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    El Terror
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    El Terror
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    El Terror
    Ebook1,118 pages20 hours

    El Terror

    By Dan Simmons

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    La verdadera historia de una legendaria expedición al Ártico, transformada en una excitante y extraordinaria novela en la línea del mejor Stephen King o Patrick O'Brien y llevada a la TV en una extraordinaria serie de 10 episodios.

    En 1847, dos barcos de la Armada británica, el HMS Erebus y el HMS Terror, que navegaban bajo el mando de sir John Franklin, están atrapados en el hielo del Ártico. En su anhelada busca del paso del Noroeste, parecen haber fracasado. Sin poder hacer nada por continuar su marcha y completar su expedición, rodeados del frío polar y de inminentes peligros, sólo pueden esperar a que llegue el deshielo que les permita escapar.

    Poco a poco, los días van pasando y las condiciones de supervivencia se vuelven más extremas; temperaturas que superan los cincuenta grados bajo cero, provisiones de comida escasas, el deterioro de los barcos o la llegada de enfermedades van mellando la esperanza de la tripulación Por si fuera poco, la extraña presencia de una criatura bestial y misteriosa hace que los hombres crean que se enfrentan no sólo a las condiciones naturales más adversas, sino también a fuerzas sobrenaturales que superan, por momentos, sus creencias y su razón. Con el tiempo y la llegada de las primeras muertes, fantasmas como el de la rebelión, el motín o el canibalismo hacen su entrada en escena, en un panorama desolador.

    Basada en hechos reales, El Terror es una magnífica novela en la que Dan Simmons consigue que el lector se sienta, aterido, uno más de los tripulantes extraviados en el Polo.

    LanguageEspañol
    PublisherRoca editorial
    Release dateJul 14, 2010
    ISBN9788499180434
    Unavailable
    El Terror
    Author

    Dan Simmons

    Dan Simmons es uno de los referentes de la ciencia ficción, género en el que se enmarcan varias de sus novelas, entre las que cabe destacar Hyperion (galardonada con el Premio Hugo y La caída deHyperion, así como sus secuelas Endymion y El ascenso de Endymion. Sin embargo, Simmons ha sido muy prolífico en otros campos, abordando la novela de suspense con obras como El bisturí de Darwin o la novela de horror, con libros como Un verano tenebroso. El Terror, que ha recibido el apoyo entusiasta de una buena parte de la crítica internacional, supone un paso más en su ya afianzada trayectoria literaria.

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    Reviews for El Terror

    4/5

    1,240 ratings102 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Those of you who crave pages upon pages of
      realistic detail spiced up with a soupchon of "What
      the hell?", take a look at Dan Simmons' newest, The
      Terror      .

      It is the age of sail and two ships set out on
      an expedtion to find the Northwest Passage through the
      Arctic. Things go badly, and the two ships are iced in
      for more than a year with incompetant leaders, rotting
      food, the onset of scurvy, and the usual accidents. So
      far so good. Simmons makes these characters sing, and
      given my soft-spot for nautical fiction, well-nigh
      un-put-downable, despite its hefty size.

      But then...then there's this...thing. A beast or phantom
      of vague description capable of serious violence and
      more than animal cunning.

      And then there's the Eskimo mythology.

