Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Terror

The Terror
The Terror
Author: Dan Simmons
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Horror
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Saffron avatar reviewed on + 16 more book reviews


Although the premise is quite interesting I did not find the execution to my liking at all.

1) This book is incredibly long. It took forever to read considering the author goes into detail ad nauseum about every little thing. Sermons said over the men's graves. Repetitive descriptions of the smells and sounds of the ships. Every little detail was included right down to the color of their socks. Did we really need to know the color of their socks?

2) The bouncing around in the storyline. First its 1847. Then its 1845. Then you're reading a surgeon's journal. Then your back in 1847. I felt like I had to keep an outline to keep everything straight. Now, granted, I do prefer a book that is written from one point of view so the jumping around to different characters would have annoyed me no matter what. But the jumping around to different characters AND different times was quite exasperating.

Not a keeper for me.