I wish I could say I enjoyed this book more than I did. The premise is great, and the first half of the book was interesting. Dan Simmons captures the isolation, desperation, and hopelessness that encroaches when stranded in the Arctic for the winter. Unfortunately, his characters weren't up to the task of carrying that burden, and the plot was even less robust.
The story eventually devolves into a spiritual, pseudo-mythological adventure in which the…