      This is one of the strangest stories I've seen, but I couldn't put that heavy sucker down.
    • 5/5
      Reading "The Terror" while fishing in the midst of Bering Sea ice pack and hearing it grind against the hull made an appropriate, eerie accompaniment. It definitely better set the stage for the historical basis of the men of Sir John Franklin's polar expedition stuck in the Arctic ice in the 1840's.That story is chilling enough, with evidence of lead poisoning, botulism, and the sufferings of desperate, starving, frostbitten men trying to escape the Arctic and possibly eventually resorting to cannibalism. Not one of the men survived to see England again. Simmons takes the drama--the terror, if you will--even one step further by introducing the "thing on the ice", a horror that may be an animal, a vindictive natural spirit, or maybe just a representation of an unforgiving, harsh Arctic chewing the hell out of some unthinkably arrogant Brits.Weaving together native Inuit tradition and lore with the British viewpoint of the men of the doomed expedition, Simmons makes a rich tale, featuring the reluctant hero, Captain Francis Crozier of HMS Terror: Irish and common, and thus perpetual second-in-command to frequently lesser men. Crozier is jaded and sarcastic and frequently drunk, yet as an old polar hand he has his wits far more about him than most. His viewpoint comes along with others from the expedition to give a great story of unrelenting tension. Obviously the full story of the expedition isn't known, and the supernatural elements of this story are unlikely, but the vivid depiction of the Arctic and the personalities of the men, and the sheer grueling psychological and physical human endurance of the situation, makes for a fascinating "what might have happened" scenario. And as conjecture for the shroud of mystery that still surrounds Franklin's disastrous expedition, it makes a great read.Impressive and memorable--keep the hot chocolate nearby and the lights on.
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed the first three-quarters of this historical-cum-supernatural thriller. Dan Simmons immerses the reader in a white waste of a world, i.e. the far reaches of the Canadian Arctic, as he traces out the doomed journey of Sir John Franklin and his two ships, Erebus and Terror, in their search for the Northwest Passage in the 1840s. As if the brutal setting -- with its relentless cold, barren islands and endless waves of sea ice -- weren't bad enough, Simmons conjures up a foul beastie to hunt the hapless sailors. It's a nice touch, actually -- it allows Simmons to punctuate the tedium of the sailors' day-to-day slog dealing with the elements with intense shots of concentrated horror; this makes for immersive and exciting reading.I have two gripes with this novel, however. On the petty side, I have some doubts about the meteorological accuracy of Simmons's descriptions of the climate the expedition must endure. Yes, it's no doubt very, very cold in the region they sailed, but he suggests they regularly encountered temperatures of -80 to even -100 F, which seems impossible, as do the blizzards in which snowfall is measured in feet. As Simmons himself notes toward the end of the book, the Arctic is essentially a desert. Simmons also makes a sloppy error when he's describing one character's recollections of the tortures prisoners in Tasmania suffered: they are described as having been forced to labor in the 'tropical' heat of Van Diemen's land; Tasmania is in fact cool and very temperate. 19th century prisoners may well have suffered greatly there, but it wasn't likely due to heat. These inaccuracies cast some nagging doubt on the veracity of Simmons's other historical detail, although I don't know enough about the real Franklin expedition to comment on that.More seriously, Simmons ends the book with an extended Rousseauvian fantasy that rankled me quite deeply. Instead of celebrating at least the intrepid curiosity and ambitious drive that sent this expedition to its doom, Simmons mocks their sacrifice with page after page of rather naive and politically-correct admiration of the 'Esquimaux' and their mythos -- and their obvious superiority to the blundering Englishmen. Nevertheless, I'd recommend reading Terror. It's (mostly) time well-spent in a strange but compelling world most of us will never otherwise see.
    • 3/5
      It is very long. And there were points where I thought if Simmons gave one more list of names (the men who had died, the men who were still alive, the name of every officer) or described the symptoms of scurvy one more time I was going to scream. But I think he did a good job of keeping the reader interested because you never really knew what was going to happen. The men fighting the cold, hunger, each other, personal demons and the ice was just as suspenseful as their fight against the unknown enemy that stalked them. I'm glad that he explained that enemy and how it all came about but I was a little disappointed that it didn't meld into the rest of the book better. It was more like the story you had been reading stopped and another, rather long, story was stuck in the middle to explain. I think it was a pretty good horror story, with death and mayhem, terror and suspense, but I would have enjoyed it more if certain pieces were left out and the size cut down a little bit.
