784 pages
Published Jan. 6, 2007 by Little, Brown and Company.
The bestselling author of Ilium transforms the story of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition into a devastating historical adventure that will chill you to your core.The men on board Her Britannic Majesty's Ships Terror and Erebus had every expectation of triumph. They were part of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition – as scientifically advanced an enterprise as had ever set forth – and theirs were the first steam-driven vessels to go in search of the fabled North-West Passage. But the ships have now been trapped in the Arctic ice for nearly two years. Coal and provisions are running low. Yet the real threat isn't the constantly shifting landscape of white or the flesh-numbing temperatures, dwindling supplies or the vessels being slowly crushed by the unyielding grip of the frozen ocean. No, the real threat is far more terrifying. There is something out there that haunts the frigid darkness, which stalks the …
The bestselling author of Ilium transforms the story of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition into a devastating historical adventure that will chill you to your core.The men on board Her Britannic Majesty's Ships Terror and Erebus had every expectation of triumph. They were part of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition – as scientifically advanced an enterprise as had ever set forth – and theirs were the first steam-driven vessels to go in search of the fabled North-West Passage. But the ships have now been trapped in the Arctic ice for nearly two years. Coal and provisions are running low. Yet the real threat isn't the constantly shifting landscape of white or the flesh-numbing temperatures, dwindling supplies or the vessels being slowly crushed by the unyielding grip of the frozen ocean. No, the real threat is far more terrifying. There is something out there that haunts the frigid darkness, which stalks the ships, snatching one man at a time – mutilating, devouring. A nameless thing, at once nowhere and everywhere, this terror has become the expedition's nemesis. When Franklin meets a terrible death, it falls to Captain Francis Crozier of HMS Terror to take command and lead the remaining crew on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Eskimo woman who cannot speak. She may be the key to survival – or the harbinger of their deaths. And as scurvy, starvation and madness take their toll, as the Terror on the ice become evermore bold, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape...
Seemlessly crafting a fictional horror out of the true (as we know it) events of the Franklin Expedition.
Nearly two months after I started it, the slog through Dan Simmons' The Terror is at an end. Like the inevitably doomed mission of the characters, this story is devoid of humor and hope.
The premise is simple enough - a historical mystery presented as narrative, with possible explanations and occult phenomena worked into the plot. Chapters told from the perspective (and voice) of individual crewmen worked very well. The ending was interesting and enjoyable, and helped me understand the monster who lurked through the first half of the book.
Other parts of the book were very uneven. Said monster was a major point to the plot, then mostly vanished. Uneven timing of the earlier narrative worked well, but then was abandoned. Captain Crozier has a nasty habit of mentally accounting for his crew, living and dead, and the author shares each mental word with us. Yes, this proves that …
Nearly two months after I started it, the slog through Dan Simmons' The Terror is at an end. Like the inevitably doomed mission of the characters, this story is devoid of humor and hope.
The premise is simple enough - a historical mystery presented as narrative, with possible explanations and occult phenomena worked into the plot. Chapters told from the perspective (and voice) of individual crewmen worked very well. The ending was interesting and enjoyable, and helped me understand the monster who lurked through the first half of the book.
Other parts of the book were very uneven. Said monster was a major point to the plot, then mostly vanished. Uneven timing of the earlier narrative worked well, but then was abandoned. Captain Crozier has a nasty habit of mentally accounting for his crew, living and dead, and the author shares each mental word with us. Yes, this proves that Dan Simmons did his homework, but doesn't make for a good story.
Still other aspects rubbed me completely the wrong way. Crozier has some sort of second sight while quitting his alcohol cold turkey - and the author uses this to detail many of the future quests to find the expedition. Adds nothing whatsoever to the story! Many days of sledging and detailed descriptions of ice formations could have also been reduced, sparing the misery of the readers.
This book is included in Nightmare Magazines top 100 horror books, and was nominated for three other awards. A shorter version of this story could have earned that honor, but this novel is just way too much.
