The Terror

A Novel

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: Tom Sellwood

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)

Very good then, NOT

I love a good historical fiction, and three quarters of this book was fantastic.

A tale of hardship followed up by bad luck and tragedy. Not to give anything away, but they find themselves stuck fast in the ice while trying to find a passage to sail north of Canada. they begin to be hunted by what appears to be an extremely large Polar Bear.
The crews of the 2 ships struggle to survive and many parish. The story is told in, through the eyes experiences from many different crew members .
BUT THEN at about chapter 62 the story tales a bad left turn and never recovers.
This is my first Dan Simmons book and I was impressed in his many detailed characters,and the telling of the story through their experiences.
I will definitely try another Dan Simmons novel soon

Can't Get Enough

This is my second time through listening to this book and I am still in love. Wonderfully written. And the performance is the best I've heard. Thank you for the added joy to this novel, Tom Sellwood

usually love this author. I just didn't get it.

the story was pretty much never ending tales of how much it sucks to be cold.

Best book I've read this year.

Well written, good story, and insanely good voice actor performance. Story gets a smidge slow at parts.

Historical fiction at it’s best.

Very enjoyable fleshing out of the doomed 1845 expedition of Sir John Franklin- lost in time until 2016 when shipwrecks were discovered. The narrator was stellar. In the beginning, there was a bit of jumping around I had to get used to.

This is what you’re looking for

Epic and awesome. Rich historical fiction. This is the work of a dedicated and gifted storyteller. I wish there were more books this great out there. Also, terrific (haha) narration.

Not Dan Simmon's best, but not bad

The book felt like life in the real Navy: long periods of boredom with brief periods of excitement. Overall well done, though I don't feel I got into it until about 7-8 hours in. The reader is good at creating dread and tension, but sometimes spoke so silently I could barely hear.

Great book, ok narrator

I really enjoyed this book, both on the page and as an audiobook. My main gripe was the narrator's penchant for melodramatic tones at times of suspense. Then there's the inexplicable use of what sounded more like a Jamaican accent than any British accent I've heard for a few of the crew members. So a couple moments deserving of eye rolls in my part but beyond that a solid listen

not a happy story, but a good one

the narrator was quite good. it is not a feel good story, neither did I find it particularly scary, but it was absorbing, well written and fascinating. even though it is fictional, real people did explore like this. it's a very good thing it wasn't up to me to find the north west passage.

Steady incline, surprised by the ending.

this book was slow to start, and then I realized I wasn't giving this book a chance. let the characters grow on you, and every one of them will surprise you.