Ice Station, By Matthew Reilly
TV Interview with the author - transcript used on set
(Lights, camera, action. Host comes on set)
Host: Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to tonight's Late Show!
(Drum roll, music, cheers, etc)
And now, here's your interviewer, Mr. Smith.
(Smith comes on set, stands in spotlight)
Smith: Everyone, it is a long-standing tradition on Wednesdays to interview an author. Tonight is no exception. Everyone would you please welcome tonight's special guest, Matthew Reilly.
(Reilly comes on set, joins Smith in spotlight. Audience applause)
As most of you know, Matthew Reilly is the author of the brand-new thriller "Ice Station". He has given up his time to join us here tonight, and give us a chance-of-a-lifetime insight into the book. Mr. Reilly, take a seat.
(Reilly takes a seat. Smith sits down immediately after)
So, let's get started! Mr. Reilly, or Matthew if I may…
Reilly: That's quite alright, yeah.
Smith: So, Matthew, I was wondering if you could tell us all here what inspired you to write "Ice Station". It's a violent, descriptive and to say the least terrifying novel. What terrified me was how the scenario in the book could easily exist here in the real Earth. You know what I'm referring to? The ICG, the secret weapons development, the whole thing. Were these … more dire aspects of the novel ... inspired by fact or fiction?
Reilly: You will be glad to know that the secret political organisations in 'Ice Station' were not inspired by any concrete research I carried out. Rather, they're based more on the kind of low-class action movies I spend my Saturday nights enjoying. I have to admit groups like the ICG are about as likely to exist as 'SPECTRE' - the terrorist organisation in James Bond movies - and to a certain extent I regret not utilising my imagination a bit more effectively and thinking up a few more non-stereotypical movements. And I'd like you to know, that just for the records any political organisations mentioned in 'Ice Station' - such as the ICG - which are not known to be real, are almost certainly fictional. In writing 'Ice Station' I meant no disrespect or undue embarrassment to any organisations, political or otherwise. But all you intellectuals out there will be glad to hear that 'Ice Station' is not based entirely on your average shoot-and-shag movies and literary works.
I hope my readers managed to look beyond the conspiracies, romances and impossible technologies that make 'Ice Station' so easy to put on the screen - which I hope it will be one day - because behind all that lies a theme. I have always been a sucker for admiring those heroes who survive impossible odds, especially war heroes. Now, the most important two things to do when you're fighting a war are to 1, blast those enemies off the face of the earth, and 2, to stay alive. The latter part is much more important - unless you're stark raving mad - yet infinitely harder. Especially in Antarctica, one of the harshest environments on Earth known to man. Antarctica seemed the ideal location, as it fit the plot perfectly and added to the challenge of staying alive. I've always been interested in Antarctica, and I have to admit I did quite a bit of research on the scientific aspects of it, like the icebergs, the solar flares and the geological and paleontological research that has been conducted recently.
I feel a bit guilty about concentrating on the combat scenes more than the issue of survival against nature, mainly because many readers were anticipating a novel showing a battle against nature rather than your plain old bang-bang-you're-dead-type story. Anyone who's read 'Ice Station' could guess that I researched the serial numbers, uses and descriptions of elite weapons more than anything else, and as some of you were hoping yes, all those nitrogen grenades and maghooks were real.
Umm, yeah, it was the feeling of war that really inspired 'Ice Station', the actual battles, injury details and environmental difficulties as well as the how's and why's and political conspiracies that light the dynamite. Dirty, unrefined combat is a theme that appeals to such a large percentage of readers - I couldn't resist the temptation to make so many people happy they'd found what they were looking for.
Smith: So, what you're saying is that 'Ice Station' really is just your average crummy action book, only with so much more added on to make it original and artistically decent.
(Audience laugh)
I'm sure you won't mind if I don't concentrate on the theme of the novel anymore, as it's obviously a sensitive issue.
(Audience laugh)
Tell me about the characters, Matthew. Are they based on true-to-life people? They don't have that much interaction, apart from orders and hostile encounters. With the exception of the Trents, of course. And the civilians like Renshaw. Is that how you intended them to be, or did it just turn out like that? Oh yeah, and does the Scarecrow actually get together with Fox in the end?
