Iqaluit (Aug 07/06) - A one-time Northerner is making waves with his first novel, a political thriller that explores the idea of armed rebellion in the North.

Robert Billard's book, "From Within," follows the Canadian Revolutionary Army, a fictional group of 130 loosely marxist rebels that take over Alert, under the guise of a world-record attempt on the North Pole.

Robert Billard signs copies of his book "From Within" at a book launch at Arctic Ventures. The author has penned a novel that asks, what if an armed rebellion took over the North. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

Recently, the author and architect was in Iqaluit to promote the book, which is set, in part, in the territory's capital.

"It went really well. I brought 50 books up with me and they all sold," he said."Not bad for a book signing."

Billard said he can trace the book's birthplace to a discussion in Halifax in the early 90s with his band. There they discussed the history of armed rebellion in Canada (or perhaps the lack thereof), raising the "what if" question that drives the book.

"Then the idea started in my head: what would happen if Canada had an armed revolution?" he said.

Billard lived and worked in Iqaluit for six years as an architect, a time he said encouraged him to write.

"It's an inspiring place," he said."I thought, 'this is an amazing setting for a book about Canada.'"

Aside from personal experience in the North, Billard drew on lengthy research into Canada's military presence in the North, which he said was shockingly easy to find.

"It's kind of surprising that you're able to get that sort of information," he said of the detail available to the public. "It's a little scary how much is out there."

This pops up in the story, the revolutionaries comment on how easy it was to scout out their targets, using the Internet.

Billard said his book, while focusing on the revolutionaries as main characters, doesn't judge their aims, or their attempts to recruit the Inuit to their cause -- a more "democratic" Canada.

"In the end, they're relatively flimsy ideas. (The revolutionaries) don't really have a solid plan. That's the downfall of most armed rebellion."

The book has caught the attention of fellow authors, including New York Times bestseller James Rollins (Black Order, the Ice Hunt), who wrote a praising blurb for the book's cover -no small feat for a first book from a Canadian author.

"I had to run out and celebrate," Billard said.

The book signing in Iqaluit was brisk, drawing out a number of interested Nunavummiut.

Kenn Harper, an author himself, was on hand for the event. He mused about his inauspicious debut in the literary world and described a book launch as a "nerve-wracking experience."

"It's a brave thing to do to publish a book for the first time," Harper said.

- with files from Derek Neary