The Seven Professors of the Far North
The Seven Professors of the Far North is a children's novel by John Fardell first published in 2004 by UK publisher Faber and Faber, with a US edition being published in 2005 by G. P. Putnam's Sons.
It tells the tale of a group of children from the United Kingdom, Sam, Zara, and Ben, who undertake an adventure to the Arctic to rescue Zara and Ben's great-uncle and his colleagues, who have been kidnapped by an evil professor with whom they once worked.
Some of the characters
Professor Ampersand is an inventor who lives in Edinburgh. His home is filled with contraptions, inventions, and unusual features. Years ago, he worked with Professor Murdo in the Arctic.
Zara is the great-niece of Professor Ampersand. She is about twelve years old. Her parents died when she was very young, and she has lived with Ampersand in Edinburgh almost her whole life.
Ben is Zara's younger brother (about eleven years old) and was also adopted by Ampersand as a baby.
Sam Carnabie is eleven years old. He lives with his parents in England. At the start of the book, his parents arrange for him to visit Professor Ampersand (their old tutor), while they attend a conference. Sam is caught up in the adventure with his new friends Zara and Ben, and unable to contact his parents throughout most of the book.
Professor Murdo is an ex-colleague of Professor Ampersand and five other professors, who, decades before the book starts, attempted to found a university on an Arctic island called Nordbergen. (Together these professors were once nicknamed "The 7 Professors of the Far North".) Murdo has resurrected Nordbergen as a secret research station and has terrible plans for the world.
Marcia Slick is a girl of 13. Her parents drug her and take her, against her will and without her knowledge, to be imprisoned in Professor Murdo's research station, believing that his he can use his new genetic modification procedures to eliminate what they see as her flaws.
Adam is a child genius created by Professor Murdo. He is capable of advanced feats of mental arithmetic, memory and physical co-ordination.