Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful descriptions of Arctic life. Weak characterization
Review: This is about human endeavour and evil, initially set in the hostilities of the Arctic. The first 2/3 of the book is brilliantly written and researched. The semi-historic descriptions of an ill-fated exploration into the depths of the Arctic is fast-paced. Ms Barrett writes clearly and beautifully. I could envision life in that hostile locale, during all seasons; and almost wanted to be there, too. Normally, I am not a reader of such historic novels. She created excellent suspense, too. The last 1/3 revealed the author's weakness. Despite her extensive research into Esquimaux culture, the story plods to an end. I feel that this is due to her inability to develop characters convincingly. She describes events, geography, climate and "history" wonderfully. Much less convincing are the people central to the story. Most are either weak and without usual human passions, or purely evil. She had difficulty concluding the story that became somewhat ponderous, considering the writing skills well demonstrated at the beginning. Humans and their behavior are not her descriptive strength. I really recommend the book. It was a different reading experience for me. I re-read many paragraphs just to let the prose sink in. She understands and describes great beauty in it's many forms. Her knowledge of evil, fundamental to the story, is more conjectural. Very well done, none-the-less!
Rating: 
Summary: A thoughtful, elegant page-turner
Review: A fictional ship, The Narwhal, heads up to Greenland and the Canadian Artic to search for the remains of John Franklin and his crew. It is the mid-1800's. The civil war has not yet begun, and no one knows whether there is an open artic ocean. The story is narrated by Mr. Wells, the ship's naturalist and the commander's future brother-in-law. He is a flawed 19th century gentleman who struggles to reclaim his life and to understand what he has experienced.This book is a page-turner in the best sense of the word. I stayed up late three nights in a row because I wanted to know what happened. More than that, I felt my own life slip away as I joined the crew of the Narwhal, so convincing was Barrett's portrayal. Isn't that why we read fiction? Perhaps one more reason: to see our world differently when we close the covers. This book satisfies that demand as well. It is nourishing, thought-provoking and beautifully written. One of the best modern American novels in recent years.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful Voyage
Review: Barrett is a fantastic writer who doesn't get nearly enough of the reading public's attention, possibly because she is often classified as a great "science" writer (as opposed to simply a great writer, period), perhaps scaring away people who think science writing is going to be dull and unrelated to their lives. (Perhaps, too, people are still unused to reading "science" and "adventure" stories written by a woman?) In any case, "Voyage" was a wonderful book -- I can only echo previous reviewers' accolades of it. That said, I did feel that the story faltered a bit as it neared the ending. Initially I think Barrett did a fine job of showing the complexities of these characters, but after a certain point I felt the story became a bit "cartoonish" in separating out who was evil (those who exploited others in order to grab all the fame they could get, or, like Lavinia, were simply too self-absorbed to see anyone else's point of view) and who was good (those who wanted to rescue Tom, who modestly didn't want to be in the spotlight but only wanted to explore knowledge for knowledge's sake). This was disappointing because the main theme that had been emerging was that facts often get muddled with fiction; it's impossible, in the end, to clarify what really happened against what was written about what happened. As such, it seemed that Barrett would have been better served by making every character a little more evenly both faulty and sympathetic, to evoke that ambiguity. All the same, though, I very much enjoyed reading "Voyage" and definitely look forward to seeing more of Barrett's works.
Rating:
Summary: A book about very cold places: warmly recommended!
Review: I picked up this book at a local book store because it was offered as a remainder at bargain price and it simply looked so great: a beautiful cover suggestive of nostalgia as well as mystery, and an equally beautiful interior embellished with 19th century engravings. A must-have: but what kind of a must-have I only realised after reading it. This truly is one of the best novels I have read in years. As a historical novel it is on a par with the works of Rose Tremain or A.S. Byatt. It strikes a perfect balance between, on the one hand, well researched detail concerning the hype for arctic exploring and blind hero-worship that struck the mid-19th century bourgeoisie, and amazingly refined character study on the other hand. The clash of personalities between the humane and intelligent scientist who suffers from a chronic inability to take decisive action, and the blindly ambitious man of action who never stops to think about anything, generates tremendous tension (as well as physical danger). It is the classical conflict between id and ego, or Apollo and Dionysos if you like, but transplanted into a surprising context, and explored with great psychological subtlety. And around this dramatic core the women, left at home worrying, and the Eskimo's, lost in a world they don't understand and that doesn't understand them, open up different, equally surprising and sometimes also comical perspectives on the proceedings. Fortunately Barrett is a wise enough writer not to make anyone the winner or looser in the end: all have won, and all have lost.
The backdrop to all this are the arctic regions of Canada, which I had feared might prove a somewhat monotonous and bleak scenery, which they are anything but. On the contrary, Barrett, through the pen of her main character, is able to describe the strange beauties of these places so seductively that next she had me seeking out atlases and books of photographs on the arctic. Actually the scenery becomes far more than scenery, it is an active part of the drama, almost like a character in itself.
