
A strong domestic dog is stolen from a warm California home and sold into the harsh world of the Klondike sled trails. Amid snow, hunger and cruel masters, the old instincts of his wild ancestors slowly begin to wake in him.

A soft, bookish gentleman is pulled from the sea after a shipwreck and forced to serve aboard a schooner ruled by a brutal, brilliant captain. Between backbreaking work and clashes of will, he has to find out what he is really made of.

Born on the edge of the wild, a wolf-dog grows up amid cold, hunger and the harsh laws of the North. Passing from hand to hand between people, cruel and kind alike, he slowly learns what trust and loyalty can mean.

Framed as an old manuscript found long after the events it describes, this novel imagines a near future where a ruthless oligarchy tightens its grip on society. Through the eyes of a woman close to a rebel leader, it traces the growing struggle between the powerful few and the many.

A young sailor from the docks falls in love with a girl from a refined, well-off family and sets out to make himself worthy of her through learning and writing. His stubborn climb toward knowledge and literary fame becomes a hard test of his ideals.