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Broken Voyage
Stranded in the Arctic, the international crew of an illegal whaler find themselves in a race for survival. Can they survive the cold, the sea, and, most of all, each other?
Pushed to desperation in a bleak world ravaged by climate change, Lora M’Bandi flees her homeland to join a group of unlikely outcasts aboard the whaling ship Livyatan. When an explosion rips through the vessel, the crew become shipwrecked deep inside the Arctic Circle—sabotaged by one of their own. Now, they must trek across the treacherous sea ice to reach dry land before the ice retreats—all the while with a traitor in their midst and fearsome predators stalking their every move.
Who will make it out of this harrowing tale of horror and survival?
Pushed to desperation in a bleak world ravaged by climate change, Lora M’Bandi flees her homeland to join a group of unlikely outcasts aboard the whaling ship Livyatan. When an explosion rips through the vessel, the crew become shipwrecked deep inside the Arctic Circle—sabotaged by one of their own. Now, they must trek across the treacherous sea ice to reach dry land before the ice retreats—all the while with a traitor in their midst and fearsome predators stalking their every move.
Who will make it out of this harrowing tale of horror and survival?
289 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 31, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 23, 2024
The threat of death lurks everywhere in the Arctic.
I enjoyed how much effort the author put into describing the characters’ backstories and explaining how they ended up illegally hunting whales on the Livyatan. This isn’t an occupation I’d generally sympathize with at all, but their reasons for breaking the law made sense once I got to know the characters better and understood how the powers that be let them down at critical moments in their lives. It was refreshing to understand their perspectives and why someone would agree to hunt such rare species.
It would have been helpful if more time was spent developing the mystery portion of the plot. The explosion that destroyed the Livyatan was such a crucial moment in the storyline that I was surprised by how little attention was given to figuring out why it happened. Yes, the characters needed to flee from the sinking ship and find a safe place to stay, but once they were out of the life raft they had plenty of time to think about what just happened and who might have been responsible for it. Having more clues to work with would have been beneficial for me as a reader, and I would have happily chosen a higher rating if they had been provided.
The world building was strong and intriguing. I especially liked how certain plot twists were shared with the audience as clips from news shows or when characters shared the latest headlines with one another. It made those revelations feel even more realistic, especially when certain characters had strong opinions in favor of or against what was happening in the world and I had a chance to compare their reactions with those who lived much closer to those wars, pandemics, droughts, and other critical events. Not everything affected everyone’s daily lives equally even if they were genuinely concerned about what was happening thousands of miles away from home, so it was also nice to have multiple perspectives on some of these moments.
Broken Voyage was a wild ride.
I enjoyed how much effort the author put into describing the characters’ backstories and explaining how they ended up illegally hunting whales on the Livyatan. This isn’t an occupation I’d generally sympathize with at all, but their reasons for breaking the law made sense once I got to know the characters better and understood how the powers that be let them down at critical moments in their lives. It was refreshing to understand their perspectives and why someone would agree to hunt such rare species.
It would have been helpful if more time was spent developing the mystery portion of the plot. The explosion that destroyed the Livyatan was such a crucial moment in the storyline that I was surprised by how little attention was given to figuring out why it happened. Yes, the characters needed to flee from the sinking ship and find a safe place to stay, but once they were out of the life raft they had plenty of time to think about what just happened and who might have been responsible for it. Having more clues to work with would have been beneficial for me as a reader, and I would have happily chosen a higher rating if they had been provided.
The world building was strong and intriguing. I especially liked how certain plot twists were shared with the audience as clips from news shows or when characters shared the latest headlines with one another. It made those revelations feel even more realistic, especially when certain characters had strong opinions in favor of or against what was happening in the world and I had a chance to compare their reactions with those who lived much closer to those wars, pandemics, droughts, and other critical events. Not everything affected everyone’s daily lives equally even if they were genuinely concerned about what was happening thousands of miles away from home, so it was also nice to have multiple perspectives on some of these moments.
Broken Voyage was a wild ride.
