Reviewed by Sherri Fulmer Moorer for Readers' Favorite
An amazing discovery draws a research team to the frozen tundra out of season. It started as a normal archaeological dig but quickly turned into something more when they unearth a perfectly preserved human man. The team quickly mobilizes to document the find and to exhume the body and whatever relics lay with it for shipping and investigation at their home base in Houston, Texas. But this find is more than it seems as Molly, one of the team members, establishes a bond with the strange, perfectly preserved man. Something Called Permafrost, by Robert E. Kearns, is an interesting short story that will ignite the imagination and break the bounds of what you believe is possible in modern science.
I enjoyed this quick tale because it tells a complete story in a relatively short space. Molly is the only character, and yet her role in the story is well developed and comes to a dramatic and surprising conclusion. The story moves quickly in a straight exposition form, with no dialogue or interaction between characters, except the strange interactions between Molly and the frozen man her team exhumes from the ice. Best of all, this is a great, quick read that you can enjoy in one sitting, just enough to spark your imagination and immerse you into a scene that's different from your day to day life. Something Called Permafrost is a good, succinct story that will capture the reader, and Robert E. Kearns does a good job of weaving a solid story.