Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Anti-Ice, by Steven Baxter

This was the first novel by Baxter that I read, and I rather liked it. The blurb on the back cover says it was written in the style of Jules Verne, so I racked my brain to think of another author to compare it to - finally, came up with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He wrote several interesting pseudo sf adventures in the same sort of style that Baxter has produced here.

Anti-Ice is one of those alternate history novels that have been gaining in popularity lately. The novel rests on the idea that the British Empire discovered, in the mid 1800's, an extremely powerful energy source (parallel with nuclear power), which they use to fuel their vast industrial and military power.

The hero of our tale, Ned Vicars, is a newly commissioned diplomat on His Majesty's service. He attends the christening of a land-liner (think Titanic on wheels) powered by anti-ice, a symbol of the power of the Pax Brittanica. However, the peace in Europe is about to be shattered by Prussian militarism and French saboteurs.

There's plenty of action in this amusing tale, but the real meat of the story is the political commentary in the dialog between characters. This story may just stir up some thoughts about why the U.S. is often despised by allies and enemies around the world, and definitely make you wonder what the results of destroying the nuclear balance of power established during the Cold War might be.

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