Julie M. (JujuGirl) reviewed on 1/30/2011 + 88 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

This Dark historical fiction novel is very rich in detail. Its nearly 800 pages provide an in-depth look at many of the Erebus and Terror officers, sailors and marines. The book focuses on many individual characters, and the chapters are told from varying points of view. It is a well-told, straight-forward story that is not confusing.

However, The Terror is not a fast read, and I think the author intended the story to be lengthy and slow moving. It exemplifies the long, arduous treks that the ship crews took across the ice. Sometimes it took them a full day to walk less than a mile. The length of the book is also a metaphor for the long wait aboard the Erebus and Terror ships for the coming of spring, a glimpse of the sun, and the breaking up of ice. It is a metaphor for the long, painful process of starvation and scurvy that threatens to kill the crews long before the -80 degree temperatures can.

I read in a review of this book that the ending was disappointing and unbelievable. I completely disagree. The Terror provided the best possible fictional ending for a real-life polar expedition that was never seen again.

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