Ice Punk

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Out of all of cyberpunk subtropics, what about the Ice Age?

While desert punk handles the dry sandy-like wastelands, it does not always have to be hot. The definition of a desert is a lack or little of precipitation for an extended period of time, hence why Antarctica meets this, though it would actually be considered a polar (ice) desert. Polar and True deserts are often separated into two sets demanding on the environment. In recent years, compositions relating to an ice age either in the historical era or future has been the topic. It can range from Alternate History to After The End. When it comes to technology, often falling under the Schizo-Tech classification, they can also range from historical to futuristic. Pretty much the opposite of global warming one would say.

Examples of Ice Punk include:

Film

  • Ice Age series takes on such trope giving it's setting mostly in a polar like region.
  • Snowpiercer goes for an After The End approach as the backgrounds explain mankind's failed attempt to control Global Warming, only for the opposite to be the consequences.
  • Post Impact takes place in an ice age setting caused by the impact of an asteroid: Bay-Leder 7.

Literature

  • Snowfall Trilogy focuses on what civilization would be like in a futuristic ice age.
  • Ring Rise, Ring Set takes place after a comet impact creates the ice age in question.
  • In the classic Golden Age SF short story "A Pail of Air" by Fritz Leiber, Earth has become a rogue planet after being torn away from the Sun by an unspecified cosmic force. As a result, the Earth's atmosphere had mostly frozen out into layers of "snow", and the story describes how one family of survivors "harvest" it to survive.

Tabletop Games

  • Magic: The Gathering has a card set expansion that takes place in an Ice Age, where the soldier nation of Kjeldor, the barbarians of Balduvia, and the elvish society of Fyndhorn are among the remaining civilizations after temperatures drop. The necromancer, Lim-Dûl, seeks the chance to conduct his twisted experiments, while the wizard Zur the Enchanter trains new wizards has been given the responsibilities to train new wizards in an effect to survive the environment.

Video Games

  • Frost Punk takes on a mix of Alternate History and After The End. The premise focuses on what was England during the global cooling event resulting in the ice age, likely due to the eruption of Krakatoa and Mount Tambora. Known only as captain, the player is tasked with rebuilding society.
  • Battlefield 2142 takes place in an ice age in said year.