North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther
by Ethan Rutherford
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Finalist for the 2025 National Book Awards for Fiction
From "one of our great artists of catastrophe" (Laura van den Berg) comes North Sun, or the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther-an allegory of extraction and a tale of adventure and endurance during the waning days of the American whaling industry.
Setting out from New Bedford in 1878, the crew of the Esther is confident the sea will be theirs: in addition to cruising the Pacific for whale, they intend to hunt the teeming northern grounds before the ice closes. But as they sail to their final destination in the Chukchi Sea, where their captain Arnold Lovejoy has an urgent directive of his own to attend to, their encounters with the natural world become more brutal, harrowing, ghostly, and strange.
With one foot firmly planted in the traditional sea-voyage narrative, and another in a blazing mythos of its own, this debut novel looks unsparingly at the cost of environmental exploitation and predation, and in doing so feverishly sings not only of the past, but to the present and future as well.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9781646053582
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Ethan Rutherford
- Publisher
- Strange Object
- Published Date
- March 11, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 386
- Physical Info
- 1.1 in H x 8 in L x 5 in W (0.9 lb)
Though it’s about loss and disintegration, the writing carries a lyrical, almost metaphysical quality as the men drift between reality and delusion at sea. Set in the late 1800s as whaling is coming to an end, this beautifully written book is rich with vivid imagery that makes you feel you are aboard ship witnessing the end of an era. Although centered on harsh realities, the language lifts this story into something almost lyrical, the long empty days at sea blur into delusion and metaphysical haze as the men wait for whales and confront the perils of the ocean and the dangers aboard ship. It is a haunting poetic work that lingers well beyond its final page.
This captivating novel will lure you into its pages with the same hypnotic quality of being at sea and not let go, staying with you long afterwards. The writing is flawless and beautiful and surprising, and the story is simultaneously tender-hearted and brutally raw. A sea voyage, an allegory, a survival story, an expansive larger than life journey and an examination of the undercurrents of life, both figurative and literal. I’ve never read anything like it. Brilliant!
An invitation to visit strange waters in a dream voyage.
Horribly unclear storyline making no sense.
