In Drood, Dan Simmons weaves a narrative around documented events in the lives of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Simmons's research appears to have been quite thorough, and real-life details are exhibited in abundance, at least as far as a comparison to the relevant Wikipedia pages reveals. The novel is narrated by Collins, a contemporary of Dickens, and the style is dense (in stark contrast to most of Simmons's other work). Collins is an unreliable narrator, and his narrative is colored by his opium addiction. The end result is long-winded, sometimes confusing, and too often dull.

It seems that as Simmons has tried to become more of a "serious" writer, I have liked his work less. I have a lot of respect for what he tried to accomplish in Drood, but the end result does not align well to my taste. My previous comments about Simmons's deceptively simple and transparent prose do not apply here.