This is a book to read if you want a story and not to get any information. I really could care less what she eat for breakfast. I was expecting it to be more informative and intelligent. Ms. Beard should stick to writing children's stories.

Although the book gives a lot of very interesting and good information for the Alaska bound RV'er, Mrs. Beard uses far too much verbage. The roughly 300 pages could give a reader the same information in about a third of the pages if verbage such as "Good morning I said to Scott through the screen of the small window above the kitchen sink in our motorhome"

The travel information and routing arranged by the caravan company is of great help if you can muddle your way through all the extra words.

Though this book "reads" like a diary, it contains within its pages very interesting information if you're considering RV caravaning to Alaska. From the bone jarring perma-frost damaged highways, to the beautiful scenery making it all worth while.

I highly recommend this book to anyone considering caravaning to Alaska. You can read the book and decide for yourself if this is how you'd want to travel.

Also, the book has tips and tidbits that enlightens the readers as they take us on their wonderful journey.

I've enjoyed the Kate Shugak series as I used to live in Alaska & the novels are well written. So I thought I'd like the Liam Campbell series as well. It was slow going the first few chapters and then Liam returns to the murder victim's house to continue his investigation and search for clues. He shows what an unprofessional excuse for a law officer he is (zzzz)and subsequently finds himself in an even more absurd situation. This jerk is an insult to all law enforcement professionals (fictional as well as real)and especially to the state troopers serving the state of Alaska. I couldn't find anything admirable about the Campbell character.

Dana Stabenow's Liam Campbell is on the case of the mysterious glacial crash of a WWII Lend-Lease cargo plane and current-day foul play. Is there a connection?

The Stabenow oeuvre (Campbell and Kate Shugak ) serves up fun geological, geographical, environmental and historical morsels and moving verbal snapshots of Alaska along with ice-cracklin' good "Whodunnits." At times, this one tilted too much toward Harlequin bodice-buster for my tastes. And, Hello? Is anyone listening? "Doing the box thing" (Campbell's diagramming of people and interrelationships involved in a case) would be much more effective if, like Ed McBain's 87th Precinct books, the author and publisher actually visually (not just a verbal description) SHOW the reader the document to which they refer.

I prefer Shugak's saga over Campbell's chronicles- so far Kate has more substance and less bodice-busting - but both series are good for cozy winter nights in front of a warm fire. They are best read in order to follow the escapades of this interesting, entertaining, and quirky bunch of inhabitants of the Land of the Midnight Sun. Reviewed by TundraVision

This is a good story, but, there is much in the story that emulates soap opera plotting. The ending seems rushed with the "aha" veiled in a rapid realization of the perp's identity. It would be best read in series since there is so much of the subplot that carries over from previous stories. Not having read the series will not hamper the reading but the reader is likely to feel ill at ease over not knowing the "inside" remarks. The author does a fine telling of Alaska land, climate and socio-economic problems. These elements are under-written but part of the fabric of the story's main plot. (And, the plot is quite interesting as well as thoroughly unique.) The relationships among the people are perhaps entirely within the social norms of the writer's experience. They are somewhat alien to my experience and seem extreme as to both alcohol usage and the sexual undercurrents. I believe that any new reader will wish to read the previous books in this series to flesh out this story. I await the next book in the series to see if it meets the level of the earlier books.

My extremely low ranking is not for this book as a stand alone, its in comparison to his first, 'Last Light Breaking', which was a masterpiece. I would equate these two books with Tarantinos two films, 'Pulp Fiction' & 'Jackie Brown', the first also being a masterpiece, but the second leaving you wanting. Not that 'Jackie Brown' or 'A Place Beyond' are wastes of time, its just that compared to what came before, and the fact that they are basically the same subject matter, you expect that level of art and when you dont get it youre dissapointed as I was with this book.

If youve already read 'Last Light', and still want a good book on the "Alaska Experience", im reading his latest now and let you know how it is when I finish.

But if you havent read 'Last Light Breaking' and are looking for a book in this genre, waste no time in buying it, its truly an amazing book. ...

A Place Beyond didn't disappoint. Jans writing style isbeautiful, simple, and eloquent. There are few authors who can weavethe reader into the story. Through all of Jans adventures, I was right there with him riding shotgun. The most underated and under publicized book(s) about Alaska. A must read!

