The Broken Lands: A Novel of Arctic Disaster
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Book Overview
"The Broken Lands"-a treacherous labyrinth of ice through which the fabled Northwest Passage was sought for centuries. Cabot, Frobisher, Hudson, Parry and Ross were all defeated, and the names on the maps testify to their despair: Bay of God's Mercy, the Devil's Cape, Savage Isles, and Repulse Bay. Determined to succeed where the rest had failed, Sir John Franklin-"the Lion of the Arctic"-set sail from Greenland in 1845. His two ships, the "Erebus" and the "Terror," were last sighted in August of that year, after which the entire expedition-all 135 men-disappeared. For three years, the two ships were trapped in the Arctic ice. Eventually the slow vise of the ice pack and spoiling provisions proved to be too much. Nothing was heard of Franklin's expedition for over a decade, and only many years later did the world begin to learn of their terrible, agonizing fate. In this enthralling, richly inventive novel, Robert Edric recreates what possibly happened to this doomed expedition.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0312288891
ISBN13:9780312288891
Release Date:February 2002
Publisher:Thomas Dunne Books
Length:352 Pages
Weight:1.26 lbs.
Dimensions:1.2" x 5.8" x 8.5"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
wonderful writing
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
Like the Arctic ice it so beautifully and realistically it describes, this book keeps the reader in its vise as the ships of the Franklin expedition were kept. This is a real page turner, and with each page I became more identified with the well-drawn characters and anxious for them to survive, although I knew in advance that they wouldn't. Franklin himself is the least clearly drawn, and this is O.K. here, as he is almost an eminence gris, so far above the "common" man on the expedition. This novel did what any good work should do: it made me want to delve deeper into the facts and check out some of the other titles that have been recommended here.
Bleak but engaging
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
The quest for the NorthWest Passage has always fascinated me. Reading accounts of Nansen, Frobisher and Hudson fuelled my early love for adventure and the North.Broken Lands does not disappoint. This novel tells of an expedition into the Canadian North by the "Lion of the North," Sir John Franklin. The research that author Robert Edric must have done is showcased in the detailed account of the effects of extreme cold on the expedition's ships and sailors. He gives the North a distinct character in Broken Lands: one of a harsh, merciless adversary.The characters are believable and the story is captivating. the descriptions of the Arctic are evocative and powerful. Edric writes for his audience. The combination of personal struggle and taut action makes Broken Lands immensely readable.The Franklin expedition may not have happened exactly as Edric presents it, but after reading Broken Lands, it certainly feels possible. An excellent fictional supposition of what the expedition was like.
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