Pathway to Japanese Literature
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The Fifth Ice AgeAuthor: Unno Juza
| Original Title | 第五氷河期 |
|---|---|
| Author | 海野 十三 |
| Genre | Fantasy & Sci-Fi |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a world teetering on the brink of catastrophe, Dr. Kitami—a silver-haired scientist branded a madman—warns of an imminent global ice age. Summoned by skeptical authorities, he furiously insists that volcanic eruptions and unprecedented earthquakes are harbingers of disaster, dismissing their demands for "layman's proof" as folly. When cataclysmic tremors strike Tokyo, followed by eruptions engulfing Mount Fuji, his predictions begin to materialize. Yet officials dismiss him, clinging to rationalizations even as temperatures plummet and skies darken under volcanic ash. \nMonths later, unrelenting blizzards bury cities, glaciers devour landscapes, and humanity faces extinction. Secretly, Dr. Kitami races to build underground shelters in abandoned mines, stockpiling supplies to save a fraction of mankind. As ice envelops the planet, a handful of survivors—guided by his foresight and a meteorologist’s late awakening—huddle in subterranean refuges. But doubt lingers: can they endure centuries of frozen darkness? The story unfolds as a clash between human arrogance and nature’s wrath, where survival hinges on embracing the unthinkable—and a madman’s desperate gamble to outlast the end of the world. |
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