(Audience laugh)
You really need to be clearer when it comes to the gossip content, man.
Reilly: Well, I was actually planning to leave that romantic ending up to my audience, but seeing they're not in charge of the story I'd better tell you. The way I see it, Fox never really recovers but Scarecrow marries her anyway. Being sick as she is, she drops off the twig after a few years and Scarecrow spends the rest of his life as a playboy.
(Audience laugh)
Jeez, I've really been watching too many soap operas.
(Audience laugh)
No, actually I agree with you, Mr. Smith. My characters - or most of them at least - interact the way they're meant to when they're on duty. Like grunts. Clear logical thinkers who are seasoned fighters and know strategy a light-year off. Robots who consider all the alternatives, discuss how they can achieve more through teamwork, and then take action. There are real human beings underneath that perfect exterior - in case you didn't notice, they do occasionally surface - but when they're on duty…well, a job's a job, and while you're at it you may as well focus and do it well. Especially when your life and much more is at stake.
People, I must argue - in my personal opinion - that the emotional depth of my main characters like Scarecrow makes up for the lack of interaction and individuality in the bulk of the cast. In fact, most of the marines - namely Mother, Book, Fox, Snake and Montana - show us their human half at some point, however brief.
In real life, all the characters would be emotionally unstable, physically scarred young people with complicated love lives back home and a short yet thrilling life story. Even in the book, that's what they are. But, being a story, I can't integrate a biography for all of them into the text, firstly because that's not my style, doing a full profile for all the minor sub-characters who die in the first ten pages, and secondly because it would confuse who the main characters were. Any amateur novelist knows that you focus on the main characters, and the rest can go to hell.
I spared no ink and paper in giving Lieutenant Shane Schofield - that's scarecrow - an FBI-worthy profile. I also zoomed in on his thoughts - thought I'd be unoriginal and go with the style people use so much these days. There aren't many thoughts crowding that trained mind of his, though - a bit of personal experience mixed in with training to help form strategies to kill the enemy. But he also cares about people - he sure as hell cares about that little girl Kirsty, who almost gets eaten by a killer whale at least once. And he takes care of his unit - Mother got five star care considering they could all easily have been killed taking care of her. Mother herself did tell them not to fret and concentrate on the enemy though - a remarkably brave thing to do considering she'd just had her leg munched up for dinner.
Back in Washington, feelings were much more complicated - which is fair enough, considering it's one of the political capitals of the world. The journalist couple were buzzing away on their story-which-they-hoped-was-a-story, and the ICG were controlling Antarctica even from that colossal distance. Schofield changed a great deal from his experience - you could tell. He's one of those heroes who learns a lesson from everything he does. Quite an amazing character, if you ask me.
Smith: I agree with you there, Scarecrow really is the hero type. A strong-willed, intelligent and lucky young man, to say the least. Now, tell me about the style of the book. I'd like to know why you chose to focus on what you did, and how you think that enhanced the novel overall. Did you plan to write 'Ice Station' the way you did, or did you just think to yourself halfway through: "You know, this might actually work!"
(Audience laugh)
Because that's what some authors do, you know. And, surprisingly enough, they get away with it and still sell a decent few million copies! I noticed you have a few twists, and building up to a surprise is always something you have to plan right from the beginning. Do you like the style of 'Ice Station'? Have you read it and enjoyed it?
Reilly: You know, I have a little secret to tell you. It won't really matter, now they have a definite figure of how many copies I sold in the first month. What I did was, I bought a thousand copies myself, and handed them out to friends, family, colleagues and - when I still had a few hundred copies left and no one to give them to - complete strangers. Actually, I feel a little guilty about it now, but at least I kept one copy for myself. I read that copy, though it isn't half so good when you know all the twists. And, to my surprise and joy, I liked it. I had actually written a book that wasn't just aimed to sell. After reading the finished, published version myself - and enjoying it - I thought to myself: "Wow. I, me, myself, actually enjoyed my own work! I'm satisfied!" It was an amazing thought, that despite what everyone else raved on about - despite the hundreds of fan letters and e-mails I get every day - upon reflecting my own, work, I was satisfied. I know you think it's rubbish when you hear sporting champions and pop stars and the like talking about the importance of achieving your personal goals, and having a good reflection of your achievements, but they're right. It is so important, and I am very glad I made something I can enjoy, and share with my children and grandchildren. Forever. Being happy with your achievements - and more importantly, being able to enjoy your achievements - is the Utopia all people should strive to reach.
