Book Review

The Terror
By Dan Simmons

In this historical novel about the disappearance of the Franklin Expedition, Dan Simmons gives a new twist on the fate of the 2 ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror along with 129 men lost on their search for the Northwest Passage.

If being stuck in the ice for 2 years, contaminated food, extreme temperatures and the effects of scurvy wasn’t bad enough, the men of the expedition are slowly being killed off by a large bear-like creature. The men face a grim end as the ships break apart in the ice and they have few choices but to walk over 800 miles to the outpost on Great Slave Lake.

For further information about the ill fated Franklin Expedition, see acknowledgements at the end of the book. See also www.wikipedia.com and http://www.ric.edu/rpotter/SJFranklin.html
Rumors of murder, starvation and cannibalism were confirmed from remains found on King William and Beechey Islands and analyzed by a group from the University of Alberta in the 1980’s. NOVA produced BURIED IN ICE and later ARCTIC PASSAGE showing where and how the men of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror died.

For more about Dan Simmons, see: http://dansimmons.com/