The Terror

Dan Simmons, 2007, US, UK.

"The Terror" by Dan Simmons, tells the story of the Franklin expedition, an excursion of 136 men, made in 1845 to discover the fabled Northwest passage. This would take them right through the Canadian Arctic into the Pacific ocean. Based on the true story of their fate, the two ships; "HMS Erebus" and "HMS Terror" never made it to the Pacific. An intriguing subject and one which has been the subject of much speculation and documentation, evidence found to support tales of cannibalism and mutiny.

Dan Simmons' story takes a different approach from all the other material on this subject, in an alternate history meets the supernatural mold, proposing an unnaturally strong, fast and intelligent creature living on the ice, preying on the crew. Apart from this terror on the ice the tale is remarkably well researched and has such a deeply imbued feeling of authenticity that you can easily forgive the monster on the ice and mistake this for true historical fiction.

The greatest achievement of this book is the incredible atmosphere to be found throughout. The greatest asset in creating this atmosphere has to be the exceptional research put into the topic. Everything from the steam heaters and iron hull plating of the British navies latest efforts to conquer the Arctic, to the ways the Inuit use to survive the impossible conditions.

The fantastic atmosphere of isolation and desperation is served excellently by the plot. Indeed one of the few criticisms I've seen come up of the book is its weak ending and I can't say that the ending truly lived up to the rest of the story. That is by no means a damning condemnation though, the rest of the story is simply excellent and I actually think that the real problem is that with the rest of the story being so very believable and pulling you in so much, that the ending feels somewhat farcical in comparison, trying to explain the supernatural roots of the beast.

The plot is told through multiple perspectives in the first person, occasionally defying chronological order, showing some adventure though nothing groundbreaking in style. A particular highlight for me was the perspective of the ship's physician, Dr Goodsir. Dr Goodsir's perspective was shown through his diary entries and is an effective window into the character who experiences the most development. His character is the cliched geek who gets no respect but under extreme circumstances rises to the challenges around him. Maybe you've heard this tale before but the character fits into this plot like a Dickensian original, evolving into the staunch, moral bastion of the tale, enduring some horrific treatment along the way.

As you might expect the monster on the ice proves itself to be one of many problems the men face, the conditions, dwindling supplies and each other are just as big if not the greater threat. Hopefully my hints of cannibalism and mutiny wont have given too much away earlier and I shall reveal no more but suffice to say things do get sufficiently gruesome.

All in all, I must say "The Terror" was a fantastic read. A huge book, coming in at over 800 pages, everyone I know has devoured it at a frightening pace regardless. A true pageturner with all the suspense and action you could want combined with fantastic writing and intelligence, cannot recommend it highly enough, can't think of the type of person who wouldn't enjoy this book.

For my first review I had hoped not to waffle on so much but with so much and such terrific subject material I couldn't help myself and I feel I could wax on about this book all day. Just finishing up "Drood" by Dan Simmons, which to me, seems like an unofficial sequel to "The Terror", hopefully review that one soon.

Better than: being eaten alive by your first mate.