The Terror
by Dan Simmons
Published by Hachette Audio
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Reviewed by Mark M. Owen, Ph.D.
Dan Simmon's The Terror is one of the greatest horror stories of all time. It is extremely well crafted with elegance and flair not often found in today's literature. The compelling story even has its basis in historical fact: Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin left England with the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror in May of 1845 searching for the elusive Northwest Passage through the Arctic and never returned home. What could be a more perfect setting for a creepy epic than a failed polar expedition mired in ice and endless darkness, stalked by an unseen bloodthirsty monster?
The eerie tale is about what might have happened to the ill-fated captain and crew of the HMS Terror, a revolutionary steam-powered ship technologically ahead of its time. The ship gets stuck in the ice and the crew has to haul smaller boats across the frozen windswept landscape in search of an open tributary leading to safety. A large group of men begin the journey, but many are picked off by a shadowy creature of legends untold. A mute Inuit woman holds the only clue as to nature of the monster. And during the trek, an even more frightening parallel plot develops because food is scarce on the ice, and some of the strained crew develop...alternative tastes.
The Terror audio book is a real gem. It is more than read aloud by the narrator; it is acted superbly by Simon Vance, an award-winning voice. He gives Simmon's characters fresh accents and attitudes that fit perfectly with the nationality of the captain and crewmembers, not to mention the time period. It is truly a timeless story.
Armchair Interviews says: Great story read with distinction!
Author's Web site: http://www.DanSimmons.com