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Friday, August 18, 2017

Audiobook Review: Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery
Book 3 of Anne of Green Gables series
Unabridged; 8 hr. 15 min.
Post Hypnotic Press Inc.
Colleen Winton (narrator)
June 4, 2014
★★★★☆

Genre: Classic; Historical Fiction

Source: Received download from publisher for review as part of Audiobookworm Tour

Anne of the Island was published in 1915, seven years after the best-selling Anne of Green Gables, partly because of the continuing clamor for more Anne from her fans - a fan base that continues to grow today!
In this continuation of the story of Anne Shirley, Anne leaves Green Gables and her work as a teacher in Avonlea to pursue her original dream (which she gave up in Anne of Green Gables) of taking further education at Redmond College in Nova Scotia. Gilbert Blythe and Charlie Sloane enroll as well, as does Anne's friend from Queen's Academy, Priscilla Grant. During her first week of school, Anne befriends Philippa Gordon, a beautiful girl whose frivolous ways charm her. Philippa (Phil for short) also happens to be from Anne's birthplace of Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia. Anne, always the good scholar, studies hard, but she also has many life lessons. This book sees Anne leave behind girlhood to blossom into a mature young woman.

I’ve always shied away from outright classifying these books as young adult, despite seeing that in many other locations. While I would say Anne of Green Gables does securely fall into that category, the next two books that I have read so far begin to move out of that classification. While the writing style still remains simpler to understand and comprehend, and there are by far no mature content, the characters are aging, falling in love, going to work and college, getting married, which I would say takes it out of that category in my opinion.

Throughout much of Anne of the Island we see Anne away from the place she grew up and the majority of the people she (and we) know. While we see her spend some time away during Anne of Avonlea, the majority of Island is spent at Redmond College. Here we see Anne grow a little more into her own person as she is in a whole new world with many new people. There is comfort in the familiar faces of Gilbert, Charlie, and Philippa (who I really didn’t remember that well, so she felt new to me) and she does return home for short breaks and we get the treat of hearing from home in letters that various friends send her. I’m really not sure why Anne pushes back so hard against the idea of falling in love with anyone (or her friends falling in love for that matter either); it’s not like she has negative representations of love/marriage in her past, so that would often grate at me.

There is one scene in particular that stood out in my mind in a terrible way and the inclusion of the scene in the book sort of changed the whole tone of the story for me hence forward – this would be the killing of the cat scene. It’s not a major event in the story or any kind of plot spoiler, but it really bothered me. A cat that just won’t leave their house and the girls just have this frank discussion about how you kill the cat and everyone takes part in this endeavor. Mind you, it all turns out ok in the end, but the scene was just very dark and not at all of the same tone as the rest of the book or prior books in the series. If I was editing this book I would have axed the whole scene because it just differs so tremendously from the rest of the series.

Overall the book is a strong outing in the series and doesn’t feel like it loses momentum at all.

★★★★☆

As this is the same narrator and the same series, my thoughts are essentially the same as in book 1 and 2, with a couple additional notes. I continue to love Colleen Winton’s approach to the narration of the cast of characters from Anne’s world. There are a bunch of new characters in this book and each continues to be unique, which must be difficult as there have been so many characters in this series. I forgot to mention this in my review of Anne of Avonlea when the character first appears, but it is also appropriate now, I love her characterization of Davy, one of the twins that she is helping Marilla to raise. He ends every question with, “I want to know!” which just cracks me up the way she presents it. I have now listened to all of the Anne books that Post Hypnotic Press has released and I’m sure I will finish this series someday because it is great fun, but I would be happy to listen to Winton any day.

There was one issue that was noticeable to me in this book particularly that I did not notice in either of the other two and this was that there appeared to be noticeable edits. There would be times where practically in the middle of the sentence the narrators voice would become either softer or louder where it wouldn’t have been otherwise based on the speech pattern or it sounded just a little bit off. These moments are something that becomes quite obvious to me and led to the slightly lower rating of the audio production of this book compared to the others.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

Buy the Book: Audible | Post Hypnotic Press

You can check out a sample from Anne of the Island below.

Also by L.M. Montgomery:

Anne of Green Gables (Book 1)
[My Review]

Anne of Avonlea (Book 2)
[My Review]

Anne of Windy Poplars (Book 4)

Anne’s House of Dreams (Book 5)

Anne of Ingleside (Book 6)

Rainbow Valley (Book 7)

Rilla of Ingleside (Book 8)

Tour-Wide Giveaway!

