Enjoyed it thoroughly, he's one of the best authors out there. Try Hyperion.

There's a whole series in case you're not aware.

I've read it several times. I like to take it out in the winter when I'm already cold. The different tenses are because he was literally writing two parts of the story at one; past tense was the story of how they came to be stuck in the I've, and the present was "we are really really screwed". Goodsir's diary had random capital letters because that's how Victorians wrote. Authenticity. I agree with you about the legends near the end. I skimmed.

I enjoyed it but it certainly was a little too long. The fantastic parts were my least favourite. The cold, the hunger, the men... were scarier than the monster. Probably i would have liked it better as a purely historical book.

There is a really excellent TV series based on the book by the way.

The tv series was awesome too!

I really enjoyed it.

regarding the capitalization, historically capitalizing a word was to place emphasis on it. less messy than underlining with an inked nib, more distinctive than bolding or italicizing.

I assumed the present and past was because the book started in median res, then jumped around, but yeah, there were times when that didn't hold.

I was already quite the Franklin nerd before picking it up, and I was quite dubious about the whole supernatural element, but ended up really enjoying it because of slow burn build up.

Overall I loved it... except for the disturbing age gap between Crozier and You Know Who (actually, both of the love interests) and the general exoticism/fetishization of Indigenous women, which I gather is intended to be "historically accurate" attitude from British/Irish male POVs but still comes off damn tacky.

Barring the inaccurate Tuunbaq design, the AMC series improves on the book in every respect... and yet somehow manages to make the ending more depressing, which... damn, kudos for that. Most shows haven't the guts for that kind of bleakness. The show''s "sequel in name only" second season certainly didn't.

I loved it!!! Favorite thing I read in 2021. I've always been into long books and historical fiction, and the mood was so vivid and encompassing that I don't think I would have enjoyed reading it in winter because I would have been cold! It also made me really, really happy I have access to vitamin C. 🤣

Agree, the horror part could have been dropped entirely and it wouldn't have hurt it. I love the expedition gone wrong story the most. It actually started me reading a bunch of non fiction about early exploration and the absolute crazy conditions people dealt with as just normal.

Would you recommend Hyperion to a non sci fi fan?

I really enjoyed the book. I don't think it was too long. I particularly liked the writing about the surroundings, the ice, cold, the ship etc.

I went and got Hyperion (another book by the author), but am struggling to get into it (it's a sci fi).

Yes, the monster was the least scary part of the book to me. Murder and starvation was much scarier!

I enjoy Dan Simmons. The pacing of this took me a long time to acclimate to. I ended up setting it aside for a bit and watched the series in the meantime. It got me interested in finishing the book which of course ends quite differently. In the end I enjoyed it but the slow pace was tough at first. I was not expecting based off other Simmons novels like Carrion Comfort

There's another one of his novels that I read in the winter. It's called "A Winter Haunting" and it's probably my favorite novel. It's a sequel to one of his other books, but works perfectly fine as a standalone novel. I've read it several times, always in the winter, and appreciate it more each time. It's better paced and shorter than "The Terror" or any of his more recent writings like "Black Hills," which is good but overwritten, or "The Abominable," which I gave up on about a quarter of the way through because he made mountain climbing boring. I'd recommend anyone who hasn't already read it to check it out.

I am pretty interested in the Franlin Expedition--I found the book because of my obsession, not the other way around.

The book is insanely thoroughly researched, at least as far as we knew at the time of publishing. Basically every body ever found on King William Island is given a name and personality in the story, and we find out how they came to be where they were found in the coming years.

That said...I don't really feel like the tubaaq really worked for me. Especially not with the massive lore dump in the last chapter trying to unravel the mystery all at once. Basically everything about the last chapter bugged me, tbh, especially the main character's resolution.

Read ‘Endurance’ by Alfred Lansing. It’s wonderful

If I'm honest, I actually liked the show more than the book, specifically because they decided to drop a lot of the more fantastical elements.

Someone recommended me Hyperion, but I am hesitant - why would you say you’re struggling to get into it?

Are his other books, like the one you’ve mentioned, faster paced?

I always forget the same person write both of those. Both incredible books.

I loved it. I like historical fiction and Stephen King and you get both with the Terror.

I was worried how he’d wrap the story up, knowing that nobody came back from the expedition yet having a clear protagonist to root for, and I thought he did a great job with the ending.

Yes. Unequivocally.

Check out Endurance by Alfred Lansing about Ernest Shackleton's failed expedition to the South Pole.

Incredible that every single member of the crew survived.

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Ohh please do … Hyperion (as well as the other 3 books) is fantastic. Not a horror book though in my opinion

Illium, was another book I like of his it's interesting especially if your familiar with homers the illiad

I remember randomly buying It on stand when a was a teenager. I have fond memories of It, even thought i vaguely recall the story.

