Mass Market Paperback, 960 pages
English language
Published Jan. 5, 2009 by Little, Brown and Co..
The men on board The HMS Terror—part of the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Expedition—are entering a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, stranded in a nightmarish landscape of ice and desolation. Endlessly cold, they struggle to survive with poisonous rations and a dwindling coal supply. But their real enemy is even more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror clawing to get in.
Seemlessly crafting a fictional horror out of the true (as we know it) events of the Franklin Expedition.
Ruined my life.
Shackleton + a supernatural monster = even more misadventure and strife. I really enjoyed the details that the author layered into the story. Seemed like it took considerable research. The plot went directions that were often surprising.
I read this after watching the TV series and found it really intriguing. Definitely a fun read!
The last 10% of this harrowing novel feels nothing at all like the rest. Nothing. My first reaction was disappointment, as I'd been comfortable with the rise and flow of the words, and this last bit felt like it was written by a different author -- tacked to the end of an Arctic journey it didn't match like some belated MadLibs.
It wasn't until I started writing this review that the ending finally clicked for me: the ending is so vastly different than the rest of the book because it represents a massive perspective change for the narrator. Whether this works for a reader, I suppose, would depend on how consistent you like the tone of your narrative. I found the transition jarring, but I can now appreciate narratively why that was done.
I want to give this book 2.5 stars. I actually liked it, so I'll give it three, rather than two. I listened to the 22 hour audio book and the narrator was amazing.
This book is so long. It makes the long dredge of Frodo and Gollum seem like a summer stroll. It's also strange. Jumping between the soul crushing slog of being frozen in the ice, long and detailed flashbacks, super natural monster fights and graphic sex scenes. It's Dan Simmons though. All of his books feel like they're written by a super intelligent high school boy.
This is my first book with some detail on the themes Arctic exploration and the British navy. I enjoyed a lot of that. I really liked the Inuit mythology and how they survived on the ice. I loved Dr Goodsir and Crozier.
I think I'm glad I read it.
This is a great book. This is exactly the kind of book I love. I have a thing for man against nature, man against the limits of his own endurance. (hence my love of mountain climbing books) Plus I have a "thing" for horror fiction. (hence my love of Stephan King) And this book had both! What a bargain. The setting in the arctic, the oppressive, endless polar night, the ungodly, unrelenting cold, the wind that had real, beastly teeth... And a ship stuck, frozen, trapped for years, no rescue...brrr, spine chilling yo. The specter of death always ready to strike because the margin between life and death being so thin, but the will to survive a formidable match... was a real testament to mankind, the power of love, honor. Loved this book.
Patrick O'Brian meets Stephen King. Though far from perfect, and too long, this is the kind of intelligent page-turner I'm so often trying to find. And all the graphic scurvy descriptions made me drink a lot more orange juice while reading this.
When it comes to this book, I feel much as I did about Drood. The level of unnecessary exposition is less in this book, but not by much. Simmons really seems to have an issue where when he does historical fiction that he becomes determined to fit every detail from his research into the book, regardless if it fits the needs of the story.
There's a good story here, and brilliant description of the struggle to survive the Arctic. However, there's also about 100 pages beyond that of extraneous details.
Finally dug into this. Seems interesting if a bit of an extraordinarily long haul. For the length, there could probably be three or four books contained within.
An absolutely tremendous journey. How did these men embark upon such an endeavor with any hope of survival? It is a true testament to our endurance and willingness to take on any challenge.
What a disappointment.
After truly enjoying the mysterious, enthralling tale provided by Drood, I thought that Simmons' prior work of historical fiction would be just as alluring. Unfortunately, The Terror suffers from the same main problem that plagued Drood: the story's buildup and the shroud of mystery surrounding the main antagonist lead to extreme letdown. However, whereas the entirety of Drood's story somewhat made up for its anticlimactic ending, The Terror's story - while chilling in many ways - just isn't good enough to survive its "ending-letdown."
Simmons does a great job weaving 700+ pages worth of the horrific nature of Arctic sailing, where incessant cold, poisoned food, scurvy, and the unknown create a constant state of unease; however, this tale never seems to go anywhere. Whereas Drood made me insanely curious to find out what would happen next, The Terror left me in a constant state of "Can we …
What a disappointment.
After truly enjoying the mysterious, enthralling tale provided by Drood, I thought that Simmons' prior work of historical fiction would be just as alluring. Unfortunately, The Terror suffers from the same main problem that plagued Drood: the story's buildup and the shroud of mystery surrounding the main antagonist lead to extreme letdown. However, whereas the entirety of Drood's story somewhat made up for its anticlimactic ending, The Terror's story - while chilling in many ways - just isn't good enough to survive its "ending-letdown."