As part of the tour, there is a tour-wide giveaway sponsored by the publisher, Post Hypnotic Press, for store credit: $120 (Grand Prize), $90 (Runner-up) & $60 (2nd Runner-up). Entries are made via the Gleam app and can be made on any of the participating tour pages. Please if you have questions, contact the tour coordinator as I have no input in the giveaway. Good luck!!

Anne of Green Gables Giveaway: Three Winners

Tour Schedule

Audiobookworm Promotions

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, BOOK 1

Jul. 30th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
The Book Slayer (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Jul. 31st:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 1st:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
Book Reviews By Jasmine (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 2nd:
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Bound 4 Escape (Review, Giveaway)
WTF Are You Reading? (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 3rd:
To Read Or Not To Read (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)
Jorie Loves A Story (Review)
Notes From 'Round the Bend (Teasers, Giveaway)
Haddie's Haven (Review, Teasers, Giveaway)
Hall Ways (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)

Aug. 4th:
Lomeraniel (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
SMADA's Book Smack (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 5th:
Buried Under Books (Review)
Life As Freya (Review)

ANNE OF AVONLEA, BOOK 2

Aug. 6th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Aug. 7th:
The Book Slayer (Review)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 8th:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 9th:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 10th:
Jorie Loves A Story (Review)
Notes From 'Round the Bend (Teasers, Giveaway)
Dab of Darkness (Review, Giveaway)
Haddie's Haven (Review, Teasers, Giveaway)

Aug. 11th:
To Read Or Not To Read (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
Hall Ways (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Bound 4 Escape (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 12th:
Lomeraniel (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Forever Literary (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Life As Freya (Review)
WTF Are You Reading? (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

ANNE OF THE ISLAND, BOOK 3

Aug. 13th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Aug. 14th:
A Lovelorn Virgo (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 15th:
Dab of Darkness (Review, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 16th:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 17th:
To Read Or Not To Read (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)
Jorie Loves A Story (Review)
Reading for the Stars and Moon (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Notes From 'Round the Bend (Teasers, Giveaway)
Haddie's Haven (Review, Teasers, Giveaway)

Aug. 18th:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
The Book Slayer (Review)
Jorie Loves A Story (Interview)
Hall Ways (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)

Aug. 19th:
Christian Chick's Thoughts (Review)
Lomeraniel (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Life As Freya (Review)
Bound 4 Escape (Review, Giveaway)
WTF Are You Reading? (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Audiobook Review: Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery & Giveaway

Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery
Book 2 of Anne of Green Gables series
Unabridged; 9 hr. 5 min.
Post Hypnotic Press Inc.
Colleen Winton (narrator)
June 9, 2014
★★★★☆

Genre: Classic; Historical Fiction

Source: Received download from publisher for review as part of Audiobookworm Tour

Following Anne of Green Gables (1908), this book covers the second chapter in the life of Anne Shirley. We learn of Anne's doings from the age of 16 to 18, during the two years that she teaches at Avonlea school. It includes many of the characters from Anne of Green Gables, as well as new ones: Mr. Harrison and his foul-mouthed parrot, Miss Lavendar Lewis, Paul Irving, and the twins Dora (sweet and well behaved) and Davy (mischievious and in constant trouble). Anne matures, slightly, but she gets into a number of her familiar pickles, as only Anne can: She accidentally sells her neighbor's cow (having mistaken it for her own), gets stuck in a broken duck house roof while peeping into a pantry window, and more.

Anne of Avonlea picks up roughly where we left off with her in Green Gables, but it has a slightly different feel to it. Anne is a little older and has matured some since we first met her in her origin book. Of course she wouldn’t be Anne if she didn’t still meet with some accident or another from time to time, but the setting in which it occurs and how she comes out of the event are different. She isn’t the child who runs around in a dream world and talks in endless, run-on sentences. She still has flights of fancy, but she is more aware of the world around her and how she moves within it. She has a passion for fighting for what is right and for those less fortunate. She is a teacher! Anne finds a true “kindred spirit” in Miss Lavendar and it is during those scenes that we get more of that old Anne coming through. Without Anne to cause all the drama we have Davy, one of the twins that Anne helps to raise, and honestly he might stir the pot more than even she did as a child! Having lost a male role model whom she loved dearly, Anne makes a connection with the new neighbor Mr. Harrison, who takes to Anne like no one else. I found their scenes almost soothing. Anne of Avonlea is Anne’s transition novel – it is the time between a being a child in a small town and going away to college. You still have some of the old Anne, but you can see changes happening and know that when she goes away more will be yet to come.

