It’s difficult to know what to say about this book without saying too much. Ian was especially eager that I read it; he said it usually throws people for a loop, and he was curious to see what I thought of it. He also said that it was something of an experiment that hadn’t quite come off, but that he still liked it.

Now that I’ve read it, I have to go along with all of that. I liked it; it doesn’t quite work; the climax is rather a surprise; and it was worth my time anyway.

The main action takes place prior to World War II, and concerns a former RAF pilot who is hired, on the strength of his post-service flying experience in Canada, to fly an Oxford archaeologist and his daughter to Greenland. There the pilot will conduct an aerial photographic survey of the site, while the archaeologist will work on the ground. We follow the pilot as he prepares for the expedition (a quite dangerous one in those days) and then the expedition itself. There’s lots of the usual Shute storytelling detail, and a number of good characters; and as I say it all works out rather surprisingly.

I don’t want to say any more just now, because I like to keep the main page a spoiler-free zone; but if you’ve read the book we can discuss the details in the comments.