A review by simplyabird
The Terror by Dan Simmons

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 of
how 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.
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