Led – Dukaj Jacek (2021)

An adventurous journey through a frozen world where the First World War never occurred. It is the year 1924, and the Kingdom of Poland is frozen under Tsarist rule in the Belle Époque. Warsaw is covered in ice — in the middle of summer, snowstorms blanket the streets. Otherworldly angels of Frost, called the 'prítuhy', walk the city streets, freezing truth and lies. Benedict Gierosławski, a gifted mathematician but an incorrigible gambler, sets off at the request of the Tsar's Ministry of Winter to Irkutsk, where he is to find his father — Father Frost, who is said to be a confidant of the prítuhy. A thousand rubles in cash would pull Benedict out of debt, but is this task not too dangerous? From the dirty tenement houses of Warsaw through icy Asia in a luxury compartment of the Trans-Siberian Express to the heavenly palace of the governor-general in the heart of Winter — this is a journey that will change Benedict's life. 'Ice' is a masterful piece by Jack Dukaj, through which readers will not only discover an alternative history of the world that freezes the blood in their veins but also have the opportunity to travel alongside the novel's hero on an extraordinary journey and face the Other.