When my copy of Cold People arrived, I couldn’t start it soon enough. I just knew from the description that it was exactly my cup of tea. The “exodus” to Antarctica occurs in the summer of 2023, and the narrative is divided between the events of that year, chronicling the colonisation of a new society and seen largely through the eyes of a young couple, Liza and Atto, and a crisis point that occurs 20 years later, at the culmination of the project to genetically engineer a new generation of “ice-adapted” people bred to thrive in the harshest conditions. The most successful of these humanoid creatures is ready to be “integrated” into the community, but the dilemma remains: will this superior species, created by humans, save or destroy us? The answer, according to Yotam, the scientist who has “raised” the creature from birth, will depend on its capacity to love. “But how can I teach something I’ve been looking for my whole life?” Yotam wonders. After aliens occupy Earth in 2023 and enact "the largest genocide ever committed," all human survivors are forced to live in Antarctica, where genetic engineering becomes key to their survival as a species.

Fascinating... a propulsive ride [that] unfolds at a galloping pace through a well-built world’ Christian Science Monitor Next came Child 44, later made into a movie on the big screen starring Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Noomi Rapace. I gave this 4 stars in my review and went on to become the first Australian blogger to interview Tom Rob Smith. Cinematic... Natural selection is magnificent in the abstract, when it works over millennia, but seeing it sped up to take place in a single lifetime, as Smith vividly imagines, exposes its brutality’ Washington Post Spellbinding . . . suspenseful . . . electrifying . . . A speculative masterpiece that will resonate with fans of Emily St. John Mandel, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Jeff VanderMeer.” — Library Journal (starred review) The plotting style reminded me of Matthew Reilly, and I know you'll be thinking "that's probably because of Ice Station", but actually it's because of the action in The Great Zoo of China. Cold People felt cinematic in scale at times (oh the ships!) and if you enjoy Matthew Reilly, I think you'll enjoy this too.

If we are invaded by aliens from another planet, I certainly hope it doesnt go as it is depicted in this book. Then again I guess that our mistreatment of the planet and subsequent climate change wont matter. In a way we may just deserve the fate depicted, a different species only allowing mankind to live in the coldest continent on earth. Of course many of us would die, not all will be able to travel in the allotted time and many more will die, not being used to or unable to prepare for the extreme weather.

The time shift into the future diluted my compassion for Liza and Atto, they were just beginning a relationship and then suddenly they are like an old married couple – she’s busy saving people in the hospital wards and he’s off becoming the fisherman he always wanted to be, all while leaving their teenage daughter to stew in her own pubescent thoughts on her own journey of self-discovery. Cold People by Tom Rob Smith is inventive and optimistic about humanity while pointing out our flaws and I'm glad I stepped into this frightening futuristic portrayal. I'm a huge fan of Tom Rob Smith's novels, having read his previous books multiple times. His pace and style of writing make his novels gripping and hugely enjoyable from beginning to end.A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Honestly, the book reminded me of my teenage years in the 80's, when I was a huge fan of X-Men comics. The themes of persecution and distrust of mutants, and apocalyptic global threats are definitely echoed in this novel. I don't mean that in a bad way. It was great fun. Although each chapter was headed with the place and time period, I would have preferred a more linear timeline. The 20-year gap in the storyline omitted facts about the struggles in the development of communities. There were some thought-provoking moral and ethical issues. The finale concludes with difficult decisions and erupts with conflict, danger and destruction. We get an idea of the chaos of this limited mass exodus and then the narrative then jumps 20 years into the future where what remains of humanity has formed a few settlements and are just trying to survive living in the most inhospitable location on the planet. One of the ways they're looking to the future and preservation of mankind is through genetically engineering the next generation to be better able to withstand the icy climate. Dun, dun, dun! (I mean, rarely in fiction is genetic engineering introduced when all goes smoothly, right?) A cinematic epic of global cataclysm and extraterrestrials… Themes of love, family and belonging are writ large… It’s the spectacular world-building, and creature-building, of the novel that’s most absorbing’ Daily Mail This book follows the journey that the human race makes as it tries to work out who gets to go, each country has their own criteria and priorities. There are also individuals who make their own way as well. It is a group of individuals that are the main focus as they make their journey to the frozen south.Did I love this? Hmmmm! I liked bits and pieces of it. I think this book needed a bit more editing. I couldn’t read this book fast enough. It’s been several days since I closed the book and I still can’t get it out of my head. The story ended with it being set up for a possible sequel. Please, please, please let there be a sequel. I have questions! So many questions! I’m not going to delve into the details of the plot except to say that for me it comprises four elements: Thirty days to evacuate everyone to Antarctica. That’s the edict given to the human race when, on an ordinary day in August not too long from now, a superior life-form arrives in the skies above Earth. Thus begins the largest and the last human migration, with the seemingly impossible task of making a life on the only continent where human beings can’t survive. Faced with extinction and a rapidly dwindling population, the remaining scientists and world leaders come to the conclusion that humanity cannot rely on natural evolution to save them; and work begins on engineering a new species. Called Cold People, these new humans are capable of so much more than we’d ever dreamed.