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4.0 

The Terror

By Dan Simmons
The Terror by Dan Simmons digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

The "masterfully chilling" novel that inspired the hit AMC series (Entertainment Weekly). 

The men on board the HMS Terror — part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage — are entering a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, they struggle to survive with poisonous rations, a dwindling coal supply, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is even more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror clawing to get in.

“The best and most unusual historical novel I have read in years.” —Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe

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1593 Reviews

4.0
“V good until the noble savage shit started”
Anxious Face with sweat“The Terror drops you headfirst into the cold, dread, and slow psychological unraveling of the Franklin Expedition. The writing is sharp, the characters are compelling, and the tension builds with a kind of quiet, creeping force. Dan Simmons creates the atmosphere here, being both immersive and haunting, but I did feel the book to be quite long and repetitive, especially with certain details being hammered a few too many times. Like, I get it… people are dying, cold, and eating each other. The supernatural elements didn’t fully land for me—maybe because I experienced the book in a weird way: falling in and out of sleep on a flight from Doha to Chicago, reading along with the audiobook. In a strange, dark twist, a passenger on that flight passed away midair. As unsettling as that was, it strangely mirrored the novel’s themes of isolation, mortality, and the unknown.”
“The Terror is a fantastic blend of meticulously researched historical fiction and horror. This is a story rich in atmosphere and populated with unique characters who demonstrate the full spectrum of humanity when faced with the certainty of their mortality - from brotherly and romantic love and all the self sacrifice that comes with it to the extremes of our selfish, hateful, evil nature resulting in brutal murder and even cannibalism. The Terror is a slow and satisfying burn.”

About Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons is the Hugo Award-winning author of several novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Olympos and The Terror. He lives in Colorado.

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