Post-apocalyptic dystopian stories are some thing I enjoy most. When I pick up Ice, it was a read I never thought I would enjoy, mainly because the setting is a character itself. While the story revolves around narrator who is in love with a girl that is pale as ice and hair that is silvery that it sparkles when she turns her head, its a story of love that is personal to the author herself - Anna Kavan.

The world is ending and ice is forming in almost every where. As the world is near frozen, one man travels from place to place to seek out a girl, held mysterious captive by a man known as the 'warden'. Where society on the brink of self-destruction and no government officials to control the chaos, the man had to travel through harsh ice and snow to save a girl who hardly knows him.

There is so much to enjoy in this book. Its my first time I heard about Anna Kavan (a pseudonym she use from one of her book characters; her real name is Helen Emily Woods) and when I pick up this book, it was just the theme I was looking for to read. I never knew that Ice was also a personal journey of her life experiences. Yes, there are some autobiography elements of her life in this book, one that truly shares the deepest depths of her unhappy life. As it may be weird in reading, this is a science fiction novel that truly has a unique voice. For me, this is by far one of my favorite reads this year.

When their hometown of Brookfield is poisoned by radiation, seventeen-year-old Anya Macklin and her older brother Jason are relocated to the safe but boring urbano of Essention.

While Jason is put to work, Anya is enrolled in the adult skills course at Arcis, a secretive and heavily monitored education facility. There she must compete with other teenage recruits and earn her place in society by reaching the top floor.

At first, Anya fears change, and is reluctant to advance. But then she meets Dom Pavesi, a brooding, evasive stranger who drives her to discover the rules of this dangerous game where there can be only one winner.

Who is Dom? Which side is he on?

And what terrible truth awaits Anya on the ninth floor of Arcis?

I kind of enjoy the first book of the trilogy. Its quite fast, I love the creative dimensional worlds description in this book and that reminds me a lot of the 1995-2000 Sliders television series that I used to love and of course, the 'taking-over' versions of ourselves in the universe that do feels like Quantum Leap (I am feeling a little old on this but hey, I love TV!) and voila - you have an 18-year old girl named Marguerite Caine travel through alternate dimensions that hunt down her father's killer named Paul Markov (a Russian physics favorite student of her fathers) together with Theo Beck (another physics student) on jumping through worlds. But what it seems to be on a hunt to bring justice to her father's killer may turn out bigger than what it seems into a conspiracy of a bigger league. That's how it sets off with the first book of the Firebirdtrilogy.

Its quite a simple read actually. Easy to follow, not much of science techno-explanation that might give you problems that you need to go back to your school days when you learn about science as a subject. Every thing was laid out pretty well and I do enjoy the actions that go along with it. Some how, it does lay thick with the romance when Marguerite was in Russia but every thing else is enjoyable. I can see why Claudia Gray succeed with this but I felt this first book was short on many things - unexplained loopholes, unexplained events that occurred and of course, the ending. Overall - I do find it an easy read and it can be done in a day (took me 4 because I got work to do). I do hope my next read will fill in the blanks but for anyone that loves science fiction in a simplify manner, this book might work for you (or if you love alternate dimensions that you are curious about what version are you in another dimension).

I had a thing with apocalyptic tales. Do not ask me the reason but ever since movies like Planet of the Apes, Sunshine or Mad Max series, I am passionate towards such stories. I would go giddy a little and would watch these movies. The first book I ever read about apocalyptic stories, it was David Brin's The Postman. It was one of those rare times when I was much younger, I managed to finish the book. Now - I always wonder what other books I can devour when it comes to such themes and I came upon The Death of Grass. I bought it a few months back but because of a recommendation from a fellow book muncher, I started to read it and manage to finished it in 2 days. Did I like it?

The Death of Grass (or better known in America as No Blades of Grass) is a science-fiction apocalyptic tale of a virus sweeping around the world, killing (you guess it) the grass. As the blurb goes, one family made a journey to travel to safe haven of a relative and along the way, made life-changing choices. It sounds pretty norm for any other story you might have come across. Yes, it was written in 1957 as well but the concept of a virus that kills vegetation does have a reality effect about what will happen if it does happened.

Throughout the book you will see how civilization starts to crumble, men become savages and justification is just a word of selfish means to an end. There is no right or wrong but only the right of the the wrong of their own. It can be harrowing at times how when society falls, people will do any thing to survive. Throw away the moral values and the only loyalty that is most important is who made decisions as a leader. Every thing that is written there made me wonder what will happen next if the main protagonist and his family (along with his comrades) will do next if face situations that is hard to make decisions. Its a real page-turner because one - its fast-paced and two - it does make you think if killing someone is the right thing to do even though they are innocent.

Still, I had some issues with the book too. Although its not a problem, it can be a problem since the book is written in the 1950s, the conception of female characters are not sound well. Yes, there are some scenes where the female characters are the voice of conscience and the male characters are the dominant voices of logic and decision makers. Not everyone can accept that but if take into consideration, it is when it is written equal rights was not a norm then and so that can be pass as nothing. My actual problem was the writing. I get a little irritated the way each character, when a dialogue is produce, its how John Christopher in his own amateurish way of writing of who said who first. That repetition is just how it is throughout the book which annoys me. If not of these issues, I would have given a 4 instead of 3 in my rating.

Although I have not read much apocalyptic themes in books, The Death of Grass so far is good, not better but a modern classic that is worth a read if you overlook certain parts of the story. While I do wonder whether the ending was short-change, I look at it as an overall read and I do enjoy it.