Franklin Expedition Reimagined Through Fiction

Far too many years have passed since I last read a Dan Simmons novel (Hyperion, Song of Kali, back in the ‘90s). Just finished Simmons’ The Terror (2007), a fictionalized account of the 1845 Franklin Expedition. Simmons constructs a compelling and heart-wrenching narrative of the tragic attempt to locate the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic, based on true events and actual crew members aboard the two ships (HMS Terror and HMS Erebus). Simmons’ vivid descriptions of the hostile winter conditions, coupled with realistic portrayals of the main players, including Captain Sir John Franklin himself and Franklin's second-in-command, Francis Crozier, make for an absorbing work of historical fiction. The novel precedes more or less chronologically using frequent flashbacks and dream sequences. The Terror is further enriched with elements of horror and the supernatural, which create an underlying sense of foreboding as the crews’ circumstances become more desperate and hopeless with each passing day. In addition to being a captivating read, this novel is a study of human nature and the extremes to which men will go when faced with unrelenting threats to their survival. All in all, this is a brilliant novel that left me in awe of Simmons’ talent as a wildly imaginative writer and a gifted storyteller.