ICEAPELAGO 3

Small pockets of climatological-apocalypse survivors in Iceapelago (formerly Ireland) must defend their shores in Brennan’s thriller.

The third book in the Iceapelago series (the term is defined in the book as “a group of islands surrounded by ice” or “a frozen land mass with many islands”) opens with a brief introduction to the state of the world after the collapse of society, which is a helpful starting point whether readers are familiar with the series or not. This installment includes characters from the previous books, with a focus on the younger generation (of which there are only a handful of members in each Iceapelago location, raising concerns for the longevity of the settlements). The story begins with siblings Tony and Kate, who are in their early 20s. They decide to refurbish an abandoned raft to leave their island for the first time and head for a nearby settlement. Disaster strikes when their craft turns out not to be as seaworthy as they hoped, but they are rescued by a conveniently passing Portuguese ship just in the nick of time. While this at first appears to be a stroke of luck, the adventurers soon learn what readers already know—the Portuguese are there to conquer Iceapelago and make room for thousands of inhabitants traveling in the fleet following behind them. Kate, Tony, the older settlers, and two other young people from another settlement must work together to defend their islands, creating unity among their communities for the first time in years while rediscovering pre-apocalypse technology. The action moves quickly once the Portuguese convoy’s motives are revealed. The people in the settlements care deeply about each other and their way of life, and the stakes are very clear. However, the opposing sides in the narrative lack nuance in their characterizations—the Portuguese leaders are exclusively power hungry, while the Iceapelogeans fulfill different roles but are almost all unequivocally good without any noticeable faults.

A well-grounded installment in this climate fiction series with an optimistic message of cooperation for the future.