The Terror

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness.

Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Inuit woman who cannot speak and who may be the key to survival, or the harbinger of their deaths.

But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear that there is no escape. The Terror swells with the heart-stopping suspense and heroic adventure that have won Dan Simmons praise as "a writer who not only makes big promises but keeps them" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). With a haunting and constantly surprising story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core.

©2007 Dan Simmons (P)2007 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Outstanding." (Booklist)
"Beautifully written." (Publishers Weekly)

Awesome Book

Super creepy and intricate. Can be hard to follow at times with all the different characters and nautical terms. That said it was very well written and the plot is in my experience is wonderfully original. Absolutely loved it!

Great as always from Dan Simmons!

Easy to listen to the eloquent, yet terrifying, narrator. Visions of the ice all around made me shiver in 75degree weather! I still can't believe this one man narrated this entire classic book! All the characters voices were distinct and had their own voice..the narrator need not even indicate who was speaking! Great book bookended by fantastic narration!

Great Story - better if unabridged

I have read several books by Dan Simmons - all of them great. When I saw "The Terror" at the bookstore, I immediately checked to see if it was available on Audible. It was, but I was disappointed to see that it was abridged. Nevertheless, I purchased it and thoroughly enjoyed Simon Vances reading of this intriguing fictional account of what happened to "The Terror" and her sister ship the "The Erebus". I gave four stars instead of five, only because it was abridged. I hope Audible provides more titles by Dan Simmons.

A gripping story

An unusual audiobook, a well-spun suspense tale that "grows" on the listener, with the heightening despair provoked on a crew of a ship trapped by a frozen sea, mysterious murders, hints of supernatural phenomena, glimpses on eskimo culture and religious beliefs, dark settings, desolate surroundings, the fight for survival, violence, ethical choices, the discovery of soul-sharing love by a hardened seaman, unexpected ecological and spiritual insights, all in the 1800s...
Plus, a good reader to bring it to life...
What else can a listener wish for?

Incredible

Absolutely amazing. Loved this book. Simon Vance could make curious George sound like Shakespeare. This book could be read by a 7 year old and still be captivating. The ending suggests a possibility of hope for us all from the English curse.

Worth a credit to listen to...

This was a decent book. The narrator has talent and does a very good job. The story is well formed and the characters are interesting. It is definitely worth a credit. I didn't give it 5 stars because it is abridged. The process of abridgement serves one purpose, and that is to lessen the quality of the book.

Excellent story - unexpected pleasure

I was surprised. I really wish this was unabridged though. It seemed as if the story "skipped". Characters were interesting, a few unexpected and the ending was a nice summary/explanation of the "monster".

Group of explorers stuck in the Arctic, something is killing them one by one, not only the "monster" but the elements & nature itself were the bad guys. I found myself totally wrapped up in the story.

I don't like books that drag out the beginning or "reveal" of the bad guy but this one was completely opposite and I wish they would have had a little more of a build up to the chaos and mayhem.

narrator was very good.

The ending was a nice twist and it wrapped the story up brilliantly.

Overall well worth the credit - just wish is wasn't abridged!

No one narrates better than Simon Vance

Dan Simmons' writing is masterful--a modern Dickens. Simon Vance is, as always, flawless. A dynamite combination. Very enjoyable.

slithers fr/ historical accuracy to deep weirdness

I've read nearly all the books written about John Franklin's final, fatal (& idiotic) expedition, and so, clearly, has Simmons. The title of the book could be seen as merely derived from the name of one of Franklin's two ships; Erebus & Terror...but it gets to meaning a great deal more.

The beginning of "The Terror" segues from staying close to historical facts about the ludicrously overloaded, overpopulated expedition --with the addition of a fictional character, the Inuit woman "Lady Silence", who seems deeply mysterious at first...then gets more mysterious & a whoooole lot weirder. As does the plot. Simmons follows, as faithfully as can be known, the tragic trajectory of Franklin's doomed men. The farther he gets into historically unknown territory, the deeper he gets into just plain mystical/bizarre/darn near alien territory, as when (for instant) the reason for Lady Silence's silence is revealed. It's not just because she's shy & doesn't speak English.

There may be some who can't deal with a book which begins so grounded in fact about a true polar exploration and then veers so far into mystical territory. I really can't go into plot details partly because I don't want to do any spoiling, partly because it's darned near impossible to describe without just inserting great chunks of the book.

There is certainly terror ongoing throughout the factual and the imaginative parts, and by the end pretty much only the possibly other-worldly mind of Dan Simmons could've produced the deeply unsettling strangeness...but it's a seriously unique & creative strangeness. If you can let your mind wide open & let it wash over you, it's a heckuva ride.

Lost in an Icy Terror

This was an interesting but gruesome book of survival and self discovery. A group of men, who when brought to their knees by the elements, start to uncover the depths of each individuals basic moral compass. The vigilant and unwaveringly line of command helped to hold them together until many of the men lost hope and their group splintered. That was the beginning to the end. The end was a little disjointed from the main story, but fasinating, and had some really amazing facts about the Inuit tribes. A fictional history book based on, what they know of, The Franklin Expedition, though not many real known facts were confirmed until the 1980-90's.

I think maybe I missed something in the abridged addition, perhaps if I had more time to absorb and connect to the characters I would have enjoyed it more. Even though, it was still a well written story that was, all in all, entertaining, but I would definitely recommend the Unabridged version.