Pushing Ice

infobox Book |
name = Pushing Ice
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Alastair Reynolds
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Gollancz
release_date = 27 October 2005
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 460 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-575-07438-8
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Pushing Ice" is a 2005 science fiction novel by Welsh author Alastair Reynolds. According to Reynolds' Web site, the story takes place in a universe separate and distinct from his Revelation Space universe. [http://www.alastairreynolds.com/faq.html]

Plot summary

"Pushing Ice" begins in the distant future, where the elected rulers of humanity gather to decide on a suitable ceremony to honour a woman they consider responsible for the technological advancement and territorial expansion of the future human race, Bella Lind. To explain her role, the chronology is then pushed back to the early days of humanity's manned exploration of the solar system, where it is explained that Lind is the captain of the "Rockhopper IV," a spacecraft used for mining cometary ice. While on a routine mission, Lind is informed that Saturn's moon Janus has deviated from its normal orbit, and is accelerating out of the solar system. The "Rockhopper," deemed the only ship capable of catching up to Janus, is asked to undertake the task of pursuing the moon, and sending back as much information as possible before being forced to turn back by the limitations of fuel and supplies. However, on their approach to the moon, revealed to be a Camouflaged alien spacecraft, Lind and her crew are caught in the field of the ship's inertialess drive, causing them to travel further and faster than expected, and beyond their capacity to return to Earth. Realising their predicament, the crew decide to land on the moon and attempt to survive the flight out of the solar system, wherever it may take them.

At one point before the landing, Bella's closest friend and subordinate, Svetlana Barseghian, pushes for Bella to turn the ship around while there is still a chance to return to Earth. Bella decides that turning back is too dangerous, angering Svetlana, and after the ship lands, Svetlana leads a mutiny and exiles Bella to a structure set apart from the main colony. The novel traces the life of the colony for decades as they try to eke out an existence on Janus and determine why it is moving through space. They work out a way of deriving power from some alien technology they find, and slowly start to improve their living conditions.

They eventually arrive at a vast megastructure where they meet an alien species, called 'Fountainheads'. The encounter with the benevolent aliens improves the colonists' situation dramatically. The alien presence is played poorly by Svetlana who loses control of the colony to Bella. Bella does not exile Svetlana, even if she choses a form of self-exile.

The Fountainheads are able to rejuvenate humans, healing injuries and making them younger. The only restriction is that they cannot heal brain damage without the patient losing part of his/her personality. Bella and several others undergo rejuvenation to make themselves younger. Those that are rejuvenated still age, but more slowly. Another several decades goes by as the Fountainheads and the humans co-exist. The Fountainheads are trading advanced technology with the colony in exchange for drilling rights on Janus, whose core is a vast energy resource.

The Fountainheads warn Bella of the arrival of another race called Musk Dogs that will infect the colony and tear it apart in an effort to get at Janus' core. When they arrive, Svetlana meets with the Musk Dogs and trades with them, she tries to regain control of the colony, but her actions set off a chain of events that destroys Janus and requires everyone to evacuate. Svetlana, with the assistance of the fountainheads, leaves the structure through the gap created by the explosion. Bella, meanwhile, remains in stasis for decades, before awakening to learn that a new human colony has been established elsewhere in the structure.

Themes and Similarities to Other Works of Science Fiction

"Pushing Ice", like H. G. Wells' classic "The Time Machine", explores the possibility of the futility of existence when compared with the vastness of time. The novel also investigates the dynamics of a large number of humans living together in the confines of a spacecraft, delving into psychological effects and power struggles.

Similarly to Arthur C. Clarke's "", "Pushing Ice" is written with meticulous descriptions of the events concerned with space travel, and the physical behavior of spacecraft and stellar bodies, such as the unusual orbit of Janus mentioned in the novel (see Orbital relationship between Epimetheus and Janus for more information.)

The concept of a spacecraft being propelled by relativistic forces is also seen in the novel "Earth" by David Brin, published fifteen years earlier.

External links

* [http://www.ireadscifi.com/pushing-ice-by-alastair-reynolds/ Review] at [http://www.ireadscifi.com/ We Read Science Fiction]