The Terror: A Novel
by Dan Simmons
Book Summary Information
Author: Dan SimmonsEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2009-01-01
ISBN: 0316008079
Number of pages: 992
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780316008075
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Book Reviews of The Terror: A Novel
Book Review: Recommended for All But the Most Ferocious Adherents to Realism
Summary: 4 Stars
On July 26, 1845, the Royal Navy ships Erebus and Terror, bound on yet another journey to discover the theoretical Northwest Passage, left two whaling vessels in Baffin Bay. These ships and the hundred odd men of the Franklin Expedition were, as the saying goes, never seen again - at least not by any white man. The Franklin Expedition became a legend in the annals of polar exploration. Discovering what happened to it became the object of many other journeys into the Arctic down to our day.
Franklin's men faced the horrors of the polar cold, starvation, food poisoning, scurvy, and cannibalism. Did Simmons really need to add mutineers? No, but he gets away with it, makes it seem natural and not unnecessary sensationalism.
And did he need to add a monster to the horrors of real history? Well, no, but I probably wouldn't have read this novel if he hadn't given my impatience with most historical fiction. I'd have just read another nonfiction book on the expedition. And, while he gives several possible explanations for the monster, the one he goes with at novel's end is probably the one most likely to appeal to the fan of historical fiction. Or so I imagine.
It's a long novel, but Simmons grabs you from the beginning. The first chapter starts out with the trapped ship, shivering men, the mysterious and tongueless Eskimo woman Lady Silence, and a monster. To be sure, Simmons does repeat himself sometimes, perhaps more than he needs to even to keep track of over a hundred characters. There is a bit of cleverness involving a work of Edgar Poe but Simmons engages is some too obvious and unconvincing, in context, explanation of his allusion.
More serious is that I don't think he quite lays the psychological foundation for the decisions and fate of one of his characters at novel's end. And I think he waits too long to reveal a crucial characteristic of that character. But that is, relatively speaking, a minor flaw in a novel that should appeal to all but the most diehard disciples of realism in their historical fiction. Simmons blending of horror and history works, his jumping back and forth in time never confusing.
Summary of The Terror: A Novel
The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the Terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape. A haunting, gripping story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core.Simmons, Dan Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Simmons, Dan Books
Fires of Edenby Dan Simmons
Harpercollins (Mm); Published: 1995-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $34.20
Children of the Nightby Dan Simmons
Headline Book Publishing Ltd; Published: 1993-01-01; Paperback; Book
Carrion Comfortby Dan Simmons
Dark Harvest Books; Published: 1989-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $98.00
Endymionby Dan Simmons
Headline; Published: 1996; Hardcover; Book
The Rise of Endymionby Dan Simmons
Orion Publishing Group; Published: 2006-11-30; Paperback; Book
Cujo: Collectors Edition (Collectors' Editions)by Stephen King
Plume; Published: 1994-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
The Terrorby Dan Simmons
Subterranean Press; Published: 2009-10-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $50.40
Price in other shops:
Midnight Graffitiby Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison, Dan Simmons
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 1992-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.00
Lovedeathby Dan Simmons
Warner Books; Published: 1994; Paperback; Book
Summer of Nightby Dan Simmons
Putnam Adult; Published: 1991-02-13; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Worlds Enough & Time: Five Tales of Speculative Fictionby Dan Simmons
Eos; Published: 2002-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
Olymposby Dan Simmons
Eos; Published: 2006-08-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.53
Price in other shops:
Iliumby Dan Simmons
HarperTorch; Published: 2005-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Darwin's Blade: A Novel of Suspenseby Dan Simmons
HarperTorch; Published: 2001-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.43
Twilightby William Gay
MacAdam Cage; Published: 2007-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.15
Price in other shops:
Children of the Nightby Dan Simmons
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 1993-06-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Song of Kaliby Dan Simmons
Tor Books; Published: 1998-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.27
Price in other shops:
Drood: A Novelby Dan Simmons
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2009-02-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.97
Price in other shops:
Summer of Night (Aspect Fantasy)by Dan Simmons
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 1992-03-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.13
Price in other shops:
A Winter Hauntingby Dan Simmons
HarperTorch; Published: 2003-01-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.44
Price in other shops: