A man who was supposed to be picked up and taken somewhere safe from the encroaching ice has been left behind. At the end he hears the book and crackle of the approaching mass of ice. (It's a metaphor, I know). I'd like to find it again. I read it a long time ago, so it isn't new.
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Not much to go on here. Why was the ice encroaching so quickly? Some kind of weapon (i.e. Ice-Nine from Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle") or was it purely ecological in nature (a la The Day After Tomorrow)? How long ago did you read it? Did you read it in school? Are there ANY more details you can remember about the cover, authour, etc?– Vanguard3000Commented Jul 18, 2017 at 14:20
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1You might want to check out the story-identification FAQ for a longer discussion of how additional details may help, including some which don't relate to the content of the story.– BrythanCommented Jul 18, 2017 at 14:36
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1 Answer
This struck such a note of recognition in my head that I had to look for it. I think this is The Forgotten Enemy by Arthur C. Clarke. The story originally appeared in New Worlds magazine in 1949 so it is quite old.
This classic story has a man who stays behind in London to stay with his books when all others leave the city, as the earth has entered a belt of dust and the strength of the sun is diminished. So Britain cools down and people leave for warmer places.
He encounters polar bears, reindeer and wolves, and hears a "roaring" sound.
At first he thinks it may be a rescue party but it turns out to be
the noise made by advancing glaciers as they cover Britain again
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1Clarke's "The Forgotten Enemy" has its own Wikipedia page. The story is available for free at the Internet Archive as it appeared in New Worlds No. 5, 1949 and in Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader, January 1953. Commented Jul 19, 2017 at 2:36