If you missed the last one…
Ice Planets are part of the Space Opera landscape. Whether your first one was Star Trek‘s Sarpeidon (1969), Star Wars‘ Ice Planet Hoth (1980) or the later Star Trek movies’ Rura Penthe (1991) or Delta Vega, they all have one thing in common. Cold. Well, and Ice. …And Snow. …And monsters. So, four things, really. The monsters are usually large, shaggy and white.
Beginnings
I had to wonder where this trope began. What was the first snowy setting for a space opera? The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (All-Story, December 1913-March 1914) may be the one. This novel is not entirely set in the polar regions but a good portion is. It introduces the snow monster, the Apt. This creature will show up again in “The Yellow Men of Mars” (Amazing Stories, August 1941)
The Pulps I am going to discuss below are all ice worlds but I doubt any of them had any influence on television and movies. For that you are more likely to find the land of Frigia in the Flash Gordon comics trip. This planet got an episode in the serials called “The Freezing Torture” (Season 3, Episode 2, March 10, 1940). These old serials had a lasting impression on a young George Lucas.
One last clarification here before we get to the stories: I haven’t included stories of Earth during or going into an ice age such as G. Peyton Wertenbaker’s “The Coming of the Ice” (Amazing Stories, June 1926). Robert Silverberg’s novel Time of the Great Freeze (1964) comes to mind as does John Christopher’s The Long Winter (1962). Doctor Who‘s “Ice Warriors” (1967) is of this sort, too. These are really a separate theme. I only want other icy planets and moons here.
The Pulps
“The Planet of Doubt” by Stanley G. Weinbaum (Astounding Stories, October 1935) has the spaceship Gaea landing on Uranus to find some strange critters indeed. Stanley G. Weinbaum, who specialized in the cosmic travelogue, is great in this late tale.
“The Red Peri” by Stanley G. Weinbaum (Astounding Stories, November 1935) is set on Pluto, where a Dutch ship, Aardkin, and an American one, Limbo, meet the Red Peri, the notorious female space pirate. The monsters on this planet are not animals but living metal.
“Revolt in the Ice Empire” by Ray Cummings (Planet Stories, Fall 1940) has Zura, an ice planet ruled by a queen, Tara. Carruthers and Duroh come from Earth in the Planeteer and set everything on its head.
“Ice Planet” by Carl Selwyn (Comet Stories, May 1941) has William Ricker of the Planetary Times on Neptune to find a female killer, Molly Borden. For more on Carl, go here.
“Siren Satellite” by Arthur K. Barnes (Thrilling Wonder Stories, Winter 1946) has Gerry Carlyle and Tommy Strike on Triton. To win the day, Gerry will have to capture the Shaggie, a furry beast with anti-freeze for blood. For more on the critters of the Gerry Carlyle series, go here.
“The Lake of Gone Forever” by Leigh Brackett (Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1949) has Rod Conway and the spaceship Rohan landing on the ice planet, Iskar. The black Lake of Gone Forever and the girl Conna will haunt him forever. Brackett was the queen of space opera and it is only fitting she wrote of an ice world.
“Frozen Hell” by John W. Jakes (Planet Stories, July 1952) takes us back to Pluto and a search for the lost remains of a space hero. Instead they found a monster! For more on John Jakes’ career, go here.
After the Pulps
“The Frozen Planet” (aka “Courier”) by Keith Laumer (Worlds of IF, September 1961) has Retief off to Jorgenson’s Planet to warn the inhabitants of the invading Soetti. Retief has a brief encounter with a Bolo tank on the icy planet. For more Keith Laumer’s Bolo series, go here.
Conclusion
Wherever producers like Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas got their inspiration for snow-covered planets, the setting did not disappear after the Pulps. Some later novels are obviously inspired by the earlier ice worlds like the Perry Rhodan novel, “Peril on the Ice Planet” (Perry Rhodan #23, April 1973) written in German in 1962.
Michael Moorcock’s The Ice Schooner (SF Impulse, November December 1966–January 1967) is another. This classic novel feels like Sword & Sorcery at times but really is Science Fiction about people adapting to a strange new world. Keith Roberts wrote an approved sequel called “The Wreck of the ‘Kissing Bitch'” (Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1971).
Another later trilogy starts with Alan Dean Foster’s Ice-Rigger (1974). This book is set on Tran-Ky-Ky, a frozen world where the inhabitants use wind-driven ice boats. Foster wrote two sequels also set on there: Mission to Moulokin (1979) and The Deluge Drivers (1987).
Many thanks for this feature. I find this theme fascinating. There’s a novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, Icehenge (1984), which I hope to read.