Rating: 
Summary: Promising start but fades near the end.
Review: A page-turner for the first 250-300 pages but closes with a lackluster ending that could have been much more. Barrett successfully creates a suspenseful, apprehension filled journey in an incredibly harsh environment. This voyage ends approximately 2/3 of the way through the novel, which wasn't a problem for me. My complaint is during the last third of the story very little happens and you are required to rely on the characters to hold your interest. Unfortunately the characters are fairly flat and we know so little about them that it's difficult to have much interest for them. Another disappointment was the romance involving the protagonist, which could have added much to the story but was never really developed and only finally acknowledged in the last few pages. And lastly the antagonist deserved a huge comeuppance or at least a confrontation for his selfish, despicable actions throughout the story. This confrontation never really materialized and only added frustration to the sleepy final act.
Rating: 
Summary: The Darkness and longing within men's souls in the Artic
Review: Despite the main character, Erasmus's, inability to make decisions and his poor judgement, I loved this book! Barrett's descriptions of the crew's experience in the Artic was outstanding evoking both place and mystery. The cultural differences between the Eskimo and white men were realistically wrought. All th emain charcters are haunted by longings as dramatic as the artic landscape. The Voyage of the Narwhale is a wonderful weaving of desire for self-aggrandizement that characterizes some men's hearts. Justaposed by other men with a nobility to depict what's true at any cost. Thankfully the book ends with hope and the healing of many past events and relationships. In the end all power is taken away from Zeke, the self-serving master of their first artic mission. It was a wonderful read that kept me interested from beginning to end. Highly enjoyable, and one of those books that sticks with you long after the pages have been closed.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Frost-Bitten Read
Review: This was one of my favourite novels of 1999. Barrett's impressive research and attention to detail comes through on every single page of this beautifully crafted book. It is not just the story itself that captures your attention, it is the entire presentation that draws you in as well. From the extracts from old scientific works to the line drawings and the prose style, this novel carries you back to the nineteenth century brilliantly. Barrett's story contains great insights into why some men in the nineteenth century were driven to undertake seemingly insane expeditions into the Arctic. Greed, ambition and the potential for fame and acclamation ranked foremost, while the quest for knowledge oftentimes came last.Fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Sappy, diffuse, soap-adventure-opera.
Review: I found this book in Amazon's "Authors Recommendations." I had been looking through the classics, and purchased this with _The Old Man and the Sea_, and _Catch-22_. The book was not a particularly enthralling read. The writing is in simple, rigidly-structured sentences. Very reminiscent, in fact, of Bram Stoker's _Dracula_. The author makes mention in her notes at the end of the book that the myriad "diary entries" and "letters" and "journal entries" are a historical point; that much history was recorded in such items. However, because of the extensive use of these tools, the book takes on a tangled third-person viewpoint which, while not particularly confusing, dilutes the book. Many characters are developed, their plights learned, and their struggles fleshed out, but only as much as the rest of the characters and the book suffers for it. Additionally, the book is reviewed and portrayed as an adventure saga. In that regard, it is over within the first 250 pages. The book simply drags on... and on... and on. I think this would be an appropriate high school sophomore text, but is clearly not a book for a sophisticated reader looking for stimulating entertainment. Perhaps the abridged audiobook would be more fulfilling. I gave the book three stars because two was simply too harsh a rating.
Rating:
Summary: A decent read but the main characters are weak
Review: The main character of the book is so spineless that I had to put this book down for a few days on two separate occassions before completing it. The main character's sister and friend/captain/childhood companion is shallow and oversimplified. I really enjoyed the author's rich description of arctic exploration and each member of the crew. The fact that the main character was a naturalist may be his only redeeming quality.
Rating:
Summary: Get into the mind of a 19th century naturalist.
Review: While a revolution is taking place in biology, with Darwin's publication of the Origin of Species, and great explorers are seeking shipping channels in the Arctic Ocean and the remains of failed expeditions, the protagonist of Amanda Barrett's The Voyage of the Narshawl is struggling to find his place in the sun as a naturalist, struggling to find love, and struggling to stay alive on a misguided expedition to the Arctic. There is high adventure on the frozen seas, and high adventure in the minds of those struggling with new scientific concepts such as evolution, professional jealousies, and bitter rivalries. This most unique book is a page turner that is well worth anyone's time.
Rating: 
Summary: Barret's no Conrad
Review: What drew me to this book was the blurb that compared the author to Joseph Conrad, specifically this book was compared to Lord Jim. Nothing could be farther from the truth. There's no passion in the pages. Characters are flat and predictable. This story was far beyond the author's ability to tell it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Account of Arctic Exploration
Review: This was one of the most engrossing and well detailed books I have ever read. I would recommend it to anyone who craves intelligent and well reseached writing. This is a story that will always stay with me.
Rating:
Summary: A gripping story well researched
Review: Ms. Barrett has obviously done her homework as the technical and historical details of this classic tale of arctic exploration ring true. I found the love story between Zeke and Livinia to be largely extraneous and felt the continuous change of scenes from the ice to Livinia's setting to be disconcerting. It has the feeling of having been patched in later. I can hear the editor now: "We need some love interest here. You have a large contingnent of women readers and they need this. They will become bored with all this guy stuff if you don't." Of course, al shear bunkum. True, the love story does provide some relief from tension of those trapped in the ice, but that is the point, that tension should not be relieved. After you've read this engrossing piece of fiction, read a true story: Shackelton, by Roland Huntford and live the unrelieved tension of being trapped in the ice for better than two years.
Rating:
Summary: Moving and terrifying
Review: This is one of the most beautiful books I ever read in my life. It evokes not only the look and feel of the 19th century, and of the Antarctic, but the moral and intellectual climate as well. I couldn't put it down, and when I was done, I felt like a slightly different person, one who knew what it meant to live in that time, and to make those choices. This is a stupendous book: gripping, brilliant, strange, wonderful.
| 
