Cold People

September 1, 2022

An evil force has taken over Earth and delivers an ultimatum: human beings have only 30 days to reach Antarctica, the one place they will be allowed to live. The narrative follows the mad scramble southward of characters intent on securing not only current survival but also the future of humankind. From the author of Child 44, which has sold over two million copies worldwide.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 12, 2022
What lines, if any, shouldn’t be crossed to save humanity from extinction? That question is at the heart of this stunning postapocalyptic thriller from bestseller Smith (Child 44). Twenty years after an alien invasion has decimated Earth’s human population, those who remain have been struggling to survive in Antarctica, the only region not deemed off-limits by the invaders. While some focus on insuring that people have food and shelter, others have broader objectives; genetic engineers manipulate animal DNA, attempting to create versions of humans better capable of surviving in the intense cold. Some, like Echo, a teenager, appear basically human, despite their modifications, which in her case include scales instead of skin that change color to either retain or expel heat. But there are also monstrous creations, which may either point the way to a future for humanity or pose an existential threat. Echo and her family, along with those governing the remnants of humanity, face tough ethical choices as they try to ascertain the implications of what the genetic engineering has achieved for humanity’s future. The central story line, a clever homage to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, unfolds in a way to ensure readers become attached to Echo and her family. Smith, the author of brilliant historical and psychological suspense novels, shows his range is even broader in this triumph of imagination and empathy. Agent: Mitch Hoffman, Aaron M. Priest Literary.

January 1, 2023
After aliens occupy Earth in 2023 and enact "the largest genocide ever committed," all human survivors are forced to live in Antarctica, where genetic engineering becomes key to their survival as a species. The survivors are given 30 days to make it to the frigid continent. Children younger than 14 and adults older than 45 must be left behind. In Hope Town, a ramshackle settlement one group of immigrants creates, the arts are "as important to survival as housing and food." But in McMurdo City, where billionaires and Nobel Prize winners reside, science rules. The fruits of the research there include "ice-adapted" children including Echo, a 6-foot-6 female with blue blood, lizardlike skin, and fat cells derived from the octopus. Increasingly, tension grows between those who have embraced the DNA modifications as a way of protecting their children from the subzero cold and those who believe that only an entirely new breed of human is capable of surviving in it. "Invaded by aliens, we have created aliens of our own," declares an unhappy geneticist. Part Frankenstein and part Nineteen Eighty-Four, the latest novel by the author of Child 44 (2008) is nothing if not ambitious. But after getting off to a great start, in which a family overcomes grievous odds to make it to Antarctica by supertanker only to get caught in an offshore logjam and risk missing the aliens' deadline, the novel loses its heart and narrative sweep to stiffly written scenes and didactic commentaries. Smith has no interest in the aliens, who are never seen or heard. There's little character development--Echo could have been sketched in by a computer. And an ordinary character's physical attraction to her is awkward to the point of icky. A dystopian novel that can be as cold as its setting.

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Starred review from December 1, 2022
A fleet of alien vessels appears in the skies above Earth. It's an invasion but with a twist: rather than wiping out humanity, the invaders give the people of Earth a month to relocate to Antarctica, where they will be allowed to live; those who don't get there in time will die. Only a small percentage of the world's population agrees to the terms. Flash forward 20 years: what's left of humanity is spread out among a few cobbled-together cities (built mostly from the cannibalized parts of ships and aircraft) and the old McMurdo Station, a research facility built in the 1950s that is now dedicated to the creation of a new form of human being, one that is genetically adapted to Antarctica's brutal conditions. The new novel by the author of Child 44 (2008) is a brilliantly conceived postapocalyptic story that tackles a well-worn subject (a desperate race to save humanity) from a new and absolutely captivating angle. Smith's near-future world is wonderfully imaginative and rigorously detailed, the kind of made-up place that feels viscerally real. A genuine treat for fans of postapocalyptic fiction.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from January 1, 2023

Booker-longlisted Smith's ("Child 44" trilogy) latest spellbinding novel opens with scenes of a near-future alien invasion of Earth. Although the aliens have not come in peace, they declare that humans have 30 days to make their way to the continent of Antarctica, the only place they will be allowed to survive. A handful of well-written characters grapple with their place in this new world order, including Harvard medical student Liza, an impoverished Portuguese tour guide named Atto, and Israeli soldier Yotam. Alternating timelines offer insight into the growth of the new Antarctic colony, where many people manage to thrive despite immense challenges. The story takes a heightened, suspenseful turn when the main characters become entangled in a human genetic experiment gone awry, which may threaten the future of humanity. In flawlessly precise prose, Smith's latest combines a number of electrifying sci-fi set pieces with a breathtaking insight into the human instinct to love life and each other, no matter the cost. VERDICT A speculative masterpiece that will resonate with fans of Emily St. John Mandel, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Jeff VanderMeer.--Kelsy Peterson

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.