A Dream of Ice

In the cryptic prologue of Anderson and Rovin’s sequel to 2014’s A Vision of Fire, members of the alien Galderkhaani race, flying on a gondola attached to a balloon made of “inflated hortatur skin,” crash into the sea. Meanwhile in the Antarctic, a “bright yellow flame” jumps off the ice onto an electrical engineer, who sees something strange in the sky before the fire consumes her. The significance of these events soon becomes clear. In New York City, psychiatrist Caitlin O’Hara has visions of the civilization of Galderkhann, “a world of strange sights, strange beings, and strange philosophies.” Her access to those images coincides with a series of unusual phenomena that fans of Anderson’s performance in TV’s X-Files will appreciate: possessed teenagers in different parts of the world, a mass suicide of pigeons, a motorboat attacked by a dolphin. Even Caitlin’s 10-year-old son is affected, making her search for the truth even more urgent. The conclusion sets up the next book nicely. Agent: Doug Grad, Doug Grad Literary Agency. (Dec.)