Hi, all:
I bring you the review of a book that seemed pretty original to me, although when I read the comments, it might not be so original, perhaps because I don’t read a lot of science fiction, but I still found it interesting, and I hope you might do as well.
Ascension by Nicholas Binge. For readers happy to explore big ideas and embrace uncertainty
A mind-bending speculative thriller in which the sudden appearance of a mountain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean leads a group of scientists to a series of jaw-dropping revelations that challenge the notion of what it means to be human.
IF YOU EVER READ THIS
TELL OTHERS
DON’T COME HERE.
When a mountain mysteriously appears in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a group of scientists are sent to investigate – and discover what is at the summit.
Eminent scientist, explorer and chronic loner Harry Tunmore is among those asked to join the secret mission – and he has his own reasons for joining the team beyond scientific curiosity…
But the higher the team ascend, the stranger things become. Time and space behave differently on the mountain, turning minutes into hours, and hours into days. Amid the whipping cold and steep dangers of higher elevation, the climbers’ limbs numb and memories of their lives before the mountain begin to fade.
What will they discover about themselves and their world as they rise? What, or who, will they discover at the top?
Framed by the discovery of Harry Tunmore’s unsent letters to his family and the chilling and provocative story they tell, Ascension considers the limitations of science and faith and examines both the beautiful and the unsettling sides of human nature.
About the author:
Nicholas Binge is an author of speculative thrillers, literary science-fiction, and horror. His novels include Ascension and Professor Everywhere. Binge has lived in Singapore, Switzerland, and Hong Kong, and is based in Edinburgh, UK, where he teaches literature and works on new books. He is an active member of ESFF (Edinburgh Science-Fiction & Fantasy).
His most recent novel, Ascension, is being published by Harper Voyager (UK) and Riverhead Books (US) in April. It is also being translated into eight other languages and has been optioned for film.
Binge has a deep love for anything weird, anything that pushes boundaries, and anything that makes him cry. He is never happier than when he is with a book.
The best way to keep updated about news and new releases is to go to his website: http://www.nicholasbinge.com, sign up to his newsletter, or follow him on Twitter: @BingeWriting
My review:
I thank NetGalley and Harper Voyager (Harper Collins UK) for providing me with an ARC copy of this novel, which I freely chose to review.
I wasn’t familiar with the author before I read this novel, but my curiosity was piqued by the concept, and I also read some intriguing comments about it, so I had to check it out.
The description of the novel is quite apt, and the premise pretty original (although when I read some of the comments, it seems that readers found similarities and connections with other novels, some I am unfamiliar with, so I’m just speaking for myself here). Imagine that, suddenly, a huge mountain appears, here on Earth, much bigger than anything we know, in the middle of “somewhere” (“where” is never made clear). Even more curious is the fact that most people don’t know anything about this mountain (this part of the story is set in the early 1990s, so at a time when perhaps one could imagine it might still have been possible, though improbable, for something like that to be kept hidden from the general public). Harold (Harry) Tunmore, a scientist with several careers under his belt, is recruited for an expedition to that mountain, with a team of other scientists. Only, this is not the first expedition, and it is unclear what happened to the members of the previous one, other than a couple, who came back but they are not quite themselves. The story doesn’t reach us directly, though, but it is framed by an introduction, set in 2020, provided by Harry’s brother, Ben, who was always in awe of his intelligent, aloof, and socially inept brother, and who, together with their sister, Poppy, had given Harry for dead almost thirty years earlier, when he had disappeared and never been heard of again. Suddenly, Ben receives a phone call from a friend who believes he has recognised Ben’s brother at a mental health asylum. When Ben goes to investigate, he discovers that Harry is still alive, and also that he has kept a stack of letters addressed to Harriet, his niece, and Ben’s daughter. In these letters —three of which had reached them at the time but didn’t seem to make any sense— he tells a pretty curious and outlandish tale. Apart from the frame, this epistolary novel also includes the editor’s notes, commenting on the order of the letters and the process of trying to get the narrative into shape, Ben final’s words, and the author’s acknowledgement. (Remember that I read an ARC copy, so it is possible that there might have been some changes in the final published version.)
