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bushraboblai's review against another edition
1.0
This is such a shitty, white saviour narrative of a book that reeks of the revisionism that whîte people think of when they contemplate on their history of brutal colonialism.
The beliefs of the indigenous people of this fictional island, which is based on real beliefs of the Indigenous people of Canada is mocked and belittled. The depiction of graphic violence which did actually happen all over the Arctic under British rule is brushed aside and hidden and this IS FRAMED AS A GOOD THING.
Then, the British commissioner doesn’t actually exposes the violence of colonialism or do any actual work to offset the harm that his own family committed and this is framed as a very heroic endeavour.
And finally, in the epilogue of this FICTIONAL book, the island is gifted to the colonial state of Canada. Because even in fiction they cannot let go of their neocolonialism.
Horrible HORRIBLE book.
The beliefs of the indigenous people of this fictional island, which is based on real beliefs of the Indigenous people of Canada is mocked and belittled. The depiction of graphic violence which did actually happen all over the Arctic under British rule is brushed aside and hidden and this IS FRAMED AS A GOOD THING.
Then, the British commissioner doesn’t actually exposes the violence of colonialism or do any actual work to offset the harm that his own family committed and this is framed as a very heroic endeavour.
And finally, in the epilogue of this FICTIONAL book, the island is gifted to the colonial state of Canada. Because even in fiction they cannot let go of their neocolonialism.
Horrible HORRIBLE book.
mscarle's review against another edition
3.0
Decent art and mood, and an interesting story that would have been helped by a longer book.
charaveryy's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars - CONTAINS SPOILERS
British Ice had a lot of promise for me. The premise seemed super interesting, and I also felt that the art looked beautiful. I was right about those two things. I enjoyed the art style quite a bit, because I overall love the black and white/ blues that the story is drawn in. I also thought that the idea for the book was good. However, I did have a substantial problem with this book.
The story that it tells, of imperialism and the genocide and oppression of indigenous people is a massively important story. It's just not one that can be told in 123 pages, of which most pages don't even have words. The plot and characters were simply not filled out enough, and I felt like the main character didn't have enough time to overcome his imperialist roots and understand the wrongdoings of his father to attempt to right them.
The ending also frustrated me. The main character threatens to expose the atrocities in the British Arctic if the indigenous people are not set free. I felt that for 2021, this was a ridiculous ending. You're attempting to make a statement about telling the story of imperialism, but you decide to have your main character assist in covering up the story? I wasn't sure if that was the correct way to handle this, especially since we find out at the end, that the indigenous people weren't even really freed by this action. The character also harbors no guilt about knowing this information.
The indigenous people in the story are depicted as very violent, and although that depiction is to show how the peoples have reacted to imperialism, I felt that it was a very unfair description. The book focused 0% of its attention on the indigenous culture, which actually could have been interesting, and instead focused on the British side of things, which frankly, is a story that is already wrote.
Finally, I felt that although the concept was actually really cool, it would have been better if in attempting to relate this story, the author had chosen a true story. So many indigenous stories have been ignored, and making up a fake colony does nothing to tell the true story of what happened.
2.5 stars were given for the beautiful art and the intriguing concept. for a graphic novel, the story was also pretty easy to follow and the "plot twists" made sense.
British Ice had a lot of promise for me. The premise seemed super interesting, and I also felt that the art looked beautiful. I was right about those two things. I enjoyed the art style quite a bit, because I overall love the black and white/ blues that the story is drawn in. I also thought that the idea for the book was good. However, I did have a substantial problem with this book.
The story that it tells, of imperialism and the genocide and oppression of indigenous people is a massively important story. It's just not one that can be told in 123 pages, of which most pages don't even have words. The plot and characters were simply not filled out enough, and I felt like the main character didn't have enough time to overcome his imperialist roots and understand the wrongdoings of his father to attempt to right them.
The ending also frustrated me. The main character threatens to expose the atrocities in the British Arctic if the indigenous people are not set free. I felt that for 2021, this was a ridiculous ending. You're attempting to make a statement about telling the story of imperialism, but you decide to have your main character assist in covering up the story? I wasn't sure if that was the correct way to handle this, especially since we find out at the end, that the indigenous people weren't even really freed by this action. The character also harbors no guilt about knowing this information.
