The Terror
A Novel
Book - 2007 | 1st Back Bay pbk. ed
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Opinion
From Library Staff
From Library Staff
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.
Inspired ... Read More »
multcolib_dianaa
May 08, 2014
This novel is loosely based on the true story of an Arctic expedition that went terribly wrong in the 1840s. No one actually knows exactly what happened to the Franklin expedition in real life, but in this one, there’s a sea monster. It’s available on audiobook cd.
Two ships are frozen in the Arctic in the 19th Century, and there's something out on the ice... Not only is this an exciting horror story, but it has wonderful characters and an interesting romance.
Their captain's insane vision of a Northwest Passage has kept the crewmen of HMS 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, or the ship slowly buckling in t... Read More »
This is a great book about survival (and the failure to survive) on the ice after an expedition to the Arctic runs into terrible trouble. It's good on so many levels-- lots of good characters, something creepy out on the ice stalking the crewmen, and there are a ton of interesting facts-- about A... Read More »
From the critics
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Add a CommentIncredible novel. This is the first work I've read by Dan Simmons and it definitely makes me want to read more! The Terror combines horror and supernatural elements with fictionalized historical accounts of arctic explorations circa the 1840s gone very, very badly. Characters evolve and devolve into complicated figures, some of them purely compassionate and some of them downright evil. For anyone who shares a fascination with survival stories, brutish environments, and extremely COLD places, the atmosphere of the book alone will draw you in. It is a heavy tome (over 760 pages) but moves quickly throughout. Highly recommend.
Sounds like I want to read it. Good description.
This is the best novel I have read in some time, and might be at the top of the list of contenders for best modern novel I've enjoyed. I first watched the television series and so loved it I thought that the source material would be worth checking out. Not only was the book better than the series (do not feel, if you have seen the series, that you can't read the book, they are different enough from one another that you have a complimentary experience reading and watching), especially it's ending (the series' ending was far inferior to the book's in every way), but as a book in it's own right it was well-written in it's character development, it's plot pacing, and it's ability to deliver an education. Highly recommended.
Immersive in its depth and emotional experience, Simmons' treatment of the harsh arctic conditions for a lost expedition will hook you at the depths. The ice-bound sailors and officers are well-drawn and human, desperately struggling against nature, against the elements, against the supernatural lurking just outside the glow of lamplight, and even against themselves. We get the detail of history with the narrative strength of Poe or Shelley, and the nautical sensory experience of Melville.
I cannot possibly praise this book enough. The characters are wonderfully crafted, and I could not help but hopelessly cheer them on. A long book, but so fantastic I did not want it to end. Their inescapable doom will haunt you long after you finish the book.
I've enjoyed every single chapter of this book and for me it was a real page-turner! It is graphic and naturalistic at times, loaded with nauseating details and depressing atmosphere, but brilliantly composed, with multiple points of view and dramatic ending.
This book completely ruined TV show for me. I wish I had watched it first. I know, different mediums have their restrictions, but the book is so deep and multidimensional. Can't wait to read other books by the author.
I likes the mystery, suspense and chaos. It was well written including detail (not too much). The end was odd so just be open to that.
I liked it. Slower read. Long story with a lot of details and events that create suspense.
A little long, but worth the read. I admit, I did have to skip through a bit, but got the gist of it. Exceptional background explanations and details. Very good to the end.
So in depth, you feel like you're one of the men, living and dying along with them. It is well written, and is exactly what I have been searching for for years: a real historical event, but fictionalized with an event that although isn't real, does fit with what might have happened. Only problem, it does tend to drag in a few parts, mostly with a pair of characters who are completely useless and should have been removed due to their zero effect on the overall plot. Also, the ending felt a bit ad hoc, a little different from the t.v. series, but still a tad off. But I do recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and/or a good horror story.