Alone Against the North

An Expedition into the Unknown

By: Adam Shoalts

Narrated by: Adam Shoalts

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario's 2016 Young Authors Award
Winner of the 2017 Louise de Kiriline Award for Nonfiction

The age of exploration is not over.

When Adam Shoalts ventured into the largest unexplored wilderness on the planet, he hoped to set foot where no one had ever gone before. What he discovered surprised even him.

Shoalts was no stranger to the wilderness. He had hacked his way through jungles and swamp, had stared down polar bears and climbed mountains. But one spot on the map called out to him irresistibly: the Hudson Bay Lowlands, a trackless expanse of muskeg and lonely rivers, caribou and wolf - an Amazon of the north, parts of which to this day remain unexplored.

Cutting through this forbidding landscape is a river no explorer, trapper, or canoeist had left any record of paddling. It was this river that Shoalts was obsessively determined to explore.

It took him several attempts, and years of research. But finally, alone, he found the headwaters of the mysterious river. He believed he had discovered what he had set out to find. But the adventure had just begun. Unexpected dangers awaited him downstream.

Gripping and often poetic, Alone Against the North is a classic adventure story of single-minded obsession, physical hardship, and the restless sense of wonder that every explorer has in common.

But what does exploration mean in an age when satellite imagery of even the remotest corner of the planet is available to anyone with a phone? Is there anything left to explore?

What Shoalts discovered as he paddled downriver was a series of unmapped waterfalls that could easily have killed him. Just as astonishing was the media reaction when he got back to civilization. He was crowned “Canada’s Indiana Jones” and appeared on morning television. He was feted by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and congratulated by the Governor General. People were enthralled by Shoalts’s proof that the world is bigger than we think.

Shoalts’s story makes it clear that the world can become known only by getting out of our cars and armchairs, and setting out into the unknown, where every step is different from the one before, and something you may never have imagined lies around the next curve in the river.

©2016 Adam Shoalts (P)2019 Penguin Random House Canada

Critic reviews

Legislative Assembly of Ontario - Young Authors Award: Winner

2017 Louise de Kiriline Lawrence Award for English Non-Fiction: Winner

“Adam Shoalts is Canada’s Indiana Jones—portaging in the north, dodging scary rapids, plunging into darkness, and surviving to tell the tale.” —Toronto Star

“While the book is a nail-biting chronicle of polar-bear encounters, brutal swarms of black flies and surprise tumbles down waterfalls, Shoalts also vividly describes an area of the country most of us will never witness.” —Metro (Toronto)

"Explorer Adam Shoalts's remarkable solo foray into the quietly dangerous and mysterious Hudson Bay Lowlands is the kind of incredible effort that fosters legends." —The Winnipeg Free Press

this book will entertain and cause wonder

Adam is amazing, he lives a life I wish I could and his books have inspired me to spend as much time away from city's and technology as I can in the nice weather.

the adventures in this book alone will have you waiting to find out not just how he gets out of this jam but what the next one will be.

Adam should be knighted!

Excellent

It is a real attention grabber. It is as if I was along on the adventure. Loved it and wanted it to even last longer.

Great story.

Mr. Shoalts is a man with the soul of the men who explored the new world so long ago. A very old soul.
I truly hope that his interactions with the young canoers inspired at least one of them to explore, something or someplace. To not be afraid and to want to know.
Thanks for telling me your story.

Great explorer story

I enjoyed the story. fun to listen to an explorer story in which the expedition was done on little to no budget.

A enjoyable listen, look last the braggy

A great story of a couple of very impressive solo adventures. The string lights of the book are the fantastic historical ancendotes, quotes and other info about the history of Canadian exploration. there are also several sections that create good suspense as Adam ventures solo into the unknown. Also great narration.

The only trouble I had with the book was that often the writing comes off as very self serving any braggy. If Adam could tone this down in other books, they would be much better and accessible.

If you liked Into The Wild, you’ll enjoy this book

It is so refreshing to read a modern non fiction adventure book that ends in triumph rather than tragedy. Adam Shoalts may be downright crazy and narrow minded at times throughout the book. But in order to accomplish what he did, you need to be crazy and hyper focused. His journeys are not for the faint hearted. They are for the fellow outdoorsmen that desires adventure beyond the developed campsites and heavily trafficked trails of well known national parks. The outdoorsman that dreams of traveling to more remote locations to disconnect from modern society. Living off the land, conquering it while admiring and respecting it along the way. Shoalts truly is a modern day explorer.

Adventure

I love adventure books and this one did not disappoint. It had enough detail and enough adventure to keep me interested. Look forward to reading more by Adam.

The book was really more about himself

I was looking for something with a lot of adventure and excitement this book could have had it if he hadn’t talked so much about himself

Great adventure

Every time I read one of his books. It makes me want to go back packing on a kayak trip.

Great story – dissed tasteful ego

Overall this is a great story. Just your average citizen dreaming of an documented, uncharted adventure. That’ll get me every time. However, the author does not make himself out to be just your average citizen.

The story is littered with pride filled remarks about their abilities, experience, knowledge and skills. He makes remarks about two of his partners that either bail before or during the expedition, how he wowed a group of fellow canoeists about his adventures.

His aspirations in journey, are absolutely remarkable. Really cool to read about and the thought of seeking an Adventure purely on a place that has never been explored, really cool though.

Part of what people like me love about stories like this is how nature and the adventure humbled the optimistic adventurist, but even with some life-threatening situations involving an unexpected waterfall, and a polar bear, the author makes himself out to be fearless. That’s what was dis tasteful about it.