November 8, 2024
Broken Voyage is what appears to be the third published novel by Scottish author, Lindsey Kinsella. His bio describes him as a qualified naval architect which must have helped with the technical aspects of the book.
At just 160 pages long Broken Voyage is novella length but those pages are packed with tense action as we follow the small crew before and after the shipwreck. In between this action we have flashback chapters on the crew members to give us their backgrounds and to explain how such a diverse mix of people could be doing this work. That combination of characters, together with the harsh conditions in the arctic, work together to keep the reader’s attention.
As hinted in the synopsis, this is a dystopian novella set in the not too distant future. Climate change has progressed as many currently forecast and I was interested to read how Kinsella treats not just the effects of the warmer world but also the human reactions to it, particularly in the northern countries.
On occasions we were following the fairly complex thought processes of a whale. I concede that it helped to explain some of the plot but these sections reminded me more of childhood stories such as Black Beauty and Wind in the Willows than an adult thriller.
Although it fitted the circumstances I did find some of the graphic descriptions to be just about bearable. The synopsis may not be Kinsella’s work but I was surprised by what I thought was an unnecessary spoiler and, being a bit picky, although Lora ended up on a whaler it was not the reason she left her homeland.
All in all, Broken Voyage is an entertaining read which I think that most lovers of action stories will enjoy. I have awarded 4.5 stars.
At just 160 pages long Broken Voyage is novella length but those pages are packed with tense action as we follow the small crew before and after the shipwreck. In between this action we have flashback chapters on the crew members to give us their backgrounds and to explain how such a diverse mix of people could be doing this work. That combination of characters, together with the harsh conditions in the arctic, work together to keep the reader’s attention.
As hinted in the synopsis, this is a dystopian novella set in the not too distant future. Climate change has progressed as many currently forecast and I was interested to read how Kinsella treats not just the effects of the warmer world but also the human reactions to it, particularly in the northern countries.
On occasions we were following the fairly complex thought processes of a whale. I concede that it helped to explain some of the plot but these sections reminded me more of childhood stories such as Black Beauty and Wind in the Willows than an adult thriller.
Although it fitted the circumstances I did find some of the graphic descriptions to be just about bearable. The synopsis may not be Kinsella’s work but I was surprised by what I thought was an unnecessary spoiler and, being a bit picky, although Lora ended up on a whaler it was not the reason she left her homeland.
All in all, Broken Voyage is an entertaining read which I think that most lovers of action stories will enjoy. I have awarded 4.5 stars.
December 25, 2024
This is an intense story with an interesting story world. The story world is in the near future and gives this tale a dystopian setting. Climate change has made it so some parts of the world are uninhabitable, but people from those areas who are trying to flee elsewhere have to sneak in because other countries don’t want them. At least one of the characters in this book is one of those people who snuck into a liveable country and is now working on an illegal whaling ship to survive. After all, you need to have food and somewhere to sleep, even in a new country, right? Why whaling is a thing again, you’ll have to read the book, but the adventure really ramps up when the whaling boat is shipwrecked. They quickly figure out that one of the crew is responsible for sabotaging the ship, but not who it was. Now the boat’s crew has to figure out a way to get to dry land while they still have a chance, but no one knows who they can and can’t trust. As you can imagine, this makes for a tense time as well as an engaging read as the reader tries, along with the ship’s crew, to figure out how they can make it to safety and who they can and can’t trust. Guessing wrong could be fatal, at least for the characters. The reader should be safe.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
September 21, 2025
This gripping near future dystopian tale blends survival, mystery, and high seas adventure into a tense, page turning read. Set in a world reshaped by climate change, it follows the desperate crew of an illegal whaling ship after a deadly sabotage leaves them stranded at sea. With danger closing in and trust in short supply, every decision feels life or death. Suspenseful, thought provoking, and vividly imagined, this is a story that keeps you guessing until the very end.
April 2, 2026
wow... what a story... no wish to spoil it... but I am ecstatically enthusiastic overjoyed that grampus made it! truly thrilling and a great read!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews