Empire of ice and stone The disastrous and heroic voyage of the Karluk

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Journalist Levy (Labyrinth of Ice) delivers a thrilling account of Canada's first "foray into Arctic exploration," the ill-fated voyage of the steam-powered brigantine Karluk in 1913. Under the command of Capt. Bob Bartlett, the Karluk was the principal ship of the 1913--1916 Canadian Arctic Expedition led by explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Shortly after setting sail in June, it became clear to Bartlett that the Karluk had been improperly chosen and outfitted for the journey: the engine periodically gave out and essential supplies had been loaded onto her sister ships. By early August, the Karluk was completely icebound. Soon thereafter, expedition leader Stefansson headed off with five men to hunt caribou and never returned. (He reached safety, but decided to continue the expedition rather than try to rescue the Karluk.) In January, "a great jagged fang of ice" pierced the ship's hull and it sank. Hoping to find game, driftwood for fuel, and a place to shelter until the summer, the survivors made a dash across the ice pack to Wrangel Island. From there, Bartlett and an Inuit hunter set out on a 700-mile trek seeking help; in September, the remaining 12 survivors (out of 25 crewmembers left behind by Stefansson) were rescued. Full of evocative descriptions, harrowing action scenes, and incisive character sketches, this is a worthy addition to the literature of Arctic exploration. (Dec.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

Levy (Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition) recounts the harrowing ordeal of the survivors of the Karluk, a ship that was part of the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913--16, organized by Vilhjalmur Stefansson and captained by Robert Bartlett, who had concerns about the seaworthiness of the vessel. The ship eventually became trapped in ice. The work describes the two divergent paths Stefansson and Bartlett took: the former left the ship and was able to reach land, where he left behind the survivors and focused on continued exploration; the latter endeavored to keep up the morale of the crew and undertook an arduous journey to find help to save the shipwrecked survivors. The bulk of the book recounts the day-to-day terror of the crew as they tried to move from the ice to land, set up camps in unforgiving terrain, and kept from starving or freezing to death. Each new challenge the group faced reads more intensely than a thriller, and it is always unclear who will survive to be rescued, or if a rescue will come. VERDICT For readers who enjoy stories of survival in extreme settings.--Julie Feighery

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

The gripping account of a fatal polar adventure. Journalist Levy, the author of River of Darkness and Labyrinth of Ice, chronicles the tale of an Arctic expedition that featured a great deal of heroism as well as disaster. Its leader was Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962), an experienced polar explorer who was perhaps better at self-promotion than organization. In 1913, he convinced the Canadian government to finance an expedition to investigate Inuit people on its northern coast and the poorly charted sea and islands beyond. A veteran of the exploration genre, Levy capably describes the backgrounds of a dozen significant figures and the complex job of buying ships and stocking them with supplies sufficient for several years. In a hint of what lay ahead, the author notes that the ships were not designed to break through sea ice and were stocked hastily to meet an obligatory spring departure date. Sailing north during a particularly cold summer, Stefansson's ship became icebound. After a few weeks, he abandoned it, leaving for a purported hunting trip but then walking to land in an attempt to resume the expedition. Drifting east, the ship was crushed, forcing 25 crew members to survive on the ice and then struggle across 50 miles of frozen sea to a desolate island north of Siberia. Their only advantage was their captain, Bob Bartlett, an Arctic veteran and superb leader who kept them together and, with an Inuit companion, walked 1,000 miles to Alaska to summon ships that rescued 14 survivors. Many fascinating histories of exploration stick to the evidence, but popular writers often novelize their material, inventing dialogues and their subjects' inner thoughts. Levy belongs to this group, but his tale is entertaining and probably more or less what happened. The author includes maps, a list of characters, and a timeline of "Relevant Arctic Exploration, Expeditions, and Disasters." Hair-raising suffering and heroism in the Arctic. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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