    • 4/5
      This book was both very detailed and very slow. I enjoyed the high brow approach took to portraying the dangers of canned foods (lead poisoning, botulism) by not clubbing the reader over the head with what was happening - just reminding them that the sicknesses were linked with the food for a reason nobody knew.I thought the creature was an interesting addition. The book would not have suffered too much with it removed, just because the real horror wasn't the beast, but the environment they had to live in (and, of course, the weak and spiteful men that later turned to cannibalism). Having it and the (happy?) ending with the Captain made everything fit together, however, so I guess that I'm glad the thing was in it.
    • 5/5
      Outstanding book. The types of leadership styles reflected in the various characters were fascinating. The level of detail was amazing. Highly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      The Franklin expedition – one hundred and thirty men aboard the flagship Erebus and the Terror - become stuck in unrelenting arctic ice while questing for the North-West Passage; for two consecutive winters, they wait for a summer warm enough to thaw them an escape route south before their dwindling and badly degrading supplies fail them. History tells us that they did not make it, and no rescue launched was successful. From this initial premise, Dan Simmons plunges the reader into their tremendous struggle and applies pressure from yet another angle… something is watching and stalking the crew, taking members singly or in groups with brutal, deadly ease.I’ll state this up front: I felt uncomfortable, for some unnameable reason, about Simmons taking the doomed Franklin expedition, whose men doubtless experienced precisely the desperation he so vividly portrays, in the face of below-freezing conditions, starvation, disease, hopelessness (and its near-neighbour in despair, the hope that is repeatedly dashed) and adding a supernatural element. Those men, I felt, had been through enough in reality – were certainly going through enough in the book – that to add a gigantic terror in the form of a spirit-made-flesh bear seemed, well, an affront. But it’s not good horror unless it disturbs you. If you’re sitting in your chair saying ‘for god’s sake, let them be’, then the author is probably sitting in another chair, somewhere, chuckling. Perhaps evilly, but I won’t presume.The other somewhat jarring factor is that Simmons writes beautiful historical fiction; the research seamlessly becomes the story, into which he then injects the endless tension inherent in the plight of the officers and crew aboard the Erebus and Terror, keeping it sustained from the point of view of various characters; all this works so well together that it becomes more far more an intimate history than a fiction – and for a long while I’d settle into this, sharing Captain Francis Crozier’s immediate concerns for his men, forgetting the far stranger peril lurking underneath it all; and then there would be amongst them this rampaging bear-thing destroying whatever slim chance they’d managed to carve out of none at all. I think that’s one large element in the successful pairing of the two seemingly disparate sides of this novel – that the shock and disbelief of the men under siege from this thing is instilled in the reader.For me, though, the ultimate proof of this book’s excellence is that for 900+ pages, Dan Simmons made me care about characters who I knew were doomed on page one.[spoiler warning] I wasn’t altogether convinced with the about-turn in Crozier’s character towards the end; whatever second-sight he shared with Silence, whatever rebirth he had been though, I could not see him treating with the spirit-bear that killed his men. Simmons did too good a job of selling his character in the first place, for me to be quite sold on that. Otherwise I enjoyed the shift to the Esquimaux culture and finally learning more about Lady Silence, and since Crozier was my favourite character, I wasn’t sorry that Dan Simmons had given the reader a survivor after all.
    • 4/5
      I finished this book sometime while on vacation during the past week. This book surprised me. I enjoyed it much more than I originally anticipated. I am not one for nautical books and there were a few too many references to the business of sailing ships but I don't think my lack of understanding in that area lessened the impact of the story. I enjoyed the fresh take on this historical event that incorporated Inuit myths and legends. This book managed to keep me guessing until the very end in respect to the identify of the threatening force stalking the crews of the ships. I enjoyed the description of the Arctic presented and it naturally made me appreciate living in Florida. There was just enough gore to satisfy me without overdoing it. I will certainly pick up another novel my Dan Simmons based on my experience with The Terror.
