Ice Station Zebra

Product Information

When Puppet on a Chain was made, Maclean said, "I've been connected with it for three years and it's too much for me. All those entrepreneurs and promoters who aren't creative. All that time wasted." [37] a b Lovell, Glenn (2008). Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 264–269. Robert 'Rebound' Simmons - A young marine and the team's abseiler, he escapes the Ice Station with the remaining scientists to McMurdo Ice Station.

Ice Station Zebra, written by Alistair Maclean and published in 1963, is a classic mystery/thriller set on a submarine in the Arctic. Ice Station Zebra: Logline Alistair Stuart MacLean ( Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair MacGill-Eain; 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably The Guns of Navarone (1957) and Ice Station Zebra (1963). In the late 1960s, encouraged by film producer Elliott Kastner, MacLean began to write original screenplays, concurrently with an accompanying novel. The most successful was the first of these, the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare, which was also a bestselling novel. MacLean also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time. [1] Maclean says he got much of the technical information of the novel from the book Nautilus 90 North by William Anderson. [6] Reception [ edit ] Adler, Renata; Canby, Vincent; Thompson, Howard (1968-12-21). "The Screen: 'Ice Station Zebra' at the Cinerama". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-05-06 . Retrieved 2020-08-07. This is a story set at the height of the Cold War and it still works wonderfully. MacLean, while short on fleshing out characters, is exceptional at action and moving the story along at a brisk pace. Throughout this novel, even though I had an idea of what was going to happen, and even guessed some of the mysteries (don't want to spoil it for others), I enjoyed it immensely. This is not a by the numbers espionage novel, where the big 'reveals' are the only payoffs.

Ice Station Zebra: My Verdict

Published in late 1998, Ice Station was an instant hit, delivering a new style of action thriller to Australian readers. It was snapped up by major publishers in the US, UK and Germany. Nonstop action and ridiculousness from start to finish. I was personally offended this time around by the age of the characters. Shane Schofield is THIRTY TWO? Not here for it. The Ian Stuart books sold well, and MacLean made no attempt to change his writing style. He also continued to publish novels under his own name such as The Golden Rendezvous (1962) and Ice Station Zebra (1963). [22] I know nothing about military technology, so had no idea how real the descriptions of weapons and various accessories used were. Mentions of real world resources like microfiche and paper atlases did show the book’s age though. The geopolitical machinations were depressingly believable however. I enjoyed the range of characters - and knowing that certain favourite individuals reappear in later books meant I wasn’t worried about what happened to them.

I studied on a sub so I found it to be very realistic and innovative. MacLean clearly did his homework. And the moral of this non-review is: YES, this book is on the OTT side and takes suspension of disbelief to a whole new level. But man, it is the most roller-coaster ridish (yes, there is such a thing), delightfully exhausting, unputdownable, entertaining book I've read in a looooonnnggggg time. Much of the novel's characterisation involving the submarine's crew was jettisoned in favour of these new cinematic creations. Also all characters from the Ice Station Zebra in the novel were removed. They were claimed to have died in the fire, notably two main villains who had caused the fire in the first place. Also removed were all references to Dr. Carpenter's brother. Reilly was not the least bit scared to kill off characters in Ice Station; I loved this! With all the suspenseful scenes, I was constantly worried about the characters, especially those I liked, surviving! Gunnery Sergeant Scott 'Snake' Kaplan - A member of the Intelligence Convergence Group (ICG), along with Montana. Snake, an experienced Marine, betrays the team early in the book and is later killed by Schofield.Great fun. Good read. I recommend it for anyone who likes military style action, complicated plots that aren't too complicated. The characters are stronger than most that this genre produces. MacLean was unhappy at the tax paid on earnings for his first two novels, so he moved to Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, where he would pay less tax. He planned to write one novel a year. "It's all the market can stand," he said, adding it took him three months to write it. [17] Throughout this book Reilly delivers cliff-hangers galore! The laws of science are sometimes shunted aside to make way for improbable weaponry and impossible situations, but that's just part of the fun. Whilst a university student, MacLean began writing short stories for extra income, winning a competition in 1954 with the maritime story "Dileas". He sold stories to the Daily Mirror and The Evening News. The wife of Ian Chapman, editor at the publishing company Collins, had been particularly moved by "Dileas" and the Chapmans arranged to meet with MacLean, suggesting he write a novel. [10] MacLean responded three months later with HMS Ulysses, based on his own war experiences and credited insight from his brother Ian, a master mariner. [7] [11]

Films were still being made out of his novels, including Breakheart Pass (1975) (from Kastner), Golden Rendezvous (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), and Bear Island (1979), but none did very well. Ice Station Zebra". Variety. 1968-01-01. Archived from the original on 2020-12-01 . Retrieved 2020-08-07. Give credit where credit is due, though: in the stupid action book category, Reilly is right up there on top. He's got the mojo. There is no other way to explain 3 million books sold and a 4-star rating, although this type of success is a mystery of the same caliber as crossbow-wielding commandos, US marines shooting grappling hooks at everything that moves, and a guy who gets eye replacement surgery after having his peepers sliced in half during a razorblade torture session.What really got me was the kind of details that the immense, curving Cinerama screen was able to offer... Every single glistening drop of bow spray can be seen as it comes pouring over the submarine's surface, caught by a camera strapped to the conning tower. There are beautiful abstract patterns made by the sub as it cuts its way through the North Sea, all the gleaming, meticulous, finely wrought, intricate machinery inside the sub, and huge chunks of mountainous ice hanging down from the roof of the ice cap like molars. Nothing could distract me from that screen, not even several minutes of confused story-telling at the end of the film... Buy some popcorn and see the movie. [28]