Rating: 
Summary: A riveting tale
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: An Insight Into Survival
Review: An excellent adventure story which is well documented by the author. Makes you want to cancel your Nat'l Geo membership because they gave an award to the fool responsible for this unnecessary folly. Put it on your 'must read' list.
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Summary: Another in the Fine Line of Boy's Own Arctic Adventure
Review: Jennifer Niven in The Ice Master (The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk) has plucked from history another wonderful adventure story in the ice and snow. This one was a little harder to bear than some of the others as so very many of the personalities were selfish and cruel. That was probably, though, what made this book a little different from the rest of the (ice) pack and all the more horrific. These experiences brought out a person's true character and it wasn't pretty much of the time, starting early when their captain deserted them. There were also a few instances of heroics and true compassion. This is a fine addition to the Arctic and Antartic literature sprouting like weeds throughout the history section of book stores. If these stories have become your addiction, you do not want to miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting story of survival & human spirit
Review: Jennifer Niven's experience as a screenwriter stands her in good stead in "The Ice Master," a gripping tale of the doomed Arctic voyage of the ship Karluk. It is nearly impossible to imagine how anyone survived the Karluk, a rickety ship unsuited to the rigors of Arctic travel, manned by an ill-equipped & inexperienced group. The ship quickly became immobilized by an ice floe, at which point the expedition's "leader" callously abandoned his men. Embedded in the floe, the ship floated aimlessly while the remaining crew and passengers struggled to survive. After enduring months in the ice-locked ship, the Karluk was destroyed by shifting ice masses and sank, forcing the group to abandon ship and make camp on top of the ice. Later, the survivors trekked across treacherous ice until they reached a small, nearly uninhabitable island. There they hung on for many more months until their rescue, suffering from starvation, disease, frostbite, despair, and infighting. Niven's vivid descriptions of the horrors & deprivations faced by these individuals leave you awestruck at the strength of the human body and the power of the human spirit. Surviving by chewing seal blubber and walrus hides - snow blindness - a mysterious illness that left most of the survivors nearly incapacitated - hunting for game on a desolate and barren Arctic island with a sharpened stick - enduring below-zero temperatures and gale-force winds & snow for weeks at a time - 24-hour darkness in the winter - amputating frostbitten tissue with a pocket knife - it is nearly unbelievable. (Also unbelievable but infinitely more cheering is that the Karluk's little black cat managed to survive the ordeal, too.) Truly a book you cannot put down, that takes you outside your world & transports you to another place and time, and leaves you marveling at the good and evil that reside inside us all.
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Summary: The Real survivor's island!
Review: In an interesting recent tradition of great non-fiction adventure books like, Into Thin Air, Perfect Storm, A First Rate Tragedy, and the recent In the Heart of the Sea, we now have what might be the best of the breed, The Ice Master. Jennifer Niven has mastered her subject as the reader is an active participant along with these survivors. Despite the reader knowing from page one that the ship sinks and some survive you are drawn in by a narative that is both personal and clearly detailed with historical perspective. Ms. Niven brought forth a very well written book which is fresh and exciting and shocking page after page turning page. I can't really express how much I recommend you take a trip to the Arctic on the Karluk.
Rating:
Summary: A harrowing tale
Review: Why is it that so many Arctic and Antarctic expeditions of the 19th and early 20th century ended in tragedy of one kind or another? Particularly in the Arctic, expeditions were in weak, wooden hulled ships, and they attempted to break through the massive fields of ice that guard the Polar region. The 1913 Canadian expedition, concerning which this book was written, is an unfortunately typical example of a venture that was almost doomed from the beginning. A bad ship, disorganization, extremely poor planning, purchase of substandard equipment, and finally, abandonment of the men on the doomed ship by the erstwhile leader of the expedition led to a very bad end for many of its members. This is a very grim story of tragedy, but there is some nobility and self-sacrifice involved, also. The capain of the ship Karluk, the "ice master" of the title, comes through as a shining example of courage and perseverance in the face of adversity. He saved the men entrusted to him by the expedition's feckless leader, and did everything he could to bring as many of them home as was humanly possible. This is a grim, often gloomy work, but the courage and sheer stubbornness of the marooned party shines through on almost every page. It's well written and well worth reading.
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Summary: Another harrowing tale of life in the arctic
Review: "The Ice Master" joins the ever growing recent list of polar exploration books that seem to be all the rage these days. Fortunately, this is one of the better entries in the genre. Author Jeffiner Niven conducted extensive research, helped by the fact that several of the survivors kept extensive journals during their ordeal. Though they did not resort to cannibalism to stay alive, they endured most of the other hazzards of becoming stranded far from civilzation. Starvation, snowblindness, severe frostbite, heartbreaking deaths, the crew of the "Karluk" endured them all. Niven is a superior storyteller who has the ability to place the reader with the her protagonists. The story has also includes a glimpse into the darker side of humanity. The "Karluk" became stranded in the first place because of the arrogance and incompotence of the explorer Stefasson, who then proceeded to abandon her and her crew to their fate. Fortunately, hero Captain Robert Bartlett was able to endure the almost superhuman ordeal of walking out of the wilderness and summoning help. Even so, near half of the expedition expired in the ice, and some of those who survived behaved far less than honorably. Overall, this is a great book for those interested in exploration or adventure stores.
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Summary: Read this in a warm place.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: best book I've read in a long time
Review: I originally purchased this book as a Christmas gift, but ended up reading it from cover to cover myself. Now I will have to buy another copy, but am convinced it was a good choice!! Weaving this story using actual diaries, and thus the words of the protagonists, not only adds tremendous validity to the tale, but gives a genuine feel for their plight. This book really does read a good as any fiction book, and I had to keep reminding myself that this was a true story! There were occasional problems following the time lines (sometimes she would jump ahead and then back again without being obvious about it), and I agree that a more detailed map would have helped, but this really is the best book I've read in a long time.
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