| "If I were a younger man, I would write a history of human stupidity," is probably the best single sentence that describes Vonnegut's feeling about the invention of the atomic bomb. This is a humorous pseudo-biography about one of the inventors of the bomb that takes us to the shores of a small little island in the caribbean where the children of one of the fathers of the atomic bomb reveal a military secret.
The secret is another invention called Ice-nine, a chemical that when dropped in any amount of water will freeze all liquid that it touches. Ice-nine is just a metaphor for the atomic bomb with the intention of showing mankind what happens when you flirt with disaster. At the end of the story the chemical is accidently dropped in the ocean, causing all the oceans in the world to freeze instantly. | ||
|
Plot & Themes Tone of book - cynical or dry-wit FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story Tech./$$$/Info hunt Yes Stealing/recovering/destroying Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Religious overtones? Yes Descript. of chases or violence - 0 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 60 % Inventing-of-item story? Yes Main Character Identity: - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Main Adversary Identity: - natural phenomena How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - almost none Setting Terrain Earth setting: - 20th century Takes place on Earth? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
||