The Terror by Dan Simmons

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Sun February 1st, 2009, 12:28 am

[quote=""Leo62""]Just read that bit - wasn't it amazing?

I think the Poe story is Masque of the Red Death. Funny, when I was reading the scene, before they even mentioned Poe, I was thinking of the movie...when he was describing all the different coloured rooms I thought hey that's like "Masque of the Red Death" where's Vincent Price?! - so when I got to the Poe reference it totally freaked me

[/quote]

yep. That's the story for that sequence. So very apt. I can still see parts of that scene in my head, and just shiver. Dan Simmons really did a remarkable bit of writing there. I have two of his other books, Illium and Olympos in Mt. TBR so I'll be hunting up more of his work in the future.

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Mon February 2nd, 2009, 5:05 pm

[quote=""Telynor""] I have two of his other books, Illium and Olympos in Mt. TBR so I'll be hunting up more of his work in the future.[/quote]
Telynor - Illium is good, but Olympos felt a bit rushed IMO. Both are worth reading. Neither are a patch on The Terror. For something that good, you need to try his brilliant SF series, Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion.

I finished The Terror last night, as a heavy snow started falling here in London - very weird and very spooky

What an amazing book! The last third was very gruelling, though, and there were some scenes that totally freaked me out ...

I was completely wrong in guessing the end.

Some scenes will be engraved on my memory for a long time:
1. The Poe-inspired Carnivale scene.
2. Crozier's dream about the skeleton in the boat, and the subsequent "reality."
3. The final scene on the ship.

Also, for those who have read the book, I have a question....

*******SPOILER ALERT*********

Who was the man on the ship at the end?

At first, I thought it was one of the three who decided to walk back, but then it seemed to imply that there was something uncanny about the body...I thought maybe it somehow represented the "spirit" of the ship...

Ludmilla · Post by **Ludmilla** » Mon February 2nd, 2009, 5:41 pm

[quote=""Leo62""]
Some scenes will be engraved on my memory for a long time:
[/quote]

Goodsir's speech (if you've read it, you know the one I'm talking about).

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Mon February 2nd, 2009, 6:00 pm

[quote=""Ludmilla""]Goodsir's speech (if you've read it, you know the one I'm talking about).[/quote]
Oh god...

Goodsir's death was pretty awful too. Such a likeable character, it seemed really unfair that he should meet that particular kind of end.

Leyland · Post by **Leyland** » Mon February 2nd, 2009, 8:40 pm

[quote=""Leo62""]
What an amazing book! [/quote]Oh yeah! One of the most unique and memorable books I've ever read - historical horror fiction with superb characterization.

[quote=""Leo62""]I was completely wrong in guessing the end. [/quote]
Yep! I had an entirely different mythological beast in mind that I won't name because I hope other HFO members read The Terror and make the same guess I did. The extremely surprising end was one of the many pleasures in reading this book.

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Mon February 2nd, 2009, 10:36 pm

[quote=""Leyland""]
Yep! I had an entirely different mythological beast in mind that I won't name because I hope other HFO members read The Terror and make the same guess I did.[/quote]

Er, anything to do with the mythical book of the bible that Crozier used in his sermon?

That had me going, I admit!

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Tue February 3rd, 2009, 7:06 am

The ending is what cinched this book for me as a winner. I simply could not stop reading, and when I got to the end, I was floored. It's rather nice to see that others had the same reaction that I did. It will be interesting to see what Simmons comes up with next, altho' I think I will skip Drood -- I'm not a big fan of Dickens, but I did like Bleak House.