    • 4/5
      Great historical horror!
    • 3/5
      Very long book - with way too much supernatural stuff. At some point I wanted all that junk to go away and just focus on the "real" story (as real as anyone can know). I just can't give it more than 3 stars based on the 100-200 pages that were completely unnecessary.
    • 4/5
      I read the first four hundred pages of The Terror while staying at a log cabin Bed and Breakfast in Black Forest, Colorado. Being surrounded by the wooden walls and canted ceiling of the cabin really made it feel as if I was deep in the bowels of a wooden sailing ship, and definitely increased my pleasure of this book! It's easily two or three hundred pages too long, but enjoyable nonetheless, and the last hundred pages of Inuit culture are definitely worthwhile.
    • 4/5
      In 1845, the HMS Terror and its sister ship, the Erebus, sailed off from England to explore the Arctic Ocean and never came back. The story, based on the few remaining bits of evidence of what happened to them, is pretty horrific, but still very interesting. The men have to battle for survival against subzero temperatures, crappy 1840s technology (especially the new and not-quite-perfected technology of canned food), starvation, and each other. Above all, there's the monster they refer to as "the thing on the ice", which may be a freakishly large polar bear, or something much, much worse. The book is very long (956 pages) but worth it. Reading it in the middle of January probably helped a lot. One warning/mini-spoiler - the book takes a very odd turn near the end, so much so that the last hundred pages or so feels like an entirely different book in some ways.
    • 5/5
      This book is amazing! I'm listening to the audiobook, read by a very talented reader, and it's one of the most absorbing audiobooks I've heard to date. Several times I've been tempted to switch to the hardback copy we have, but listening to The Terror is making my daily commutes so enjoyable that I don't want it to end. I'll be looking for more books by Simmons!
    • 5/5
      Enraptured by TerrorThis is my first read of a Dan Simmons work. And at first I was skeptical. In the beginning The Terror seemed ponderous—potentially another too-detailed account of historical tragedy. Even the prose seemed cumbersome. Oh, how wrong could I be! This is a truly masterful work—one most authors can only aspire to. It wasn't long before I realized that the prose's period style was an integral part of the story—a stroke of sheer genius. Simmons immersed me in an unimaginable hell with such dexterity that it became all too real. Talk about Hell freezing over . . . Add an elusive and monstrous beast that preys on the stranded sailors and you have intertwining metaphors of epic proportions. And in spite of all the misery, Simmons artfully manages to glorify the human spirit in the face of insurmountable odds. Then in a soaring redemption he snatches you from the jaws of hell in a mystical triumph. A truly magnificent accomplishment, not for the casual reader or faint of heart. I highly recommend it!
    • 4/5
      Loved it --- I was up until 2:00 am reading. I thought the characterizations were terrific. Considering the heft of the book (700 + pages) it is a page-turner. No one knows what happened to the Franklin Expedition, so Simmons' conclusion is as good as any.....I guess the mysticism got on a few readers' nerves but it was okay for me. Some of the best, thriller type writing I've enjoyed in years. Relax and enjoy, is all I can say. I'm not holding it out as great literature but a very well-written, compelling story. Just finished reading it in 100 degree F Washington DC August so I enjoyed the descriptions of the cold. Its true he could have used some editing -- I wish I had a dollar for every time he wrote, "It was morning, or what passed for morning," or what passed for afternoon, etc. etc. Okay, I get it, there isn't much light for most of the year up in the Artic. My only complaint.
    • 5/5
      Dan Simmons' monstrosity of a book took me months to read (granted, I don't have unlimited free time on my hands), but was well worth the time and effort. Simmons re-imagines the story of the Franklin expeditions to the arctic north, combining factual history (the ships Terror and Erebus did, in fact, get stuck in the ice and the men all slowly died of starvation and scurvy) and supernatural horror. In Simmons' telling, the men on the ships are stalked by a terrifying "Thing" on the ice--a monster similar to a polar bear, only twice as large and much more intelligent and deadly. This combination of real terror and supernatural terror make for a gripping story that both frightens and fascinates the reader.
    • 4/5
      Great read. It did get slow at times. And I do have a problem when a novel has very few supernatural elements and then the ending is almost completely supernatural.

      Dan Simmons is a master of scene, voice, and coloration. There is much to love here. My score is simply a score that belongs solely to great writers. There is a 1 to 5 score of the everyday writer: say Suzanne Collins at the 1-star end and maybe someone like Rowling or King who are capable of 5 stars.
      But Simmons belongs to higher rating system. I put him in the company of Stoker, Tolkien, Lovecraft, Ellison, et al, which means I expect much more from him, which is a good thing.

      Unfortunately, I read DROOD first and there lies the rub with my future ratings. I'm human and I can't help but hold him to the DROOD standard. It's unfair, but so-the-fuck-what? I'm not a professional reviewer. That's my rating and I'm sticking to it.

      Maybe 3.75 stars ...
    • 4/5
      I want to start by saying that this is a good book. It would have been a better book at (at least) 150 pages shorter. But it is still good. That being said, it is nothing more than a good book. I think I really have to start by saying that I have yet to be convinced that Dan Simmons is a fantastic author. It just isn’t working for me. I tried Song of Kali and I was unimpressed. A lot of this had to do with the fact that I did not warm to the subject matter. So, I went into The Terror with hopes of redemption. Ultimately, it is well-written, so I can’t complain on that count. But I spent a lot of the time wondering why the monster in the snow was even included. Instead, I was reading a very good story about a polar exploration’s survival through two winters. I realize the monster was metaphor, and there were additional things going on, but I would have been happy with the survival story. All that being said, the end is true to the overall story (including inclusion of the monster) and I have no overall complaints (other than the length.) So, yes a good story. No, not a great story. Yes, a good storyteller. But, nothing more than a nice read.
    • 3/5
      An okay story that really goes off the rails at the end when one of the main characters becomes an Eskimo shaman ... in a way that really didn't fit his character at all.
    • 2/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      This book has a charm of its own. The descriptions are very vivid and Dan Simmons does an excellent job of dragging you into his icy archipelago.
    • 3/5
      My God this book took me 12 days to read and to be honest i am very conflicted.
      Sometimes it was a struggle to read. Not because I do not like Dan Simmons writing but it was all so bleak and it took sooo long. Maybe I should have read my other non fiction book about this case first. Maybe it was hard to get into because I knew this was about an expedition that really happened I don't know.
      What I do know is that i discovered that I prefer to have some survivors. I've read The Endurance about Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition and I loved that book. Yes some died but a lot did survive. Because I knew that nobody had survived maybe that made it so hard for me to read. I think that is it. Too sad. You get to know the characters, like Captain Crozier whom i really liked and you can only think, He is going to die too.
    • 3/5
      The Pariah is a bit of a ghost story with some American folklore and mythology mixed into it. In the novel, John Trenton is living his life in a fog after his wife and unborn child die in a car accident. Still grieving, he begins to see the apparition of his wife. He finds that he is not alone. His Cape Cod town of Granitehead turns out to be a hub of supernatural activity where the dead come back to stalk the living for the past few centuries. The origin goes back to the Salem witch trials and the remains of a demon that were transported to the town. Now John must find a way to put the ghost of his wife and the rest of the dead to eternal rest as people in the town fall prey to these spirits.The writing is professional and well done, which I come to expect from a proficient writer like Graham Masterton. The plot is more interesting than I find with typical ghost stories, which tend to be similar to each other to the point where I can hardly remember any that stick out. That’s the result of the history and folklore injected into the story. There are strong horror elements in this novel and for the most part it was enjoyable. There were a few shortcomings. The novel could have been edited better, which isn’t a reflection on the author but on the publisher. Also, I thought the novel was overly long. It would have been more effective if about a quarter or a third of it were trimmed off. As it is, there are spots in the novel that drag. The other is that although John Trenton is a likeable character, he makes really dumb decisions that make it hard to root for him at times. Those are minor quibbles. Overall, this was a strong novel that readers of horror fiction will enjoy reading.Carl Alves - author of Conjesero