Simmons does a great job weaving 700+ pages worth of the horrific nature of Arctic sailing, where incessant cold, poisoned food, scurvy, and the unknown create a constant state of unease; however, this tale never seems to go anywhere. Whereas Drood made me insanely curious to find out what would happen next, The Terror left me in a constant state of "Can we move on, please?" There are only so many times one can endure a repetitive chapter cycle - recount who is dead and how they died, wander down a long flashback that doesn't endear me to its character, etc. - before boredom begins to set in.
I give this book 3 stars because at its core, The Terror is a fantastic set piece that manages to sustain a constant state of unease and weave in fantastic scenes (such as the carnivale, the failed bear-blind, etc.). However, at its weakest points (including the final 100 pages, which, of all possible ending scenarios, sufficiently destroyed any suspense/intrigue/excitement that had been building up), The Terror drifts along, never truly sure of where it wants to go.
omg - at first I was thinking that this book was going to be boring - english expeditions looking for the north west passage. But it sucked me in and I couldn't put it down. All 784 pages of it kept me engaged. I kept peeking ahead but ended up staying up late two nights in a row to finish. Simmons spends a lot of time crafting the characters and you feel like you know them well as the book progresses. This is a very sad book yet has a sort of happy ending, at least for one character.
Voilà du lourd, du très très lourd. Et je ne parle pas de la taille, de l’épaisseur et du poids du livre, fort imposant cela dit. Dan Simmons, que je découvre ici, nous entraîne dans une aventure des plus oppressantes, inspirée d’un fait réel, et habilement teintée de fantastique histoire de combler les zones d’ombres qui entourent l’expédition. Je suis tombée sous le charme de Simmons et de son talent de conteur. Je reste sans voix devant un tel souci du détail, je n’ose imaginer la quantité de documentations consultées par l’auteur pour reconstituer si précisément une expédition dont on sait encore peu de chose sur le déroulement de sa fatale issue. Le mode de vie des marins de l’époque est d’une précision confondante, rien ne nous est épargné, pour mieux nous immerger dans l’histoire, le contexte, la mentalité d’alors. Il nous restitue tout dans les moindres détails, la gestion …
Voilà du lourd, du très très lourd. Et je ne parle pas de la taille, de l’épaisseur et du poids du livre, fort imposant cela dit. Dan Simmons, que je découvre ici, nous entraîne dans une aventure des plus oppressantes, inspirée d’un fait réel, et habilement teintée de fantastique histoire de combler les zones d’ombres qui entourent l’expédition. Je suis tombée sous le charme de Simmons et de son talent de conteur. Je reste sans voix devant un tel souci du détail, je n’ose imaginer la quantité de documentations consultées par l’auteur pour reconstituer si précisément une expédition dont on sait encore peu de chose sur le déroulement de sa fatale issue. Le mode de vie des marins de l’époque est d’une précision confondante, rien ne nous est épargné, pour mieux nous immerger dans l’histoire, le contexte, la mentalité d’alors. Il nous restitue tout dans les moindres détails, la gestion des vivres, les rôles des différents marins et officiers, la (sur)vie en milieu hostile.
Les personnages cités sont nombreux, les principaux protagonistes ont réellement existé et Simmons s’est appuyé notamment sur des archives et des documents officiels. Ils sont pour la plupart très attachants et malgré leur nombre, on ne s’y perd pas. Le récit est touffu, l’atmosphère glaciale et la menace qui pèse lourdement sur des équipages du Terror et de l’Érebus contribuent à happer efficacement le lecteur. On est en effet pris dans les glaces en même temps que les deux navires, l’histoire est tellement bien menée et son suspens distillé au compte-goutte, que l’on savoure chaque chapitre. L’aspect fantastique et surnaturel est formidablement bien dosé, et n’est réellement développé que sur la fin, de manière à ne pas noyer le récit dans un mélange historico-délirant, qui aurait à mon sens, gâché l’intérêt documentaire du livre. On en apprend d’ailleurs beaucoup sur les conditions de vie et de déroulement d’une telle expédition à cette époque. Le courage, voire l’inconscience de ces hommes mal équipés pour vivre dans de telles régions est ahurissant et force l’admiration. Le sens du devoir et l’obéissance du marin envers ses supérieurs, le respect des différences de classes malgré les circonstances peuvent par contre laisser perplexe.
Un excellentissime et haletant roman d’aventures, entre le documentaire et le roman historique, le récit fantastique et le voyage initiatique. Premier coup de cœur de l’année pour moi.
