Title: The Arctic Fury
Author: Greer Macallister
Genre: Adventure (additionally, could be classified as Historical Fiction)
Publication Date: December 1, 2020
Number of Pages: 432
Geographical Setting: Split between Boston and the Arctic
Time Period: 1850s
Series (If applicable): n/a
Plot Summary: This book is told in a split-timeline fashion: one part follows a group of women traveling to the Arctic to search for a missing explorer (Sir John Franklin), while the other part is set 18 months later in a Boston courtroom during a high-profile trial. Most of the story centers around protagonist Virginia Reeve, the leader of the expedition, who also happens to be the person on trial for the murder of some of the women in the search party. Chapters alternate between the women's adventures traveling and trying to survive in the Arctic wilderness, and the trial in Boston. 13 women set out on the search expedition, and the Arctic chapters focus on each one in turn, letting the reader learn their story and why they made the decision to join the expedition.
Subject Headings: Explorers, Arctic, Women, Polar expedition, Franklin
Appeal: Non-linear, Dramatic, Strong female characters
3 terms that best describe this book: Compelling, Character-driven, Atmospheric
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors (titles link to goodreads pages):
- In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides - the true story of the 1879 Polar expedition to try to reach the North Pole, and the fate that the crew faced due to the ice and snow.
- Race to the Polar Sea: the heroic adventures of Elisha Kent Kane by Kenneth McGoogan - this story takes place in 1853 and chronicles the adventures of Kane, who was searching for John Franklin.
- Living with Cannibals and Other Women's Adventures by Michele Slung - profiles of various women explorers from the 1800s to the present.
3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors (titles link to goodreads pages):
- Everything She Didn't Say by Jane Kirkpatrick - features a strong female explorer as the protagonist, similar to Virginia Reeve, except the adventures take place for Pioneers out west.
- The North Water by Ian McGuire - Although this is a darker story than The Arctic Fury, it has a similar time period and geographic location - a whaling ship in the far north in the 1850s.
- The Terror by Dan Simmons - this book tells the story of John Franklin’s 1845 expedition to the Arctic (although Simmons has added a horror element to the story).
This sounds really interesting! What I would love to know is if you actually liked it. :-) Did the alternating viewpoints work well?
ReplyDeleteHi Amber,
DeleteI felt sort of "meh" about the book. Parts of it were enjoyable and interesting to read about. Other parts I could have done without. The split timeline feature added a lot of interest to the story - it made me want to read faster to figure out what happened.
Hi Sara,
ReplyDeleteI've been noticing a lot of 'Arctic Adventure' books lately, it seems like they are having a moment in the book world. I've kind of been avoiding them because it's so cold here in Indiana already, I'd prefer to read about somewhere warm and sunny! Maybe I'll have to give the genre a try, though. Here's a list I found on the topic: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/17/top-10-arctic-novels
Hi Jennifer,
DeleteI know it! One positive thing about reading about the Arctic right now is it makes our 20 degree weather practically tropical :) I would not be a very good Arctic explorer, especially in the 1850s. Reading about these women made me very glad for things like down parkas and sunglasses that exist for us today.
Thanks for the list - I will check it out!
Hi Sara!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like alternating the timeline between chapters is an excellent way to keep readers guessing about what really happened. Those kind of books always become page-turners for me because I need to find out how the past fits into the present as fast as possible. Did you find this a quick read?
I'm definitely going to add it to my Goodreads' Want to Read shelf.
Hi Jessie,
DeleteAbsolutely! I felt like I flew through the book to try to figure out what happened between the explorer chapters and the trial chapters. I like reading historical fiction, and this adventure book had a lot of elements of that, so those parts were also really interesting to me.
I didn't realize Arctic Adventure was so popular at the moment but this title and some of your read-alikes look appealing to me. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds interesting. I enjoy adventures and historical fiction novels so I am definitely going to put it on my reading list! When it was jumping back and forth between the trial and the ladies' stories was it helping solve the trial or just giving you insight to why they each chose to go? It sounds like the adventure and historical fiction elements overlapped smoothly. I know from reading our textbook that many books are not one genre anymore and appeal to wider audiences. I like that you connected another expedition book on Franklin in your annotation.
Thanks for making me more aware of the Artic trend. I did not know this was becoming a trend until reading your annotation and some of the comments.
Hi. When it was jumping back and forth, it was explaining each woman's reason for wanting to go on the mission, and then taking the reader through the different parts of the expedition, getting closer and closer each chapter to the time of the trial. It was very effective!
DeleteThis book was already on my list of books I want to read! I am so glad that I got to read your annotation about it! I had not necessarily thought of myself as an adventure story reader but as I read about the adrenaline genre (Wyatt & Saricks, 2019) and realized The Arctic Fury was an adventure book (in my mind it was historical fiction), I realized just how wrong I was!
ReplyDeleteI like that their are different perspectives, I had not realized that! Thank you for a great overview! I cannot wait to dig into this one!
Reference
Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J.G. (2019). The reader's advisory guide to genre fiction. ALA Edition.
Fantastic job on your first annotation! Your summary is concise without giving too much away and you do an excellent job of adding, appeal and great readalikes. I had no idea that arctic adventure was trending right now. Full points and great job!
ReplyDelete