Nick Jans is an extremely gifted writer. I first read one of his essays in the Reader's Digest, and I was so impressed, I just had to read the rest of the book. His straightforward clarity, use of metaphor and intriguing observations make the Alaskan wilderness come to life. I personally would never want to live in Alaska, but I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing a bit of Alaska by reading this book.

Privation and death became a way of life for most seeking gold in the unforgiving wilderness of the Canadian Yukon of 1898. The small group of travelers in Rivers of Gold are no exception. But, with their faith in God, they can endure even the most horrific conditions.
Rivers of Gold is third and final novel in Tracie Pearson's Yukon Quest series. However, readers unfamiliar with the first two novels in the series, Treasures of the North and Ashes and Ice, need not be reluctant to pick up Rivers of Gold. The novel can stand alone, although readers may want to purchase the first two novels in the series after finishing Rivers of Gold.
The novel follows the adventures of eight characters for a little over a year as they struggle to survive in the forbidding Canadian Yukon at the turn of the century.
In the opening of the novel a presumed drowned Miranda has been rescued by the pious and handsome English botanist Teddy Davenport. A workaholic until meeting Miranda, Teddy finds himself unexpectedly distracted by the intrusion from his mission to finish his dead father's work. Engaged to the dashing but worldly Christian Thibault prior to her accident, Miranda now finds herself drawn to this unusual godly stranger.
As Miranda struggles to recover and find her way back to her friends, they struggle to survive not only the unforgiving Yukon winter, but also poverty and personal trials. Newly married Karen and Adrik open their tent and their hearts to orphaned sister and brother, Leah and Jacob, and a pregnant Grace, whose husband Peter has apparently deserted her at her most desperate hour. A few unexpected plot twists near the end keep the pages turning.
Readers of Inspirational Historical Fiction and loyal Pearson fans will be no doubt be rewarded with this sanitized safe-for-Sunday-School version of life in the wild Yukon of the late 1800's. However, reader's unfamiliar with Pearson or Inspirational Historical Romance will find the author's heavy handed religious didacticism distracting. The novel is peppered with passages which read as if they were lifted from a sermon, and characters who are either longsuffering saints or sinners waiting to be converted.
Although the structure of the book is effective, Pearson missed an opportunity to immerse the reader in this fascinating historical period by failing to provide real characters and an accurate portrait of what life was like in the wild Yukon at the turn of the century.

"Do you trust God, Leah?"
The girl shrugged. "I thought I did. I sure want to trust Him."
"Sometimes the only thing we can do is accept that He knows best-that He has a plan and is just and loving."
"And sovereign," Adrik added.
"What does that mean?"
"Sovereign means that God is the absolute, highest authority. He's the final word on everything. He's the one in charge of how things will be. No matter what-no matter how it looks of feels. It means trusting that He's in control even when things seem very much out of control." (P.325-6)

Miranda was separated from her traveling party in the previous book and in this book we find her in the able hands of Teddy Davenport. Teddy is a botanist in Alaska studying the trees and plants. In the presence of Miranda Teddy's heart opens to new ideas even though he is committed to his work. Will Teddy open up to new ideas?

Grace is struggling with not knowing where her husband is or if he wants to be with her anymore. She gives birth to their child and feels regretful that her husband hasn't seen the child. She also feels bad that her and her child are a burden to her friends. What will happen between Grace and her husband?

In this book Tracie did another great job in continuing the story line but some of the stuff gets a little unbelievable. The characters have a barely faltering faith. I mean they struggle with it but the next minute they're fine. Otherwise this book was great!

This book really is wonderful. The way that it is written allows the reader to once again experience the harshness of frontier life in the Yukon. The characters, although not exceedingly "deep," offer the reader the opportunity to see through their eyes.

The story is the final book in the Yukon Quest trilogy. While you don't have to read the other two books to understand this one, I would highly recommend it. This book ties up all the loose endings and gives everyone the ending they need/deserve.

Although the sprituality of the characters doesn't play as large a part in this book as the other two, it still is present. I would say that this one is less "preachy," bit in a good way. The mentionings of sprituality are less, but the ones that are mentioned mean more in the context of the book and the story line.

