Book Review: Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster

Icerigger
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Publishing Date: 1974
Setting Genre: Alien Worlds Sci-fi
Narrative Genre: War, Shipwreck, Survival
Themes: "Manning Up", Camaraderie, Unrequited Love
Series Information: The Icerigger Series: book I  ||  Part of the Humanx Commonwealth shared universe

Subjective Length: 3-5 days

Overall 5/10. Enjoyable, but more worth picking up if you come across it than worth hunting the bookstores for. The story and the action in isolation would probably bring this up to a six; however, something in the writing style makes following the dialogue tricky. At several points, I had to go back and work out who said certain lines. In full disclosure, some of these were spacing issues so it's possible some were printer error, and a different printing may give better results. Still, for the version I read, it was an enjoyable book that I don't regret reading, but which still fell directly into "take it or leave it" territory.

Controversial Themes:
Sex: There is a coerced examination of a topless woman by aliens. The act is mentioned, but not described in graphic detail. There is also a scene in which an alien seeks to seduce the main character in his bedroom, and is rebuffed.
Violence: This falls more into intense excitement territory and really, if Jules Verne is clean enough violence for you, then Icerigger shouldn't bring any surprises to the table.
Language: Very mild, but at least one found use of the word "whore".

**SPOILERS AHEAD***SPOILERS AHEAD***SPOILERS AHEAD***SPOILERS AHEAD**

The story follows a man named Ethan Fortune and the people who crash with him onto the alien world of Tran-ky-ky. Ethan witnesses a kidnapping, before being taken along in it to keep him from reporting it. The Targets are the du Kanes, Hellespont, and his daughter Colette. Also taken as a quieted witness is schoolteacher Milliken Williams. The kidnappers also unknowingly bring along September Skua, a violent man who'd been thrown into the lifeboat by the crew while he sobered up and slept off his hangover. In their escape, Skua kills one of the kidnappers, and makes enough struggle that the ship crashes down onto the frozen world below. 

The five captives and the remaining kidnapper then strive to survive on the ice while they make a plan to strike out for the only known settlement of the Humanx Commonwealth on the planet. The commonwealth colonizes worlds, and their ship had been heading for the commonwealth outpost before they were taken from it. Before they can make good any of their plans, they are found by a search party of Tran, local life-forms indigenous to Tran-ky-ky. They resemble large cats with flying squirrel-like "wings" and razor sharp claws which they use to propel themselves across the ice like kite-wearing ice-skaters. The humans give away the shattered remnants of their ship, a fortune in metals to the local economy and begin to forge a relationship with the Tran present. 

They are taken to the home of these Tran, a place called Wannome, on Sofold Island. There, they use Williams' advanced knowledge, September's superior fighting experience, and Ethan's diplomatic abilities to aid in organizing and pulling off a resistance to a marauding band of piratical Tran who anchor ice boats and ravage towns for tribute, or, when towns will not pay tribute, for spoils of war. After the resistance, they work with the locals to build a substantial ice boat to finally voyage to the commonwealth settlement. 

They are waylaid by a monastic order that seeks to kill them as demons, and stop briefly at a volcano, where the true mineral wealth of Tran-ky-ky is discovered in the magma fissures before continuing on toward the settlement. In the final scene of the story, two guards make mention of the ship barreling across the ice into the settlement and speculate about what it could all mean. 

The story is fast paced, and if you're looking for a pulpy, sci-fi, action adventure with a straightforward plot, and fun heroes, then Icerigger might be a good pick for you. Also, to be clear, a lot of what Alan Dean Foster has written in the Humanx universe is really interesting, and the Humanx Commonwealth itself is a really cool idea. His work is worth checking out, and, on some level, this isn't so much weak in its own right, as it is the weakest of a strong series. No series will see every book tied in the number one slot, and this book is quality enough that it's low-watermark place speaks to the generally high quality of Foster's writing. 

Happy reading, all.