The Abominable by Dan Simmons

"Dimly, distantly, I realize three things: the wind has come up so strongly that the small Meade tent that J.C. and I have been crouching in is flapping and banging like wash hung out to dry in a hurricane (I'd thought the noise was only in my throbbing skull)..." -Dan Simmons, The Abominable

Jacob Perry is embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. After four mountain climbers go missing, he and his friends contact the mother of one of the missing men and promise to bring her son home, alive or dead. Their true goal: be the first climbers to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. 

Let's start with what I liked about it. 

The book was very very detailed. Everything you didn't know you wanted to know about mountain climbing is in this book... and probably some things you didn't care to know. Dan Simmons wrote this adventure in such a way that you'll feel like you are hanging off the face of a mountain, trekking waist deep in snow, and struggling for breath in the cold, unforgiving mountain air. He doesn't just tell you about Everest, he takes you there.

Everest is a hostile environment; rocks, snow, and ice as far as the eye can see, and you'd better wear your goggles, or you won't be seeing much because you've just gone blind. The weather is treacherous with subzero temperatures, winds strong enough to tear a tent open, and blizzards that hide every crevasse. The there's the pure isolation that is Everest, even with thirty or so sherpas to aid the expedition, help is far away if you need it in a hurry. Everest reads like her own character - a dangerous one.

The characters are ok. Jacob is an expert climber of rock faces, but whatever he's thinking he's prone to saying the opposite. At a point here or there, he even comes off as whiny. I can't decide if this is good or bad, after all, we're getting a complex character even if he happens to be a little annoying. The Deacon and JC are actually better characters (still not as good as the mountain); flawed Deacon and brainy JC. And I liked that they hired themselves out as a rescue mission when what they were really doing was stealing funds to fuel a mountain climb. None of them were angels, manipulating a grieving mom. 

Except Reggie. 

Ah, what can you say about Reggie. Dan Simmons wanted to make sure we were getting a strong female character, but he overcorrected from us getting a weak one by making sure that Reggie was perfect at everything. She sews, she hunts, she mountain climbs; she's so impressive it's not particularly realistic.

Nope, Everest is still the best character of them all.

What didn't I like?

Whatever you do, don't skip the Introduction. It's Dan Simmons giving a fictional interview to a fictional character to set up the plotline... I didn't think the intro was necessary (or the bit at the end where we return to Dan Simmons). The story would have read exactly the same without that nonsense as it did with it. We don't really need Jacob Perry of the present time to tell us how exciting Jacob Perry of the 1920s was... 1920s Jacob Perry is the main character and we assume he'll be exciting from the start because he's the main character.

My goodness, was it slow. It doesn't stay slow, to be fair, but it stays slow for a really long time. First, they have to pack supplies. Then they have to practice with their new gear. Then they have to ship the supplies... To be fair to the book, I thought it was going to be a horror novel. I've read two other books by this author, both horrors, and this book was located in the horror section of B&N so I kept waiting for something scary to happen and it never did. It's not the author's fault the book was sitting in the horror section.

I will call it a thriller.  But. But it took to page 450-something of a slightly more than 600 page novel for the thrill to begin. Which was a long wait. If you're looking for a beginning to end thrill ride this is not that novel.This is a thrill ride from two thirds of the way in. And because the meat of the story doesn't start until 2/3 of the way in, I can't really tell you anything about it. That's spoiler territory. But I will say the book is about more than a mountain climb.

It was a difficult to rate this... Did I like the plot? Yes. Did I like the setting? Yes. Did I like the pacing? Heck no. Did I like the characters? Eh, they were ok. 

I almost gave it 3 stars, my 'just ok' rating, but decided I probably would have liked it more if I'd gone into it knowing that it wasn't a horror novel. I've decided to go with 4 stars. It's enjoyable if a slow burn is what you seek and it's really enjoyable if windburn is what you're after. And if you just want adventure, you'll definitely find it here.