Novel: Crawford Kilian: Icequake (toExcel, 1998) What if there was an earthquake on Antarctica? That’s the premise of Crawford Kilian’s disaster novel Icequake, a novel that’s at its best when describing tons of ice moving in chaos. Following all the traditions of genre literature, its at its worst when it Continue Reading
Antarctica
Research Blog Antarctica #105: The Thing
Film: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.: The Thing (U.S.A., 2011) The movie The Thing is a remake/prequel of John Carpenter’s 1982 movie The Thing, which is a remake of a 1951 movie called The Thing From Another World, which is based on the short story Who Goes There? by John W. Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #104: Antarctica on a Plate
Non-fiction: Alexa Thomson: Antarctica on a Plate (Random House Australia, 2003) Many different kinds of people go to Antarctica. Scientists, adventurers and the people who keep the infrastructure running. Often, this last category produces the best books. Alexa Thomson writes about her experiences as a cook at an Antarctic tent Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #103: The Book of Ice
Art book: Paul D. Miller: The Book of Ice (Mark Batty Publisher, 2011) Paul D. Miller, also known as DJ Spooky, created a multimedia performance piece called Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica in 2009. This book is a part of that project. It’s kind of a documentation book or an artbook, Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #102: Pym
Novel: Mat Johnson: Pym (Spiegel & Grau, 2011) Mat Johnson’s Pym is a stellar example of what an Antarctic novel can be. It’s the story of a black American university man preoccupied with Edgar Allan Poe and issues of race. He gets sacked from his university for failing to serve Continue Reading
Big in Denmark
My roleplaying game Ikuisuuden laakso (The Valley of Eternity) will be published translated into Danish by Rollespilsakademiet. The official publishing date is the 6th of July, 2011. Here’s the cover of the Danish edition:
Research Blog Antarctica #101: An Antarctic Mystery
Novel: Jules Verne: An Antarctic Mystery (Mondial 2006, orig. 1897) An Antarctic Mystery is Jules Verne’s sequel to the most enduring classic of Antarctic fiction, Edgar Allan Poe’s novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Poe’s novel has spawned a number of sequels by various authors. It follows Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #100: Race to the End of the Earth
Exhibition: American Museum of Natural History: Race to the End of the Earth (2010) I was visiting New York over the holidays, and there was an exhibition about the race between Scott and Amundsen to reach the South Pole at the American Museum of Natural History. The most interesting parts Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #99: Discovery
Non-fiction: Richard E. Byrd: Discovery (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1935) Discovery is Richard Byrd’s account of his second big Antarctic expedition. The difference between this and accounts of the expeditions of Scott and Amundsen is striking, even when the difference in time is not so long. Amundsen used dogs, Byrd uses Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #98: The Great White South
Non-fiction: Herbert G. Ponting: The Great White South (Cooper Square Press, 2001, orig. 1921) This is yet another account of Scott’s doomed final Antarctic expedition, this time by the photographer Herbert Ponting. Ponting is one of the two famous photographers of the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. Frank Hurley is Continue Reading