One stylistic difference that I noticed in this novel that I didn’t in the first (maybe it was there and I just didn’t pick up on it, but it is a thing I do tend to notice), is that the author breaks the fourth was SEVERAL times. It’s not only that she refers the reader back to events that transpired in the first book, but she will say things to the effect of (and I’m paraphrasing here): “reader, you might recognize that…” or “if you are unfamiliar with these events, do pick up the book where it all started”. It almost feels a tad self-promotional rather than the trick of taking the audience aside to let them in on some special information, and I didn’t really think it was necessary to the story.

★★★★★

As this is the same narrator and the same series, my thoughts are essentially the same as in book 1, with a couple additional notes. Colleen Winton knocked her narration out of the park just as I expected and hoped! Her voices for the characters that appears in this book which were introduced previously are consistent with the prior treatment. There are a small handful of new characters and each is unique and quirky in their own way. As before, the most important is Anne, and while she is still prone to her flights of fancy, Winton brings and more measured and mature style of her manner of speaking. The narration between dialogue has an even pace that brings the listener back from the slow or quick speech patterns of the characters, which is like a cleansing of the palate before moving on. I know that Winton narrates the next book in the series, and I don’t think Post Hypnotic Press has released any more than the first three books, but I would be happy to listen to her any day.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

Buy the Book: Audible | Post Hypnotic Press

You can check out a sample from Anne of Avonlea below.

Also by L.M. Montgomery:

Anne of Green Gables (Book 1)
[My Review]

Anne of the Island (Book 3)

Anne of Windy Poplars (Book 4)

Anne’s House of Dreams (Book 5)

Anne of Ingleside (Book 6)

Rainbow Valley (Book 7)

Rilla of Ingleside (Book 8)

Tour-Wide Giveaway!

Anne of Green Gables Giveaway: Three Winners

Tour Schedule

Audiobookworm Promotions

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, BOOK 1

Jul. 30th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
The Book Slayer (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Jul. 31st:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 1st:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
Book Reviews By Jasmine (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 4th:
Lomeraniel (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
SMADA's Book Smack (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 5th:
Buried Under Books (Review)
Life As Freya (Review)

ANNE OF AVONLEA, BOOK 2

Aug. 6th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Aug. 7th:
The Book Slayer (Review)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 8th:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 9th:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 10th:
Jorie Loves A Story (Review)
Notes From 'Round the Bend (Teasers, Giveaway)
Dab of Darkness (Review, Giveaway)
Haddie's Haven (Review, Teasers, Giveaway)

ANNE OF THE ISLAND, BOOK 3

Aug. 13th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Aug. 14th:
A Lovelorn Virgo (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 15th:
Dab of Darkness (Review, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 16th:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 18th:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
The Book Slayer (Review)
Jorie Loves A Story (Interview)
Hall Ways (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Audiobook Review: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery & Giveaway

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Book 1 of Anne of Green Gables series
Unabridged; 10 hr. 7 min.
Post Hypnotic Press Inc.
Colleen Winton (narrator)
May 30, 2014
★★★★ ½☆

Genre: Classic; Historical Fiction

Source: Received download from publisher for review as part of Audiobookworm Tour

Anne, a young orphan from the fictional community of Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia (based upon the real community of New London), is sent to Prince Edward Island after a childhood spent in strangers' homes and orphanages. Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, siblings in their 50s and 60s, had decided to adopt a boy from the orphanage to help Matthew run their farm. They live at Green Gables, their Avonlea farmhouse on Prince Edward Island. Through a misunderstanding, the orphanage sends Anne Shirley. Anne is described as bright and quick, eager to please, talkative, and extremely imaginative. She has a pale face with freckles and usually braids her red hair. When asked her name, Anne tells Marilla to call her Cordelia, which Marilla refuses; Anne then insists that if she is to be called Anne, it must be spelled with an e, as that spelling is "so much more distinguished". Marilla at first says the girl must return to the orphanage, but after a few days she decides to let her stay. Marilla feels that she could be a good influence on the girl and had also overheard that another disagreeable woman in town might take Anne in instead.

