Action/Adventure Aficionados discussion

Let's ring in the new year with our first group read of 2015, Terminal Freeze.

...

And now there came
both mist and snow,
and it grew wonderous cold:
And ice, mast-high,
came floating by,
as green as emerald.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts
did send a dismal sheen:
Nor shapes of men nor beasts were ken--
The ice was all between.

The ice wsa here, the ice was there,
the ice was all around:
It crack'd and growl'd and raor'd and howl'd
like noises in a swound!
..."
(Colleridge, Samuel Taylor--Rime of the Ancient Mariner)

Marshal ain't the only suave dude that can quote poetry!

I've started the book and I am enjoying. It sort of reminds me of a cross between the first "The Thing," I mean the movie staring James Arnes as the Monster and Denver Pyle as the Hero's side-kick. Based on the short story "The Thing" A.K.A. Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr.. I mean the wonderful Black and White version,

and

Subterranean by James Rollins. Fun so far.

What year was this written and about what year (In the story)?

I just started this today on audio. Not very far in, just barely in the beginning of Chapter 1. The cold setting is matching the currently frosty weather we have right now.

I've got this on reserve at the library...hoping to start it soon.

Starting today :)

I'm on disc three and I'm getting more into the story. Starting to see where he's going with it.

The tension continues to build. It's not as active action oriented as Reliquary and Requiem but it gets the blood flowing.

It really reminds me of "The Thing," but it's more like the 1940s black and white version than the modern one with Kurt Russel.

Finished it. Liked the connection with the shaman and actually enjoyed the first part of the book more than the last part. Entertaining read, but the ending actually felt a bit confused/hurried to me for some reason.

I agree. I really liked the Shaman, and the way he and Marshal connected over their pasts. I was okay with the monster hunting/hunted by part of the story. I didn't think the truck escape fit.

I had also figured out how they were going to take it out long before they did. (maybe it's too much key-tar from the 80s).

I liked the Conti (spelling may be off. That's the hazard of audiobooks. If you are of sound mind but questionable spelling ... as am I... names are hard to spell) the documentary film-faker. He made a good sub-plot-villain-esque/toke crazy person.

Overall I liked it, but I'd rank it below Reliquary and Requiem.

Whispers from the Pirate's Ghost wrote: "Overall I liked it, but I'd rank it below Reliquary and Requiem.
..."

My two favorites are Relic and Reliquary ... just hard to match those.

I actually read Terminal Freeze a while back, but just "reread" it as an audiobook while traveling to a basketball tournament with my daughter. It's not my favorite by Childs, but is very good - had me looking over my shoulder while driving in the dark! Reminds me of The Thing as far as the remote arctic base: there is something appealing about that setting.

I'm about 50% in to this one right now and so far it is just ho-hum for me. I had never read anything by this author before, and knowing how popular he is, I was really looking forward to it. It seemed pretty easy to predict a lot of the story from the beginning. I'll have to get a little farther along to see if I am right though. Maybe he'll surprise me. It's not that the story is bad so far, it's just that it's not super exciting to me. (Not quite what I look for in my action/adventure books). Hopefully it will pick up in the second half.

I finished this on Wednesday. I gave it about 3 stars. I wouldn't say I was that captivated by it. I came to realize I don't much care for monster fiction.

I feel like there were a few loose ends that didn't get tied up.