Drood by Dan Simmons (author of Iliumand Olympos) is a pseudo historical novel about Charles Dickens and his fellow author Wilkie Collins and a mystery figure (who may or may not exist) named Drood. The book mixes real life people and events with a fantasy overlay to tell a wonderful story that is part mystery and part horror.

In 1865, Charles Dickens was in a train crash. He wasn’t injured in the crash and he helped out the injured people at the scene. And for some reason, after the crash, his writing output dropped significantly. Between 1865 and his death in 1870, Dickens finished the novel he had been writing at the time of the crash(Our Mutual Friend) and started the novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood, but had no other novels published. (Dickens actually slowed down prior to this, the novel prior to Our Mutual Friend was Great Expectations in 1961, but that’s irrelevant to our story). Our novel takes place from the train crash to the death of Dickens. The main character is fellow author and Dickens confident Wilkie Collins (author of Woman in White).

The novel is structured as a mystery of who is Drood, a mysterious man Dickens claimed to have met at the scene of the crash, and what influence is he having on Dickens. Collins, an opium addict, is the perfect choice as the narrator. He is unreliable and close enough to Dickens to have a sense of concern, but not close enough to see the day-to-day details of Dickens life constantly. This allows us to wander around with Collins as he tries valiantly to find out the truth about Drood, before it takes Dicken’s life.

The ending is a wonderfully done and allows the reader to view the previous events in the book with a different eye. Simmons proves he is the one of the most literary of the science fiction authors (although this book really can’t be classified as science fiction). Highly recommended (especially if you’re a fan of Dickens) and well worth your time.