Ice

In the midst of an eternal winter brought on by an otherworldly event, Benedykt Gieroslawski, a young and indulgent Polish mathematician, finds himself thrust into a journey that unravels the threads of history and reality. It's the 14th of July, 1924, and Warsaw lies buried under layers of snow beneath Russian dominion. Two envoys from the Ministry of Winter disrupt Benedykt's slumber, tasking him with a mission aboard the Trans-Siberian Express to Siberia to locate his long-banished father. This mission's origins trace back to 1908, with the collision of the Tunguska asteroid in Siberia acting as a catalyst for a transformative era.From this impact site emerged the Gleissen, enigmatic envoys of an unending winter that altered the fabric of 20th-century history. As these silent figures drift across continents, agriculture withers, cities swell with people seeking refuge from the lethal cold, and history stagnates: the Tsar maintains his dominion over Russia, the Belle Époque lingers, and the First World War is but a notch erased from time’s register. Beyond the frozen landscape, however, a novel world leaps into existence.The severe, unearthly chill has metamorphosed elements into unheard-of forms, igniting a 'black physics' — the impetus behind a radical industrial and scientific renaissance. At the core of this lies Siberia, a 'Wild East' drawing political, religious, and scientific fervor to its frigid embrace in the dawning years of the 20th century. Here, black physics melds with shamanic traditions and the unforgiving logic of winter, forming the backdrop against which Benedykt must decide his fate: to yield to the cold's domination or to obliterate it. His odyssey draws him towards a reckoning that will shape the course of this undiscovered country and perhaps even his own destiny.