The Terror
It's Christmas night. The guests have merrily departed. The house is (mostly) clean. The wife and kids, drained by the day's festivities, are asleep. I don't feel like doing much so I'll catch up a little bit on my blogging.
European explorers spent centuries seeking an easier way to get to the Orient than the traditional rounding of Africa and journeying east. Columbus was the first to try sailing west but instead of finding China, "discovered" two new continents (other earlier claims notwithstanding). While the New World consumed much of Europe's interest for the next few centuries, the quest to find a route around the Americas did not die. Sailors continued to brave the fearsome conditions of the Arctic in order to find the fabled northwest passage: a route through the ice to Asia.
While global warming has made this task easier here in the early 21st century. As recent as the 1840's the Arctic was still unexplored territory for the White Man. If they'd had the humility to consult with the local Inuit "savages", they could've saved themselves some trouble. But in the 19th century, the British Navy ruled the seas; its captains and admirals full of hubris and still a half century away from being seriously challenged.
The Terror is a fictional account of the ill fated John Franklin expedition. Franklin's two ships, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, were lost somewhere in the Arctic and their crews never seen again. Genre spanning and award winning author, Dan Simmons, extensively researched the subject (Three pages worth of sources listed) and it shows. All the elements of mid 19th century naval life are present. The reader will also get an education of the various types of ice that constitute the Arctic landscape. Of course, the reader wants to know what happened to the crew. Simmons mixes speculation in with archeological evidence to showcase the crew's misery: insufficient coal stores, spoiled food (canned food was in its infancy back then), pneumonia and frostbite.
But if these things weren't bad enough already, Simmons throws in a bit of the supernatural. The crew of the two ships is stalked by a creature out of Inuit legend. Just when it seems like the crew's luck has changed for the better, the beast returns to wreak havoc. It's quite at home in the endless night of Arctic winters and gales and picks off any hapless crewman to catch its eye.
The story is told from the perspective of several officers and crewmen. Simmons brings each of them to life with as much intricate detail as he provides to the frigid landscape. However, Francis Crozier, the captain of the Terror, is the main character. Without spoiling anything, it's evident from the first chapter that there will be a showdown between Crozier and the creature, but the ending isn't what you'll expect.
The Terror is an excellent story of misery, betrayal and redemption. If you decide to read it, do so in the winter. The cold and the wind howling outside your window will help you empathize with the plight of the characters and you'll gain a greater appreciation for the comforts of hearth and home.
\_/
DED
European explorers spent centuries seeking an easier way to get to the Orient than the traditional rounding of Africa and journeying east. Columbus was the first to try sailing west but instead of finding China, "discovered" two new continents (other earlier claims notwithstanding). While the New World consumed much of Europe's interest for the next few centuries, the quest to find a route around the Americas did not die. Sailors continued to brave the fearsome conditions of the Arctic in order to find the fabled northwest passage: a route through the ice to Asia.While global warming has made this task easier here in the early 21st century. As recent as the 1840's the Arctic was still unexplored territory for the White Man. If they'd had the humility to consult with the local Inuit "savages", they could've saved themselves some trouble. But in the 19th century, the British Navy ruled the seas; its captains and admirals full of hubris and still a half century away from being seriously challenged.
The Terror is a fictional account of the ill fated John Franklin expedition. Franklin's two ships, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, were lost somewhere in the Arctic and their crews never seen again. Genre spanning and award winning author, Dan Simmons, extensively researched the subject (Three pages worth of sources listed) and it shows. All the elements of mid 19th century naval life are present. The reader will also get an education of the various types of ice that constitute the Arctic landscape. Of course, the reader wants to know what happened to the crew. Simmons mixes speculation in with archeological evidence to showcase the crew's misery: insufficient coal stores, spoiled food (canned food was in its infancy back then), pneumonia and frostbite.
But if these things weren't bad enough already, Simmons throws in a bit of the supernatural. The crew of the two ships is stalked by a creature out of Inuit legend. Just when it seems like the crew's luck has changed for the better, the beast returns to wreak havoc. It's quite at home in the endless night of Arctic winters and gales and picks off any hapless crewman to catch its eye.
The story is told from the perspective of several officers and crewmen. Simmons brings each of them to life with as much intricate detail as he provides to the frigid landscape. However, Francis Crozier, the captain of the Terror, is the main character. Without spoiling anything, it's evident from the first chapter that there will be a showdown between Crozier and the creature, but the ending isn't what you'll expect.
The Terror is an excellent story of misery, betrayal and redemption. If you decide to read it, do so in the winter. The cold and the wind howling outside your window will help you empathize with the plight of the characters and you'll gain a greater appreciation for the comforts of hearth and home.
\_/
DED
posted by DED at 10:29 PM
4 Comments:
Sounds pretty lively, pretty dramatic.
Amazingly so for a 700 page book. I admit that there were a few points where it dragged. I felt like saying, "Yeah, I get it. They're miserable AND they're screwed." But each time, I would come to realize that Simmons was trying to either set up the next round of action or reinforce the historical aspect of the tale.
Hi DED,
Long time no see.
I can't believe how much you read. Everyone always asks me to recommend a good book or two but I'm ashamed to tell them that everything I know I learned off the internetz tubez(tm). LOL
Have a great new year DED.
Hi Edgar,
Yeah, it's been a while. Hope you've been doing well. :)
I can't believe how much you read.
I love to read and don't read as much as I'd like to. Not enough time to do it and I have even less time to review every book I read. I read Truman by David McCullough last year and that was a thousand pages but didn't bother with a review. It won a Pulitzer so there really wasn't a need. :) And I've been reading the collected short stories of Ray Bradbury, another massive tome, on and off, but I'm not sure if I'll review it either.
Have a Prosperous New Year, Edgar.
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