The first techno thriller. I love to read about history, and this is history in infinite detail. Part seafaring adventure part whaling training manual, I devoured page after doomed page as Ahab and the crew are at odds with each other and the sea constantly tempting and taunting a fate that none of them but Ahab want to face. Shifting back and forth between the gradual clenching of fates teeth about the crew and the detailed depictions of the whaling trade kept me enthralled the whole time.