The Terror, by Dan Simmons

A novel given to me by my good friend Joe Walsh who just said it was a really good read. I learned later that Dan Simmons was a successful and award winning science fiction writer who has won some Hugo Awards. At the time I read this book I had no idea who he was. What a treat. 19^th century British Discovery expedition to find the northwest passage. The background of this novel is based on historic events and the author did his homework, down to the details of the food on board the two ships, the composition of the crew and the names of the men who actually served aboard the ships. The name of the lead ship of this expedition is “The Terror.” Remarkably, the two ships are frozen in the ice for over two years and the men survive, more or less, aboard the ships for much of this time. If you are thinking that this sounds like the Shackleton expedition, you are right. I thought the same thing. Much of the story details how the men survive. Out on the ice, moreover, something is hunting the men. One by one the men die either from the cold, starvation, scurvy, accident or at the hands of the monster on the ice. Like a long, slow tease we come to learn about the indigenous people of the lands above the arctic circle, their myths and their monsters. The power of the story, for me, is not so much the plot, but the narrative rhythm and language. Simmons can write and this was a joy to read.