I think I may have read 'Icequake' too soon after reading 'Guardians of Atlantis' (also set partially in Antarctica).

Where 'Guardians of Atlantis' was happy to not let science get in the way of a good time (to the tune of some truly bonkers plot points), 'Icequake' takes the science very seriously. At least, it certainly reads that way. I'll let the glaciologists argue over that one.

In any case, Crawford Kilian obviously had tremendous proximity to the subject matter in 'Icequake', which, incidentally, is really more about the aftermath of the icequake than the lead-up to it, making this more of a survival story than I expected, but honestly, I'm glad that was the case.

Pretty early on the big icequake happens, stranding anyone unlucky enough to have been in Antarctica at the time, including our protagonist, a science journalist from New York (if memory serves). She and all the scientists, engineers, and everyone else keeping the lights on at their base camp spend the rest of the novel trying to figure out the likely global consequences of such a massive natural disaster as well as how/if they'll be rescued by anyone who's left.

Some parts were on the dry side of interesting because of how much technical information Kilian infused the novel with, but I like a good post-disaster survival story, so even if the pacing dragged in places, at least we were still staying on topic.

The characters were serviceable but not especially memorable. There were definitely too many people to keep track of, so I didn't bother trying. Over time I could at least keep the principle cast straight, and that was good enough.

The ending, when it finally came, was super abrupt, but I suppose that's on-brand for a story like this. And it also became clear by the last chapter that this was intended to be the first book in a series, which makes sense of a few otherwise odd decisions towards the end.

It was a good time, there was definitely a strong and obvious man vs. nature struggle going on with an environmentalist bent. And boy did Kilian make sure you felt cold reading this novel. The realism of the frostbite, the sunburns, the instant freezing of anything not weighted down by fifty pounds of clothes... brrrr!

Apparently, there's a 2010 movie called 'Icequake' but the plot of this novel is infinitely more interesting than that sounds, and frankly, had Kilian's novel been published just a decade later it would likely have been a cool 90s disaster movie blockbuster. And I would have watched it for sure.

If you want to feel cold and learn about how to survive in Antarctica and about how a Hercules plane works, check out 'Icequake'!