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The Terror: A Novel
by Dan Simmons
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780316017442 |
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Powells.com Staff Pick
I've long been a fan of Dan Simmons's science fiction, and I'd enjoyed some of his horror novels as well. The Terror is, however, both an unusual new direction for Simmons and one of his most impressive works to date. In this historical novel based on the ill-fated Franklin expedition to find a Northwest Passage, his prose is stellar in its on-the-mark beauty, and the plot, enhanced by a genuinely frightening supernatural element, is never rushed or breathless but always page-turning. Whether you're already a fan or have never read Simmons before, The Terror is a remarkable achievement.
Recommended by John, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
The bestselling author of Ilium and Olympos transforms the true story of a legendary Arctic expedition into a thriller worthy of Stephen King or Patrick O'Brian.
Their captain's insane vision of a Northwest Passage has kept the crewmen of The Terror trapped in Arctic ice for two years without a thaw. But the real threat to their survival isn't the ever-shifting landscape of white, the provisions that have turned to poison before they open them, or the ship slowly buckling in the grip of the frozen ocean. The real threat is whatever is out in the frigid darkness, stalking their ship, snatching one seaman at a time or whole crews, leaving bodies mangled horribly or missing forever.
Captain Crozier takes over the expedition after the creature kills its original leader, Sir John Franklin. Drawing equally on his own strengths as a seaman and the mystical beliefs of the Eskimo woman he's rescued, Crozier sets a course on foot out of the Arctic and away from the insatiable beast. But every day the dwindling crew becomes more deranged and mutinous, until Crozier begins to fear there is no escape from an ever-more-inconceivable nightmare.
Review:
"Hugo-winner Simmons (Olympos) brings the horrific trials and tribulations of arctic exploration vividly to life in this beautifully written historical, which injects a note of supernatural horror into the 1840s Franklin expedition and its doomed search for the Northwest Passage. Sir John Franklin, the leader of the expedition and captain of the Erebus, is an aging fool. Francis Crozier, his second in command and captain of the Terror, is a competent sailor, but embittered after years of seeing lesser men with better connections given preferment over him. With their two ships quickly trapped in pack ice, their voyage is a disaster from start to finish. Some men perish from disease, others from the cold, still others from botulism traced to tinned food purchased from the lowest bidder. Madness, mutiny and cannibalism follow. And then there's the monstrous creature from the ice, the thing like a polar bear but many times larger, possessed of a dark and vicious intelligence. This complex tale should find many devoted readers and add significantly to Simmons's already considerable reputation." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"Hugo-winner Simmons (Olympos) brings the horrific trials and tribulations of arctic exploration vividly to life in this beautifully written historical, which injects a note of supernatural horror into the 1840s Franklin expedition and its doomed search for the Northwest Passage. Sir John Franklin, the leader of the expedition and captain of the Erebus, is an aging fool. Francis Crozier, his second in command and captain of the Terror, is a competent sailor, but embittered after years of seeing lesser men with better connections given preferment over him. With their two ships quickly trapped in pack ice, their voyage is a disaster from start to finish. Some men perish from disease, others from the cold, still others from botulism traced to tinned food purchased from the lowest bidder. Madness, mutiny and cannibalism follow. And then there's the monstrous creature from the ice, the thing like a polar bear but many times larger, possessed of a dark and vicious intelligence. This complex tale should find many devoted readers and add significantly to Simmons's already considerable reputation." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"The fate of Sir John Franklin's last expedition remains one of the great mysteries of Arctic exploration. What we know, more or less, is this: In the balmy days of May 1845, 129 officers and men aboard two ships — Erebus and Terror — departed from England for the Canadian Arctic in search of a Northwest Passage to the Pacific. They were never heard from again. Between 1847 and 1859, Franklin's wife..." Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review)
Review:
"It's clear that Simmons devoted a lot of time to researching the history of the Franklin Expedition." Library Journal
Review:
"One of Simmons' best." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"The prolific and versatile Simmons turns to historical fiction in this fine narrative of the lost Franklin expedition of the 1840s." Booklist
Review:
"Simmons' prose is as sharp and dazzling as the ice of which he writes." Denver Post
Review:
"Simmons is a master of horror, suspense, characterization and description. This true story gives him an opportunity to demonstrate these talents." Rocky Mountain News
Review:
"At over 750 pages, the book miraculously flies by, balancing dozens of engaging characters with riveting horror-movie set pieces....Brutal, relentless, yet oddly uplifting, The Terror is a masterfully chilling work." Entertainment Weekly
About the Author
Dan Simmons is the award-winning author of Olympos, Ilium, and The Hyperion Cantos. He has received the Hugo Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and British Science Fiction & Fantasy Awards, among many others. Born in Illinois, Dan published his first short story at the age of 34, and hasn't looked back since. His books have been translated into 27 languages. Dan lives in Colorado.
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Average customer rating based on 5 comments:
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boekelhe, January 31, 2008 (view all comments by boekelhe)
I just finished this book, making it through the 760some pages in about three weeks or so. I found it a little meandering and needlessly long (do we really need to pause for an entire chapter, twice, for a roll call of all the men who have died to that point?) but still found that I couldn't put it down. The most compelling part was the setting and the knowledge that the people whose stories you are reading cannot survive the book. I really wanted to find out what was going to happen to everyone, more than anything else.
In the end, I found the cast of characters tiring, with many of them coming straight from the last Die Hard movie. I don't understand the need for a supernatural beastie when the sheer terror of being stranded in the Arctic ice for two solid years would have been plenty. And don't get me started on the ending. I realize he's a science fiction writer, but seriously, folks...
All in all, amazingly rendered setting, brilliant atmosphere, but kinda lousy everything else.
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ladygreyreiver, December 6, 2007 (view all comments by ladygreyreiver)
Maybe I don't know anything about sea ice or life (and death)in the Arctic, but I could not put this book down once I got into it. I read the last half of the book in less than a day! I knew from the beginning that there were no known survivors of the real Franklin Expedition,, but was held hostage by the fascinating, if doomed, struggle of the crews of the Erebus and the Terror to live. The ending still managed to surprise, and Simmons reference to present-day events brought the story into the 21st century with a bang!
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Steve Sparrow, July 25, 2007 (view all comments by Steve Sparrow)
Should Mr. Simmons decide to write another novel about the Arctic, he needs to do the research necessary to learn about his topic. I realize this book is fiction and as such, not every description of the region where the story takes place need to be completely accurate, but Mr. Simmons' descriptions of the Arctic, sea ice behavior, and human survival in extreme cold are so outrageous they seriously detract from the story. The story line if fairly interesting, but the book is long and parts of it are tedious. Thus, I often found myself feeling like I was wading through the book rather than eagerly turning the pages as I would do with a really good novel.
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Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780316017442
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Little Brown and Company
- Author:
- Subject:
- Thrillers
- Subject:
- Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks
- Subject:
- Shipwrecks
- Copyright:
- 2007
- Publication Date:
- January 2007
- Binding:
- Hardcover
- Language:
- English
- Pages:
- 769
- Dimensions:
- 9.46x6.38x1.93 in. 2.25 lbs.
