
' We are celebrating a hundred years since independence this year how would you like to travel on a government icebreaker?' A message from the Finnish embassy launches Horatio Clare on a voyage around an extraordinary country & an unearthly place the frozen Bay of Bothnia just short of the Arctic circle Travelling with the crew of Icebreaker Otso Horatio whose last adventure saw him embedded on Maersk container vessels for the bestseller Down to the Sea in Ships discovers stories of Finland of her mariners & of ice Finland is an enigmatic place famous for its educational miracle healthcare & gender equality
- as well as Nokia Angry Birds saunas questionable cuisine & deep taciturnity Aboard Otso Horatio gets to know the men who make up her crew & explores Finland's history & character Surrounded by the extraordinary colours & conditions of a frozen sea he also comes to understand something of the complexity & fragile beauty of ice a near-miraculous substance which cools the planet gives the stars their twinkle & which may hold all our futures in its crystals