Book Review of
Empire of Ice and Stone
Lynn's Review
Empire of Ice and Stone by Buddy Levy was published in 2022. It is nonfiction and has 394 pages.
This is a page-turning, narrative nonfiction, adventure story. It was a five-star read for me. I can’t stop talking about this book.
Set in 1913, it is the story of the Karluk and its voyage in the Artic Ocean between Alaska and Siberia. If you enjoy nonfiction adventure stories this is a must-read.
Empire of Ice and Stone is a great book for someone that liked Endurance by Alfred Lansing, which is the story of Ernest Shackleton’s voyage to the south pole.
Empire of Ice and Stone is the Arctic version of Endurance. In fact, it took place just a few years after Shackleton’s voyage.
Empire of Ice and Stone is a story of leadership, both good and bad. It is a story of human nature and survival. It is about how a desire for fame can blind you to both common sense and the care of others.
This book is about courage and being adventurous. It is a story of a group of men who risked their lives, and in some cases lost their lives, for the cause of science.
Empire of Ice and Stone reminded me why I love nonfiction so much. This book has not gotten the attention it deserves.
I bought this as a book to buddy-read with my husband. We do this with a few books a year. We buy two copies of a book and read it at the same time. We read a couple of chapters, discuss it, read a few more chapters, discuss it, etc. We have found that this is a good way to talk books and read books that push us both a little outside of our comfort zone.
My husband and I both loved this book! It was narrative nonfiction at its best. We are recommending it to so many people, especially guys.
This would be a great book gift for the guys in your life that like to read. I also think it would make a great book for teen boys to read.
One of the things that we discussed after reading this was that it was a book about men being men. Both in good and bad ways. I told my husband that I don’t think there are many people these days that would survive what this group of men did. It took doing extreme things to survive. It took a type of courage and strength that is rare.
I think this would make a great buddy read for teens, especially teen boys, and their parents. This book brings about some great discussions on good and bad leadership that both men and women can learn from.
Now, I will say this is about a ship, a shipwreck, and survival under horrific circumstances. It talks in detail about amputations, and death in horrible ways. Some of the survival tactics are unimaginable. If you don’t like graphic details like that, you might not enjoy this book. But for those that love adventure books, this is a great read.