Published By: Lake Union
Pages: 303
Released On: 01/01/2025
In May 1845, Sir John Franklin, commander of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, departed England to seek a navigable route across the top of the Americas. He and his 128 men never returned.
Four years later, Royal Navy Lieutenant Frederick Robinson and Assistant Surgeon Edward Adams are determined to find the men missing in the Arctic. While they are united in purpose, they are divided in ambition. The pious and idealistic Adams strives to save his boyhood hero. Robinson hungers for promotion through the Admiralty ranks. Weathering a relationship as volatile as the icy, barren land upon which they trek, Robinson and Adams lead a team of seamen in search of the lost expedition. What awaits them is a struggle against not only the elements but each other as loneliness, starvation, and maddening isolation prove more chilling than the deadliest Arctic blast.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is a fictional novel but based on true events.
Colin does a great, if not always pleasant, job at describing the horrors of being stuck in ice – the wind chill, snow, tensions, blisters, hunger. You can feel the wind on your face and the frostbite in your toes. It’s very evocative.
It is very much a character story, rather than plot – which isn’t a negative for me as I prefer character over plot. And Colin has done well with creating fictional versions of real people. I have heard of the people mentioned in this book, but my knowledge of what they went through is practically non-existent. And so I feel Colin has given me enough to get to know them, but left enough out to whet my appetite to go down a Google black hole and look them up myself.
Having said that, I didn’t feel any strong feelings for the characters. I wasn’t overly bothered whether they succeeded or not. They’re interesting characters and I enjoyed reading about them, but I felt they could have done with a bit more meat on them.
I’d say it focusses more on the characters psyche and mental health rather than what they physically set out to do, which I did like.
It isn’t an easy book in any stretch of the imagination. It has complicated topics such as injury, violence, death, difficult relationships, and racism (as was prevalent in the 1800s).
It is worth persevering with. It is quite slow to begin with. I’d say at least the first 25-30% takes some getting through, but on the whole I felt it was balanced enough. I’d have preferred a bit more a bit earlier to keep me interested, but I was glad I kept with it, as it was a good study in creating hostile environments.
It isn’t a genre I know well. I can’t name many, if any, fictional books I’ve read regarding a polar disappearance, struggle, and attempted rescue. And considering I read 300+ books a year, it was a breath of fresh air to read something completely new to me.
Like I said, I don’t know the true story, so I can’t say how much of it is accurate, but it felt like it was rooted in some strong research, and there’s clearly a passion on Colin’s part in the topic.
I’m not sure it’s a book that’ll stick with me, but it has sparked an interest in the true story, and I will definitely be looking it up for myself because I am a big nerd.
On the whole I’d say it’s a good book and I enjoyed reading it but it did have its flaws. Fairly interesting characters but a bit flat, slow pacing to begin with, needs more and earlier, and I think I’d have to say that if you are familiar with the time period or true story, you will get much more pleasure out of it. But going in blind, whilst in some aspects is great, it can leave you feeling slightly lost at times.
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