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A review by amelia_horseman
The Terror by Dan Simmons
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-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? No
4.5
Omg I got through it. lol.
First off. As a historical fiction, this was pretty great. As a survival thriller? Absolutely excellent. A supernatural horror? Come on. Failed completely.
The actual terrors of knowing you’re dying in the frozen arctic and all the throws of attempting to subvert that fate are absolutely enough for tension, fear, body horror, and psychological thriller. And this book could have been pretty solid left just like that.
But then the author wants to add in native folklore and a “monster”. And that was so poorly done that I almost think it was so the author could write about boobies and have tits flying in a book that really makes no sense to have a naked woman floating around in the first place.
Flashing tits aside, the whole preternatural monster thing was barely a footnote for pretty much the entire book. So if you’re going into this book for the horror / monster aspect, bail. It’s not there. If you like harrowing suspense and survival thrillers, this book has got it in spades.
There’s some flashbacks for character building in the early chapters, and honestly most of that could be cut out bc it didn’t really add anything useful.
Overall tho, this book was well written and fully engaging. Goes a bit off the rails at the end to close the circle on the “monster” and all that bs, but whatever.
First off. As a historical fiction, this was pretty great. As a survival thriller? Absolutely excellent. A supernatural horror? Come on. Failed completely.
The actual terrors of knowing you’re dying in the frozen arctic and all the throws of attempting to subvert that fate are absolutely enough for tension, fear, body horror, and psychological thriller. And this book could have been pretty solid left just like that.
But then the author wants to add in native folklore and a “monster”. And that was so poorly done that I almost think it was so the author could write about boobies and have tits flying in a book that really makes no sense to have a naked woman floating around in the first place.
Flashing tits aside, the whole preternatural monster thing was barely a footnote for pretty much the entire book. So if you’re going into this book for the horror / monster aspect, bail. It’s not there. If you like harrowing suspense and survival thrillers, this book has got it in spades.
There’s some flashbacks for character building in the early chapters, and honestly most of that could be cut out bc it didn’t really add anything useful.
Overall tho, this book was well written and fully engaging. Goes a bit off the rails at the end to close the circle on the “monster” and all that bs, but whatever.