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Sep 13, 2015ebotsikos rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Loved this book! Dan Simmons takes the mystery surrounding the Franklin expedition and offers up his own interpretation. So is this historical? Absolutely. Very well researched. Is it fiction? Yes. On some level it has to be as each historical character speaks in his own voice. Is it supernatural? Somewhat. There is this supernatural monster out on the ice after the crew. Is it horror? Definitely! Even without the supernatural monster prowling around, the incredible trials, pain, hardships, acts of murder, madness and cannabilism suffered by the crew of the Franklin expedition in an icy hell can only be described as horror. The only part that I tried my patience was the author's indepth explaination of the Innuit cultural and spiritualist beliefs that preceded the last chapter. That part I could have done without. The story also kinda ends in a fade out happily-ever-after scene which can be a little off-putting after the page-turning action. Note: You also have to watch out for the author's tendency to use 'flashback' chapters. For instance, in one chapter, Cpt Franklin had died but in the next chapter, there he was alive. Had to flip pages back and forth until I realized that you have to make note of the dates and location at the top of each chapter to align yourself in the timeline. Other than these criticisms, this was a great book and would highly recommend it, especially to history and naval buffs.