Specfict is more of a plot device than a linchpin for this story. The main character, Alexander Velitzyn, discovers that he's immune to cold and that his body can lower its own temperature enough to freeze water into ice. He does not know why he is this way.<sup>[p. 202]</sup> After discovering this about himself Velitzyn is curious about what the limits are. He finds that he can become frozen solid in ice for two months and when the ice is melted he is released without any ill affects.<sup>[pp. 129-130]</sup><br /><br />This specfict aspect is used in the story in that Velitzyn was able to survive as a member of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Billings">Joseph Billings</a>' expedition to the Siberian Arctic. Velitzyn later uses this immunity to cold and resulting expertise in the properties of ice and cooling by getting involved in the manufacturing of ice, and then refrigeration.<br /><br />Later, Velitzyn discovers that he has stopped aging, and remains somewhere around age 45.<sup>[p. 312]</sup> This specfict aspect is used to create a work of historical fiction that spans 267 years from Velitzyn's birth in 1740 in northern Russia to the year 2007 in the United States as viewed through the eyes of a single character. Alexander Velitzyn is not immune to damage and presumably is not immortal. For example, part of his ear is cut off<sup>[p. 295]</sup> and it remains that way.<br /><br />There is a final specfict element in that at the end of the story Alexander Velitzyn is working to stave off the melting of the Arctic by raising the freezing point of water, in at least the Arctic, by nine degrees centigrade.<br />
