The Terror: A Novel

Name: The Terror: A Novel
Rating: 4.474418640136719 (215 reviews)

Dan Simmons

Mar 2007 · Sold by Little, Brown

215 reviews

Ebook

784

Pages

Eligible

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About this ebook

Based on the true story of two ice ships that disappeared in the Arctic Circle during the Sir John Franklin Expedition in 1845, The Terror is a meticulously researched and fascinating account of 19th century seafaring life.

"Masterfully chilling." —Entertainment Weekly

The men on board the HMS Terror—part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage—are entering a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, they struggle to survive with poisonous rations, a dwindling coal supply, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is even more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror clawing to get in.

“The best and most unusual historical novel I have read in years.” —Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe

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Ratings and reviews

215 reviews

Marion Kellogg

May 16, 2026

I have loved several of Dan Simmons's works, but this wasn't one of them. He did his due diligence to the settings as always, making them real through the details we wouldn't otherwise know, and that was satisfying. The story, however, is just a long and laborious death list with an out of place epilogue about inuit culture, and I have no idea how accurate that part really even is. The book is wildly unbalanced, the death toll so high and expected it became obligatory and emotionless.

Josh B

March 16, 2019

Well written novel - you can feel the bone chilling cold as Simmons describes it. Definitely meanders for a bit and the monster reveal/ending are a bit lackluster.

1 person found this review helpful

Ian Stevenson

August 17, 2025

A well crafted tale of the struggle to survive in such a hostile environment. The monster added nothing except a few hundred extra pages that the book could have done without. The ending, especially the business with the tongues, was disappointing, and didn't seem to fit with the rest of the novel.

About the author

Dan Simmons is the Hugo Award-winning author of several novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Olympos and The Terror. He lives in Colorado.

Dan Simmons is the Hugo Award-winning author of several novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Olympos and The Terror. He lives in Colorado.

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