Well Begun and All Done: The Terror

The book: The Terror by Dan Simmons

Opening line: "Captain Crozier comes up on deck to find his ship under attack by celestial ghosts."

Closing line: "His arm around Silna, trying to ignore the raucous snores from the shaman and the fact that baby Kanneyuk had just pissed on her father's best summer parka, while also ignoring the petulant swats and mewling noises from his squirming son, Taliriktug and Crozier continued walking east across the ice toward solid ground."


Awhile back, we watched a documentary about probably our favorite writer, Harlan Ellison, called "Dreams with Sharp Teeth." In the movie, Harlan raves about a writer named Dan Simmons, imploring everyone within the sound of his voice to read this man's work. Furthermore, on the jacket of the novel currently under discussion, Stephen King proclaims he is "in awe of Dan Simmons."

Well, if he's good enough for Harlan Ellison and Stephen King, he must be worth a look-see, no?

The plot: In May 1845, an expedition led by Sir John Franklin left England in an attempt to force the Northwest Passage--a theoretical route through the ice around the North Pole that would, if found, significantly simplify worldwide shipping. The two ships, Erebus and Terror, were last seen in July 1845. None of the crew was ever heard from again.

All of the above is true: Sir John Franklin was a real Captain of the Royal Navy (indeed, a non-fiction book about Franklin, The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage, was published earlier this year). He and his expedition disappeared in 1845. Dan Simmons picks up the story from that point. In his telling, the crews of both ships die rather horribly due to disease, treachery, and, most innovatively, giant demon quasi-polar-bear-attack.

Yeah.

The supernatural storyline is actually pretty compelling, particularly the early appearances of the monster (which we later learn is called a Tuunbaq). And the novel does have quite a bit to recommend it, including a nifty little set piece that recreates "The Masque of the Red Death" in the frozen wastes.

The major problem with The Terror, it seems to us, is a lack of editorial oversight. The novel weighs in at a hefty 766 pages--at least 200 more than was strictly necessary. We have nothing against a good tome, but when, for example, Simmons feels it necessary, in the space of two pages, to list the full names of all seven members of a scouting party, we start counting the minutes of our life that we will never get back. At other times, the author feels the need to halt all action to recap the fates of those who have already died. It's as if we're watching a TV show and sitting through the "Previously, in The Terror" segment. Also, Simmons has a tendency, as you can see from the lines quoted above, to shift his verb tenses; at first, we assumed there was something symbolic or significant about this, but, midway through, he permanently abandons the present tense, so we're not sure what--if anything--he was going for.

We're not sure how The Terror stacks up to Simmons' other books (of which there are about 20), so we have no idea whether this novel is representative of his oeuvre. We will say that the book has certain merits--brevity not being one of them--and makes us willing to give him another chance, but we are not yet ready to gush about him to the extent of Ellison and King.