by Esther M. Friesner (1992)
This is NOT a mermaid book! (The title is a quote from Christopher Columbus's diary.) In this disturbing book, mythical king Prester John's ship is racing against Columbus to the New World. If he gets there first, all of the mythical creatures such as unicorns, fairies, pixies, selkies, etc will be saved and stay on earth. If not, they will be gone forever. This ship also carries a pregnant girl. She may or may not be a virgin, and may or may not be carrying a Savior, or just a human baby. ====== REVIEW WARNING: This book ends with a bloody atrocity worse than many war crimes. I am a Friesner fan, and did not know she would do this. If you are looking for a typical fantasy story, skip this dark book.
Shirley Greenway
Describes the history of exploration of North America, from the first Norsemen voyages to the discovery of the continent by Columbus, the colonization of North America, and the search for the Northwest Passage.
Sten Nadolny
Framing the life of the 19th-century explorer Sir John Franklin, this novel explores not only the adventures of his career, but also enters a world where the quality of life is considered in "slow motion", where ordinary experience becomes wholly new and unexpected.
David Hill
"On the afternoon of 8 April 1802, in the remote southern ocean, two explorers had a remarkable chance encounter. Englishman Matthew Flinders and Frenchman Nicolas Baudin had been sent by their governments on the same quest: to explore the uncharted coast of the great south land and find out whether the west and east coasts, four thousand kilometres apart, were part of the same island. And so began the race to compile the definitive map of Australia. These men's journeys were the culmination of two hundred years of exploration of the region by the Dutch u most famously Abel Tasman u the Portuguese, the Spanish and by Englishmen such as the colourful pirate William Dampier and, of course, James Cook. The three-year voyages of Baudin and Flinders would see them endure terrible hardships in the spirit of discovery. They suffered scurvy and heat exhaustion, and Flinders was shipwrecked and imprisoned u always knowing he was competing with the French to produce the first map of this mysterious continent. Written from diaries and other first-hand accounts, this is the thrilling story of men whose drawings recorded countless previously unknown species and turned mythical creatures into real ones, and whose skill and determination enabled 'terra australis incognito' to become Australia."--Publisher description.
Joan Druett
Exonerated for a murder hours after an exploration convoy sets sail for the Pacific islands, ship linguist Wiki Coffin is made a deputy by a Virginia sheriff and sets out to catch up with his crewmates, one of whom is the real killer.