I would recommend this book to anyone. But read the first two books before picking this one up.

Sitka is not typical of Louis L'Amour's work. He takes us from Louisiana to San Francisco to Alaska to Russia and back to Alaska in a relatively short book. In doing all this traveling with his character, Jean Labarge, we do not get the typical Louis L'Amour descriptions. We do not get a good description of Sitka, Alaska or its inhabitants. We do not even get a good adventure. When Labarge's warehouse with his very valuable wheat is set ablaze by the bad guys, he does not even go after them. Instead, he sends his ship to Alaska on schedule while he heads overland, on a miraculously fast journey, to Oregon where a sufficient quantity of wheat just happens to be available. In my opinion, the whole story is too far-fetched with too many scenes and not enough of the kind of action and adventure Mr. L'Amour has always delivered.

Sitka is a story of a man who has lived in wild places his entire life, and is pulled to Alaska for the danger, fur, and untraveled land. This man is the mountain man Jean LaBarge. To help a political friend trying to secure Alaska, and a young woman who is a niece of the Czar, Jean plays cat and mouse in coastal Alaskan waters with a Russian naval officer intent on destroying him,then journey's through wild parts of Russia on his way to St. Petersburg, where a meeting is arranged with the Czar over selling Alaska to the U.S. Jean then travels back to Alaska, where he continues to fight for this untamed land. I think this book would have been better if Jean had been fighting more for Alaska, and less for a woman.

L'Amour is a master. This book was written in 1957. Authors 45 years ago had a lot more scruples than they do today. Even knowing that, this is a great adventure book. The characters are well written. The descriptions of the scenarios is great.

The basic plot is well worn, but it occurs in Alaska so that adds a new twist to the story.

The time is when Alaska was still owned by the Russians. The Czars were still in power. Alaska was a long way from Moscow and governed by the military who rarely received instruction from Moscow.

It's the story of an orphan that makes his way in the world based on his own skills and intelligence. He has a dream of going to Alaska. He never forgets the dream. On the way, he meets up with several extraordinary people that help him along the way. During his journey, he is involved in much of the history of the exploration of the west. This is a history lesson as well as an adventure.

The pages turn very quickly. It is easy to put down and pick up without missing any of the story. It's a perfect book for vacation or travel reading.

Yes, Kate Shugak is normally a cerebral person. She has to be, as much as she chooses to go it alone. And, usually, that makes the character more interesting. In this book, however, it's just BORING! Reading an actual treatise on picking mushrooms might have been more interesting. The reader is certainly clear as to Kate's (the author's?) views on religion and education. Unfortunately, the mystery doesn't just take a backseat -- it was left by the side of the road somewhere. My advice, FWIW, is to read any other book in this or the Liam Campbell series.

...

If you enjoy mysteries that have good characters and stories, with some real opinions about the world that they live in, the Travis McGee of John D. MacDonald type books, you will like this book. A strong character can't just avoid thinking.

If you like Stabenow and you like Kate Shugak, don't let the reviews scare you off! Yes -- Stabenow takes on creationism and fanatical christians. Do you really think that an Alaska Native, like Kate, would find such beliefs appealing?

The story is interesting and the glimpses into what makes Kate tick will please devoted Stabenow fans.

This book feels like an accumulation of unedited e-mail. If punctuation and grammar are important to you, this book might get on your nerves.

I tend to agree with the reviewer from Chicago - the author could have used a (better) proofreader. This is one of those books where the reader almost begins to look for the next mistake. At one point the last line on one page is repeated in its entirety as the first line of the next page. And, as was noted in the other review, the proper use of apostrophes is very inconsistent.

The adventures the author experienced cannot be discounted, however. There are many interesting stories that, if you're a cyclist, cause you to pause and try to imagine yourself in those situations. One that especially struck me - other than his "bear/human interaction" - was having a mechanical failure with the closest bike shop being 300 miles distant. Also, the number of "it's a small world" incidents Basch experienced on the trip makes for interesting reading.

If you are a cyclist who enjoys touring, and can overlook the typos and such, you will probably find this book a quick, entertaining read.

