First of all, I love Dan Simmons. His earlier horror novels and his recent The Terror were wonderful. Unfortunately, I can't say the same About Drood. Though it is a great idea and very well researched, Simmons is undone by his constant repetition, an untrustworthy narrator, and a seeming lack of an editor. This would have been a wonderful 400ish page thriller, but at 941 pages(paperback), there is too much other stuff to slog through - constant walking tours, constant referrals to drug use, constant repetition of plot points, constant referrals to Collins absolutely boring home life.
And at the end, what do we get??? A very obvious realization by Wilkie of his stature as a novelist compared to Dickens.
Get an editor!!!