Books from the Backlog #130

Posted September 17, 2020 by Carole in Books from the Backlog / 12 Comments

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.
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This week’s neglected book

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Publication Date: January 8, 2007
Publisher: Bantam

The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in.When the expedition’s leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Inuit woman who cannot speak and who may be the key to survival, or the harbinger of their deaths. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear that there is no escape.

The Terror swells with the heart-stopping suspense and heroic adventure that have won Dan Simmons praise as “a writer who not only makes big promises but keeps them” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). With a haunting and constantly surprising story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core.

Why did I add The Terror to my bookshelf?
When I saw this book as a thrift store, there was no question that it was coming home with me.  I mean how could I resist a tile like The Terror?  I must be able to resist actually picking up the book to read it though because it is still sitting on my shelf waiting for its turn.  I did start watching the AMC series based on the novel and enjoyed it but didn’t finish watching the first season (I do this all of the time so my behavior says nothing to the quality of the program).  This is a rather long book with my copy having 766 pages but I am determined to work it in at some point.

What are your thoughts? Have you read this book?  Would you recommend it to others?

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12 responses to “Books from the Backlog #130”

  1. Priscilla Bettis

    I haven't read this one, but I do enjoy Dan Simmons' style of writing. It's sophisticated but still accessible, doesn't feel snobby or anything like that, just polished.

  4. Sophia Rose

    We could be book habit twins. LOL I grab books up and have every intention of reading them when I bring them home and then there they sit. The page count is a little daunting, but hey, maybe it will make your spooky reads list this year. 🙂