The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk - The Ice Master

After having recently read INTO THIN AIR, I am now drawn into the survival genre. Ms. Niven's account of the KARLUK tragedy chronicles the explorer Stefansson's ill-fated expedition and the overwhelming obstacles the survivors faced in the desolate and inhospitable Artic. Not only do the passengers aboard the ship have to face the elements, starvation, and disease, but they are pitted against each other as well. The mix of characters includes ne'er-do-wells, drug addicts, pathological liars, and a variety of other unstable and often volatile personalities. Yet, above this, we see heroes arise. Captain Robert Bartlett is one of the most heroic, selfless, and honorable men I have ever been introduced to through print and in contrast perhaps Stefansson is one of the most nefarious. The story is a compelling page turner that I finished in a marathon read. I cannot begin to impress upon others how highly I recommend this book.

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.

I have read a number of other great Artic stories (e.g., In the Land of White Death, Valerian Albanov). I would have to put this book on the top of my list.
Somehow, even knowing how the story ends, I was spell bound by their trials and tribulations in their efforts to survive in the Artic. Jennifer Niven did a great job in careful re-creating the events in such detail that I felt I was there with them.

This book is very gipping but there are parts I definatley cannot believe. I read many outdoor adventure books and find some things about this story disturbing. How can a person be crossing a frozen ocean in 40 degress below zero temps wearing only muckluks and deerskins and fall through a lead of water and get totally submerged and then continue on travelling for hours only to rest for the evening in a frozen igloo? Noone could survive the elements. The cover of the book reads Into Thin Air meets Titanic. If you read Jon Krakaurs book "Into Thin Air" you will note similar disturbing conditions with whiteouts in which some people including Rob Hall freeze to death! and they had the best gear money could buy! Jennifer, I know you take this info from first hand accounts but I think they stretched the truth a bit. Otherwise, very well written!!!

I first came across this story while researching information on my ancestor Capt. Joshua Gage Baker, who was a whaling captain of the Bark Reindeer. The Karluk (along with the Bark Reindeer) is referenced in the book "Fifty Years Below Zero" by Charles D. Brower -- another excellent book about life in the far North. The author, Jennifer Niven, has done a phenominal job of stringing together a lifetime's worth of research from many different sources into a succinct and well told, entertaining story. In my opinion, the story line is more gripping and compelling than other survival stories such as "Into Thin Air" and other ventures that have recently come out in print.

This book is 367 pages long and I read it in two days. I simply could not put it down. The hardships these men, children, and one woman went through are almost unbelievable. I kept trying to put myself in their places while reading but I knew I could not have survived the bitter cold, the hunger, and the hoplessness these people endured. Jennifer Niven tells this story without missing a beat with detailed explanations of the day to day life these men lived for over a year in the unrelenting Arctic. I highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks that life has been unfair to them. After reading this you will thank God that you have enough food to eat and a warm bed to sleep in.

I've read many true adventure books and this one ranks along with the best of them. I highly recommend it. Pair it with Dan Simmons' fictional "The Terror" (also five stars). You'll want to keep a fire going while you read....

I am usually unable to finish a book. I get bored and lose interest very easily. The story itself is enough to captivate me and the style it is written in made this book extremely difficult to put down.
I am now looking for more books on exploration tragedies and stories of amazing human endurance.
Thank you for bringing this story to life.
Jerry

Great read for any artic Exploration or adventure reader. Comparison to Endurance and the Shackleton story are incredibly interesting. They ocurred at the same time frame, at opposite ends of the Globe. The contrast in leadership between the 2 leaders, or lack there of, is gripping.

The Ice Master starts off to be very interesting when Jennifer Niven talks of their expedition but in the middle of the book of she writes about the hardships the crew went through it got boring. She kept on writing about the same hardships over and over. For example, she writes constintly about how cold they were. I knew that the first few times she wrote about it. Every new chapter I began to read just sounded like the one I just finished.
I could not finish the book. If you want to read about an artic expedition I do not suggest this book.

This story is so immediate that you actually enter the world of the explorers. I read it in three sittings; the first two on planes, and the third in the living room under a blanket. A perfect Christmas gift for all ages. I just wanted to ship a GPS to these brave people, and had to keep reminding myself of all the technology that was unavailable to them, only 87 years ago.

This book is incredible. I just loved learning about the arctic ice and the Karluk. The hardship these men go through is incredible. The author is great at character building and you begin to feel like you know these men. Really a great read.

One of the best, albeit least known accounts of arctic exploration, I've ever read. I was rivited by the remarkable tale of the ill-fated
Karluk, and the incredible will of the scientists and crew to survive. The greed and blind ambition of the expedition's leader that
put these people in harm's way is well documented and will leave the reader incensed. After the read, my curiosity prompted more
google research including old photos of the Karluk and the people involved. I found the Ice Master intensly exciting, facsinating,
and ultimately, disturbing.

Ms. Niven did an excellent job compiling the historical data and pulling all the pieces together to formulate a very well written non-fictional account of this incredible expedition. There is nothing better than history that is presented in a detailed, accurate and interesting manner as Ms. Niven has done in this book.

I just finished reading Jennifer Niven's new book, Ada Blackjack, and loved it so much I had to pick up her first one. I read both books in one week, which is a record for me! But I was absolutely gripped from start to finish of each. Ms. Niven has a way with words-- and with the telling of true-life adventure stories. Inspiring!

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

The author does a fine job of portraying the personalities/eccentricities of the explorers and not merely the physical hardships endured. A good read.

I just finished reading Jennifer Niven's new book, Ada Blackjack, and loved it so much I had to pick up her first one. I read both books in one week, which is a record for me! But I was absolutely gripped from start to finish of each. Ms. Niven has a way with words-- and with the telling of true-life adventure stories. Inspiring!

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

The author does a fine job of portraying the personalities/eccentricities of the explorers and not merely the physical hardships endured. A good read.

I was mesmerized from the first page. Jennifer Niven's narration and superior writing skills have brought this piece of history alive in this fantastic book. I highly recommend it. I am anxiously looking forward to her sequel.

I love polar exploration literature. But when I read on page 58 that the men aboard the Karluk were disheartened by the story of George Washington DeLong's expedition in 1879, and how the crew of the Jeannette had all perished (all 13 of them!!!) Anyone who knows their polar exploration literature knows very well that quite a few of the Jeannette's crew actually survived in one of the most amazing "triumph of the human spirit" stories in polar history. The entire world was shocked when they turned up alive in Siberia well after they'd been given up for dead. To misrepresent this story of survival as a doomed expedition from which no one survived as a way to explain the mounting dread in the Karluk's men ruined this book for me. What else escaped the fact-checkers? I am stopping at page 60, and picking up a copy of "The Log of Bob Bartlett" instead. Also, how can you have a book on arctic exploration without a map of the ship's route!???!

"The Ice Master" is an incredible tale of heroism. In times long before GPS and mobile phones, Bob Bartlett saved many of his crew who were stranded on an island near the Northwest Passage. How? Read the book!

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.