Rating: 
Summary: Cold fish
Review: Smilla is the rarest of birds; a wholly convincing woman character drawn by a man. Her profound alienation, her deep understanding of science and the subtle way she uses it to interpret her world are all stunningly achieved. Hoeg's earlier book, Borderliners, is less satisfying. But if you liked Smilla don't miss Mating, by Norman Rush
Rating:
Summary: Denmark's answer to John LeCarre, without the secret agents
Review: an outstanding random pick off the bookrack. One of the most intelligent, and suspensful novels I have ever read. The author is in the same category as my all-time favorite of intelligent mystery novels, John Le Carre. Need I say more
Rating:
Summary: An exciting plot of mystery, suspense and inner secrets.
Review: A very intriging novel of scientific mystery, combined with an amazing plot of diabolical and intelligent murder. Smilla discovers that the power of the "scientific world" can be used in a demented and twisted way. Her discoveries into an unfortunate murder of a child take her places she never dreams possible. Combined with her sense of mathematics, ice, and snow, she reveals the ultimate scheme of scientific destruction to destroy the world. Smilla risks everything to figure out the why a child must be sacrificed to keep the secret!. A thrilling book you can't put down until you've read the last page, which still leaves you thinking..
Rating:
Summary: Science fiction and mystery goes literary!
Review: Hoeg manages to merge genres and create a novel that is both
provocative and evocative. He gives us a great sense of life
in Denmark and Greenland, with amazing social details and believably quirky characters.
The facade of "Smillas Sense of Snow" is a modern action novel
-- a best seller if you will. At heart it is truly literature.
A book that I think is seminal in style. Beneath the surface
'snow' is loads of depth!
Rating:
Summary: Haunting, cold & poetic, snow and ice now a profession.
Review: You need a blanket and a fire to read this novel. It is a most unusual topic. It envelopes you in Smilla's most passionate relationship, understanding and awe of nature's
most spell-binding, dangerous and unforgiving elements, snow,
ice, glacier and water. She is a peculiar person. But your
understanding of snow would help you understand why she is so
well suited to work with it. She is cold, articulate, intelligent,
beautiful and especially defiant of Western constraints and bias toward the Greenlandic Eskimo whom she is a part of. Torn between two vastly different worlds, snow and ice are the only thing they really share in common, and it carries her throughout
the ordeal of finding a poor helpless victim's killer. The
cold element is unforgiving, and so is Smilla.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful, suspenseful & well-written. Didn't put it down.
Review: Smilla, a Greenlander who hasn't 'grafted' well to life inCopenhagen, comes to life when a small boy 'falls' off the roof of theapartment building in which they live. With the help of another tenant, the mechanic, Smilla finds the real killer and learns to love. Intelligently written by Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow is the best depiction of a woman done by a man I've ever read. Kate Cone
Rating: 
Summary: One of the most intriguing tales I have read
Review: This is not an easy book to read; it is challenging both to the reader's intellect and his sense of what conventions a "thriller" should observe. This is no Dick Francis romp (which I also enjoy). I appreciated the story for its suspense, but more for the intellectual and emotional pleasures offered up by the fascinating character of Smilla. She had a most engaging knack for detecting and solving subtle problems which I might characterize as a stubborn, intuitive brilliance. Hoeg excelled in presenting psychological observations of his characters, which, at their best, reminded me of passages in Tolstoy.Another interesting facet of the novel is that it offers a rare chance to understand an ethnic minority unknown outside Scandinavia - Greenlandic Eskimos residing in urban Denmark, who are 20th century consequences of Scandinavian hegemony in Greenland which dates 10 centuries back to the Viking age. Yes, the ending was a little disappointing. But I argue that it would be a mistake to judge this book by its tail, and miss the enjoyment of all the rest.
Rating: 
Summary: Peter Hoeg's Sense of Self
Review: I just finished reading this book- and I did something I've never done before- I destroyed it. I didn't want anyone else to suffer through it. Don't get me wrong, I think Peter Hoeg did a superb job of romanticizing snow, his poetic sense of the permafrost is what hooked me. But the guy needs to learn some plotting and character motivation! This story is long, plodding, and implausible- AND it doesn't even resolve itself!
If you want to enjoy this book- then read the first one hundred pages then throw it away- please trust me.
Rating:
Summary: I miss Smilla already...
Review: I stumbled upon this book in a second hand book store, and i bought it because i remember reading great reviews here at Amazon. This was a great book, a good old fashion thriller, especially in the second part when Smilla was on the ice ship. I am a little bit annoyed at the ending, you have to draw your own conclusion at what the final ending will be, will she live, die on the ice, go home with the mechanic, will he die, etc. Overall great book, i hope that more of his books will be translated in English.
Rating:
Summary: Footprints in the snow . . .
Review: Reading mystery novels, like reading fantasy or theology, requires only suspension of disbelief in the implausible. And patience - convoluted plots are the norm, with twists and turns the protagonist [and reader] must endure until resolution and clarity appear. Protagonists are, perforce, heroic - people capabable of superhuman endurance, cleverness and insight. All are usually well beyond normal experience. Readers are kept at the page-turning chore to see "what happens next". With some writers, this is a boring task. In the case of a talented writer, the task turns into a pleasure. When the writer has additional capabilities, which Hoeg possesses in abundance, reading becomes a joy.
Hoeg's story of Smilla Jaspersen, Greenland raised but now Kobnhavn resident, turns on his ability to convey a wealth of information. Disturbed by the falling death of a child afraid of heights, Smilla embarks on a quest to learn the truth. The crusade brings her into confrontations with stultifying bureaucracy, ruthless enterprise and conscienceless hostility. There is a deep, underlying situation behind Isaiah's death. Smilla must peel away many layers of obfuscation and conspiracy. It's an overwhelming challenge, but her sense of justice has been offended. She wants answers and will endure much to find them. It all begins with footprints in the snow.
Hoeg, of course, has crossed into a "forbidden zone" - the male writer portraying life through a woman's eyes. Does he succeed? Of course. This issues in this story aren't "women's ways of knowing", but how a dedicated individual pursues a goal. This isn't the portrayal of "woman", but of one woman in specific circumstances. Smilla's background is hardly typical of women in general - her Greenlandic, half Inuit roots make her a character of many levels. Are the men Smilla encounters real or the artifice of a male writer? Smilla, a lone woman in her mid-thirties, has few illusions. She's tough, resourceful and vulnerable all at once. The men Hoeg confronts her with have a wide spectrum of attributes. Moral questions are raised and adroitly dealt with. None are simple or readily resolved. Smilla copes in her own manner, not in any generic sense. Among other aspects, Smilla is deeply concerned about Europe's, particularly Denmark's, views on the "outside world".
The author takes us through several new worlds. Few "mystery" novels exhibit the insights and technical comptence Hoeg displays. It isn't "Smilla's sense of snow" we encounter, but Hoeg's. The Greenland Ice Cap isn't familiar territory to readers of "detective stories", but he introduces us to that alien environment. Why must ships not engage in communication at certain times? Hoeg explains this and other aspects of the shipping world with ready intimacy. Each new milieu comes alive and vividly real in his portrayal.
Calling this book a "mystery" is, of course, a gross oversimplification. Hoeg goes far beyond any "genre" labels with this book. That's what gives it its special flavour. There is a wide readership that would enjoy this book. Pick it up and share the many themes it addresses. You will not be disappointed. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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