The dystopia in "Ice" permeates the world just as much as it does the character's mind. This is a tale of obsession where reality is never certain, except for the impending doom of ice encroaching every nook and cranny of the earth. With the narrator being quite unreliable, we get a slow but eventually erratic outlook of the world, but most importantly of himself. Everyone else being nameless, proves how little he actually cares about their individual identity, including the girl he obsesses over.

The narrator's journey starts off innocent and perhaps even heroic, wanting to "rescue" the girl from her implied abusive husband. His tone and voice eventually grow erratic, and the picture that he once painted of the dystopian world dissolves in a questionable atmosphere of elusiveness. We never grasp the full story of what's actually happening in this world, especially as his rambling devolves into a kind of stream-of-consciousness. It becomes clear that his feelings toward the girl are not just misguided, or well-intentioned; there's a deeper-rooted issue where his perceived lack of control manifests as a toxic form of masculinity. His controlling nature mimics the men he criticizes and he attempts to steer the girl away from: "We were like halves of one being, joined in some mysterious symbiosis. I fought to retain my identity, but all my efforts failed to keep us apart." He is "not like other guys," but he has an inherent entitlement t

Structurally, you can see the narrator's devolvement through the novel as he becomes more incoherent, but it's such a surreal and evocative interpretration of one's psyche where the audience gradually realizes how unreliable he is. Because of this vagueness and general abstractness in the prose, it does mean that you lose a sense of time and place as the reader, which personally takes me out of the narrative a little. As much as I appreciate the surrealist aspects and the unique exploration of the narrator's personality, there were times where I got a little bored. The third act picks up again and the climax is actually mindblowing though. Dystopian novels' main motif often includes societal norms that have collapsed, or are brought to the forefront because of how much the oppressive structure is needed to keep certain people in power — but "Ice" has such a unique way in showing how gendered people's/society's way of thinking is, through surrealist and abstract means. I think this is one of the most introspective and revealing dystopian books I've read. and that says a lot.

Thank you Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was incredible, an absolute classic. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

A classic for a reason. Kavan was far ahead of her time with slipstream style of writing.

I do recommend this. I think most people will hate it, but I do recommend it. If you're a fan of weird fiction that is also sci-fi. If you’re a literary type who wants to get into genre fiction. The prose is beautiful and endlessly fascinating.

This is an incredibly enigmatic and surreal apocalyptic stream of consciousness story. Originally printed in 1967, but seems just as timely in present tensions. The author is deliberately being obscure, but we get the sense that climate catastrophe is a result of human affairs. A giant glacier is slowly growing over the Earth, as our protagonist races against time to pursue his mission/goal. There’s such rich layering of contexts, and perhaps memories and hallucinations, that it seems to portray a chaotic and deeply personal, yet also symbolic global memoir of war and love. The male protagonist is indicated as a spy, who seamlessly weaves through war-torn countries in his pursuit of the angelic and resistant woman, often described as this glistening, frosty and fragile apparition. He grapples between two halves of with his conscience - his military ruthlessness and his softer side - we glimpse the man he always wanted to be as this person who is passionate about living alongside and studying the Indras (coupled with warm tropical visuals to contrast the icy wilderness of the present threat). As I’m writing this, I’m realising how much I appreciate the open interpretation, because from what seems to be an abusive relationship between him and the woman, and a third man called the warden, there are so many clues that may actually spell out that this dynamic is actually a story of man’s quest (and his psychological battles and regrets) to tame nature (the woman) who appears frail and hard to capture, there’s even a few additional clues which I won’t spoil for readers, but I actually think this book is brilliant in a way, and it was really engaging to read. This is one of those wow books if you’re paying attention. Those who love philosophical and apocalyptic literature will enjoy.

Prior to reading Ice by Anna Kavan, I had never encountered 'slipstream' fiction. And while I am generally not a fan running stream of consciousness books, but this one was extremely well written. It gave me a character that I love to hate. He was a truly terrible person (think a psychotic Humbert Humbert from Lolita), but he was so well written. Taking on themes of desire, obsession, power, powerlessness, and insanity, the user is better served just sliding in and ridding the wave, than trying to analyze what is going on in real time. I cannot wait to see what else this author has to offer.

Thank you Pushkin Press | Pushkin Press Classics for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Apr 29 2025

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Goodreads.

I liked this book a lot, but wow, it’s a total mindfuck. The writing is dreamlike and haunting, with reality constantly slipping through your fingers. You’re never quite sure what’s real, what’s imagined, or where the story is even going, but that’s kind of the point. It’s bleak, surreal, and strangely beautiful. Definitely not for everyone, but if you’re into cold dystopias, obsessive narrators, and books that mess with your head, *Ice* is worth the trip.

