The Terror is my first Dan Simmons novel, and I have to say that I’m really very impressed. I wasn’t at all sure what to expect, but found the story really gripping and I read what is a fairly chunky book (at over 750 pages) in pretty quick time for me.
So this is based on the true story of Sir John Franklin’s expedition to find the North West Passage in the 1840s, an attempt that failed with the apparent loss of the crews of the two ships involved, The Erebus and The Terror. Over the years it has become clear that the ships had become stuck in the ice and that the men succumbed to scurvy, starvation, botulism and lead poisoning, the latter from the poorly soldered cans in which much of their food was provided. Dan Simmons builds all this into his tale, but adds a little something extra – what if there was also something out on the ice stalking the men, picking them off, something not natural….?
I couldn’t tear myself away from this, picking it up at every spare moment to find out what was going to happen next. The story is told from the viewpoints of several of the main characters, almost all based on real crew members; this works really well. There is a real sense of foreboding in the novel and the sensation that even the widest of wide-open spaces can be oppressive when you can’t get away. I even enjoyed all the detail about ship-board life, the difference between whaleboats and pinnaces, and I now know much more about the effects of scurvy than I probably wanted to! I also know a little bit more about Inuit mythology than I did before. I found the resolution satisfying, and the mixture of historical fiction and horror worked well, so recommended.
This is my first read for the RIP III challenge.
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September 6, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Nymeth
Inuit mythology! This sounds like something I’d really enjoy. The length is a bit intimidating, but you did say it’s one of those chunkster that go by fast. Thanks for the review 🙂
September 8, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Susan
I sped through your review so as not to get any plot spoilers(even though I think everyone died in the expedition, I hold out hope that the book might let one or two characters live….) – good review, you would have convinced me to read it, if I hadn’t already started! It is hard to put down, isn’t it? I’ll let you know when I’m done, but I’m loving it (and very annoyed at having to work, sleep etc, everything that gets in the way of reading it!)
September 9, 2008 at 5:13 am
Carl V.
So far I’ve heard nothing but good rumblings about this book. I too am trying to avoid spoilers as this may be on that ends up in my hands at some point. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
September 15, 2008 at 7:50 am
Elaine
Sounds interesting! I’m going to pop it on my wishlist. 🙂
September 15, 2008 at 7:51 am
Elaine aka Quixotic
In my last post I linked the wrong blog under “website”. The one linked in this post is my bookblog. 😀
September 22, 2008 at 2:19 am
J.S. Peyton
Alright, that’s it. I have heard too many good things about this book to let it remain on my TBR list for any longer. This has definitely jumped to the top of my ‘must have’ list! I’m happy you enjoyed it! And that the pages just flew by since its 700-plus pages kind of worried me too.
April 30, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Song of Kali « Bride of the Book God
[…] you will remember that I read my first Dan Simmons novel towards the end of last year (my review is here) and that I absolutely loved it. The Song of Kali is a trickier […]
December 23, 2013 at 7:04 am
Drood (mini-review) | Bride of the Book God
[…] 2009 and really struggled with it, finding it a little too grim for my tastes. But I had also read The Terror the year before and absolutely loved it. The combination of real literary figures and a Gothic […]