The indigenous people in the story are depicted as very violent, and although that depiction is to show how the peoples have reacted to imperialism, I felt that it was a very unfair description. The book focused 0% of its attention on the indigenous culture, which actually could have been interesting, and instead focused on the British side of things, which frankly, is a story that is already wrote.
Finally, I felt that although the concept was actually really cool, it would have been better if in attempting to relate this story, the author had chosen a true story. So many indigenous stories have been ignored, and making up a fake colony does nothing to tell the true story of what happened.
2.5 stars were given for the beautiful art and the intriguing concept. for a graphic novel, the story was also pretty easy to follow and the "plot twists" made sense.
annabunce's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
2.0
This book made me uncomfortable but not in the way I think the author intended. Should we be looking critically at British Imperialism and Colonization? Yes. Did this author do a good job of that? Well... No. Having worked in Inuit communities I was frankly annoyed by the author's lazy "oh they're not Inuit, they're another 'tribe'" bullshit and then bringing in the Wendigo figure - associated with Algonquin speaking First Nations - into the story. The muddled use of Indigenous, First Nations, and Inuit terminology made it clear the author had not done basic research and apparently his editors hadn't either. Also SO many scenes of them burning wood fires, with logs stacked up against it, in homes on treeless open tundra... just lazy. There was a white saviorism underpinning the whole story all the way to the end. The one dimensional "Indigenous/Inuit/First Nations" peoples were such tropes, held up as stoic "noble savages" but also murderers. I also genuinely believe that by leaving the authors note til the end people will read this book and believe it is based in truth, instead of a made up story rooted in the very real experiences of colonization. I wish the author had been less lazy and actually researched and told a true story of colonization. Skip this and read "Paying the Land" by Joe Sacco instead if you want to read an real story of colonization in the Arctic that puts community voices first.
crosberg's review against another edition
1.0
Here's the thing: if you're going to tell a story about how colonialism is bad, the hero of that story cannot be the white dude showing up on colonized land.
The story is spooky and feels like it could be real, which isn't a credit so much to the author as it is to all the extremely fucked up things done by the British Empire and the men that used its power as a weapon.
Only one of the indigenous people in this book is given any real dialog and has a name, but it's not even her name, just "as close as English can get" to her name. She ends up shooting other indigenous people to save the white guy who ends up "making things right", because apparently it would've been impossible to write a story about indigenous people saving themselves. The speech Fleet gives at the end is peek white savoirism, and makes it clear who and what Pomery prioritizes. This book needed a good editor and a patient sensitivity reader and even then it probably wouldn't have been salvageable. As it is, it reinforces racist stereotypes and colonialist mindsets about indigenous people being savage and mystical, so it manages to not do anything Pomery apparently set out to do.
Art is stiff and characters nearly impossible to tell apart (which is another wildly racist problem), pacing is alright. Pomery just frankly doesn't have the skill, training, or sensitivity to pull this off, but probably could've made a decent horror story.
The story is spooky and feels like it could be real, which isn't a credit so much to the author as it is to all the extremely fucked up things done by the British Empire and the men that used its power as a weapon.
Only one of the indigenous people in this book is given any real dialog and has a name, but it's not even her name, just "as close as English can get" to her name. She ends up shooting other indigenous people to save the white guy who ends up "making things right", because apparently it would've been impossible to write a story about indigenous people saving themselves. The speech Fleet gives at the end is peek white savoirism, and makes it clear who and what Pomery prioritizes. This book needed a good editor and a patient sensitivity reader and even then it probably wouldn't have been salvageable. As it is, it reinforces racist stereotypes and colonialist mindsets about indigenous people being savage and mystical, so it manages to not do anything Pomery apparently set out to do.
Art is stiff and characters nearly impossible to tell apart (which is another wildly racist problem), pacing is alright. Pomery just frankly doesn't have the skill, training, or sensitivity to pull this off, but probably could've made a decent horror story.