I read this ages ago, but haven’t written about it here. Well, work is keeping me crazy, and my short fiction turnarounds are insane, so…

This was a very enjoyable read. I liked part one, “The Wreck of the Mary Byrd,” the best. It just appealed to me the most, structurally. I was particularly taken with the first person character introductions, where everyone explained who they were and what they were doing aboard the Mary Byrd. My favorite chapter was Chapter II, Laura Brown’s chapter, partly for the use of dialect (I tried to read part of it aloud to Brian and found myself unable to do so without a southern accent), and partly because–I admit it–I just identified with Laura’s intense hatred of the cold. (I got seasonal affective disorder in southern Virginia.)

Anyway, it was mainly the history and the voices in part one that appealed to me, although there’s also a werewolf-hunting Irish nun. Parts two and three feel a little pasted on to me, but I like part one and the history in all of them enough to overlook that. My parents met singing opera. I’ll overlook a lot if you appeal to my ear enough.

Good book. Go, read.