The Last Voyage of a Whaling Ship
Whales are becoming extinct, so most countries have outlawed whaling except Japan, Norway, and Iceland. Whalers, the people who hunt and kill these glorious mammals, are considered by many as barbaric. Author Lindsey Kinsella knows this. In his newest novel, Broken Voyage, he writes about the last voyage of the Livyatan, an illegal whaling ship and its international crew. Kinsella puts a face on the crew and proceeds to write a character study as we learn about each one.
There is an explosion in the engine room, a fire, and then Captain Aksel orders the crew to abandon ship in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. It is obvious to all that the explosion was set by a crewmate, but who?
Lindsey Kinsella develops an interesting novel about life in the Arctic wilderness as the crew struggles to stay alive and reach the shores of Greenland as they trek across the frozen ocean. The setting descriptions are beautiful, the back stories for each of the crewmates is fascinating, and their attempt at survival is inspiring. Readers may actually feel sorrow for these whalers.
But who sabotaged their vessel’s destruction? The author touches upon this through finger pointing and angry accusations, but the emphasis of the novel is on surviving in the Arctic Circle with a hungry polar bear at their rear and a pod of killer whales stalking them below the thinning ice.
I hate the cold. Kinsella does such a wonderful job of describing the environment, I had to put my book down on numerous occasions just to warm up. But I returned to this spell binding read to see just who would survive this ordeal and closed the book with a satisfied nod.
About the Author
Lindsey Kinsella is a Scottish science fiction and fantasy author. While a qualified and experienced naval architect and avid classic car enthusiast, he always reserved space in life for his fascination with science, nature, and paleontology. This drove his writing process as he aspired to write tales of the rich and complex story of life on Earth.
Michael Thal is the author of The Abduction of Joshua Bloom, a science fiction love story.