Furthermore, while never piling it on too thickly, the author keenly exploits the adventure novel aspect of people setting out on a long journey, on no more than skimpy pretexts and at considerable danger to their lives, to discover places in a time when there still were places left to discover. That they mostly did so to attain their 'fifteen minutes of fame', guided by no more than a vague (and from our perspective pretty ridiculous) notion of heroism, or by some side-tracked scientific interest, makes the pursuits of these people all the more touching as well as baffling.
A great book - don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: A wholly hospitable book about an inhospitable gorgeous land
Review: All I ask is that you read the first paragraph. After that, you're hooked. Or perhaps harpooned. From the first captivating phrases, the reader is absorbed into a world of terrible cold and beauty, against which is played a 98.6 degree drama of survival and ambition. It's a story that pits one man's singular quest for glory against an entire crew's natural survival instinct. It's told primarily from the viewpoint of Erasmus Wells, a naturalist who has spent most of his life in failure and retreat and who sees the Narwhal as his long-sought vehicle of redemption. The Narwhal sets sail ostensibly on the trail of Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to find a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean. But the real mission is broader: to accrue glory to the commander and driving force of the voyage, Erasmus' future brother-in-law, Zechariah Voorhees. When things don't go quite his way early on, Zeke puts in motion events that ultimately put the entire crew in peril. Narcissistic, single-minded, charismatic and paranoid, Zeke can't help but remind one of Captain Queeg in his more lucid moments. The unstated struggle between Zeke and Erasmus and the consequences of adhering to ingrained hierarchies is fascinating to observe. These human struggles play out against a white backdrop of frozen beauty. Cold like few of us on the Internet are likely to experience firsthand. Cold that will freeze your flesh right on the bone. In this land, the ice moves slowly but God help you if it catches you. In the end, this is a story of redemption, written with grace and authenticity. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful Voyage
Review: Barrett is a fantastic writer who doesn't get nearly enough of the reading public's attention, possibly because she is often classified as a great "science" writer (as opposed to simply a great writer, period), perhaps scaring away people who think science writing is going to be dull and unrelated to their lives. (Perhaps, too, people are still unused to reading "science" and "adventure" stories written by a woman?) In any case, "Voyage" was a wonderful book -- I can only echo previous reviewers' accolades of it. That said, I did feel that the story faltered a bit as it neared the ending. Initially I think Barrett did a fine job of showing the complexities of these characters, but after a certain point I felt the story became a bit "cartoonish" in separating out who was evil (those who exploited others in order to grab all the fame they could get, or, like Lavinia, were simply too self-absorbed to see anyone else's point of view) and who was good (those who wanted to rescue Tom, who modestly didn't want to be in the spotlight but only wanted to explore knowledge for knowledge's sake). This was disappointing because the main theme that had been emerging was that facts often get muddled with fiction; it's impossible, in the end, to clarify what really happened against what was written about what happened. As such, it seemed that Barrett would have been better served by making every character a little more evenly both faulty and sympathetic, to evoke that ambiguity. All the same, though, I very much enjoyed reading "Voyage" and definitely look forward to seeing more of Barrett's works.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Read a Novel -- Read the Real Thing
Review: As pointed out by others, this novel does a good job giving a reasonably accurate picture of the arctic but does a lousy job of developing characters or an entertaining story line. Given these facts, there is no reason to read this novel. Rather, pick up a book that describes actual arctic explorations and you will get a more detailed and accurate picture of the arctic. Read what Nansen saw and did, read about the Kane expedition (for real), or read a survey of arctic expeditions such as Fergus Fleming's Ninety Degrees North. But don't read this weak story. It has nothing to add.
Rating: 
Summary: I really liked it
Review: I know I am going to get blasted for saying so but I just couldn't stay awake long enough to finish this book. Its not the books fault I found the book itself to be quite good the audio vrsion is awful. I know its my own fault for not reading it and maybe someday I will but the narrator just bored me to death(which is odd because normally George Guidall does a very good job). My impression-From what I heard(that is listened to on audio) the charecters are there preety much as an afterthought. I couldn't keep Eraumus or any of the others striaght in my head and I wasn'tabut to write little notes to myself to remember how the charecters were. So.. Read the book, don't get the audio version
Rating:
Summary: loved it but...
Review: I am in agreement with much that has already been said.I too was mesmerized by this book. Best of all it has set me wondering about what really know of history.This is a very post modern suggestion and asking this question in the form of a novel makes it so much richer. I am a big fan of anything to do with evolutionary theory and enjoyed the way the book dipps into this history. My only criticism is the disappointing ending it seemed rushed and anti-climactic the story/writer seemed to have run out of energy and just let it trail off.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Barrett is at her best in this book. The characters are wonderfully drawn and deeply memorable. The story, however, is really what makes this book--Zeke's cold-blooded desire to achieve public acclaim, even as he destroys the lives of Erasmus and others, is chillingly real.
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