Ice Quake
 | |
| Author | Colin Bateman |
|---|---|
Publication date | 3 June 2010 |
| Pages | 244 |
| ISBN | 9780340998861 |
| OCLC | 520726800 |
Ice Quake is the first novel of the SOS Adventures series by Northern Irish author, Colin Bateman, published on 3 June 2010 through Hodder Children's Books. [1] It sets on Baring Island (aka Banks Island) in the Canadian Arctic. The novel was well received and longlisted for the children's Northern Ireland Book Award 2010–11. [2]
Plot
Michael Monroe, a teenage orphan boy, accidentally burns down his boarding school, St Mark's Retreat, by setting a fire in one of the many disused fireplaces. As a result, he is expelled from his sixth school in as many years and leaves on the bus the next morning, to be handed over to the local education authority. During this journey, however, the driver loses control of the bus and drives into an icy lake. Monroe then proceeds, along with the head boy Vincent Armoury, to save the lives of the school's debate team, who were on their way to a competition, before they all drown. When Armoury is hit in the head during the operation, Monroe pulls him from the water, administers the kiss of life and passes out. Monroe's heroic effort in the rescue of twelve children results in him coming to the attention of Doctor Jimmy Kincaid, millionaire owner of a team named SOS, which engages in risky rescue operations on a worldwide scale.
Monroe's first mission is to search for the missing "Eden" satellite, which had been measuring greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Deployment for the mission doesn't go to plan and Monroe ends up stranded in the Canadian Rockies with fellow teen-aged SOS member, Katya, who somewhat resents his presence on the mission. While trying to succeed where the adults have failed, the teenagers run into armed men, wolves and a twice-the-usual-size polar bear. [3]
Ice Quake characters
- Jordan Nappaaluk – native of the area who goes missing
- Vincent Armoury – head-boy of St Mark's
- Rachael – SOS's resident teacher
Reception
The novel was well received. Kieran Fanning from the Inis Magazine called this novel the "adrenaline-racing, breath-taking adventure" and considered its strengths to be "the dialogue and the lively banter". Fanning found its "characters and relationship [...] too similar to Jimmy and Claire's from Titanic 2020 ", with an exception of "wisecracks and one-liners [...] with [Bateman's] trademark wit". [4] The Clare County Library stated that the children of the area found its characters "clever, funny and very resourceful" and awarded the novel a score of ten out of ten. [5]