This is actually a case of the series being better than the book, in my opinion!

Great book. Agree on the recommendation. I would also add The Last Place on Earth by Huntford. Race to the South Pole between Scott and Amundsen.

I thought it was brilliant. A page turner with great prose. I've wanted to pick something else by the same author, but can't make my mind about which one.

I loved this book. There's an absolutely fantastic version available on audible narrated by Tom Sellwood that I can't recommend highly enough. I found this particularly helped in some of the passages that were slogs to get through.

Hyperion is one of my favourite books, but I'd be wary of recommending it to someone who doesn't have much experience of scifi.

If by non-scifi fan, you mean you've tried but not particularly enjoyed a few scifi books, I'd suggest giving Hyperion a go because it's brilliant.

But if you mean you've never really read any scifi before, Hyperion is probably a very intense introduction.

25-30 years ago I would have probably said that Simmons was my favorite author. I read Carrion Comfort 3-4 times in high school/college and while the Hyperion series was coming out it was my favorite SciFi series - I waited for every book. As I moved into my 30s and beyond, I found that I grew out of Simmons' stuff. By the time the Ilium series came out, I couldn't finish them so I moved on from Simmons in general. 4-5 years ago, I picked up The Terror on a whim and ended up really enjoying it. It does feel like it is the work of an author who is at the point of his career where he doesn't really have an editor but still I enjoyed almost everything about it (I read it in the middle of a very brutal Wisconsin winter storm so that might have helped). While reading it, I discovered there was a TV series in production and when it came out, I was again pleasantly surprised - it's a great TV show. I too felt it was better than the book.

At some point during lockdown in 2020 or 2021, I dug out my old books and tried re-reading Carrion Comfort and the Hyperion books. I couldn't finish any of them. I also tried reading The Abominable and it was hands down one of the dumbest books I've ever finished. I guess sometimes a reader's mood and interests rise to meet an author's output and once that crests and falls away, both move on with their lives.

It's one of my favorites. Check out his Hyperion series as well.

I just finished Abominable and thought the mountain climbing scenes were thrilling and anxiety-inducing. They’re not even at Everest a quarter of the way through.

I absolutely loved The Terror, I thought the series came close, but the book was much better

I actually have a signed copy of this book, met the author when I worked at his publisher.

The ones I have read, yes. Carrion Comfort is Great, as is Summer of night. Song of Kali is highly regarded but there was one scene near the end that was extremely disturbing to me personally, so I would not recommend it myself but it is well written. The Terror was surprisingly slow for me compared to everything else I read by him.

I love the topics I need to read it!

Oh I agree entirely on the focus of the horror (ive only watched the show not read the book) the lead poisoning vs. starvation I found the most real and therefore the most harrowing

I haven’t read the Terror but from your description you could probably apply the same criticisms to Hyperion

Personally I thought that Hyperion as well as Ilium were both excellent, but his writing and narrative style is definitely unique and not everyone’s cup of tea

One of the few books where I say the tv show or filmed version is better than the book

It's in my TBR pile. It looks pretty daunting. I am tempted to see the TV series instead, in all honesty.

Simmons is maybe the most idiosyncratic writer I read. He jumps genres so is hard to pin down, and can get wordy at times. He does not go for jolts, but mood. So if he is writing about winter, you can feel the cold creeping all over you. When he has a central protagonist, he will suddenly focus on a side character who does not seem to add anything to the action, but adds to the overall sense of dread. Simmons is gifted, for sure.

Will I read it? If Simmons were setting the scene, I would hear a noise, investigate, and find nothing, and forget about it. Then, days later, while cleaning up, I'd see The Terror had fallen from its bookcase perch, and realize that was the noise. Then I'd pick it up and suddenly start reading it.

I enjoyed it though I agree with the common theme that 100 to 200 pages could of been carved off. I understood that the food was bad and it was cold the first 300 times you told me.

Down to the last chapter of Hyperion. Half way through the book I ordered Fall of Hyperion. Defo a good read!

I personally think it's one of the best books I've ever read, and rate it even higher than Simmons' Hyperion Cantos. I really enjoyed the slow building dread as their situation worsened, mixed with the historical accuracy.

Coming from someone who absolutely loves Dan Simmons, this was my least favorite of his books that I’ve read. Carrion Comfort was his best horror book imo.

I also just finished this after almost a year on my TBR list. I thought it was a chore to get through at times. If I never read another description of a serac or ice pack again it’ll be too soon.

But overall it was a good experience. It’s well researched and Simmons does a great job building the atmosphere. The setting and situation were scarier than the actual monster.

I’m going to try carrion comfort next. I hope the pace is a bit faster.

Love it. It's flawed but it's such an interesting vibe. Definitely one of Dan's best.

It's a great companion to The Terror.

