A pirate and his ship that have been frozen in Antarctic ice for 50 years are the perfectly plausible but unbelievable characters in the adventure, intrigue, danger, and utter horror of The Frozen Pirate. Paul Rodney, a sailor, narrowly avoids drowning and exposure in the Straits of Magellan in the novel The Frozen Pirate. After overcoming one risk, he encounters another: An ancient vessel packed with what appears to be frozen, deformed bodies are embedded in the Antarctic ice. But the bodies aren't dead, and the ship is a pirate ship. When one of them wakes up, Rodney has to fight against (and work with, if he wants to survive) one of the vilest and most murderous pirates to ever set foot on land! The novel is incredibly engaging, and the author ranks with the best when it comes to describing the cold and loneliness.
English author William Clark Russell, born on 24 February 1844, is most known for his books on the sea. At the age of 13, Russell joined the United Kingdom's Merchant Navy, serving for eight years. The hardships of life at sea damaged his health permanently but provided him with material for a career as a writer. He continued to work as a writer concurrently, mostly as a nautical columnist for The Daily Telegraph. One of the four sons of English composer Henry Russell and his first wife, Isabella Lloyd (1811-1887), was William Clark Russell. He never forgave his father for leaving his first family behind to start a new one with his second wife and getting remarried. After his father passed away in 1900, Russell did not show up for his burial and never spoke to his half-brothers again. Russell's arthritis worsened during his last two decades, which is often seen as a result of his early years spent at sea. For the latter six months of his life, he remained bedridden. At the age of 67, Russell passed away at his house in Bath on November 8, 1911. He was buried in Bath's Smallcombe Cemetery.
