From Publishers Weekly
Evocative of the cadences of Herman Melville, Galbraith's impressive historical fiction debut charts the voyage of The Rising Sun and its four sister ships setting out from Scotland in 1698 intent on establishing a colony in Darien, later known as Panama. The colonists' mission, envisioned and orchestrated by William Paterson, founder of the Bank of England and trader of dubious background, is to secure a stronghold abroad, allowing the Scots to compete economically with the English, Spanish and Dutch. Ostensibly the journal recollections of the ship's superintendent of cargoes, Roderick Mackenzie, the meticulously detailed, briskly narrated tale proceeds beyond potentially dry recitations of the number of hammock hooks and cordage on board to often poetic reveries about the amount of sail needed to "blow a nation's hopes half way across the world and over its insane edge." This so-called Darien Scheme failed, but Galbraith brings it all to vivid, absorbing life--whether he is describing the ravages of yellow fever or the oozing thickets of jungle the men must clear with machetes. With a sure and often comic hand, Galbraith engages the reader with characters like the self-absorbed, opportunistic Paterson; Mackenzie's dull-witted assistant, Mister Shipp; or Mackenzie himself, a young man who matures quickly via hardship and hard living. Although details of weather and diet occasionally slow the pace, Galbraith redeems himself in moments of poignant humanity: "I drank his health, drank it again and then just drank." Some observations approach the Melvillean mode, as when the colonists, reduced for long periods to eating nothing but biscuits and green beef, feast on creamy whale blubber and a "gluttonous hush settles over the colony." Though long, this swift tale is never long-winded. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Roderick Mackenzie is a young superintendent of cargoes for a small fleet of exploratory ships sailing out of Edinburgh in 1698. While he is much more comfortable with numbers than he is with action and intrigue, his role in the expedition will quickly acquaint him with both of the latter. The ships set sail to establish a colony at Darien in Central America, and disaster strikes immediately as one craft is mysteriously lost within a fog bank. This misadventure strikes the tone for the rest of the voyage. The colonists find that they are as ill equipped to deal with each other as they are with the harsh environment and strange diseases of the New World. The colony is doomed from the start, but Roderick eventually thrives and finds fulfillment in the quest. With his debut, Galbraith presents a captivating view of Scotland's failed effort to become an empire, as well as a great adventure story. Eric Robbins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
The Rising Sun is a tour de force of historical fiction, an extraordinary first novel from a major new talent that vividly brings to life the age of adventure-from the bustling atmosphere of Edinburgh in the exuberance of the early days of the Scottish Enlightenment, to the danger and deprivations of seventeenth-century seafaring, to the savage horrors of colonial life in the tropics. In 1698, five vessels led by the flagship Rising Sun embarked on a perilous voyage for the northern coast of what is now Panama, where the passengers intended to found a colony at Darien. With them went the hopes and fortunes of the nation of Scotland, which sought to build an overseas empire so that it could at last compete on the world stage with its rival, England. Douglas Galbraith's The Rising Sun is the story of this mission and its tragic outcome, as recorded by the ship's superintendent of cargoes, Roderick Mackenzie. A young man of promise and ambition, Mackenzie is quickly caught up in the intrigues of his fellow colonists-rivalries that will prove overwhelming as nationalist optimism gives way to the brutal realities of their hardscrabble life and rain, mud slides, and disease assault the Scottish encampment. As it follows Mackenzie's adventures from the bordellos of Edinburgh to the dense jungles of the New World, Galbraith's book is lush with historical detail and brilliantly renders an extraordinary tale that evokes the essence of a fascinating age.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In 1698, five vessels led by the flagship Rising Sun embarked on a perilous voyage for the northern coast of what is now Panama, where the 2,000 passengers intended to establish a settlement at Darien. With them went the hopes and fortunes of the nation of Scotland, which sought to build an overseas colony so that it could at last compete on the world stage with its rival England. Only 300 men would return alive. This is the story of their tragic mission, which shattered a dream of empire and bankrupted a nation.

FROM THE CRITICS

Richard Bernstein - New York Times

Every once in a while a voice comes along to give new vibrancy to an old genre, and that pleasure would seem to be upon us with the appearance of Douglas Galbraith's novel The Rising Sun....Mr. Galbraith believably captures the atmosphere of the time, something like our own recent stock market crazes, when the prospect of making rapid fortunes brought out the best and the worst.

Publishers Weekly

Evocative of the cadences of Herman Melville, Galbraith's impressive historical fiction debut charts the voyage of The Rising Sun and its four sister ships setting out from Scotland in 1698 intent on establishing a colony in Darien, later known as Panama. The colonists' mission, envisioned and orchestrated by William Paterson, founder of the Bank of England and trader of dubious background, is to secure a stronghold abroad, allowing the Scots to compete economically with the English, Spanish and Dutch. Ostensibly the journal recollections of the ship's superintendent of cargoes, Roderick Mackenzie, the meticulously detailed, briskly narrated tale proceeds beyond potentially dry recitations of the number of hammock hooks and cordage on board to often poetic reveries about the amount of sail needed to "blow a nation's hopes half way across the world and over its insane edge." This so-called Darien Scheme failed, but Galbraith brings it all to vivid, absorbing life--whether he is describing the ravages of yellow fever or the oozing thickets of jungle the men must clear with machetes. With a sure and often comic hand, Galbraith engages the reader with characters like the self-absorbed, opportunistic Paterson; Mackenzie's dull-witted assistant, Mister Shipp; or Mackenzie himself, a young man who matures quickly via hardship and hard living. Although details of weather and diet occasionally slow the pace, Galbraith redeems himself in moments of poignant humanity: "I drank his health, drank it again and then just drank." Some observations approach the Melvillean mode, as when the colonists, reduced for long periods to eating nothing but biscuits and green beef, feast on creamy whale blubber and a "gluttonous hush settles over the colony." Though long, this swift tale is never long-winded. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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