The Terror

A Novel

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: Tom Sellwood

Length: 28 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The men onboard HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. 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. 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 there is no escape. A haunting, gripping story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core.

©2007 Dan Simmons (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"The best and most unusual historical novel I have read in years." (Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe)

" The Terror is both dazzling history and a sparkling chiller." (Caroline Leavitt, People)

" The Terror is nothing less than a revelation. Dan Simmons is a giant among novelists, and I am in awe of his achievement." (Lincoln Child)

F**KING AWESOME!!!

Thank you Dan Simmons for writing such a fantastic epic horror, historical, supernatural, adventure novel that is “The Terror”.

For the days that I spent listening to this book, I ate more ravenously, I felt colder then normal and I thought a lot about “what would I do if placed in a similar situation”.

“The Terror” is the story of two English naval ships that set out on an exploration in 1845 and become trapped in solid ice... that’s the shortest synopsis. The real story is about the people’s lives on the ships. The people you get to know intimately and grow to love and hate or the other way around. There multiple villains to this story, from the unseen “Ursa Maritimas” (or is it) lurking around the ships, to the mutinous sailors, to the most important villain of all... the ice.

I highly recommend this emotional roller coaster dark, epic book.

The narration by Tom Sellwood was amazing and I loved listening to his ability to change his tones and accents ever so slightly to conjure the image of the new characters.

Mistargetted target audience

Let me start off that this book was recommended to me by a lot of people, who claimed it was rather scary and unsettling.

Given that I love scary books, I dived in right away into this almost 30 hour long adventure, and even though, the most popular criticism author Dan Simmons gets - that his books could be 1/3 of the size - this book was written and read beautifully. The characterization, the descriptions, and overall writing skill was amazing, sentences flew one into another and it was a rather smooth experience.
I think the books feels even colder than the TV show. When listening to it, I constantly felt wet from my own sweat under multiple layers of wool, and my feet and hands lost the sense of feeling from time to time.

The performance of the narrator was out of this world - I always knew which character talked, and with his amazing voice acting, a fully fledged image of the person talking was instantly formed in my head.

With all that said - this story felt flat in my mind as a horror. I didn't feel that much suspense against the unknown, the mystery wasn't ever explored to a satisfying degree and the ending was "meh" at best.

I think the target audience is either other writers, who can deeply appreciate the writings skill of mr. Dan Simmons, or people who look for a survival story in the far north.
If you are looking for a horror, or "the Terror" , I don't think you will find it here. Unless of course we are talking about the boat.

In conclusion: mediocre horror story, amazing piece of writing art in a survival setting far north on a stranded ship.
If you are looking for exploration of a human psyche at its limits: get it.
If you are looking for a scary story: I don't recommend it.

Tom Sellwood knocks this reading out of the park!

What did you love best about The Terror?

The blending of mystery and thrills kept me longing to continue listening. The wreckage of the two ships have since been found, but the journey of the men and their struggle remains somewhat a mystery. Mr. Simmons fills in the blanks based on Inuit mythology's Tuunbaq. Once encountered, there is no way to stop listening, the crew, the austere environment and the demon will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Wow!

Tom Sellwood destroys. The performance he gives is out of this world. He brings every character to life and I mean every. listening to this book is oddly like watching a really awesome film.

Tom Sellwood is the man

Story was excellent and narrator is the best I have ever heard. two thumbs up

Fabulous narrator!

Tom Sellwood brought this story to life... what a wonderful narrator! I would recognize Captain Crozier’s voice immediately from the others, as each voice was unique. The story adds speculation as to what may have happened to the two ships seeking passage, and frozen in the ice. Real life history mixed with fictional twists and turns!

Excellent Book

Excellent Book. Ending is a little weird. Narrator is fantastic. His voices are varied and evoke the characters well.

It's Good! Performance and Story a cold surprise!

I loved Dan Simmons Hyperion, but not as much Drood. I was skeptical for a while about this book but from the first few chapters in I thought I was actually there, on board the cold and dark HMS Terror. I shivered as a read, wishing it was warmer. Dan Simmons really knows how to transport the reader. Helped further was the excellent narration of this book. Great voices, and timing keeps you in suspense.

Great historical fiction

Because it is historical fiction based on the real Franklin Arctic Expedition, it begs to be researched to compare reality and fiction. Since no one survived, the story is rich fodder for speculation. The story progresses and becomes so horrifying that Stephen King could not make it more scary. If you are prone to depression, be careful as this story could take you to a dark place. Near the end of the tale there is understanding by a misguided and changed Englishman......Light at the end of the tunnel, as it was. Well worth the investment of time and maybe some insight into the past misplaced knowledge of past explorers and the past, present and future clear insight of indigenous peoples.

A true thriller!

I didn't think I would like this book, but it kept me going until the end!