Now, before I start talking like a sporting champion permanently…
(Audience laugh)
…Back to the style of the novel. I can think of one word to describe 'Ice Station' best of all - thriller. It has everything a thrilling book needs - constant battle, modern language - coarse language - limited characterisation, exotic or unusual locations, enhanced present-day or futuristic technology and setting, and of course romance. I put a great deal of time into the weapon descriptions, and I don't regret it one bit. It makes the battles so much better when they're fought in dangerous locations, like on board a hovercraft or in a pool full of hungry killer whales, and I just felt when writing the book that those scenes needed objects as well as a setting. The two fit together like chalk and a blackboard. And the swearing, although I admit it was excessive, added a feeling of authenticity. You could just imagine in your own mind, a squad of lean, mean marine machines dashing after their enemies screaming at the top of their lungs: …well, I'd better not repeat what they might say…
(Audience laugh)
But you can't challenge me in that the language slots in to that kind of battle like tea and biscuits slots in with meeting the Queen of England. I was also careful not to give lengthy physical descriptions of the characters, and to limit their personality descriptions chiefly to their professional performance. I described them as people in an indirect way - this was with Scarecrow and some others, anyway - by recounting some of their personal experiences and letting the reader build up his or her opinions of them.
The worst kind of battle is that which is fought in the middle of a city, or some other place where plenty of untrained civilians dwell. Let's face it - it's just not fun reading about battles between innocent people who can't fight and trained militia that can. On the news, it's called butchering, and when we hear about it we're always horrified at the lack of humanity in so many people - and rightly so we should feel that way. Even less exciting is one lame old goat fighting another - the most watchable and honourable battles are those between elite fighters. That's one reason I set the book in Antarctica - it's so far from anywhere, and it lacks ordinary civilians who can get in the way of a fight. All it has is a bunch of scientists who could use a bit of protection, but who really have no interest in blowing out brains themselves. There are just a few groups of veteran killers who know how to put up a spectacular fight with each other. And who have some mighty powerful toys handy which they're not afraid to use.
It could be argued that the discovery at the end of 'Ice Station' - an airborne vehicle capable of invisibility - classifies it as Sci-fi, but I'm sure most of you would disagree. It's the kind of thing you'd expect from James Bond. And tell me, would you ever consider calling James Bond sci-fi? I doubt it, and it's the same story here. "Boy sent to kill a few hundred men with some helpers, most of his mates die except a few innocent people and some women. Boy escapes from an iceberg - which is blown up with a nuclear bomb - by discovering a jet plane and rocketing away, pursued by a fireball. Boy comes home and falls in love with girl he rescues." The super-plane is simply a device which has two purposes in the story: One, to make the hero seem even more out of the ordinary by having futuristic gadgets, and; Two, to make it possible for the hero to escape and for the ending to be as perfect as an episode of 'The Brady Bunch'. Sci-fi technology is very close to essential in thriller stories, and that - in my view - makes it not sci-fi but the part of sci-fi you put in a thriller. Big difference.
Romance was the least concentrated element of the book by far, and with good reason. I hate mushy books, which describe 'that first kiss', and 'the way he looked at me, with those big eyes you could fall into'. If you want to rouse your hormones, video is a much more effective medium for it. In my opinion, books should not be wasted on human intimacy, but rather their potential should be maximised by writing about the things you may never experience in your own lifetime. We're all destined to find love, but we're not all destined to become a US Marine. So I hinted romance in the book, but I didn't get mushy. The one thing that would shatter my pride would be to be called 'the next Danielle Steele'. I made sure that wouldn't happen to me.
