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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 919.804
EAN num: 9780786884469
ISBN number: 0786884460
Label: Hyperion
Manufacturer: Hyperion
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: October 10, 2001
Publishing house: Hyperion
Release Date: October 10, 2001
Sale Popularity Level: 349628
Studio: Hyperion
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Eighty-five years after a famous but ill-equipped Canadian Arctic expedition of 1913 had sacrificed 16 lives, some artifacts appeared on an Internet auction site. They had originated at a 'ghost camp,' discovered in 1924, where four of the expedition's 28 men, one woman, and two children had perished. Jennifer Niven has completed the unfulfilled mission of survivor William McKinlay to produce a 'more honest and revealing account' of the wreck of the Karluk and its aftermath.The explorers became split into several dispersed groups living 'in the shadow of death.' Their simultaneously grim and gruesome experiences are interwoven in this minutely detailed and atmospheric retelling, created by combining and comparing firsthand accounts and other sources. The characters are vividly re-created, from the expedition's self-interested leader, whom McKinlay called 'a consummate liar and cheat,' to the heroic ship's master, who struggled over 700 miles to organize a rescue. Supplemented by haunting and fascinating photographs, The Ice Master makes for harrowing and compulsive reading. This is a momentous story of the Arctic; of adventure, misadventure, and the heights of human endurance. But it is also a story of human failings and the waste of young lives, as poignant now as it was when it was big news in 1914. --Karen Tiley, Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com:
Eighty-five years after a famous but ill-equipped Canadian Arctic expedition of 1913 had sacrificed 16 lives, some artifacts appeared on an Internet auction site. They had originated at a 'ghost camp,' discovered in 1924, where four of the expedition's 28 men, one woman, and two children had perished. Jennifer Niven has completed the unfulfilled mission of survivor William McKinlay to produce a 'more honest and revealing account' of the wreck of the Karluk and its aftermath.
The explorers became split into several dispersed groups living 'in the shadow of death.' Their simultaneously grim and gruesome experiences are interwoven in this minutely detailed and atmospheric retelling, created by combining and comparing firsthand accounts and other sources. The characters are vividly re-created, from the expedition's self-interested leader, whom McKinlay called 'a consummate liar and cheat,' to the heroic ship's master, who struggled over 700 miles to organize a rescue. Supplemented by haunting and fascinating photographs, The Ice Master makes for harrowing and compulsive reading. This is a momentous story of the Arctic; of adventure, misadventure, and the heights of human endurance. But it is also a story of human failings and the waste of young lives, as poignant now as it was when it was big news in 1914. --Karen Tiley, Amazon.co.uk
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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This is one of the most gripping stories I have ever read. Jennifer Niven has done an astounding job of sifting through original source materials and weaving them into a coherent and riveting narrative. At times heartbreaking and gruesome, it is always told with sensitivity and a sense of grace, even when she describes the fates of the dogs and cat that accompanied the party. She strikes the perfect balance between factual exposition and character description, so that we not only have a solid sense of the historical and scientific context of the expedition, but we care deeply about the members of the party (or, to an equal degree, revile them). The extreme conditions, while exacerbating character flaws and weaknesses in the party, also brought out the strength and resiliency of the human spirit in others, making this book not only interesting but inspirational.
Rated by buyers -
The start of this book was a little rough for me. The author introduced all the character all at once and I was pretty confused for a while, but once you get into the story you're hooked! This book was like a great episode of Dateline or 20/20. It was full of excitement, mystery, and really kept you on the edge of your seat wondering what happened and what was going to happen. It would be great to take todays forensics to figure out some of the things they couldn't figure out back then...sadly most of the artifacts from the doomed Karluk expedition have been lost.
Rated by buyers 
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Coincidentally I had just finished 'Alive' - another story about cold weather survival. Perhaps mainly by contrast I found it impossible to get into 'The Ice Master'. While the event is undeniably interesting, Niven's telling ruins it.
Rated by buyers -
I love reading the stories of the great arctic adventures...This one is awesome! It's basiclly the opposite of Shackeltons Endurance...No comradery, lots of death, a coward for a leader and even at the other end of the world. It really offers up a contrast. Yet through all the struggles heros still arise to meet the challenge.
Rated by buyers -
I absolutely could not put this book down. We had a house full of family guests and I found myself sneaking away just to try and grab a few more pages of this thrilling, yet horrifying account of the voyage of the Karluk. On one hand, I almost dreaded to pick the book up because Niven truly brings these characters to life and you become very involved with them. On the other, I just had to know who would and who would not survive and how the ones who did survive managed to do it. Niven did a superb job all around.
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