If one had to try and fit this novel into a genre, speculative science fiction fits it quite well, but there are also elements of horror (Lovecraftian monsters included), philosophical and psychological inquiries, a bit of a mystery thrown in, and there is an exploration of themes such as guilt, grief, avoidance, religion, faith, destiny, fate, time, free will, conspiracy theories, and what it means to be human. Many different thoughts came to my mind, and many possible comparisons: Brigadoon, where a charming village appeared magically every so many years and disappeared again (nothing to do with the tone and themes of this novel, though), The Descent (a group of people isolated in extreme conditions and confronted with some unknown dangers, although it lacks the philosophical depth), Interstellar (different plot but some of the questions it faces are not that dissimilar), Gravity (although in these last two rather than a full team there was an individual doing the searching), Alien… I’m sure you catch my drift and you will probably add many more if you read it.
We have an international ensemble of characters, and experts in different fields, as is to be expected from books and movies where humanity confronts an unknown challenge. You have a couple of ex-military personnel (from the US, a woman and a man, who had been married in a past life, but no longer), an expert climber and mountaineer (Australian, arrogant and full of himself), three soldiers, and a group of scientists: a geologist, a chemist, a doctor (who was a member of the previous expedition and who also happens to have been married to Harry), a biologist, and an anthropologist. I don’t want to spoil the story, but let’s say they are quite different, some friendlier than others, some more focused than others, some determined, some placing a lot of importance in faith and religion, others completely opposed to anything that is not rational and logical, and they are all confronted with things beyond their wildest imaginations. They are faced, not only with the difficult conditions of the climb (and most of them are completely new to it), but with confusion, strange changes in the time-space continuum, paranoia, secrets, lies, and, especially in Harry’s case (although as he is narrating the story in the first person, it might be that we are only told a very biased and one-sided version of it) a reckoning with his own personal history, his own past, and his own sense of guilt. He experienced a terrible loss in his life, he has spent many years trying to avoid dealing with it, and he finally has to face the truth.
I read some of the reviews, and I cannot disagree with some of the negative comments, although I don’t feel quite as strongly about the issues they point out as some other readers do. Some people find that the suspension of disbelief required to read the novel stretches their limit. For example, the fact that we are asked to believe that somebody in such extreme circumstances would find the time to write letters —especially letters he didn’t think he’d ever send (only three of them ever reach his niece)— is asking a bit too much for some readers. That is true if we read the novel as totally realistic, but there are possible explanations, some of which are contemplated inside its pages as well. I am not sure if the novel would have worked better in any other way, but I thought it added something to it, and I didn’t mind it that much. I don’t know enough about some of the concepts and theories about time and space mentioned in the novel, so I cannot comment on how accurate they are, and people who know more might take issue with those, but I enjoyed the explanations and they gave me plenty of food for thought (so, I’d say one doesn’t need to be an expert in Physics to enjoy the novel, no). How realistic some of the characters are is another matter. We are used to reading books and watching films and TV series where an individual or a team, are experts on everything and show an amazing capacity to solve problems by taking up tasks that seem well beyond their training or experience, but, as I said, that is a convention of the adventure genre (and a few others), and we are all aware of some individuals who seem to fit into that kind of profile. So, again, that didn’t bother me much. Some readers were not very impressed by the ending (and the twist that comes with it), but, although I understand the disappointment of some, it made perfect sense for me in light of everything else that had gone on. As I mentioned before, there are some alternative explanations offered to the story, but even without those, I feel there is a sense of equilibrium and completion to the narrative which I enjoyed.
For my part, I was gripped by the story, by some of the concepts about time, space, and destiny that are part and parcel of the novel, and also by the process that Harry, the main character, goes through, and how he has to face what happened. In some ways, the rest of the characters can be seen as aspects and issues of his own personality and psychological make-up, and he needs to confront all those to achieve a degree of peace and to make sense of his life, whatever is left of it even if it doesn’t make sense to anybody else. This is a book that asks a lot of questions but doesn’t offer any reassuring answers. This is not a novel for readers who are sticklers for rationality and verisimilitude in a story, who prefer everything to be settled and all issues to be sorted at the book’s closing, and who are seeking a reassuring read. This is for those who don’t mind their suspension of disbelief being stretched, who appreciate a bit of adventure and a few scares, but who also like to read challenging stories that question the nature of time, free will, memories, and what it means to be human.
Thanks to the author for sharing such a fascinating story, thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity, and especially, thanks to all of you for reading, commenting, and sharing this review. Keep smiling and living life to the full.
Just Olga 