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The White Voyage
Dublin to Dieppe to Amsterdam. A routine trip for the cargo ship Kreya, her Danish crew and handful of passengers. Brief enough for undercurrents to remain below the surface and secrets to stay buried.
The portents, though, are ominous. ‘There are three signs,’ the spiritualist warned. ‘The first is when the beast walks free. The second is when water breaks iron … The third is when horses swim like fishes.’
Captain Olsen, a self-confessed connoisseur of human stupidity, has no patience with the irrational, and little interest in the messiness of relationships.
‘I condemn no man or woman,‘ he declares, ‘however savage and enormous their sins, as long as they do not touch the Kreya. But anything that touches the ship is different. In this small world, I am God. I judge, I punish, and I need not give my reasons.’
Olsen’s philosophy is challenged in the extreme when, in mountainous seas, disaster strikes: the rudder smashed beyond repair, a mutiny, and the battered vessel adrift in the vast ocean, driven irrevocably northwards by wind and tide – until she comes to rest, at last, lodged in the great Arctic ice-pack.
The portents, though, are ominous. ‘There are three signs,’ the spiritualist warned. ‘The first is when the beast walks free. The second is when water breaks iron … The third is when horses swim like fishes.’
Captain Olsen, a self-confessed connoisseur of human stupidity, has no patience with the irrational, and little interest in the messiness of relationships.
‘I condemn no man or woman,‘ he declares, ‘however savage and enormous their sins, as long as they do not touch the Kreya. But anything that touches the ship is different. In this small world, I am God. I judge, I punish, and I need not give my reasons.’
Olsen’s philosophy is challenged in the extreme when, in mountainous seas, disaster strikes: the rudder smashed beyond repair, a mutiny, and the battered vessel adrift in the vast ocean, driven irrevocably northwards by wind and tide – until she comes to rest, at last, lodged in the great Arctic ice-pack.
212 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1960
4 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
John Christopher
194 books541 followersSamuel Youd was born in Huyton, Lancashire in April 1922, during an unseasonable snowstorm.
As a boy, he was devoted to the newly emergent genre of science-fiction: ‘In the early thirties,’ he later wrote, ‘we knew just enough about the solar system for its possibilities to be a magnet to the imagination.’
Over the following decades, his imagination flowed from science-fiction into general novels, cricket novels, medical novels, gothic romances, detective thrillers, light comedies … In all he published fifty-six novels and a myriad of short stories, under his own name as well as eight different pen-names.
He is perhaps best known as John Christopher, author of the seminal work of speculative fiction, The Death of Grass (today available as a Penguin Classic), and a stream of novels in the genre he pioneered, young adult dystopian fiction, beginning with The Tripods Trilogy.
‘I read somewhere,’ Sam once said, ‘that I have been cited as the greatest serial killer in fictional history, having destroyed civilisation in so many different ways – through famine, freezing, earthquakes, feral youth combined with religious fanaticism, and progeria.’
In an interview towards the end of his life, conversation turned to a recent spate of novels set on Mars and a possible setting for a John Christopher story: strand a group of people in a remote Martian enclave and see what happens.
The Mars aspect, he felt, was irrelevant. ‘What happens between the people,’ he said, ‘that’s the thing I’m interested in.’
As a boy, he was devoted to the newly emergent genre of science-fiction: ‘In the early thirties,’ he later wrote, ‘we knew just enough about the solar system for its possibilities to be a magnet to the imagination.’
Over the following decades, his imagination flowed from science-fiction into general novels, cricket novels, medical novels, gothic romances, detective thrillers, light comedies … In all he published fifty-six novels and a myriad of short stories, under his own name as well as eight different pen-names.
He is perhaps best known as John Christopher, author of the seminal work of speculative fiction, The Death of Grass (today available as a Penguin Classic), and a stream of novels in the genre he pioneered, young adult dystopian fiction, beginning with The Tripods Trilogy.
‘I read somewhere,’ Sam once said, ‘that I have been cited as the greatest serial killer in fictional history, having destroyed civilisation in so many different ways – through famine, freezing, earthquakes, feral youth combined with religious fanaticism, and progeria.’
In an interview towards the end of his life, conversation turned to a recent spate of novels set on Mars and a possible setting for a John Christopher story: strand a group of people in a remote Martian enclave and see what happens.
The Mars aspect, he felt, was irrelevant. ‘What happens between the people,’ he said, ‘that’s the thing I’m interested in.’
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 14, 2015
3.5 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews
A Danish cargo ship with a few passengers meets bad weather during a short voyage.
I started reading John Christopher a long time ago - maybe with The Lotus Caves (soon to be a film?) or with The Prince in Waiting, both books that opened my eyes to a whole different kind of writing than I'd seen to that point. I read The Prince in Waiting not too long after it came out, and for all its YA focus, it may have been the most adult thing I'd read to that point, with its hero forced to confront life's harsh realities outside his comfortable life. I still love those books.
It's just as well I didn't start with The White Voyage, a much more adult book in which things happen slowly and deliberately, even as reader and characters all see disaster looming larger and larger with each passing hour. The characters are well-drawn, but lack distinctive voices; even the stubborn, resolute captain takes some time to show a difference from his more romantic first mate. Christopher (who I only now learn was really Sam Youd), did better with his young adult characters, to be honest.
This adult book has a fair helping of philosophical introspection about the nature of life, destiny, and purpose. Some of it is absorbing and interesting; some seems misplaced and dry. What keeps the book gripping despite its somber nature is the impending doom that's clearly signaled from page one - even from the title. It's a ghastly, fascinating slow-motion crash that, for all its romantic concerns, does little to spare the reader's emotions.
If you only know Christopher from his young adult books, be warned: this is different. This is a thoroughly adult book, though a less effective one than his best YA. Its a dark and effective look at certainty and its costs. Worth taking a look at, to see a different side of the John Christopher you think you know.
A Danish cargo ship with a few passengers meets bad weather during a short voyage.
I started reading John Christopher a long time ago - maybe with The Lotus Caves (soon to be a film?) or with The Prince in Waiting, both books that opened my eyes to a whole different kind of writing than I'd seen to that point. I read The Prince in Waiting not too long after it came out, and for all its YA focus, it may have been the most adult thing I'd read to that point, with its hero forced to confront life's harsh realities outside his comfortable life. I still love those books.
It's just as well I didn't start with The White Voyage, a much more adult book in which things happen slowly and deliberately, even as reader and characters all see disaster looming larger and larger with each passing hour. The characters are well-drawn, but lack distinctive voices; even the stubborn, resolute captain takes some time to show a difference from his more romantic first mate. Christopher (who I only now learn was really Sam Youd), did better with his young adult characters, to be honest.
This adult book has a fair helping of philosophical introspection about the nature of life, destiny, and purpose. Some of it is absorbing and interesting; some seems misplaced and dry. What keeps the book gripping despite its somber nature is the impending doom that's clearly signaled from page one - even from the title. It's a ghastly, fascinating slow-motion crash that, for all its romantic concerns, does little to spare the reader's emotions.
If you only know Christopher from his young adult books, be warned: this is different. This is a thoroughly adult book, though a less effective one than his best YA. Its a dark and effective look at certainty and its costs. Worth taking a look at, to see a different side of the John Christopher you think you know.
July 31, 2015
From the very beginning of their voyage, the portents are ominous when the Kreya sets sail from Dublin to Copenhagan: bad weather, discontent among the crew, suspicion and secrecy amongst the passengers. Then, during an horrific storm, in midst of humongous swells, disaster strikes: a smashed rudder that cannot be repaired, followed by a mutiny. The passengers and ship's officers who are left, are completely at the mercy of the mighty ocean, drifting helplessly, driven inexorably north by wind and waves towards the most terrible ordeal of all.
I have had this book for about three years, sitting on my shelf; alternately being shifted in and out of my field of vision. I don't know why I just didn't just sit down one day and read it straight out. Maybe it was a sense that I just really wasn't in the mood to read this book at certain times. However, I finally took the plunge and read it. I'm so glad that I did!
It was heart-stopping for me in places and I found myself alternately booing and cheering the characters actions. I whole-heartedly give this book an A+! and was saddened to learn that Mr. Youd (John Christopher is just one of his many pseudonyms) passed away recently from cancer. He was probably better well-known for his science fiction, however he did write quite a number of books in a variety of genres.
I have had this book for about three years, sitting on my shelf; alternately being shifted in and out of my field of vision. I don't know why I just didn't just sit down one day and read it straight out. Maybe it was a sense that I just really wasn't in the mood to read this book at certain times. However, I finally took the plunge and read it. I'm so glad that I did!
