The hot war gets chilled in the arctic cold...
ABOUT ICE WAR:
The Kirov Series now takes us to
the frozen north in Ice War, Volume VI in the Next War segment of
the saga, and it’s one of the best in
the series. With NATO planning its counter offensives in Norway and Europe,
Karpov and the Pacific Fleet are recalled to Severomorsk, but getting there
will not be easy. After their strange displacement to the future of the world
they helped create with their many interventions in the past, The fleet slipped
back into the war we’ve been following and put into Vladivostok at the end of
Volume V, Deep Blue. Now Karpov hopes to get as far north as possible
before his fleet is discovered, as the Americans believe it perished in the
eruption of the Demon Volcano.
It isn’t east to hide that many
warships, even in the vast ocean spaces of the Pacific, and soon the Americans
are investigating the sudden appearance of unknown ships emerging from the Sea
of Okhotsk and heading north. What follows is a classic naval pursuit, as
Captain Stark and the Nimitz Strike Group is dispatched to investigate the contacts.
Karpov must get through the vast Bering Sea, and then pass the narrow strait
between Siberia and Alaska, a place he calls “The Gates of Hell.” It is a harrowing
warning of the action that will ensue in this volume, which features a riveting
sea chase, gripping sub duels, and later, the Air, Land and Sea battles for the
North Cape.
The Pacific Fleet eventually
comes home to Severomorsk, but not without paying a price. Karpov and company
are then immediately pulled into the naval action in the Norwegian Sea when
Tyrenkov orders the seizure and reinforcement of the remote northern Islands of
Svalbard. The British are leading the NATO effort to make a helicopter assault
to recapture those islands, even while Karpov is delivering reinforcements for
the Russians. Then the US Washington Strike Group gets into the action
under Captain Tanner, and things really begin to heat up in a series of naval
duels on and under the sea.
The land action in the north Cape
is briefly covered in one segment, but that external battle is counterpointed
by a simmering internal conflict aboard Kirov precipitated by the dark presence
of Colonel Voronin, the ship’s new Zampolit, or Political Officer. The
Black Crow, as the crew comes to call him, is sticking his nose into the affairs
of the ship, and this inevitably draws sparks with Karpov, right from the
outset of this volume. There are some very tense confrontations on the bridge, and
both sides scheme to get the upper hand in the little power struggle. Knowing
Karpov as they do, series veterans know what to expect when Voronin’s
transgressions rub him the wrong way.
All in all, Ice War is presented
with good depth and loaded with naval air action. Battles here cover the Bering
Sea Chase, action off Svalbard, NATO’s counterattack in the North Cape, and the
climactic “Battle of the Barents Sea.” At the end, the author tips us off on
what’s coming next, the big NATO offensive in Europe, code named Eagle
Rising. As the Ice War concludes, we asked John where the series is going
next.
“The conclusion of Ice War
will present an interesting discussion between Karpov, Fedorov and Tyrenkov,
and that will lead them on a special mission as we go to the ground war in
Europe, NATO’s big offensive to liberate
the Russian occupied Baltic States. There we will meet Brigadier Berg in the
21st Panzer Brigade, and of course Brigadier Kinlan with the British
contingent, and they will take us into that ground war, which will really
decide Russia’s fate in this war.”
“What about the Chinese? Is the conflict
in the Pacific over?”
“No. That end of the war suffered
a severe check with the eruption of the Demon Volcano, but that war resumes
after a three week interruption, so I’ll also be covering the US campaign into
the East China Sea, the Chinese intervention in Korea, and the Argos Fire
leads a combined NATO group into the South China Sea again as the West goes on
the offensive in an attempt to break the Chinese Navy.”
“Does Kirov get in on that
action?”
“Not directly, as the Fleet is in
the north now, but there will be a few twists yet to come involving Kirov
and crew, so stay tuned.”
Kirov Saga
Ice War
By
John Schettler
Part I – Seven Skunks
Part II – Strange Bedfellows
Part III – Harried
North
Part IV – Hidden Danger
Part V – The Gates of
Hell
Part VI – Jeremiah
Part VII – Ardent
Fire
Part VIII– Regrouping
Part IX – Cold Fury
Part X – Sea
Eagle
Part XI – Submarines
Part XII – Free
Radicals