Unlike many, many readers out there, I never read Anne of Green Gables as a child or young adult; I honestly had never heard of the book until a few years ago. Even at that point, I wasn’t all that interested in reading it as an adult despite many of my friends who have enjoyed it. I’m not even really sure why, because it is along those same lines of the Little House books, which I loved, in terms of tone and audience. However, when I was approached with the opportunity to review the first three books in this series as audiobooks, I took the bait! And I’m very glad that I did! When reviewing classics I tend to keep my reviews short, because what more is there to say that hasn’t already been said about it, and the heart of this review will focus on the audiobook presentation itself.

This installment of the series follows Anne from her arrival at Green Gables after being accidentally adopted by the Cuthbert’s around age 11 up through age 16 when she is ready to go off to school. A lot happens in Anne’s life during this 5 year period and she certainly grows up a lot from a girl always somehow getting into scrapes and living in a dream world to someone who can be counted on to do the right thing. Personally, I think this book covered maybe a little too much of her life, seeing as it is a series it could have maybe saved the later part for the next book because I feel like there is really two different Anne’s here, but it still works well. The story kept me entertained, even though the events are happening to a much younger character, and I always wanted to pick it back up and keep reading.

★★★★★

Colleen Winton knocked her narration out of the park! The most important thing to get right in an audio treatment of this book is the presentation of Anne. She is not only the main character, obviously, but she is quite the spitfire and requires that trait to be brought out through the telling. That is exactly what Winton did. Her presentation of Anne’s manner of speaking, including the way her thoughts just run together, one after the other, and the dreamy quality of many of the things she speaks of, was SPOT ON! It was like she was standing in front of me. The other character that I think was perfect was Matthew Cuthbert. He has a slow, measured, and thoughtful way of speaking, as he is a man of few words, and she NAILED that one too. Some of the best scenes to listen to are when Anne and Matthew are speaking to each other because you can get the perfect measure of each. The narration between dialogue has an even pace that brings the listener back from the slow or quick speech patterns of the characters, which is like a cleansing of the palate before moving on. I know that Winton narrates the next two books in the series, and I don’t think Post Hypnotic Press has released any more than the first three books, but I would be happy to listen to her any day.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

Buy the Book: Audible | Post Hypnotic Press

You can check out a sample from Anne of Green Gables below.

Also by L. M. Montgomery:

Anne of Avonlea (Book 2)

Anne of the Island (Book 3)

Anne of Windy Poplars (Book 4)

Anne’s House of Dreams (Book 5)

Anne of Ingleside (Book 6)

Rainbow Valley (Book 7)

Rilla of Ingleside (Book 8)

Tour-Wide Giveaway!

Anne of Green Gables Giveaway: Three Winners

Tour Schedule

Audiobookworm Promotions

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, BOOK 1

Jul. 30th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
The Book Slayer (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Jul. 31st:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 1st:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
Book Reviews By Jasmine (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 4th:
Lomeraniel (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
SMADA's Book Smack (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 5th:
Buried Under Books (Review)
Life As Freya (Review)

ANNE OF AVONLEA, BOOK 2

Aug. 6th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Aug. 7th:
The Book Slayer (Review)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 8th:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 9th:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 10th:
Jorie Loves A Story (Review)
Notes From 'Round the Bend (Teasers, Giveaway)
Dab of Darkness (Review, Giveaway)
Haddie's Haven (Review, Teasers, Giveaway)

ANNE OF THE ISLAND, BOOK 3

Aug. 13th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Aug. 14th:
A Lovelorn Virgo (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 15th:
Dab of Darkness (Review, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 16th:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 18th:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
The Book Slayer (Review)
Jorie Loves A Story (Interview)
Hall Ways (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)

Friday, March 22, 2013

Book Review: The Terror by Dan Simmons

The Terror by Dan Simmons
Abridged, 8 hr. 54 min.
Hachette Audio
Simon Vance (Narrator)
December 20, 2006
★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller (Horror), Suspense

Source: Downloaded audio from my local library

“The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Inuit woman who cannot speak and who may be the key to survival, or the harbinger of their deaths. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear that there is no escape. The Terror swells with the heart-stopping suspense and heroic adventure that have won Dan Simmons praise as "a writer who not only makes big promises but keeps them" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). With a haunting and constantly surprising story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core.”