It was heart-stopping for me in places and I found myself alternately booing and cheering the characters actions. I whole-heartedly give this book an A+! and was saddened to learn that Mr. Youd (John Christopher is just one of his many pseudonyms) passed away recently from cancer. He was probably better well-known for his science fiction, however he did write quite a number of books in a variety of genres.
August 6, 2015
Having loved this author's science fiction books I was intrigued to see whether his other writings were as good. The White Voyage doesn't disappoint and is a really compelling read, properly crafted and quite gripping. I can recall his plots and characters more than any other books which, to me, indicate a well-written book.
March 15, 2021
Dated and emotionally remote in places, with characters that vacillated between clear and realistic, to murky and cliched, but a compelling and fast read.
I continue to have rose colored glasses for John Christopher, and this tight little book delivered with its beautiful and efficient language describing the ship and its operation, the mounting tension from the stubborn egotistical captain who was slow to recognize danger and refused to listen to input from his crew, the gorgeous descriptions of storm and sea and ice.
The cast of characters were interesting, but the portrayal of fear fell short - meaning to say they never really seemed afraid, long after they had so many reasons to be afraid. They were so level headed as to not seem real. Nevertheless, the way the characters played off of each other created a cinematic dynamic that drove the story forward and would have worked well in a movie, and the complexity of those characters made you never sure who was safe, whose story was most important, and that raised the stakes of the story in a good way - no one could be discounted or ignored.
I continue to have rose colored glasses for John Christopher, and this tight little book delivered with its beautiful and efficient language describing the ship and its operation, the mounting tension from the stubborn egotistical captain who was slow to recognize danger and refused to listen to input from his crew, the gorgeous descriptions of storm and sea and ice.
The cast of characters were interesting, but the portrayal of fear fell short - meaning to say they never really seemed afraid, long after they had so many reasons to be afraid. They were so level headed as to not seem real. Nevertheless, the way the characters played off of each other created a cinematic dynamic that drove the story forward and would have worked well in a movie, and the complexity of those characters made you never sure who was safe, whose story was most important, and that raised the stakes of the story in a good way - no one could be discounted or ignored.
September 11, 2022
John Christopher is to Novel writing what Paul Molitor was to baseball. Does not strike out, makes something happen every time at bat. Characters you care about, interesting settings, and compelling stories that you must see to the end.... is all he does. This was my 3rd novel by Mr Christopher and I am 3 for 3. Simply well executed story telling. Also something I have noticed several times while reading a Christopher work, is that I will be thinking of what the next smart move would be and voila, a few lines later the characters come to the same conclusions. You always have the feeling you are reading about real people in a real situation, but with cool stuff added.
November 14, 2023
A disparate group of passengers and sailors embarks on what should be a short sea journey before things go awry. John Christopher has a solid style of writing close to that of Nevil Shute and this novel, released the very year of Shute’s death in 1960, bears this out (pardon the pun for those who have read it…). The action picks up in the second half of the book, and while the story won’t set any houses on fire, it’s still a pleasure to read the words of someone who has such mastery over a sentence as John Christopher.
June 16, 2018
A little slow off the mark, this story picks up nicely as it progresses. The reader is left guessing as to whether the group will survive or not as the author keeps stacking new life and death challenges in front of them. And an on-again/off-again romance keeps one continually in suspense. I'll say no more, other than I did enjoy this read.
October 5, 2020
Juvenile and up. This is one of John Christopher's books that got my boys to start reading for more than school. It made reading fun and they felt grown up because I read it too. Great characters, setting, and plot.
February 2, 2016
White Voyage’s premise is far from new—place a group of strangers in a life threatening situation and see what happens—yet the author’s prose flowed so smoothly, and his characters felt so true, that I really enjoyed the journey.
The story rolls along at a sedate pace, but even this impatient reader was never tempted to skip-read. The interaction between the characters and the feeling of impending doom that hangs over the novel kept me engaged. I wanted to know who the winners and losers would be. Who would unravel? Who would dig deep and find the will to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles?
And I had to wait until the end to find out—as it should be
Disclaimer: This review was originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. I may have received a free review copy.
The story rolls along at a sedate pace, but even this impatient reader was never tempted to skip-read. The interaction between the characters and the feeling of impending doom that hangs over the novel kept me engaged. I wanted to know who the winners and losers would be. Who would unravel? Who would dig deep and find the will to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles?
And I had to wait until the end to find out—as it should be
Disclaimer: This review was originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. I may have received a free review copy.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews