Once Upon a Time in the North
Chapters - Philip Pullman
Story
A young Lee Scoresby, just twenty-four and newly in possession of a cargo balloon won in a poker game, crash-lands on the Arctic island of Novy Odense and stumbles into a volatile situation. A corrupt mayoral candidate named Poliakov, backed by the powerful Larsen Manganese mining company, is conspiring to steal a Dutch sea captain's cargo through rigged harbour regulations and hired gunmen - including a ruthless killer Lee once saw tried for murder in the Dakota country. When Lee decides to help the Captain load his cargo and escape, he finds an unexpected ally in Iorek Byrnison, a young armoured bear who shares the same enemy, beginning a friendship that will last the rest of their lives.
POV: Lee Scoresby·On page: Iorek Byrnison, Hester, Captain van Breda, Oskar Sigurdsson, Ivan Poliakov, Olga Poliakova, Pierre McConville, Victoria Lund, Lieutenant Haugland, Mikhail Vassiliev, Johann Aagaard