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A review by billyjepma
The Terror by Dan Simmons
5.0
It took me almost exactly a month to finish this book, but it somehow feels like I've spent so much longer with it. In all of its nearly 800 pages of methodical, almost meandering pacing, there was never a moment when I didn't want to be reading it. Chapters upon chapters went by where nothing "exciting" happened, and yet the suspense Simmons wove into every line was so grotesquely tangible that even the most menial of scenarios had me unnerved.
Simmons prose here is masterful and brutal, and despite the aimlessness of his character's journeys, his storytelling never felt like it didn't know exactly what it was doing. He captured the unique voice of each of his many (many) characters, and somehow gave them a personality that, despite my best abilities, I couldn't help but grow attached to. Which is pretty heartless of Simmons, because if you know anything about the true story this novel is based on, things don't end well. For anybody.
And yet, even with the sense of the inevitable looming over every character, Simmons' sense of suspense never once dwindled. If anything, the looming horror in the background of every scene was magnified by this inevitability, as each situation had the potential to go horribly, horribly wrong. This made for an agonizing reading experience, as it was both impossible to relax - even when the plot tried its damndest to convince you to do so - or stop reading. No matter how frightening things were going to become, the fear of not-yet-knowing was where the true terror lied, and it was that terror that kept me up late on multiple occasions because I simply could not put the book down.
It's also a testament to Simmons' writing that even as he clearly established rules for his characters and the world of ice they were trapped in, he was never afraid to stretch or break those rules if the plot called for it. With so much unknown about what actually happened to the crew of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition, Simmons had complete freedom to explore their tragic fate however he felt fit, allowing him to stretch his often grounded realism into ambiguous and haunting surrealism. This is where the supernatural angle worked best, as it allowed Simmons to take an already terrifying situation and twist it into an otherworldly nightmare at a moment's notice
I know how cliche it sounds to say that a book has left me speechless (because it obviously hasn't), but the sentiment stands true all the same. "The Terror" is unlike anything I've ever read, and the way Simmons wielded tension, character, and fear created for one of the most intimate and affecting experiences I've had with a book in recent memory.
Simmons prose here is masterful and brutal, and despite the aimlessness of his character's journeys, his storytelling never felt like it didn't know exactly what it was doing. He captured the unique voice of each of his many (many) characters, and somehow gave them a personality that, despite my best abilities, I couldn't help but grow attached to. Which is pretty heartless of Simmons, because if you know anything about the true story this novel is based on, things don't end well. For anybody.
And yet, even with the sense of the inevitable looming over every character, Simmons' sense of suspense never once dwindled. If anything, the looming horror in the background of every scene was magnified by this inevitability, as each situation had the potential to go horribly, horribly wrong. This made for an agonizing reading experience, as it was both impossible to relax - even when the plot tried its damndest to convince you to do so - or stop reading. No matter how frightening things were going to become, the fear of not-yet-knowing was where the true terror lied, and it was that terror that kept me up late on multiple occasions because I simply could not put the book down.
It's also a testament to Simmons' writing that even as he clearly established rules for his characters and the world of ice they were trapped in, he was never afraid to stretch or break those rules if the plot called for it. With so much unknown about what actually happened to the crew of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition, Simmons had complete freedom to explore their tragic fate however he felt fit, allowing him to stretch his often grounded realism into ambiguous and haunting surrealism. This is where the supernatural angle worked best, as it allowed Simmons to take an already terrifying situation and twist it into an otherworldly nightmare at a moment's notice
I know how cliche it sounds to say that a book has left me speechless (because it obviously hasn't), but the sentiment stands true all the same. "The Terror" is unlike anything I've ever read, and the way Simmons wielded tension, character, and fear created for one of the most intimate and affecting experiences I've had with a book in recent memory.