The Terror: A Novel
by Dan Simmons
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.24 You Save: $5.75 (72%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Terror: A Novel
Book Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
Perhaps the best thing I can say about Dan Simmons's The Terror is that it would be a brutal and harrowing read even without the gigantic ice monster terrorizing its protagonists. Taking place in a frozen Arctic landscape that's as desolate spiritually as it is physically, it's part meticulously detailed and researched nonfiction novel and part supernatural thriller, with each aspect contributing equally to the air of sustained dread that hangs over it. The doomed mid-19th-century Franklin expedition to force the mythical Northwest passage provides the real-life inspiration, but Simmons adds to the darkness and isolation of the great white North a vicious and implacable man-killer that's all the more horrific for its mysterious origins and apparent (and sadistic) intelligence. As the book opens the sailors, officers, and marines on board the ships HMS Erebus and Terror are trapped in ice for the second consecutive winter, cut off from rescue and facing dwindling supplies of just about everything, and coming under attack by an assailant whose nature they can't begin to comprehend. Unfortunately for them, things only get worse from there on out. Much like Cormac McCarthy's The Road, it endows acts taken by most of us for granted--finding food, keeping warm, not being torn apart by cannibals or a giant polar bear-like being--with a wrenching immediacy sure to keep pages turning. In the end The Terror is a thriller driven as much by characters and setting as suspense or scares, with the supernatural elements serving as just one more hardship besetting the already troubled crew.
It becomes apparent quickly that Simmons has a gift for set pieces, ranging from one man's desparate flight from certain death on the ice during an attack to a Poe-inspired masked ball that's frighteningly eerie even before the monster shows up, and he brilliantly captures the bone-cracking cold and mounting hunger that relentlessly dog the sailors. More importantly, Simmons shows a keen psychological insight througout, with an eye for the attempts to retain their humanity by men facing endless misery with death as the only possible release. Mixed with the death and privation is a story of astonishing perseverance and determination, led by the dominant figure of Captain Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier. Crozier (like the other expedition leaders, a real person) becomes in Simmons's hands one of the great characters in recent literary history--a gruff, hard-drinking Irish lifetime sailor embittered by his shoddy treatment at the hands of the Royal Navy but imbued with a penetrating intelligence and an unfailing will to surive. While much of the story is conveyed through Crozier's eyes, Simmons does keep things interesting by shifting the third-person perspective among a revolving cast of characters--some good, some decidedly less so--and even throwing in some diary entries by an increasingly overwhelming doctor who adds a welcome first-person viewpoint to the horrors surrounding him.
While it would be an understatement to say this book isn't exactly a heartwarmer, Simmons still manages to make it compulsively readable by building a mood of ever-increasing fear and atavism that's only partly contained by the naval codes that have guided the men their entire adult lives. Even at over 700 pages the book rarely hits a dull spot because Simmons manages to fully encapsulate the horrific extent of each of the maladies grinding down the men. The handling of the monster is especially well-done, its appearances frequently conveyed only in the retelling or the fevered perspectives of terrified crewmembers, and its origins kept a secret until the final act. As those who have seen Jaws as many times as I have know there's always something to be gained by keeping your killer largely hidden, and this book serves as just one more confirmation of that lesson. It's just one more aspect of the totality of vision and oppressive craftmanship that makes The Terror a must-read, so pick it up now if you haven't already.
Book Review: HMS Terror Meets Inuit Mythology
Summary: 4 Stars
The Terror is Dan Simmons' fictional account of an historic 1845 Arctic expedition to discover the Northwest Passage with a supernatural spin. The true account of John Franklin's two ships, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror that were both lost somewhere in the Arctic and their crews never seen again has obviously been researched extensively (see 3-page works cited list at book's end). Unfortunately, the author seems to have fallen into the trap of spending so much time researching his subject that he was unable to objectively edit out all the extraneous information that bloats the 700+ page novel.
As a fan of supernatural horror, I hate to say this, but the Creature--on which the book markets itself as a "horror tale"--turned out to be an irritating side-plot that only shows up when the story's pacing starts to go stale. The horrific suffering of the crew to starvation, scurvy, frostbite, poisoned food stores, mutinous malcontents, and madness didn't really need a supernatural Creature to add to "The Terror". All these elements are graphically depicted within the engrossing first section of the novel when the ships are first stranded in pack ice and unable sail.
