So, since I finished five books for the R.I.P. Challenge and they all came off my TBR pile! (Yay!) I decided to read a new addition to the TBR pile. It was on a bunch of lists and I have wanted to read it since it came out (mainly because the cover caught my attention). Know what book it is? The Terror by Dan Simmons.
Things I have learned while reading it:
It is a very engrossing book. I had to pick up food for supper before the Charming Comedian got off work, but he called earlier today to ask me to take a garbage bag off a plant (we had a frost warning last night), so I went over to his house and brought my book with me because he has the good coffee! So, um, let's just say that I ended up talking to him on my cellphone from the grocery store while he was home waiting for the food! Yes, I could've had it started when he got off work, but I totally lost track of time! We ate really late...
That it reminds me of James Rollin's early novels, and since I LOVE James Rollins I was really excited!
That everytime I picked up the book while cooking and eating supper, something very important would just have to be said and then I would have to put down the book again. He is one of those people that gets really into their story-telling, so I want to put my book down and pay attention because many times he is almost as entertaining (or more) than the book! (Don't tell him that, though.) Anyway, so apparently he cut himself with a chainsaw. That story never came up before... There were a few others... I think he likes talking to me, even if he will never admit it!
It is a really good book so far! I don't know if I really remembered what it was about (I tend to add books to my wish list and then lots of time goes by before I buy them), so I wasn't totally sure what to expect! So far, I recommend it! I have other Dan Simmons books, and I actually started one last year, but I never did finish it. It was really good, though... I just have this habit of not finishing books! I am easily distracted or something.
Supper was really good! Late, but good.
Don't forget Saturday at 11:59 PM EST is your last chance to enter Michelle Moran's contest to win one of two signed copies of her new books!
you've got me intrigued about this one.
ReplyDeleteThe thrills to be found in 'The Terror' are many and varied. There are superb set pieces that will etch themselves in your reading memory and become places you can go back to visit. Even though 'The Terror' is a historical novel based on lots of careful research, Simmons manages to inject a soupcon of the supernatural that actually enhances the realistic feel he creates. There are scenes of wonder, terror and the two mixed perfectly. Simmons draws on myths and magic realism to enchant the reader even while he uses the brutal facts of the arctic environment to entrap his characters.
ReplyDeleteFor all the excellence you'll experience while you read the novel, your expectations for the ending might tend to be diminished. The superb set pieces, the engaging literary experimentation and complex structure are, after all, facing an imperious truth: nobody survived. The real blast of arctic air will not hit you until you turn that last page and experience Simmons' fitting finale, an ending that redeems the agonizing journey and rewards readers beyond their wildest expectations. Whatever you might think you are looking for when you began reading 'The Terror', whatever experience you seek as a reader, prepare to have those expectations dashed against a literary force as unknowable, as powerful the arctic itself – Dan Simmons.
Cheers,
Ben