The Terror by Dan Simmons
Ever since I read Andrea Barrett's Voyage of the Narwhal I've been really interested in the polar regions. I saw that Dan Simmons (from Squaresville, an advanced studies teacher of mine back in the day) had a new novel out about the Franklin Expedition.
In a nutshell, the Franklin Expedition was a spectacular failure in the search for the Northwest Passage. Over 120 people were lost. The disaster captured the public imagination in the mid-19C, in part because of Franklin's wealthy widow who kept rallying rescue expeditions. Many 19C writers were inspired by arctic exploration, among them Thoreau (who wrote about Franklin in Walden), and of course Mary Shelley, who (somewhat earlier) set showdown between master and monster on the arctic ice.
It was only much later that forensic scientists have caught up with the Expedition examining those remains that have emerged from the ice for anamolies. One of the things that they discovered was that due to the use of lead to seal the canned goods (canning being a relatively new technology in the mid-1840s) the crew not only suffered from the usual nutritional problems of longterm arctic survival, but were slowly being poisoned due to lead contamination. Many people think this is part of what accounts for the strange decisions the expedition leaders made, ultimately dooming their men to death on the ice.
Because relatively little is known about what really happened to the Franklin Expedition, it is the ideal adventure for fiction. Voyage of the Narwhal is about a fictional rescue voyage in search of Franklin. Dan Simmon's The Terror takes on the mystery more directly, adding supernatural terror to the already treacherous environment. It occurred to me about 3/4 through the book that it was a brilliant decision to mix horror with an expedition slowly being poisoned to death. Many of the uncanny aspects of the story can certainly be attributed to the toxic effects of poisoning. My feeling, reading the book, (which is gory and not for the faint-hearted,) is that perhaps he needed to dial back the actual appearance of the monster, who is described physically just a little too soon in the book. I am a big fan of "but was it all in their minds?" Simmons undoubtedly makes a bid for the actual existence of a monster.
Most interesting, is the ending of the book, which is transformative and slides into Inuit legend. There is one incredibly elegant and elegaic chapter about Inuit end times, which Simmons (I keep wanting to say 'Mr. Simmons') links to (among other things) global warming. (Ironic, as the book is set in the middle of what is considered a 'mini-Ice Age.' I immediately wondered if it was Krakatoa, which is responsible for a number of literary weather anomalies, including the unusually difficult winters in the Little House books. It isn't. Krakatoa was almost 40 years later.)
Anyway, I think it's Mr. Simmons best book, of those I have read. (I own, but have not read the Homeric duad, and finally read, but was slightly disappointed by Hyperion/Endymion.) And this is coming from someone who does not usually read horror, but was mesmerized by The Summer of Night in part because it is partially set in my hometown, with identifiable landmarks and an old school that my brother went to.
P.S. The book is now available, but thanks to Job who lent me an ARC, which is dog-eared with lending. Apparently this book has made the rounds of five different people. I would love to pass it on to several of you, but have to return it to Job.
In a nutshell, the Franklin Expedition was a spectacular failure in the search for the Northwest Passage. Over 120 people were lost. The disaster captured the public imagination in the mid-19C, in part because of Franklin's wealthy widow who kept rallying rescue expeditions. Many 19C writers were inspired by arctic exploration, among them Thoreau (who wrote about Franklin in Walden), and of course Mary Shelley, who (somewhat earlier) set showdown between master and monster on the arctic ice.
It was only much later that forensic scientists have caught up with the Expedition examining those remains that have emerged from the ice for anamolies. One of the things that they discovered was that due to the use of lead to seal the canned goods (canning being a relatively new technology in the mid-1840s) the crew not only suffered from the usual nutritional problems of longterm arctic survival, but were slowly being poisoned due to lead contamination. Many people think this is part of what accounts for the strange decisions the expedition leaders made, ultimately dooming their men to death on the ice.
Because relatively little is known about what really happened to the Franklin Expedition, it is the ideal adventure for fiction. Voyage of the Narwhal is about a fictional rescue voyage in search of Franklin. Dan Simmon's The Terror takes on the mystery more directly, adding supernatural terror to the already treacherous environment. It occurred to me about 3/4 through the book that it was a brilliant decision to mix horror with an expedition slowly being poisoned to death. Many of the uncanny aspects of the story can certainly be attributed to the toxic effects of poisoning. My feeling, reading the book, (which is gory and not for the faint-hearted,) is that perhaps he needed to dial back the actual appearance of the monster, who is described physically just a little too soon in the book. I am a big fan of "but was it all in their minds?" Simmons undoubtedly makes a bid for the actual existence of a monster.
Most interesting, is the ending of the book, which is transformative and slides into Inuit legend. There is one incredibly elegant and elegaic chapter about Inuit end times, which Simmons (I keep wanting to say 'Mr. Simmons') links to (among other things) global warming. (Ironic, as the book is set in the middle of what is considered a 'mini-Ice Age.' I immediately wondered if it was Krakatoa, which is responsible for a number of literary weather anomalies, including the unusually difficult winters in the Little House books. It isn't. Krakatoa was almost 40 years later.)
Anyway, I think it's Mr. Simmons best book, of those I have read. (I own, but have not read the Homeric duad, and finally read, but was slightly disappointed by Hyperion/Endymion.) And this is coming from someone who does not usually read horror, but was mesmerized by The Summer of Night in part because it is partially set in my hometown, with identifiable landmarks and an old school that my brother went to.
P.S. The book is now available, but thanks to Job who lent me an ARC, which is dog-eared with lending. Apparently this book has made the rounds of five different people. I would love to pass it on to several of you, but have to return it to Job.