The story also suffers from the author's belated attempt to explain the Creature's existence (after the crew is already dead) through Inuit mythology by recording actual poems and mythological tales in block quotes. Had this theme been present throughout the tale--or at least subtlety referenced--this post-mortem explanation might not have been so frustrating. No one wants to read 700 pages of a novel and "suddenly" be forced to read chapters of quoted mythology disguised as dreams in order to understand the ending. This exasperating technique is also used during eulogies of various crew members when the Captain's dialogue consists of 2- and 3-page quoted Bible verses. Here is where the author could have easily communicated "the Captain quoted from Psalms" rather than transcribing chunks of the Bible into his story!
Despite these problems with plot construction, the basic story of the ill-fated expedition is truly fascinating--especially with Simmon's evocative prose depicting the harrowing conditions suffered by the crew. The setting truly comes alive through Simmons' painstaking detail of the frozen arctic landscape and readers can appreciate the dramatic and slow-building pace as the nautical hardships mount up. I found myself unable to put the book down during some of the more gripping suspenseful moments.
Characterization of the many crew members whose different points-of-view comprise the story's chapters can, at times, be repetitious, as each person's narrative details statistical data regarding the "butcher's list" of deaths, but the various accounts also juxtapose the suffering from Officers to enlisted men, heroes and human monsters.
On the whole, the story was a fascinating read--definitely not a quick read--but the ending suffers from an overload of mythology and a subtle environmentalist theme apparently designed to revise an infamous "disaster" by giving it an "uplifting" ending.
Book Review: Like riding a roller coaster in the dark
Summary: 5 Stars
The Terror is one of the best books I've read in a long, long time. I picked it up on a whim and, once I'd begun it, read nothing else until I had finished. Dan Simmons has crafted not only a thrilling, terrifying, suspenseful novel, he's written one of the best historical novels I've ever read.
The Terror is the story of the men of HMSs Terror and Erebus, two ships under Sir John Franklin, an ageing explorer looking for the fabled Northwest Passage. During their second winter above the Arctic Circle, the ships are frozen in the ice and, come Spring, the ice doesn't melt. Terror and Erebus and the men aboard them are trapped--for years. But if being trapped in the ice is not in itself unusual, conditions rapidly worsen--almost half the food in storage is found to have gone bad, disease and mutiny threaten the crew, and, after a chance encounter with a mysterious Eskimo woman, the sailors find themselves stalked through the long winter night by a savage monster.
This is only the barest of summaries--Simmons's novel is over 950 pages and he packs them full. It's unusual to see a novel this long that doesn't drag, which is why it reminded me of that old cliche used of action movies--the roller coaster, although this novel is like riding a coaster in the dark. The Terror hurtles along through suspense and terror like a roller coaster, but just when you feel the novel is slowing down, some new event or subplot emerges from the darkness and takes you by surprise.
Simmons's characters are all well-drawn and realistic, especially the major players--Captains Crozier and Fitzjames, young surgeon Goodsir, Lieutenant Irving, the treacherous Hickey, and the mysterious, tongueless Eskimo woman called Lady Silence. And although Simmons is working with dozens of characters, many of them winding through multiple plots and subplots, it's easy to keep track of who's who.
One thing I especially like about The Terror is that the author clearly takes the "historical" part of "historical fiction" seriously. The book is minutely detailed about conditions on shipboard life and the frozen north, and all the details help sell the story as real. My only beef with the novel is that it seems a little modern in a few ways--some of the characters show a distinctly 21st-century preoccupation with sex and some of the language is jarringly Vietnam-era.
Finally, this book is an unusually literate thriller. There are numerous references to Dante and Shakespeare, asides about contemporary writers Dickens and Poe (who himself wrote a novel of shipwreck and exploration), nods to Hobbes and Darwin, and, in one of my favorite passages, a brilliantly reworked version of Poe's "Masque of the Red Death."
The Terror is a brilliantly plotted, exhaustively researched excursion into history with enough of the fantastic thrown in to thrill any reader. This is what historical fiction should be.
Highly recommended.
Book Review: THE TERROR BY DAN SIMMONS
Summary: 5 Stars
In a historical epic that rivals Simmons's science fiction epic Hyperion, The Terror is the incredible fictional story of the journey made by Captain Sir John Franklin and his expedition to discover the northwest passage, which departed from England in 1845. Written mainly from the viewpoint of Captain Francis Crozier, who runs the crew on the ship HMS Terror (Franklin is in charge of HMS Erebus), The Terror will take readers to the very limits of their imaginations, tactile abilities, and hopes and dreams; leaving them exhausted but very satisfied by the end.
