Let me say this, this was the last book, whose setting is snow and ice, that I will ever read during winter. There were too many nights that I say completely covered in blankets and still shivering from the constant barrage of ice as I stayed trapped aboard Terror with her crew.

I couldn't quit reading this book. It was fantastic. Yes, maybe it's just because I knew nothing about sailing and ships from that time that I wanted to soak up ever detail of the era.

The story tacks the expedition of two vessels who get trapped in an ice block while exploring the Arctic and they are there for years. There's hunger, exploration, Eskimos, fights, hope, loss.... it's human survival at its bleakest. All the while, the crews are being stalked by a creature? polar bear? Eskimos?... I'll never tell.

And even though the ending does spin off into left field, how else could it have ended? I thought it was as valid as any "The End".

So I recommend this to anyone looking for a good solid work of fiction and enough time (it's long).

But wait until the weather warms up!