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Our assignment today is to pair up a fiction and a nonfiction book about the same topic. Since I'm an overachiever (and indecisive), I'm not going to make a book pair. I'm going to make a book throuple. That's right. I'm talking about three books that discuss The Franklin Expedition.

What the heck is The Franklin Expedition? In 1845, a British dude called Captain Sir John Franklin headed to the Canadian Arctic to map the Northwest Passage. His expedition consisted of 129 men and 2 ships. The voyage did not go as planned. The ships got stuck in ice for over a year. While the ships were icebound, 24 men—including Franklin—died.

In April 1848, the remaining 105 men got fed up with the explorer lifestyle and decided to walk across the ice to the Canadian mainland. They were never seen again.

Intense story, right? Here's how three authors used the lost Franklin Expedition as inspiration for their books.

Book Throuple: The Franklin Expedition

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

Nonfiction

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.

Why I recommend it: I was completely fascinated by the various attempts to locate Franklin. His wife never gave up on him. It's sad that she died from old age without leaning what happened to her husband. The families of Franklin's crew also had to live with the mystery. I don't think I could have done that. It would have made me insane.

It's interesting that whole generations of people let their racism get in the way of their goals. Pretty much nobody talked to the Inuit people about the lost ships. For an Inuit person in the early 1800s, seeing two massive ships get crushed by ice would be like seeing a UFO crash. It's news that they spread to their neighbors and passed down to their children. Franklin's ships were found in 2014. They were found exactly where the Inuit said they sank. It seems like this mystery could have been solved a lot faster if we used our words.

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The Terror by Dan Simmons

Horror Fiction

The men on board the HMS Terror—part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage—are entering a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, they struggle to survive with poisonous rations, a dwindling coal supply, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is even more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid dark: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror clawing to get in.

Why I recommend it: Honestly, I have a lot of quibbles about this book. First, it doesn't need to be 800 pages. The author loves long info dumps and repetitive conversations. Second, I hate how the female characters are written. All the main characters are men, and the female characters are mostly. . . boobs with legs. I wish they had more personality.

I put this book on my list because it won't leave my head! If I had read this novel when I was 13 years old, I would have been obsessed. I know it would've been an instant favorite because it's very "me." There's a lot to love about it. Teenage-me would have been obsessed with the arctic setting and historical details. The details feel very authentic. It's a terrifying story! It's tense and full of plot twists. The men know they're going to die, but that doesn't stop them from fighting for their lives.

Despite my issues, I had a good time with this one. Read it if you want ice monsters in your head.

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The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister

Historical Mystery Fiction

In early 1853, experienced California Trail guide Virginia Reeve is summoned to Boston by a mysterious benefactor who offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: lead a party of 12 women into the wild, hazardous Arctic to search for the lost Franklin Expedition. It’s an extraordinary request, but the party is made up of extraordinary women. Each brings her own strengths and skills to the expedition—and her own unsettling secrets. A year and a half later, back in Boston, Virginia is on trial when not all of the women return.

Why I recommend it: I got this book on Christmas morning and read the majority of it on Christmas day. It's been a long time since I flew through a book so quickly. It entertained me enough that I didn't want to put it down.

The mystery is what kept me reading. I don't want to say too much and spoil if for you, but you know from the beginning of the book that the women's quest failed. All the "Why" questions kept me on the edge of my seat. I needed to know what happened next! Being stuck and starving in the snow would be terrifying.

Reading about frozen death is a nice way to spend Christmas. I recommend it.

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