Book Review: Northern Lights

Northern Lights. Michael Chatlien, Blue Peach Press, December 2020, Paperback and E-book, 310 pages.

Review by Florence Osmund.

Northern Lights is the story of two strangers, Greg and Sarah, who find themselves in the middle of the Canadian wilderness after their tour guide gets swept away by an avalanche. 

What makes this story interesting are the material differences between the two main characters. Greg is a blue-collar worker whose political beliefs lean toward conservatism. Sarah owns her own consulting business and tends to be more liberal in her political beliefs. Not surprisingly, they don’t get along when they discover their core values don’t completely align.

When their tour guide and the only other participant on the trek disappear, Greg and Sarah are left with each other to survive. Greg’s immediate reaction is to go his separate way, thinking he knows a better path to reach civilization. When his plan backfires, Sarah saves his life. The rest of their journey consists of a series of each of them saving one other.

The comradery and bond that forms between Greg and Sarah, which develops into a friendship and later into something much more intimate, is interesting and conceptually sound. The author does an exceptional job at creating a mutual respect between these two unlikely characters—not too quickly, but not dragged out either—that begs the question as to whether their relationship can withstand the real world when they are finally safe at home and back to their normal routines.

I believe the author’s greatest strength is in his descriptive writing. I felt as though I knew exactly what Greg and Sarah were going through when they were hiking through rough terrain, when the avalanche tore their comrades away, when they were confronted by wild animals and inclement weather, and when they were forced to eat things that no one would ever consider eating in the civilized world. Because of this, it was easy to experience each scene right along with the characters.

The pacing in the story is excellent. The narrative speeds up and slows down appropriately with each scene. The characters are deftly painted, and their dialogue fits each occasion.

There are two problem areas I would caution the author to avoid in future writing.

I advise keeping the use of similes and metaphors to a minimum. To name just a few in the beginning chapters: let sleeping dogs lie, wild-goose chase, fingernails on a blackboard, her thoughts move slowly as if mired in cold molasses, as abrupt as turning a light switch off, a mound of earth looking like a fistful of brown Play-Doh, and like a dog being led away from his dead master.

I would also advise against starting too many sentences with something other than the subject. Starting a sentence with the subject generally results in a more powerful sentence, one that is clear and direct.

I enjoyed reading Northern Lights, and when I learned that it was the author’s debut novel, I was even more impressed. I found the writing to be engaging, well-structured, and easy to read. I also appreciate the timely concept, in this politically divisive environment we are currently living in, that mutual respect between people can overcome opposing social backgrounds and political views. Hopefully, it doesn’t take a treacherous adventure in the Canadian wilderness for real people to come to this realization.