The story begins with both ships trapped in the ice. Simmons overloads with description of this frozen wasteland which is an everyday struggle, as the crews fight to keep warm, fed, and the boilers in the ships running, otherwise they'll all freeze to death very quickly. The men try to make the most of it, even having a masked ball on the ice in mimicry of Poe's "Masque of the Red Death." Then there is the decreasing citrus stock, with the full realization that cases of scurvy will begin very soon. But everything is still frozen, even though it is summer and there seems little hope left for them. Crozier seems to know this, taking heavily to what alcohol there is on Terror and keeping it for himself, as his grasp on reality lessens a little each day.
Then there is the monster. A terrifying beast that has been taking and killing men, leaving nothing but bloody smears on the white ice. The beast matches descriptions of a giant bear, an abominable snowman, and possibly a nightmare from an Inuit folk tale. But little can be done as the men continue to disappear one by one. Franklin eventually abandons the Erebus which has stopped working, while some of its crew have turned violent and insane. But they cannot all stay on Terror, and the decision is eventually made to venture into the icy waste in a presumed direction to an Inuit habitation. Whether they will make it through or all die of exposure is a reality that will be faces each day they travel further across the ice.
Simmons takes on a classic legend that has few facts and turns it into an incredible story of adventure, survival, and testing the very limits of humanity. He has outdone himself with his complex, complete characters, interesting plot developments and subplots, and skillfully balancing the fantastic fiction with the true story, giving possible answers to one of the greatest mysteries in history. The Terror is a book not for the faint of heart, but for those who seek to know what it is that keeps the human spirit going when all hope is lost, this is the book for you. Especially if you have a thing for cannibalism.
Check out my interview with the great man Dan Simmons on BookBanter: http://bookbanter.podbean.com.
Book Review: Good (but not great) Novel
Summary: 1 Stars
Mark it here: although "The Terror", like "Drood", is too long by half, it is still the last pretty good (but far from great) novel Simmons has written (the latter, in fact, stacked up far too much unnecessary verbiage, like the garbage and excrement along the Thames described therein). In "The Terror," Simmons ably gets into the Victorian mindset of Crozier, which serves the book well and helps the reader understand why both he (and Franklin) were so tightly wound (and unwilling to accept help from the Inuits...so ready to believe that they -- Franklin and Crozier -- were always right). He also does a good job introducing the Inuit culture into the story (and to both his uptight, 19th Century characters and readers). And Simmons makes good use of the stark, unforgiving Arctic setting, so that the elements also become an "enemy" of the explorers aboard the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror (the two ships stranded in the ice when this ill-fated expedition eventually went missing).
So: Simmons brings all the elements together. Famous historical expedition that disappeared virtually without a trace (only some of the explorer's remains were ever discovered -- most of both ships and the majority of the crew on both vessels were lost forever). Lives in danger, with no easy escape (or rescue) at hand. Into this situation Simmons throws in the element of natural (or, perhaps, preternatural) danger: some "thing" is stalking the men whenever they venture out onto the ice (to try and find a way home, or look for food, or whatever). And since the ice moves, both ships are literally being moved away from each other, so efforts to communicate -- or stay in touch, physically -- are shut down whenever the phantom thing (no one has actually seen it) attacks and kills men when they are on the ice. As a bit of langniappe, Simmons tosses in a female Inuit -- dubbed "Silence" by the white crew members, because her tongue is missing. As the days and nights progress, as more men go missing in violent attacks -- leaving behind only blood stains and the echoes of screams -- cabin fever (and perhaps some other madness) makes some believe that the Inuit woman is changing into a beast that hunts them down.
All of that would have made for a great thriller. But Simmons's tendency toward excess -- usually repetive -- verbiage eventually weighs "The Terror" down (pulling the narrative drive of the novel beneath the ice, much like the ships of the Franklin expedition), slowing things to a crawl at just the point where a good thriller (and that's what this purports to be, literary or not) should keep up the suspense. In the end, Simmons's dire need of a strong-willed editor --or some, um, whiteout -- turns what could have been a great novel into a merely okay read.