    • 4/5
      Most of us, I think, can't help but to be fascinated by historical mysteries. There's something about how the lack of fact and certainty opens up endless possibilities for "what ifs" and wild. The disappearance of the Franklin expedition, where so little is known at all, is therefore fertile ground for speculative storytelling.Form first: The prose is clear and efficient, with few frills. Nothing spectacular, but it works and conveys the story without much trouble - nothing fancy or particularly memorable, but decent enough. The same goes for characterization: not exactly deep or complex, but not wholly one-dimensional either. The switching between different characters and different modes of narration works, and keeps the story from becoming to plodding or stale. The novel is a bit too long, of course, with a fair amount of repetition and rambling, but this is true for almost all fiction - and certainly genre fiction - nowadays, so I won't expand any more on it as it is a problem with publishing in general rather than with this particular book.As for the story: Simmons certainly seems to have done his research: life on board the ships and the particulars of arctic survival are minutely described and brought to life. This helps a great deal when it comes to rooting the story in its fictional background, but sometimes the onslaught of information becomes a bit too much, a few times almost parodically so, as characters delivers infodumps of statistics and trivia everyone already ought to be aware of to each other.While I must confess that I know very little about the actual expedition or the historical persons involved in it I nevertheless felt that the actions and motives of most of the crew felt realistic and believable. Unfortunately the few things that actually are known about the fate of the expedition feels somewhat shoehorned in, and even if you know next to nothing about the historical facts it's fairly obvious when the circumstances relating to a "true" fact are presented.The connection between the historical and the fantastical, however, sadly feels somewhat disjointed at times, almost as if you're switching back and forth between two different books. This feeling is enforced by the nagging impression that the psychological implications of the supernatural antagonist for the crew are never really fully explored, except for a few passing mentions of superstition, the use of talismans, and expressions of a vaguely paganistic leaning. Not to say that the horror stuff isn't good: it's chilling, evocative, and at really succeeds in conveying a sense of dread and helplessness as the 'thing on the ice' picks of the crew one after the other. But then it's back to the officers discussions about scurvy and rum rations again, and while it is an admirable ambition by Simmons to keep the real and mundane horrors of the arctic in the story rather than focusing solely on the supernatural, he never quite succeeds in making these to work together.Lastly, I have one final gripe, even if it's a minor one: Why, oh why, is almost every female mentioned naked at some point, or, in the case of the sole major female character, almost always naked? You'd though that an Inuit stuck in the middle of the sea during the arctic winter would have the sense to keep her clothes on. When it comes to the other women I guess it makes sense in a way since they're presented through the memories of seamen that has been stuck on a boat for over two years, but it still feels rather adolescent. I know I tend to focus on bas stuff in my reviews - probably because complaining is so much easier than praising – but in all I must say that I enjoyed this. For all its awkward moments and bulkiness, it's at its heart a gripping, thrilling story and a real pageturner. Any fan of horror or supernatural fiction should at least give it a chance.
    • 4/5
      This is a review of the unabridged Audible audiobook version.For the most part, I thought this book was well worth the listen. It's fascinating enough as a look into the hardships endured by early British explorers as they sought a Northwest passage through the frigid, icy seas, but author Simmons kicks things up a notch by injecting a supernatural monster into the mix. I agree with other reviewers who say that the last portion of the book should've been left on the editor's desk, since it doesn't quite jibe with everything that came before and ends the book on a note of melodrama that's a bit hard to swallow. Still, worth the read or listen.
    • 5/5
      Dan Simmons' work builds a rich and diverse environment which our ill-fated characters are forced to suffer through over long years of ice, disease, and overall unpleasantness. Yes, The Terror is extremely long - yet I found this an appealing characteristic of a work of historical fiction that I didn't want to put down.

      Without offering spoilers, this book discusses the fate of Sir John Franklin's expedition to the Northwest Passage in 1845. Most of the characters were actually aboard either Erebus or Terror, the two ships under Sir John's command. I recommend that you brush up a bit on the history of this and other expeditions to the frigid north - it will only help you appreciate the hardship and extreme circumstances that these men faced.

      Overall a dense work with dozens of important characters and its own array of jargon, yet immensely entertaining. Above all else, don't ever, ever get scurvy.
    • 5/5
      Having spent many nights at sea, in the cold weather, the ice and dark; However in more modern times (Praise the creator) I can relate to some of the feelings and emotions of the crew in regards to the weather, isolation, but yet wonder of an unknown world around you. I spent many nights out on deck just watching and listening to the ocean, the ice and the world surrounding us. Having read this and understanding the isolation only added to the feeling of just how small we are in this world and how much we all take it for granted. I highly suggest reading this and reading "The Worst Journey in the world" The real account and notes from Scott's ill fated and tragic expedition to the South Pole. The suffering those men endured kind of adds a layer of salt on the wounds of what we think may have happened to Franklin's men up North. When you are done........you will never complain about the cold again. Yet it may cause you to slip out on the darkest, coldest night of the year and try to come to grips with the bravery of arctic explorers.
    • 5/5
      It's actually called "THE Terror" and it refers to one of the ships lost in the ill-fated Franklin expedition, a Victorian-age expedition to find the Northwest Passage. No one knows what actually happened to the men on both ships (the other was called The Erebus--moral of that story is get happier names for your ships if you want your expedition to go well)--there were no survivors in the year-and-a-half it took rescuers to get to them. Simmons has done his research well. This is one of my favourite books. Though Simmons is a perfectly competent horror writer in the manner of Stephen King and has a number of fantasy novels (which I haven't read) to his credit, his triumph is his versatility and the acute vividness of his descriptions of scene, no matter how fantastic. Since there is little evidence to go one, Simmons weaves a story of men, yes, lost in the Arctic ice, but threatened by a supernatural being who is in contact with the local Innuit, especially a young woman the expedition has made prisoner. Simmons captured me so completely in the very long book, I was afraid he'd let me down with a half-baked ending. But no. The ending too was perfect. There are echoes of all sorts of classic literature here, especially Poe and Conrad. I've given it to several senior students to read, seen them daunted by the length and then heard them gush over it after they got into it. Book clubs everywhere, take note!
    • 4/5
      The Terror is a mix of adventure, supernatural, horror and survival all mixed into an historical tale that is based on the Franklin expedition to find the much sought after northwest passage through the Canadian arctic. The British Navy sailors are attempting to pilot their two ships Erebus and Terror through treacherous conditions these ships were not designed for, despite modifications. They must slowly push their way to their ultimate goal. Standing in the way of their destination is extreme cold, ice that halts all progress, dwindling survival tools (food, heat, shelter...) and something terrifying that is stalking them every inch of their journey.As I read this book I started to question what the true terror is.... is it being stranded in the icy grip of the unforgiving arctic with a quickly depleting supply of food? Is it the beast hunting the men? Is it debilitating scurvy that is also stalking the men on this expedition?Dan Simmons did a wonderful job not only writing a fantastic novel of historical fiction, but also should be commended for obviously spending much time researching not only the Franklin expedition, but also what conditions are like in the extreme north, as well as including the mix of Inuit language and legends. He uses real science and real history and for me at least, this made this book that much more enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      Here's a great read for the dead of winter; and it's a well-known American author writing Canadian historical fiction. How often do you see that?Simmons did a solid job with researching arctic conditions, Inuit skills and culture, and British seamanship. He has also respected the known historical facts about Franklin's last expedition and worked them well into his story. The artificial ways in which he inserted mention of strategies they should have employed or facts the crew couldn't have known were very transparent, but it allowed for some fun references to other explorers like McClintock and to contemporaries like the Fox sisters. I liked many of his characterizations of the English crewmen, especially Crozier's, but I also found most of them too blasé about the "thing on the ice". It reminded me of teenagers in bad horror films who continue to place themselves in ridiculously dangerous situations, even knowing full well there's a killer on the loose.In the latter half, the story loses some of its pacing and takes on a sluggish dreariness as the characters trudge towards what must be their inevitable end - until the last 150 pages or so, when suddenly circumstances become strikingly different and it all becomes considerably less obvious. While I don't find his solution entirely satisfying (there's still too much mystery left for my liking), it does entirely satisfy the actual facts of the expedition while having maximized creative leeway that the gaps between those facts afford.This doesn't top 'Hyperion' as my favourite novel by this author, but it was a good ride and offered strong exploration of a subject that has interested me in non-fiction reading.