Stories of the Far North

by Jon Tuska (Editor)

The Northwestern story emerged full-blown from the pen of Jack London, and his “The League of the Old Men” is a fitting introduction to these rigorous action tales, in which the inhospitable climate strips away civilized veneer and individuals must live or die by their cunning, instinct, and sometimes ruthlessness. The bond between man and dog and the character flaws revealed under the stresses of extreme isolation are just two of the classic themes explored in these works. The collection comes to a fitting climax of a century’s worth of development with a new story by Tim Champlin, commissioned for this volume. Most of these stories were originally published in magazines and were heavily edited to meet space and style concerns. Stories of the Far North restores each work to its original form, uncut and as each author intended.

146 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

Reviews

[David Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a short collection of northwestern or northern stories, mostly centered around the gold rush era. It works as a sampler, hitting all the big northern writers. Jack London, Rex Beach, Max Brand, Les Savage Jr., and James Hendryx all make an appearance. There's even a Robert Service narrative poem. All very fun to read, good adventure stories. Only drawback was how short it was. They could've included twice, or maybe even three times as many stories, without sacrificing for quality. As it is the tales here just whet the appetite for more northern adventures.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alaska gold rush stories in the style/era of Jack London (adventure/fiction from a historical period). Very nice compilation of some lesser known authors and the style of writing popular in magazines of that time period, though (except for London's story at the beginning) doesn't go very far, as you might expect, in showcasing the culture of the native people. PG.PG-13 for violence (lots of fighting males, knives and fisticuffs).