Our nameless male narrator violently obsesses over and chases a female character only referred to as 'the girl' while all about them a post-apocalyptic new ice age is engulfing the globe.
I'm in two minds about this. It was an excellently written, at times surreal examination of infatuation. At the same time the main character is a psychopath, and all-round terrible person, and I find it hard to connect with a book when the protagonist is awful. It was also pretty confusing at times, with me not always being able to work out what was actually happening, and what was only in the narrator's head. I suppose this was a reflection of his state of mind, but the result was it made me struggle with the narrative.
I will say the descriptions of the snow, and the coming wall of ice were both gorgeous and terrifying.
A short and interesting read.

2.5 stars out of 5

I was very interested in reading this story after I learned about Anna Kavan. I’m a sucker for older science fiction stories and even a bigger sucker for stream of consciousness books. I enjoyed the setting and the impending sense of doom with the coming ice storms.

At times I felt like I was reading from different viewpoints and it got confusing at times but I just pushed through. The relationship between the narrator and the woman felt strange, at times it felt like a quest for a one sided relationship but on the other side the narrator seemed like an awful person and I felt bad for the woman. And keeping the introduction by Christopher Priest in mind about Anna Kavan’s life, it all clicked into place.

It was a weird book, it’s not for everyone. I wanted to enjoy it, I love these types of books but it was a miss.

Thank you NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the advance copy.

Ice is definitely a unique novel, and ahead of its time when it was first published, but I don't think it's for me. The plot, following the narrator, the woman he is trying to save and her male companion, meanders across Earth's landscape as the characters try to outrun the ice that is slowly taking over the world. Ice nails the atmosphere and gloominess required of a climate dystopian, and if you're looking for vibes I think this is a great book to pick up, but not if you're looking for plot-driven fiction. The reality is not much happens in this book, you just have to enjoy the journey. The other thing Ice does successfully is the unknown/questionable narrator trope. I finished the book and I still could only tell you very basic information about the narrator, and this definitely leaves the reade unsettled. I was pleasantly surprised to find the language used is quite contemporary despite being published in the 60's originally.

Beyond that, I found this book ultimately forgettable, and I would recommend it if it was a short story. I found myself having to reread several passages because my brain was zoning out.

Also huge ick for me was the narrator infantilising the woman on multiple occasions and describing her as child-like. This was written by a woman? hmm.

I’m rounding this up to 2⭐️ but it’s more like 1.5/1.75. I really didn’t like this and couldn’t wait for it to end.

This book is strange. First, I couldn’t tell who the narrator was. So many times it seemed like he wasn’t even really part of the story. That maybe he was an observer, not even maybe an actual person, but maybe an entity of some sort because he witnessed or claimed to witness things, but it was never explained how. And at the same time, he had stated he was somewhere else the first couple of chapters and the second couple of chapters didn’t seem to follow a linear pattern. It felt like the first two chapters were about the same two people that the second two chapters were about, but in different dimensions or timelines.

I like and enjoy weird stories, probably more than most, but weird still has to have a point for me and this didn’t seem to have any point. If it did, it completely eluded me. What I was able to gather was that the world was in a constant state of some kind of apocalypse. There were 3 consistent characters, the warden, the girl and the narrator. For some reason the narrator needed to see and talk to the girl, uncontrollably so, and he wanted to get her away from the warden whom they both seemed to despise. At the same time, it seemed like the narrator and the girl were in some sort of abusive and toxic relationship. And at some points it seemed the narrator and the warden were actually one and the same. All the while this threat, or perceived threat, of ice (maybe it was symbolic?) was moving to destroy everything in its path. Oh, and the timelines or dimensions or whatever continually changed without any warning or explanation.

No, I didn’t care for this book, I didn’t particularly understand this book, and I really wouldn’t recommend it.

***Thank you NetGalley, Anna Kavan, and Pushkin Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. ***

Tremendously odd book. I don't even know if I enjoyed it, really, despite my four stars - it's just such a surreal narrative, such that I admire what it's doing and recognize that (were I interested in doing so) it would reward a lot of Literary Analysis, while never really knowing what was going on exactly. But that is, almost certainly, the point. It feels like one of Kazuo Ishiguro's weirder novels, or if some space alien like Clarice Lispector decided to write a "science fiction" book.

I don't really know what to do with a NetGalley review of an old book in a new edition. I'm not breaking new ground talking about a more than 50 year old story; perhaps I am meant to comment on the new "value added," that is to say, the new edition's foreword? Yet I'm not sure if my ebook copy was correct, there. The Goodreads entry for this edition claims that there is a foreword by Jeff VanderMeer, but the foreword in mine was by Neil Gaiman. Unclear what's going on there and I don't have much to say about it anyway.

I had not heard of Anna Kavan before picking this book up, and am now very interested in her life and career! I picked this book up because of how compelling the synopsis was, especially in today's world and environment, and found myself pleasantly surprised by the novel. I'm not into science fiction usually, but it's through novels like these, which was constructed and written well, that I think we can interrogate the world around us more, even when its setting seems to be a far-off world.

It's certainly a book to read on cold winter days. The story feels like a nightmare, but a gorgeously written one. You can sense the ice-cold setting through the pages, and it's terrifying. The writing is very fragmented and dreamlike, so it's probably best to read the book at least twice to understand the author's idea. I was also surprised by how relevant it is to our current times with all the climate change and human reaction to the catastrophe topics. The prose is heavy, and it's noticeable, that the author wrote it not long before her death.

However, I struggled to connect with the characters. Although I understand they are meant to be cold and distant, the narrator is awful in his obsession, and the heroine feels one-dimensional. While I can't say I liked this book, I agree that it's a literary interesting piece of literature and a must-read.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me a free e-copy. All opinions are my own.

3.5/5

Ice is a 1960s sci-fi/speculative fiction classic that’s been on my to-read list for a while. My interest in it is largely tied to the author, Anna Kavan, her life story is as haunting as her writing. She spent time in and out of psychiatric institutions and struggled with heroin addiction, which ultimately led to her death. Ice was her final book, published just a year before she died of an overdose. Knowing this adds a powerful layer to how the book is read and understood.

I can see why many dislike or struggle with this novel, it’s definitely not for everyone. The writing is fragmented and dreamlike, blending hallucination, memory, and reality in a disorienting way. I found the beginning particularly difficult, but once I realised the narrator was unreliable I was able to let go of trying to interpret it too literally and just experience the atmosphere.

To me, the unnamed girl, one of the central characters, seems to represent Kavan herself, or at least her inner world. She exists in a cold, brutal, hyper-masculine landscape where she is constantly dehumanised, moved around like an object, stripped of autonomy, and subjected to psychological and physical torment. She clearly does not want to be in this world, and the apocalyptic ice engulfing the earth feels like both an escape and a metaphor for her desire to disappear. Through this lens, the novel’s brilliance and haunting beauty become all the more apparent.

Thank you to Pushkin Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Incredible sci fi republished, I highly recommend this. It’s deeply unsettling but also beautiful and atmospheric on a cerebral level. Should be required reading.

A journey through an unsparing hallucinogenic dystopia
—
If there is one classic of science fiction that can never be bettered or aped or repeated, this might be one of them. (Another is Samuel R. Delany’s similarly uncategorisable Dhalgren.) A science fiction book where the science is nowhere to be seen, it is instead a surreal elision of dystopian vision, dreams and flashbacks, set in a world and a time that is neither past nor future and certainly not the present.

The unnamed narrator pursues the girl, thwarted and aided in turn by the same forbidding man, sometimes named the warden, while an impending catastrophe nears, somewhat military in nature, but always presaged by the ice, ice in all its forms: hail and sleet and glaciers that come alive; even as the narrator—who is probably a man—flees through daydreams and night terrors into past encounters between the three, or into scenes at which the narrator could have no first hand experience. Time is uncertain, no definite months, days, hours or minutes. Seasons pass from one paragraph to the next, and the place is unknown, a country somewhere in the north but where the ice is never this severe.

The book is remarkable in the way Kavan keeps up the uncertainty, jinking and lurching between the narrator, the girl and the warden, never offering a sense of solid ground that tells you what this novel is about or where it’s going. A superlative performance on the page with rivals in film and television, but never in quite as bravura a text.

Four and a half stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the ARC.

I think I've heard of this before in my public library, but I never actually picked it up until I got approved to read this new edition. The setting, the events that take place, are all malleable for the narrator's sake of possessing the young woman but possessing her in a very specific state of despair. The narrative suggests a globe-trotting adventure against a despotic leader who keeps the woman locked up, but the details change regularly, there's very little sense of time, and you get the sense that the narrator and the villain are one and the same. Though even this is just my opinion; the writing lends itself to many interpretations. I personally enjoyed this sort of unreal narrative, but I can also see how it can frustrate someone who just wants something concrete to latch onto here.

Anna Kavan forever. Read Julia & the Bazooka next, then Asylum Piece, then I am Lazarus. In fact, these should all be back in print like Ice! Thank you for the ARC, and do consider giving Julia & the Bazooka the deluxe publishing it deserves.

If you like Murakami books then you might like this book.

There are only three main characters, a woman, her husband and a man who is in search of her. None are named. The place they live in isn't named and yet the book is captivating (atleast once you cross at least 10pages because, let's be honest, 10 pages in we are just wondering wtf is happening).

Once you know the background of the author, this book makes more sense. She was of a rich background, travelled the world, used to take heroin for her back pain, her son died in a war, she had a mental breakdown and she wrote in the times of WW2.

The pain, actually, the never ending pain showsup quite a bit in the book. If I am to think it in that way then this book is about discovering yourself while the world freezes over.