Smith: Finally, Matthew, what moralistic elements did you embed beneath the surface of the pages? What can we learn from 'Ice Station'? Anything new? Anything we couldn't learnt from watching an Arnold Schwarzeneggar movie?
(Audience laugh)
Just kidding, don't take offense. I know myself there are plenty of lessons to be learnt from reading 'Ice Station', and I'd like to hear what you yourself have to say.
Reilly: I was anticipating this one, right from the beginning.
(Audience laugh)
And I knew it'd come right at the end - it always does. Well, I've been thinking hard, and I've come up with a few ideas myself. I tried to remember right back to when I was busting my brains out for a decent storyline, and I thought to myself: "What's the point? What's the point of wasting…you know, a year at least, on writing a book? And what's more, I'm not even going to be writing a non-fiction book that people can gain knowledge from! Why should I write a full-length novel if my readers aren't even gonna gain anything from it?" And then it hit me, that if I'm gonna write a novel, it's gonna have to have a backbone; it's gonna have to have a theme; It's gonna have to have a moral. Because I thought to myself…you know…what do I want in a book? And above all, I knew deep down it was a lesson. It's crazy that after all those years of school the craving never went away…
(Audience laugh)
…Maybe our schools aren't really that bad after all…
(Audience laugh)
…No, but it's really funny, I'm still looking for a free lesson. And so are all you people out there, whether you're gonna admit it or not. When you put down a book after spending a week of late nights reading it, you're gonna think to yourselves: "Hey, you know, that was a really good book. I love it how it showed…bla bla bla." And if you can't think of something to substitute that bla bla bla, then in the end you aren't really gonna admire that book. You're gonna think to yourself: "I wasted $20 on this book, and for what I got out of it I could have got a $3 weekly from the video chain down the road." And when that thought hits home, you really won't be impressed. In fact, you'll be quite annoyed. I didn't want my readers to be annoyed with any work of mine. I wanted to show that I could produce a work of literature, which someone would put down after finishing it, flip it over, and just zoom off again from the beginning without even thinking about a new book. And I knew how to do it. A theme.
'Ice Station' is about survival, but against more odds than you can gun down with an MP-5. It's about currents; currents rippling serenely on the surface of someone's words, or even their face. It's about detecting these dangerous currents which emanate from your enemies, and finding their source; cutting them off at the source is crucial. The book overall is a strong statement dictating that even with the harshest environments to contend with, as well as foreign enemies flanking you from all sides ceaselessly, you still can't trust your closest friends or your most trusted vassals to guard your back for you. Rather, even in a pool full of killer whales - whose teeth drip with the blood of your fellow men - even then you have to guard your back from them. It emphasises that every step of our lives is a struggle and a risk, and that we can't really achieve anything in life without struggling to crush those who would oppose us. Of course, in 'Ice Station' the situation is extreme. Most people wouldn't find themselves fighting their superiors for the mere right to live, but nevertheless it shows that when a person wants something, and someone else wants to stop them getting it just as bad, bloodshed is imminent. 'Ice Station' is an indication of the selfishness that lies at the core of every one of us, and what results when another human being's selfish desires interfere with our own. Even the ICG member's motives were not what they seemed to be - preserving the security of their country - instead they were a self-obsessed fear of ever having their own, individual security breached by an enemy the size and number of a country. I'm sorry if I haven't left you with a pretty picture, but as the saying goes, C'est la vie. Just remember to choose your friends very, very carefully. Especially if you join the marines. So long as you have good friends, you can get anywhere in life.
Smith: Well, I think that just about covers it. That was rather a gloomy thought you left us with, Matthew, but I do agree the book conveys those sinister messages about our true instinctive nature. I sure do hope we can all trust our friends, and our family, too.
Host: I'm sorry, folks, but we're almost out of time tonight. Mr. Matthew Reilly, author of 'Ice Station', it's been a pleasure having you on the set. Thank you very much indeed for your time.
(Much applause, ending music, credits roll, sponsor messages, etc.)
(Cut)