A review by gfox3737
Ice Trilogy by Vladimir Sorokin

3.0

Sorokin writes in a relatively simple prose style, at least as represented by the English translation. I want to check out the Russian versions while I am living in Russia to see how the original reads. My friend here told me that Sorokin's first novel, The Queue, was written devoid of descriptions, mainly in dialogue with an absurd bent to his prose, and in regards to this trilogy, Sorokin changes up his prose styles throughout the novels.

In other reviews that people tend to talk about the repetitiveness that Sorokin uses throughout the Bro section and which comes up in the other two novels as well. In part this was done on purpose to illustrate the communal and identical aspects of the Brotherhood of Light members. It was not distracting for me since the plots of all three novels moved along rapidly and kind of drilled in the, uh, otherworldliness and harshness of the, uh, cult.

Bro is written from the point of view of the title character and his narrative voice changes as he goes through the different periods of his life. I thought this was entertaining despite not particularly liking how he ended up... BUT that has to do with the, uh, problematic objectives and procedures of the Brotherhood. Enough on that.

Ice follows Bro chronologically story-wise but was written before the other two novels in the trilogy. I knew this going into the novel and I could see the signs that this was the case, as well. At the end of Bro, the reader knows the founding history and some procedures of the Brotherhood, but Ice begins in a way that purposefully casts doubt and a sense of the unknown on the Brotherhood's purpose. It feels less like a true follow up to Bro and might have even been better placed as the opening of the trilogy. The point of view changes several times in this section and makes for an enjoyable reading experience. I liked the "user review" section toward the end in the third part of the novel with the constantly changing narrative voice for people of different ages, genders, and professions.

23,000 follows Ice chronologically and even starts where the former left off. I noticed that a few reviewers called this last novel the weakest with a rushed ending, but both points seem more fitting following the new characters introduced as a sort of nemesis to the Brotherhood. Sorokin again changes his narrative voice and narrators. In three consecutive sections, he entertainingly takes on the voices of three characters who were successfully evading the Brotherhood. I truly thought Sorokin's absurdist humor, satire, social and national focuses, history, religious, and even dietary ideas put forth in the novels made the entire series fun to read. The only time I felt let down was a repetitive moment during the last three pages. There are too many spoilers here to discuss it, but that is one reason I only rated it 3 stars. It could have left out three repeated words and I would have been content with the series. As is, it was fun and I loved the mixing of nationalities in this last section, with cultural and religious humor inserted as well.

These are only my quick thoughts after finishing tonight !