Es autor de diversas obras de divulgación científica, varias de ellas dedicadas a la climatología. En la actualidad es asesor para temas de física de NBW Scientist.
Parece muy bien documentada y se nota la colaboración de un especialista en climatología (sin llegar a ser ciencia ficción hard) pero para mi gusto en algunos aspectos es bastante ingenua.
Parece haber sido escrita para el público en general en plan best seller pero que, ni tuvo éxito entre tal publico ni, mucho menos, entre los aficionados al género como yo, no me aporto nada nuevo, en cierto momentos me recordo a muchas películas del género entre ellas "El Día Después de Mañana" transcurre con esa velocidad y frenétismo.
Dejando de lado estos detalles la novela se deja leer con facilidad, y es muy entretenida.

[MaryTank · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is one of my all time favorites. It is a great story that was written by scientists and very relevant considering today’s global warming catastrophes. I hope this book has another publication because it’s worth the read. I bought a used copy on Amazon.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it is dated and somewhat funny in that the author didn’t anticipate wireless technology, and somewhat underestimates the difficulty of really heavy snow, I still appreciated the attempt to describe the experience in different parts of the world.

[Angela Richter · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Possible Modern Day Scenario.

This was a good story but poor grammar and even worse punctuation made it a difficult read. I'm too picky.

[Arndt · Rating 2 out of 5]

leest gemakkelijk
pas aan het eind krijgen de hoofdpersonen iets meer inhoud en kun je je iets gemakkelijker inleven in de hoofdpersonen

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An oldie but goodie from the days when climate change meant a new ice age.

[Lotta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting from a scientific view, but lacking when it comes to characterization. It feels as if the two scientists understood climate better than people.

[Greg Vandermeulen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally a great read, made even better by the comparison to climate change fears in the 1970s to today. This was of course written in the 70s and a looming ice age, coming faster than anyone anticipated is the basic story. What would a similar story be like today?
I couldn't give it a five, because it does get slow at times, particularly when they print memos and other correspondence as part of the story.
But still a great book to read, especially during a winter storm with wind howling around the eves.

[Karen Abrams · Rating 5 out of 5]

If anyone realizes that our climate is changing, read this book. The author knows his stuff. I enjoyed the read, but hope I am long dead before our climate changes get this bad.

[Ed Arnold-berkovits · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in the late 70s when the Milankovitch cycle was actually understood, the writer postulated about the upcoming Ice Age. Of course, scientists at the time said that according to the cycles, we "should" be beginning a new Ice Age shortly. The "shortly" could mean in a thousand years, however because of the length of geological time.

Anyway, the media at the time sensationalized that finding into a mini-frenzy that the Ice Age was imminent. Pardon the pun, but cooler heads eventually prevailed and the frenzy died down. The key is that the scientists weren't saying anything was imminent in the human time scale of hundreds of years.

This book is an outgrowth of "what if" the Ice Age was starting. It's written well and covers various groups of people as they suffer through it or try to figure out what in the world is happening.

My favorite part of reading it was the ability to "step back in time" to when we just simply didn't understand as much as we do now, when we actually KNOW that Global Warming WILL cause massive problems and environmental and social upheaval.

The books descriptions of suffering are probably the most unsettling as the human race will suffer greatly under either too-cold or too-hot scenarios. Yet in the book, just as now, we're refusing to believe that it's even possible, never mind how we're going to fight it.

[Edward H. Busse, III · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book - written in 1979. One couldn't tell that this story was written 34 years ago because the way the authors frame the technology, science and geo-politics, it reads very modern and recently written. The characters are very well written and the story line keeps you guessing all the way to the end. The zoology angle of the story was a neat perspective and gave an exciting yet dark edge to the story. The story takes you, literally, around the world from the US to Soviet Russia and back to the US. The ending of the story is a noble one and gives the reader a sense of hope that the world's problems can be solved with a little cooperation and collaboration amongst nations. BOTTOM LINE: this was a good book with a nice story with solid characters and good writing.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is terrific. Moby gave it to me. He bought it in an airport in the '90s when he was on tour. He gave it to me...when I was living in an abandoned building (the Yale Lock Factory) in Stamford, CT. Moby had lived there a few years before (as did Leon Dewan and my uncle Jerry). I read it while sitting in the bath over two nights when the facade of the building had been removed and it was the only heat in the building. I then gave it to another of our friends who lived in the abandoned building. (his name is Pat). Anyway Pat, Moby and I shared much affection for this book...and were shocked when the Day After Tomorrow came out and bit the whole idea.

[Cathie Stumpenhaus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A climatic change tour de force! Great characters and drama. I have read this book a number of times in the last thirty hears. Though dated in terms of computer technology and geopolitics, it is a great read. Much of the science is still relevant; and the overall concept of how people and governments tend to react to predicted change is scary.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reading to begin with, but unravels towards the end.
Does explorethe possibility that the earths climate may be much more than previously thought, and that new Ice Ages may actually come forth in much shorter time periods than previously imagined.

[Laurence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated, science in the late 1970s... but a good read