Published in 1974, Innes' hero Mike Randall witnesses a petrol bomb being thrown into a house in Northern Ireland from which he was quick to rescue a child. When he was summoned to court as witness, the lawyer for the accused manages to twist his account, freeing the charged pair and accusing Randall as the petrol bomber. He headed back to work restoring a wrecked trawler to seaworthiness for the journey to the North Sea oil rig, North Star. This was at the height of civil unrest in Northern Ireland but also during a time of industrial activism. Innes captures the air of the times accurately. A massive storm forms the dramatic finale. This action novel was all the more enjoyable because it had an excellent background story. ( )

Some critics dismiss Hammond Innes' novels as being mere adventure tales, stories with no character development. This assessment is not only unfair, it's absolutely wrong. North Star provides ample evidence of that. In fact, you can see examples of strong character development in most of his other novels as well, excepting perhaps those written during the first years of World War II. What happens with his protagonist, here, Mike Randall, however, is a gradual maturing. From political nitwittery and childish indecision to moral commitment and decisiveness. That is the story of North Star. The background noise of political espionage and terrorism is just that, background noise. In this instance, Innes even foregoes his sometimes unfortunate tendency to inflict a tidy romantic ending on things, although such is alluded to as being just around the corner in the final page or two.

Also at work here: Randall is the clear hero of this story. There is no off centering of story advancement to someone other than the main narrator of things. Too, by 1972-74, Innes is becoming more and more concerned with nature conservancy and what might be termed by some today as environmentalism. In the future, that preoccupation would cloud some stories and make the books weaker. But here it is a tangible and workable part of the storyline, not intrusive, and, in fact, necessary for bringing Randall out of the bookish world of playing with ideas to experiencing the solid consequences of his actions, instead of his words and dreams. That Innes did this while endorsing the large scale buildup of Britain's North Sea oil industry is all the more impressive. ( )

North Star - Hammond Innes *****

I have read a few Hammond Innes books over the past few years and always enjoyed them. I love the settings he chooses to write about (mostly the sea or icy locations) as he always manages to bring them to life for the reader. North Star is no exception, with the majority of the novel set against the backdrop of the Shetland Islands and North Sea.

What is it about?
Michael Randall is a man with a past, formerly an industrial activist he once witnessed an act of violence and now must decide on how to act. He resolves to leave his old way of life behind him and throws himself into the restoration of a recently wrecked trawler, however his old associates soon find him and in an attempt to apply pressure they makes things extremely awkward both inside and outside the law. Soon lives are at risk and decisions must be made. Michael Randall isn’t a particularly likeable person, he is a loner and often has a personality as changing as the weather that surrounds him, but he must face his demons and battle not just the enemy, but nature as well.

What did I like?
Innes is one of those writers that possess an ability to pack a lot of technical information into a book and yet not slow down the speed of the novel. It is obviously very well researched and although a lot of the technology used has since been eclipsed it really didn’t take anything away from the novel. Oddly enough I read this book while cruising through the North Sea, it made me realise just how brilliant his descriptions of nature really are, he can look at a wave and through his writing make the reader view it in a totally different light. The action when it comes is never over the top and nothing is sensationalised for the sake of a shock.

What didn’t I like?
I suppose my only issue with the book was that the content seems to have dated quite badly. We are no longer in a time of mass industrial action or in a time when people had to work or didn’t eat (at least in the UK). It appeared odd to me the reasons behind the various acts of sabotage, but a little bit of background reading made it mostly fall into place.

Would I recommend?
Definitely, this is my 3rd book by the author and I really can’t wait to get stuck into the next one. If you are a fan of action stories with a bit more depth than the normal offerings, you will love Innes. ( )

4659. North Star, by Hammond Innes (read 12 Jan 2010) I read Innes's The Wreck of the Mary Deare on 31 May 1998 and was so impressed by it that I thought I should read something more by him. This is not as good a book as that, but it does have an exciting finish. It deals with an oil rig near the Shetland Islands, and is full of technical authenticity, as well as good descriptions of the Shetland area. The central character is not too admirable a man but one is yet hopeful he will suvive the awful storm which concludes the book. The book has good things to be said for it but it did not live up to my hopes. ( )