The novel “The Ice Schooner” by Michael Moorcock was published for the first time in 1966 serialized in the magazine “sf Impulse” and in 1969 as a book. A revised edition was published in 1977, a further revision was published in 1985.
Konrad Arflane is the descendant of a family of sailors but had to give up the ice ship he commanded to pay debts. One day he stumbles into an elderly man wounded and lost on the ice after the destruction of his ship. After some hesitation, he rescues him and brings him back to his city.
The man is Lord Rorsefne, one of the most powerful men in the city of Friesgalt. He feels gratitude to Konrad Arflane and the fact that he has experience as a ship captain is a lucky sign. Lord Rorsefne shipwrecked during an expedition to find the legendary New York and needs someone to be put in command of a new journey.
“The Ice Schooner” may initially seem like a mix between “The Story of Arthur Gordon Pym” and “Moby Dick” due to the importance of whaling but the world in which it’s set quickly turns out to be different from ours. Ships travel on the ice instead of water and even the animals have adapted to live on the ice.
It’s a future world where because of a new ice age even the seas are covered with a thick layer of ice. We understand that this is the future thanks to the fact that Michael Moorcock mentions several times plastic and nylon, describing them as very ancient and the fact that they become valuable. Even ships are ancient and the technologies to build new ones no longer exist.
In the course of the novel, there are many references to the religion of the future, focused on the Ice Mother. The religious theme is fundamental to the story because Konrad Arflane is a traditionalist. When has the ability to command a ship in search of the legendary New York for him to become a pilgrimage because there he could find the Ice Mother.
Konrad Arflane’s devotion is put to the test when he falls for Ulrica, Lord Rorsefne’s daughter, married to Lord Ulsenn. Urquhart, the best among the whalers in his crew and the most devoted to the Ice Mother too, sees the journey to New York as a means of salvation for humanity. Devotion unites Konrad and Urquhart but the love story with Ulrica creates a problem between the two men.
“The Ice Schooner” is basically a great adventure on the ice of the future world but it contains many other elements. The novel is mainly Konrad Arflane’story, with his religious and love torments and that makes him by far the most developed character.
Honestly, I didn’t like the love story between Konrad and Ulrica because I thought it was superficial. It’s a love almost at first sight, complicated by the fact that she’s married to a man she doesn’t love for reasons of pure convenience. In the end, their story serves mainly to create problems to Konrad.
The other flaw of the novel in my opinion is in the ending a bit rushed. This may be justified by the length restrictions imposed in the initial magazine edition. It’s an ending in which Konrad Arflane discover the truth about his world and contains a hope for the future so it deserved a greater development.
In my opinion, these flaws are largely offset by an intriguing adventure with a protagonist who isn’t exactly a hero and some other interesting characters. Konrad Arflane would like the world to remain always the same and sees any changes with suspicion, beginning with a certain tolerance towards free thinking he finds in the city of Friesgalt. His stubbornness makes him in some ways an anti-hero and yet we must recognize his honesty, even with himself about his flaws.
“The Ice Schooner” probably isn’t one of the best novels by Michael Moorcock but if you like adventures in rather extreme environments and quite rough characters you should like it.