This book is amazing. It described a wonderful adventure of a man fulfilling his dream despite many risks.The author faced many obstacles including weather, aggressive drivers, bears and yet perservered to the end while managing to have fun, learn many things, and meet a wide variety of people. He wrote about it from a laptop computer which he carried with him. Anyone who noticed any mistakes in grammar doesn't deserve to read this book. I recommend that you get it as soon as you can and pass to anyone who loves to read, travel or ride a bicycle.

this book is full of overpriced advertisements and we found this book completely irritating in a 6 week trip to Alaska. If you want to spend $3500 on a kayak trip this may be the book for you.

The Off the Beaten Path Alaska guide is almost the counter guide for the main off the shelf tour guides like Foders. Yes, a lot of it is akin to advertising, but it opens up some of the possible opportunities and can give you a starting off place to learn more. The book was useful for looking at in small pieces - the narrative is rather plodding and seemingly unorganized - at least it's hard to find things quickly in it. But at the same time, if you are looking at Alaska as that once in a lifetime visit, then it presents the opportunities that are out there, especially those not covered in as much detail in the mainstream guides. Sure, many of the things listed are way out of most of our budgets, but I found myself contemplating trying to find some alternatives to side trips that I hadn't thought about. And it shows that it's written by someone on knows and lives the area - the description of travel opportunities often fall more in travelogue than guide book realm. Personally, as someone who is looking at visiting Alaska and hoping to go above the Arctic Circle, I got some ideas and had my options partially laid out. I now know what I might want to explore as options. I would never make this my only guide book - but it is good for what it tries to do. I do wish the maps were better and the text and maps corresponded more readily. Peruse it before you go - it's for planning ahead, not referring to on the trip.

There are tours and travel opportunities to fit every traveler and every pocketbook in this book. Where most travel books on Alaska provide sketchy descriptions and outdated contact information we found the information in Alaska Off the Beaten Path to be solid.
We enjoyed Melissa's first person accounts and descriptions too. I followed her directions and found giant sea lions right where she said they'd be, in the harbor in Kodiak.
We carried it with us everywhere and haver recommended it to friends who plan to visit Alaska in the future.

This book was a BIG dissapointment, as it tells you as much about the countryside as a one page holiday brochure! The trip done one motorbike must be one of the most rewarding trips, however if one reads the authors book, it becomes nothing more than a person trying to cover a distance to prove that he can sleep outside in a tent and drive without a helmet.

For a good read: "Jupiters Travel", "Bullet up the Grand Trunk Road", "Abgefahren" These authors manage to combine a good storyline, with a travelbook, and give you a insight into their daily lives. I regret buying the book.

Allen Bartell has written a book about a trip that I could only dream of. The imagery and feelings that this book evoke are unforgettable. The heat of Texas, the wind and rain, and harsh conditions that one can be exposed to on a mototrcycle are all vividly illustrated on the pages of this book. Throught the pages of Alaskan Abberation I was also exposed to a variety of characters that I would never think of striking up a conversation with. Finally, this is a great book with some great writing and I would recomend it to anyone.

Al is one of my very favorite people in the world. His book gave me insight into his soul. The details he uses make you feel like you're riding along in his sidecar, like Schultz from Hogan's Heroes.

This book is a sad compilation of environmental propaganda. To speak of timber harvests in the "billions" of board feet when the industry is vertially extinct is just wrong. The Tongass region is the home of thousands of hardworking, resource-based individuals who don't want their lives to be misportrayed as this book has done. Alaskans have managed the resources of the state responsibly and the author does an injustice by not honestly explaining this fact.

Very good reading. Because it is a collection of essays, you can gets lots from this book: natural history of the region, politics, sociocultural issues. Picking a nit, this gave the book a scattered feel. Also, some chapters far superior to others, I found myself skimming thru a few aimless chapters.

For those who would be more than casual visitors to this spectacular landscape, this collection of writings from various authors offers up pointed insight into man's relationshionship with the Tongass. From the best (and concise!) overview of the legal issue of subsistance in Alaska I've ever read to the quietly fantastical Tlingit story, the book contains the multi-faceted viewpoints of modern inhabitants and the issues shaping how we view this incredible place.