Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Die leuchtenden Toten

A slow but tense book about a woman who gets more than she bargained for signing up for a mysterious underground expedition with a paycheque that was too good to be true. I liked the descriptions of the caving itself and the push and pull between the main characters, the caver and her handler. I do think Em wound up being a bit too soft

(and it's sort of weird imo that she's so young considering she's already sent over 20 expeditions into this cave by the time Gyre tries it) and the Tunneler was scarier before the baffling decision near the end to force a confrontation with it

but overall great book.

Content Warnings

storyorc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Spelunking with sandworms! A cool premise from which is wrung every drip of tension, claustrophobia, and disgust it has to give. Thought the worst was over at the 70% mark, but Starling never lets you fill your lungs all the way. The Descent meets Hill House.

Plot
The Luminous Dead operates as a series of horror set-pieces as we follow our climber, Gyre, through a cave system with sections such as "the Long Drop" and "the Hell Sump". Look forward to sweating watching this in cinema one day. Comes with a handy map at the start too that's worth referencing whenever Gyre hits a new 'level' of the cave, but try not to dwell on what the bits that don't make sense yet mean as they are vague spoilers. Or, perhaps, intentional hints left to fester in the mind as you read. Things get extreme at the end but the rush for the finish line is enough to speed past the bumps to the suspension of disbelief. Two lose ends bugged me

- the battery-smashing sabotage and Eli, both terrifying set-up with little payoff -

but the itch is worth the greater whole.

Character
Character was slightly weaker than plot and atmosphere, precluding 5 stars. Having only two characters on-page is hard mode and it is the spot where this novel shows its debut status most. Dialogue was slightly juvenile for my taste (though Gyre is only 22), Gyre's resistance to Em's help edged on ridiculous at times, and

their romance built too quickly and too intensely to feel organic

. I did however, appreciate Starling's commitment to her hurt people hurting people. Takes skill to show a character's ugly side without rendering them unlikeable.

Would have loved

one/both of them going back into the cave

in the end, but I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.

Themes
The novel shows its debut status most in the 10% superfluous descriptions of Gyre and Em's reactions. It does not in its exploration of grief, capitalism, and unreality. Starling fields an impressive implementation of Gyre losing her grip! Usually the reader has a good idea of the truth and just enjoys the dramatic irony of the characters figuring it out - not so here! And the ambiguity manages to stay on the right side of the line between intriguing and frustrating. My favourite punch in The Luminous Dead is one of the moments that make you question exactly how reliable a narrator Gyre still is. (Spoilers minor.)

"Time to climb back up," [Gyre] said...
"What?"
"Climbing up. To the surface?"
"That's not what you said." ...
"What else would I have said?"
"You said time to climb back down."

Content Warnings