I found the story of the book-description interesting and decided to give it a try. Well, these were some hours I will never get back, no matter how much I would like to.
Suspension of disbelief is a requirement to enjoy fiction - but a basic logical scaffolding is still essential. Otherwise no immersion is possible.
Some other reviewer compared Antarktos Risisng to a Michael Crichton novel - but, besides the quick passing of some dinosaurs, I fail to see the connection. Crichton's science was cutting edge yet solid. The "science" behind Robinson's claims is half-baked at best, if not simply not there. And he is sloppy as well. Unless the continent some way acquired...a metabolism, there are no "katabolic" winds in Antarctica (p.35). The author probably refers to katabatic winds. Then again, the novel had much more serious problems than poor proofreading.
A character, being the sole survivor of her home-city and after weathering the worse of the climactic change in her well-stocked basement, she decides to take off: what she deems essential to pack in this post-apocalyptic world. What does she pack? Her ...DSLR camera (whose characteristics she describes in excruciating details in p.53) complete with its 200mm lens! What's a extinction event if one cannot snap some decent sunset pictures, right?!
Antarctica thawing in...days - and then turning into a tropical environment, complete with 15ft tall trees within...weeks? No even if said trees were on springs!
Full-grown dinosaurs thawing out to packs with well set hierarchy (not to mention cool nicknames!)?
Gigantic demon-spawns living undetected for centuries, having to resort to...eating their own babies (need I point out how inefficient this is, to say the least?) - yet, not neglecting to learn English, taught by the scientists/"teachers" they captured? Forget English, eat the teachers and let your babies live!
In this light of stretched-out allowances, the incorporation of Creationism and "scientific" verification of Biblical claims would not have bothered me so much, were they presented in a more logical basis. On that note, I never understood the impetus behind strong-arming science into "proving" claims that are supposedly articles of faith.
Again, a novel that fails to work in every level. It is not even bad enough to claim cult status.
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