The story is a fascinating one - that of a chef moving to Antarctica. I found the account easy to follow, and I even ended up looking online to see if there were any vacancies out there that I could apply for.

The only problem with the book, and which has resulted in a 3-star review instead of a 4-star review, is the quality of the writing. While the account is easy to follow, it doesn't make for particularly good reading. On the first page of the book, one paragraph involves both 'immediate' and 'jump'; the next has 'immediately' and 'jumped'. The writer's heart then 'thumped with exhilaration' and soon 'every part of me trembled' - though this was only when he was collecting the documentation necessary for the initial application. I think you get the idea.

The over-written nature of the account proves straining, which is a shame, because there is so much here of value. Kuhn is an adventurer, and this tale is one of lively adventuring, but rarely is the case for an editor made stronger than it is here. ( )

Chef on Ice is sort of a misnomer. Kuhn does not just tell the story of cooking in Antarctica, he also describes starting up a pretzel business in the off months in Brisbane and Melbourne. He mentions other cooking gigs as well. A better title for the book would have been Adventure Chef: Daring to Cook Anywhere. Seriously. Sebastien sounds like one of those people who would be perfect for an assignment with CoolJobsdotcom. While not a professional writer, Kuhn writes with an abundance of emotion, briefly remembering the sights, sounds, experiences of his various cooking expeditions. He has fantastic subject matter but not the articulation to translate it to the written word. I would have liked more stories about the actual cooking - more about the meals served, sourcing the ingredients in such a remote area, food prep. That sort of thing.
Confessional: I had one head-scratching moment in terms of chronology. Admittedly, for most of the book I didn't try to keep up, but when it came to Covid-19 Kuhn stated they endured a year and a half of lockdowns. Later he states he was back in business by November 2020. That would mean the Australian lockdown started September of 2018. I don't know. Maybe I read that part wrong?
Most impressive moment: I was impressed with Sebastien's level of respect when recounting the death of a crew member; never revealing the nature of the accident or the deceased's identity. Other authors would sensationalize such a tragedy. ( )

I enjoyed reading about the authors experience working in Antartica being a place I have t visited.
I received a hardback mock-up version with no title or author but luckily I remembered what ACI meant so was able to find on library thing to review! I enjoyed the photos at the end of each chapter, they were clear and supported the narrative well.
The writing at times was clunky and repetitive with the occasional over description - though remember the author is a chef by trade and not a writer in his non native tongue.
Mr Kuhn mentions his partner only twice in the book, in the beginning acknowledgement and once more, I was curious of her experience of the author being away for months at a time though I realise this was not the focus of the book I did wonder at times if the relationship survived.
I feel I understand a little now of the challenges and experiences of living and working in Antartica thanks to this book. ( )

Exploring the frozen landscapes of Antarctica alongside Sebastien was a delightful journey captured within the pages of this book.

While the narrative itself was engaging, I couldn't help but notice some areas where improvements could be made. The book cover, font selection, and writing style occasionally gave the impression of reading a casual travel blog rather than a polished literary work. However, despite these minor drawbacks, I found myself thoroughly engrossed in the story.

One of the most captivating aspects of the book was its vivid depiction of life in Antarctica. As someone with limited knowledge about this remote continent, I was fascinated by the insights into how the characters procured ingredients, prepared meals, and formed deep bonds amidst the harsh environment. The level of detail provided, particularly regarding the respectful accommodation of everyone's dietary needs despite the logistical challenges, was both enlightening and commendable.

In summary, while there may be room for refinement in certain aspects, I ultimately found this book to be an enjoyable and enlightening read. ( )

I didn't enjoy this book, despite being a huge fan of travel writing. I'm not sure that response will be universal: some readers may appreciate its focus where I did not. However, I think all readers will find the going a little heavier than necessary due to some significant formatting issues that make the book much more of a slog than it needs to be.

The pdf provided is clearly designed for print-only, and even then, it has issues. I think it's worthwhile to describe them so you know what you're getting into:

* Paragraphs were neither indented nor separated with a blank line, so they just jammed into each other. Coupled with the author's preference for long paragraphs anyway, that created the effect of page-long paragraphs.

* It's written in a sans serif font, which is murder for extended reading. There's a reason newspapers and professionally produced books use serif fonts.

* Photographs did not have their levels adjusted. They were dark when reading on a device that supported color, and really dark—some almost indecipherable—on a black-and-white device like a Kindle Paperwhite. I eventually gave that up and just read it on my computer.

Leaving this aspect aside and focusing on the content, I think this is a book that will appeal to some fans of travel writing but not to others. It is extremely focused on the "how" and not the "who." If you're looking forward to descriptions of the mechanics of living in Antarctica, then this book might satisfy.

If, however, you're looking to meet the people Sebastien Kuhn met, then it's shorter fare. It's not that you don't get to say, "Hello," to those people. It's that there's little beyond that; they're just background or entry points to an anecdote about the trivia of what the author did that day. What I mean by that is, if you think about something like William Least Heat Moon's Blue Highways, he paints the people he meets as much as the sights he sees. We see back-road America as both locale and populace. We don't get that duality here. A Chef on Ice generally limits the picture of people to something like, "larger-than-life character with a loud laugh and a jolly disposition, his Greek heritage meant that he felt right at home in the kitchen."

This seems a shame. If you consider that the population of the station is a self-selected group of adventurers from a diverse set of backgrounds, they are probably quite interesting. I'd have enjoyed them taking a larger role, hearing their thoughts and their reactions to their adventures, not just the somewhat-boring details about what they did that day. Kuhn describes them as a "tight-knit family," yet very little of that comes across. Even the death of a crew member is described with surface adjectives and little depth.

It is highly "adjectived" (I know, that's not a real word), written with a sort of breathlessness coupled with copious exclamation points. You can tell Mr. Kuhn loved his adventure, but I wish he could have been more effective in communicating that feeling.

So, in summary: it didn't work for me, but your mileage may vary.

Note: After I finished, I found it on Kindle Unlimited, so I downloaded the azw version to compare. That allows you to choose a serif font and forces ragged-right justification (eliminating some of the huge white space gaps caused by poor choices in word-wrapping/breaking in the print version). The problems of paragraphs running into each other and poor photograph quality remain, however. ( )