Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition by Paul Watson

The spellbinding true story of the greatest mystery of Arctic exploration—and the rare mix of marine science and Inuit knowledge that led to the shipwrecks' recent discovery.

Ice Ghosts weaves together the epic story of the Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845—whose two ships and crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice—with the modern tale of the scientists, divers, and local Inuit behind the incredible discovery of the flagship’s wreck in 2014. Paul Watson, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was on the icebreaker that led the discovery expedition, tells a fast-paced historical adventure story: Sir John Franklin and the crew of the HMS Erebus and Terror setting off in search of the fabled Northwest Passage, the hazards they encountered and the reasons they were forced to abandon ship hundreds of miles from the nearest outpost of Western civilization, and the decades of searching that turned up only rumors of cannibalism and a few scattered papers and bones—until a combination of faith in Inuit lore and the latest science yielded a discovery for the ages.

I’ve been interested in the Franklin expedition since reading Dan Simmons’ The Terror, several years ago. And I’d long wished that the two lost ships would someday be found. So I was very excited when they actually were, and looked forward to reading about that search.

I rather naively thought that the finding of each ship was done by a small, but dedicated group of archaeologists, combing the vast arctic sea for the remains of these two ships. Well, I got part of it right.

The book goes into detail as to the men who did carry out the search. Sometimes, perhaps too much. Often dedicated, but too often dedicated more to fame and fortune. There were those few who were in it only for the science, for the knowledge, but, at least for me, their story was clouded by the others. So my enjoyment of the hunt was spoiled a bit by finding out that some of the searchers were far from the stuff of heroes.

And a small group? At times it sounded as if half of Canada was in on the search. Nevertheless, I did come away with a profound respect for the Inuit whose knowledge helped locate the ships, and for those men whose main objective was the finding of the ships and for the knowledge gained.

These quibbles aside, I enjoyed the excitement as the search progressed, and the thrill when the ships were finally discovered.






Mount TBR 2018 Book Links

Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.


1. ReDeus: Divine Tales
2. 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
3. The Exodus Quest
4. Troy: Shield Of Thunder
5. Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph
6. Hyperion
7. Thin Air
8. Gods and Generals
9. White Seed
10. The Killer Angels
11. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
12. Troy: Fall of Kings
13. The Last Full Measure
14. Gwendy's Button Box
15. We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
16. Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition