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deebaxreads's review against another edition
Too much unclear skipping around in time, plus waaaaaaaay too much info about every character's past romantical exploits. Only reason I knew what was going on at all was from watching the show first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Sexual content
vikhasread's review against another edition
Not for me, even in audiobook format. I must admit I am biased as I prefer non-fiction, but the portrayal of the characters is rather one dimensional overall, and the book lingers on graphic details about women's bodies more than I would like (no problem with this type of content per se, just not what I am looking for in this type of book). The audiobook version has a lot of artistic choices (such as the many accents by the same narrator) that may be beloved by many, but didn't work for me. Worth checking out overall, just not my thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
msiebz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
What a weird book… and not because of the horror parts. The horror parts were expected.
I understand it’s set in the Victorian era and there’s rampant racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. but this is like mark twain levels of racial expletives. Also you’re telling me that on these two ships stranded with hundreds of men, the author still manages to put in some very explicit straight sex scenes and not a single explicit gay sex scene. There are some gay moments but they’re are all implied and left to the imagination… and of course he made the main antagonist a gay person. It feels homophobic in a way that isn’t because of the Victorian setting but because the author is lazy and a coward.
I appreciate that the novel has more information about the characters’ backgrounds and motivations -as that’s usually the case with a novel vs a tv series- but I also appreciate the changes the showrunners made to make this story less… clunky? awkward? I don’t know. Some parts are enjoyable and some very much are not.
I understand it’s set in the Victorian era and there’s rampant racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. but this is like mark twain levels of racial expletives. Also you’re telling me that on these two ships stranded with hundreds of men, the author still manages to put in some very explicit straight sex scenes and not a single explicit gay sex scene. There are some gay moments but they’re are all implied and left to the imagination… and of course he made the main antagonist a gay person. It feels homophobic in a way that isn’t because of the Victorian setting but because the author is lazy and a coward.
I appreciate that the novel has more information about the characters’ backgrounds and motivations -as that’s usually the case with a novel vs a tv series- but I also appreciate the changes the showrunners made to make this story less… clunky? awkward? I don’t know. Some parts are enjoyable and some very much are not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
spinebreakr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Terror was a beautiful and Grim book.
The writing is elegant and evocative, but somehow brutish and unflinching.
I felt completely immersed in the tortured minds of the crew. If it wasn't the beast on the ice, danger lurked in the land itself, in the Food, in the wind, in the fog, even in the breast of their fellow mates. Where one obstacle was overcome, another rose in it's place.
The pure unrelenting desolation feels like it will never end. Simmons had me feeling like I was a member of the crew, which is the highest compliment. But it is not easy to be a sailor aboard HMS Terror or Erebus.
I highly reccommend this book to horror lovers. Read at your own risk 😁
The writing is elegant and evocative, but somehow brutish and unflinching.
I felt completely immersed in the tortured minds of the crew. If it wasn't the beast on the ice, danger lurked in the land itself, in the Food, in the wind, in the fog, even in the breast of their fellow mates. Where one obstacle was overcome, another rose in it's place.
The pure unrelenting desolation feels like it will never end. Simmons had me feeling like I was a member of the crew, which is the highest compliment. But it is not easy to be a sailor aboard HMS Terror or Erebus.
I highly reccommend this book to horror lovers. Read at your own risk 😁
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
nyxlikesbook's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Fire/Fire injury
anjalirenee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
slow paced is an understatement please heed my warning. the pace picks up mmmmm around page 350 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). pretty good although TONS of unnecessary detail about the minutae of ice formations, ship layouts, and wayfinding.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy
simplyabird's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The beginning was much better than the end. I liked the vibes throughout; the visceral descriptions of the horror of the artic, of freezing limbs, the constant cold, the threat and consequences of scurvy and frostbite, and the general description of the cold and landscape itself. I loved the creature and the horror elements it added in the beginning before we learned what it was, and I loved how it was the just as much if not less dangerous to the crew as the cold and other crewmates were. There were definitely some characters that I liked and was rooting for more than others, but there were constant actions from all the characters that made me content with their ending, as there were multiple times, like when Hodgeson killed a group of Inuit for "killing" John Irving, were I felt that their fate was completely the fault of their own actions.
There was consistent racism towards the Inuit as well as homophobia, though it was mostly due to it being a period piece that was very straightforward with the gruesome aspects of the time. The racism was never treated as correct by the narrative, though I still don't think the Inuit were handled very well overall, especially Lady Silence. However, it was very hard to tell what the point of the homophobia was. Yes, it was time accurate, but having the two human antagonists be gay and specifically described as insane, foul, or stupid, sat very wrong, considering the only other gay man were mentioned only briefly, though they were treated well. If this book wasn't so long and slow-paced, I probably would go back and read it to see if I could figure out what the author's point was. Either way, on initial read, it didn't seem outright derogatory, but it wasn't good either. I will admit that some of the research done seemed very thorough though, such as the descriptions ofhow Lady Silence set up her tents and sleds. So I can't speak to the accuracy.
Also what was the issue with the random sex scenes????? There were only 2, but it was still 2 too many, and were both oddly graphic when they did not need to be. They added nothing and just made me cringe in disgust at a scene that could've been left as a an offhand or not added at all.
It was a very slow read, and I'll admit my experience was ruined by having to return, wait for the person who had it on hold it finish it, and then start again multiple times before I could finish it because it took so long, but I still really enjoyed it up until the last 20%, which came out of no where, did not align at all with the characters, and was overall just terrible enough to make me go down from like a 4 to a 2.5. Crozier ending up with Silence felt incredibly random, and yes, his entire thing was that he was going to survive no matter what, but he didnt do anything to earn that ending? He had zero relationship with Lady Silence outside of not letting people kill her and a few very short moments, like being startled by her in the beginning of the book, but especially compared to John Irving, he had 0 connection with her. Also, Lady Silence was already mostly a plot device with zero character, but her saving him and choosing to stay and have a family with him made 0 sense. Why did she care about him? There was a throwaway line when they went back to the Terror that "she was always waiting for him" but why????? It managed to make her even more of a plot device than she already was. Also, both of them lost all of their character at this point. Crozier lost all the gruffness and personality that made him Crozier, even calling Silence "beloved", which I guess was to show that he cared about her but I had zero reason to believe that he had softened that much. Also, even the narrative started treating Silence as a side piece, making her an admittedly capable and brave but still just a devoted wife. The narration also would refer to their children as "his children" which I felt was very indicative of what Silence and the children were valued as. I already didn't appreciate how Silence was handled throughout the book, but that was the nail in the coffin. The ending soured the entire book and honestly felt like an entirely different book. Crozier should've died at the end and all of the crew should've died and been lost to history as a monument to all of their arrogance and greed, as even with their good qualities and their attempts to do good things like save their crew, it was never enough to outdo what they'd done.
There was consistent racism towards the Inuit as well as homophobia, though it was mostly due to it being a period piece that was very straightforward with the gruesome aspects of the time. The racism was never treated as correct by the narrative, though I still don't think the Inuit were handled very well overall, especially Lady Silence. However, it was very hard to tell what the point of the homophobia was. Yes, it was time accurate, but having the two human antagonists be gay and specifically described as insane, foul, or stupid, sat very wrong, considering the only other gay man were mentioned only briefly, though they were treated well. If this book wasn't so long and slow-paced, I probably would go back and read it to see if I could figure out what the author's point was. Either way, on initial read, it didn't seem outright derogatory, but it wasn't good either. I will admit that some of the research done seemed very thorough though, such as the descriptions of
Also what was the issue with the random sex scenes????? There were only 2, but it was still 2 too many, and were both oddly graphic when they did not need to be. They added nothing and just made me cringe in disgust at a scene that could've been left as a an offhand or not added at all.
It was a very slow read, and I'll admit my experience was ruined by having to return, wait for the person who had it on hold it finish it, and then start again multiple times before I could finish it because it took so long, but I still really enjoyed it up until the last 20%, which came out of no where, did not align at all with the characters, and was overall just terrible enough to make me go down from like a 4 to a 2.5.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, and Violence
szu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
If it wasn't for Dan Simmons' compulsion to turn almost any appearance of a female character into something sexual, this could be a good book. As it stands, his clumsy, hamfisted attempts at bad pulp erotica crop up precisely at moments where they manage to ruin the story and cheapen any great writing that may have preceded them.
The idea of an ancient beast prowling after wasteful colonists on their fools' errand of an expedition, leading them to their desperate deaths in the barren polar wilderness they stupidly thought they could conquer is delightful, and to pose this on the mysterious Franklin expedition we still know so little of was a good idea, but undeniably would've been better left in the hands of a more capable writer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Sexual content, and Xenophobia
meminger's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
is the ending bullshit? yes. am i compelled by these scurvy-ridden bastards and their doomed arctic voyage? unfortunately also yes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
steven_lamb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was a 5 star read for me. It is a bleak and harrowing slow grind of a horror book and it does pay off in the end. Most of the horror elements for me, came from the sheer abhorrent conditions that the characters had to endure and try to overcome, rather than some scary entity(s) coming after the characters, though those elements are certainly present as well.
Overall, I don't think this book is for everyone but if you're in the mood for a slow paced, grinding sort of gnawing adventure to be read over a couple of weeks (I would recommend taking your time with this one) then give Dan Simmons' The Terror a try!
Overall, I don't think this book is for everyone but if you're in the mood for a slow paced, grinding sort of gnawing adventure to be read over a couple of weeks (I would recommend taking your time with this one) then give Dan Simmons' The Terror a try!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content