I always viewed the end as sort of Crozier's brain hallucinating until it shuts down and he dies by freezing to death. We go straight into his head and experience his death with him, as him.

I gained something from reading along the lines of any decent historical fiction.

BUT, I didn't finish it. I skipped the final 50-100 pages, read a synopsis instead and do not regret doing so. I should have done so earlier. Waited and waited for a point. A payoff. Something, but in fact there is nothing.

But we would have missed the part where the monster's bouncing around the sails and rigging trying to catch the dude! Absurdity like that shouldn't be missed.

Also, Mardi Gras on ice was great.

Other people have already addressed the little details here.

My personal take is mixed (and dated, I haven't read it in 20 years), I find the book to be a lot better when I imagine the monster as a normal polar bear, twisted in image due to the men's decaying mental states. When there is no actual monster, it reads a lot scarier, and better.

One thing I definitely remember talking about a lot with a few friends at the time: the book is weirdly racist. Like, it's probably an accurate take from the perspective of British sailors, but, it never has a moment of clarity. Natives are either savages, or fetishized. Not sure how much of that was from my and my friends' perspectives, but it felt pervasive and really detracted from the read.

The setting and general feel of the book is amazing. It made me feel cold, isolated, and frightened even when I was reading the nth description of naval life.

How was that?

Terror is my fav book ever read it twice so far, I also enjoyed Abominable I was so absorbed by it, then went on to read the SF Hyperion series which was also great (https://bestbooks.to/books/hyperion_dan-simmons/). Love Dan Simmons.

I love his Hyperion and illium series so much! Been meaning to check this one out.

He was a nice guy, when I get home I’ll post a pic.

Yes, the series with Ciarán Hinds was...chilling!

Ciarán Hinds, old creaky ships, icy landscapes and handsome men in naval uniforms. Yum!

One of my favorites.

I JUST finished Abominable. The observations OP is making really apply to Abominable as well IMO.

Without spoilers, it really seemed like the book couldn’t pick a lane towards the end. There was some Scooby-Doo nonsense that I just wasn’t onboard for. There was one threat, then it was clear that the threat was actually a different thing, then at the end maybe it was the first thing too!!

I like ambiguity in books, but this felt like indecision.

At least you finished it.

I have a firm “no opinions on unfinished books” policy.

I’m definitely in the minority here, but I hated The Terror. The idea of a fantasy/horror historical fiction about the Franklin expedition is so cool, but it just didn’t work for me. I felt like the characters are all flat and barely seem afraid of the thing that’s stalking them, which diminishes the psychological horror that should be the book’s centerpiece, and there’s no suspense because the narrative constantly skips ahead, states the outcome of an event, and then tells about it through the character’s memory instead of letting the reader experience the action. I also thought the dialogue seemed kind of stilted and like the author just wanted to show off the research he’d done.

And I really hated the constant sexual descriptions of naked teenage girls, most of whom have no narrative reason to be nude (yet every time a girl appears, she at least takes off her shirt, even if it’s –100 degrees and they’re outside) and there are no narrative reasons for so many children to be having sex with 50 year old men.

I've read several of his books, and this was alright. Carrion Comfort is by far his best book in my opinion.

Hyperion is a pretty demanding book, imo. It has 7+ point of view characters, and it shifts back and forth in time as well. It involves time travel, which is always a bit mind-bending. It's also more literary than most sci-fi in that has lots of allusions to other literature - Greek mythology, the Canterbury Tales, and the poetry of John Keats, just to name the most obvious ones. Personally, I loved it, but it's no beach read!

ETA: Also, Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion are a single story split into two books (much like Lord of the Rings is one story split into three books). Hyperion just ends abruptly, and you really need to read Fall of Hyperion to get the climax and resolution of the story.

I'm early on, within the first 200 pages amd im considering stopping and picking up something else.

There is something about it that appeals to me, but it does feel like a chore...

If you like the concept but aren’t enjoying the book itself, I’ve heard good things about the show! I only watched scenes here and there while my roommate was watching but it seemed to express the tension and horror a lot better.

For me, I just hope I never read the phrase "pressure ridge" ever again in my life.

Damn dude, you got to read it five years before it was published!? That's dope.

Holy shit, mind blown.

You think the math and memory is easy and all, but I promise you it does not remain simple as life goes on.

Heard that. I constantly find myself saying "That was five years ago... No, ten... Wait what the fuck, 20!?"

Craziest part, my cousin that read it immediately after me also remembers being a teenager at the time. We're both having our Berenstain Bears moment here.

"Like, seriously? This was after uni?"

"It has to be, book was only published in '07."

"But that doesn't make any sense, we were on opposite sides of the country and read the same physical copy, I remember the conversation and the book being exchanged!"

"Yup, memory is weird."

Followed by the existential dread of being totally uncertain about our pasts.