Drood

Review-A-Day

"Drood is told from the point of view of Collins, who is thought to have created the detective genre in his serialized novel The Moonstone, the writing of which is also included in Drood. Simmons takes elements of both writers' works and creates a world in which the two were writing thinly fictionalized accounts of real events. Mesmerism, opium addiction, ancient Egyptian cults, criminal undergrounds, and more are to be found." Doug Brown, Powells.com (Read the entire Powells.com review)

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Rylee, January 1, 2012 (view all comments by Rylee)
I picked this up at Borders when they were having their final farewell. I do enjoy reading Dickens' novels, like most literary people, so I was attracted to this book because of that aspect. I was not prepared for a book that was such an in depth telling.

The story starts with the Staplehurst accident on 9 of June 1865. Charles Dickens was a passenger along with his pretty, young mistress when the train derailed and fell into a ravine. When Dickens starts to help the wounded and dying, he sees a fantastic man in a theatre cape. His name is Drood and he haunts the rest of the story.

The book is written in a fashion of a memoir, the narrator being a friend and contemporary of Dickens, one Wilkie Collins. He starts as a side character to entire Drood affair, but all too soon finds himself wrapped in the centre of a world of mesmerism (hypnosis) and opium. The novel covers several years, from 1865 to Dickens' death in 1870. While we watch Dickens' age we also watch the narrator, Mr Collins, fall into his own madness.

I have to give Dan Simmons applause. He wrote a novel in the modern age using language that was common to the Victorian English age. No mean feat, let me assure you. Drood is also the first Simmons novel I have ever read and was notably impressed. I was also pleased by the level of research that went into the novel. Wilkie Collins had his share of success in the 1800's, but I had never heard of him and thought the character pure fiction. Imagine my surprise when I happened upon his most famous novel, The Moonstone, in a book shop the other day.

While a mammoth novel of over nine-hundred pages, it was well worth the read. I am so glad I picked it up that day.

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5036498014, January 3, 2011 (view all comments by 5036498014)
Draws you in slowly ... inch by inch ... daring you to believe while never knowing the truth of it all.

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1agordon, January 2, 2011 (view all comments by 1agordon)
One of the creepiest books I've read in a while...Simmons keeps turning it up a notch. The tie-ins with historical events and people is an added twist.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780316007030

Author:

Simmons, Dan

Publisher:

Back Bay Books

Subject:

Thrillers

Subject:

Historical - General

Subject:

Biographical

Subject:

Popular Fiction-Contemporary Thrillers

Copyright:

2010

Publication Date:

20100231

Binding:

TRADE PAPER

Language:

English

Pages:

775

Dimensions:

9.18x6.94x1.39 in. 1.50 lbs.