Don’t let the classification of Historical Fiction/Horror turn you off from this book – I probably would classify it as more of a thriller. It wasn’t scary; it was intense and kept you riveted to the sheer “terror” that being stranded in the frozen north could entail, but it was nothing that would keep you awake at night shaking in your boots. It is a tale of the struggle for survival against nature, man, and beast.

The author uses a blend of historical facts known about the Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest Passage and Inuit mythology about the area to craft a tale of what could have possibly happened to the stranded crew. This was for the most part a flawless blend. There was one part toward the end where it was a little more “telling” the mythos than “showing” which got a little boring, but I think it might have been slightly attributable to the fact that the version I was reading was abridged – it might have been smoother in the unabridged version (please correct me if I am wrong!). At some points you have to suspend reality a little bit, but the author’s writing sort of puts you in the mindset of these men who were trapped for about 2 years in the frozen Arctic. You can sort of see where the distinction between reality and delusion could blur.

As there is not a lot known of what ultimately happened to the crew, the author has a lot of creative license to work with. However, the author does a great job with the historical background of previous expeditions to discover the Northwest Passage as well as the prior expedition of the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus to the Antarctic.

Reading this story quickly brought to mind the story of the Donner Party – some of the events are similar in terms of a small group just trying to survive winter weather and what it will do to the minds of men. Simmons does a great job of evoking just how harrowing it might have been.

The writing was riveting reading and I was compelled to come back to the book every time. It was a sort of “what could possibly go wrong for them now” pull toward the page.

★★★★½☆

The narration of this book was top notch. Simon Vance was also the narrator for Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel, which I read last year, and I certainly recognized his performance. He was able to take a book that I would otherwise not have enjoyed (Bring Up the Bodies) and make it enjoyable; and he did a fantastic job with The Terror. As I said in my Bring Up the Bodies review: he did a fabulous job with voices and creating unique characters that I could identify each time by just the tone of his voice. He made me hate the antagonist character even more because the voice was annoying! Truly one of my favorite audiobook narrators (and I have a very short list!).

The only production issue I had was with the beginning of the book. It sort of jumps around in the narration a little when establishing some of the characters back stories – and with the audio it was a little difficult to tell when we were in the present and when we were in the past.

Dan Simmons has written many books, but those among the historical fiction genre include: Drood and the upcoming The Abominable. You can visit the author’s website for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

Did you know that AMC is in development to make a drama series of this novel? You know it will be good, as all of their drama programing has been!

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Franklin Expedition – Cultural Spin-Off

The plight of the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus has inspired various cultural adaptations in songs, images, and books. Some of these are pretty cool.

Songs:

Several folk songs have been composed about this tragedy including

Lady Franklin’s Lament (recorded by many artists)

I’m Already There by Fairport Convention

Frozen Man by James Taylor

Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers

Each one focuses on a slightly different aspect of the expedition. Lady Franklin’s Lament is about the wife of Franklin lamenting his loss. I’m Already There is about the expedition itself. Frozen Man was inspired by photographs in National Geographic of the body of Franklin Expedition member John Torrington. Northwest Passage is about explorers who tried to find the Northwest Passage with a portion of the song about the Franklin Expedition.

Images:

Terrifying, dramatic stories are often portrayed in art – those where the results and actual events are unknown are event more fodder for the imagination.

Man Proposes, God Disposes by Edwin Henry Landseer shows two polar bears chewing on both a ship mast and human bones – both symbols of the Franklin Expedition. This image was initially perceived as being made in poor taste.

Man Proposes, God Disposes by Edwin Henry Landseer

The Icebergs by Frederic Edwin Church shows an Arctic iceberg scene with a ships mast placed in the foreground in tribute to the Franklin Expedition.

The Icebergs by Frederic Edwin Church

Both of these are powerful images – although neither shows any actual depictions of the ships.

Books:

Besides the obvious, The Terror by Dan Simmons, other books have been written about the Expedition.

Journeys and Adventures of Captain Hatteras by Jules Verne – where the titular character tries to retrace the steps of the Franklin Expedition.
North with Franklin: The Journals of James Fitzjames by John Wilson
Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler
Wanting by Richard Flanagan
Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie
The Quest For Franklin by Noel Wright

Hope you have enjoyed this little cultural trek through the terrifying ordeal of the Franklin Expedition (as much as you can a tragedy).

About Me

Heather, 30, USA. Hi everyone! I started my blog, The Maiden's Court, in May 2009 as a creative outlet for my reading and it has completely taken me to new places. I love sharing my reading and the things that I learn.

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