Talk:The Kraken Wakes

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Untitled[edit]

Quote: " In phase three, the aliens start melting the ice caps causing sea levels to rise. (Of course, melting sea ice will not actually raise sea levels, a fact overlooked by the author.)" Just commented the bit in brackets out, because AFAIK this statement is at least questionable. Somebody knowing more about these things than I do needs to verify it - or falisfy. -- AlexR 01:16, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

It seems to be reasonably accurate -- according to the International Panel on Climate Change melting the ice-caps gets you a sea level rice of 0.5m. It's only if you melt the Antarctic Ice Sheet that you get a massive sea-level rise (up to 70m). --Ngb 10:22, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
The "Krakens" melt the Antarctic ice caps as well, it says so a few times throughout the book. edgeworth 10:00, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Note it's the Antartic Ice Sheet, not just the cap. --Ngb 18:27, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

"Never leave the water"[edit]

The article is inaccurate when it states that the aliens never leave the water- there are a number of scenes in which they raid the land, killing and capturing people, in vehicles.

Not necessarily. It is never made for certain the the intelligences themselves are in the sea tanks, as whenever one is destroyed nothing is left but a thin layer of slime. The possibility that these are merely synthetic forms isn't discounted in the book. Leave it in.--Planetary 21:12, 17 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"The novel is not explicit about whether the ice being melted is on water or on land"[edit]

There's a reference to glaciers in Greenland calving icebergs - doesn't that mean that the land ice is melting? Guyal of Sfere 07:01, 16 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Different endings to the book[edit]

I've just finished reading an electronic Kindle version of this book, and was surprised to find that the ending is different to that of my Penguin classic paper book.

  • In the kindle version they are tracked down by Bocker via helicopter, and he explains a great deal of what has happened in the world while Mike & Phyllis have been isolated - even describing the Japanese ultrasonic device in some detail.
  • In the paperbook version they are instead approached by a neighbour in a rowing boat, who gives them a brief overview of what has happened in the world - excluding much of the detail and just mentioning that the Japanese have developed an ultrasonic device. He tells them that their names have been broadcast on radio, and that a "Council For Reconstruction" has been formed.

The Penguin ending is slightly less ambiguous than the e-book, in that it implies humanity is already attempting recovery.

Anyhoo, I'm wondering if this is worthy of inclusion at all - it's quite a large change, although as it's the last chapter it doesn't really affect the plot in any way. The plot section at the moment is thin enough that it could have come from either version of the book. Chaheel Riens (talk) 16:24, 19 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

As nobody has commented either way, I'm going to add this to the article. Chaheel Riens (talk) 15:45, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Additional audio version, CBC Vancouver radio adaptation from 1965[edit]

The Kraken Wakes was adapted into a five-part serial by Eric Cameron for CBC radio Vancouver (Canada). Those details revealed in the broadcast. The description at Internet Archive lists the year as 1965 but does not cite a source. https://archive.org/details/TheKrakenWakes_cbc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.48.74.131 (talk) 17:10, 21 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Up to the end, humans have no clear idea what their opponents looked like."[edit]

That is not grammatical or even idiomatic English, and worse, it is not clear.2A01:CB0C:CD:D800:CD50:BE34:214B:7875 (talk) 09:19, 28 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Seems perfectly clear, grammatically correct, and idiomatic to me? Do you have an alternative suggestion, or at least can you specify exactly where you see the problems? Chaheel Riens (talk) 10:59, 28 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]