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A review by azrah786
Ascension by Nicholas Binge
3.5
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, injury, blood, murder, death, child death, fire/injury, suicide, body horror, grief
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It has taken me some time to get my head around wording my thoughts for this book because though it was an engaging read it fell a little flat by the end.
A quick read and a good mashup of genres Binge has written a mind-bending story. Told through the letters of a lost scientist - Harold Tunmore – addressed to his niece, we follow the journey he and a group of fellow scientists took when they were sent to explore a bizarre mountain that had randomly appeared in the middle of the Pacific. The writing successfully conveys all the tension of a real life mountain hike as well as the “what the fuck” feel of everything that goes on during the expedition.
The epistolary format and this being represented in the book as a published collection was really clever however, I feel it was also a hinderance the further you read. The lengthy monology descriptions and anecdotes that the narrator was penning for the reader just felt a bit overkill and slowed the story down for me. Particularly with how fast the primary and more intense mountain plot was.
From about midway on towards the end, the narration started to feel a little monotonous and I found I was able to predict some of what was going to happen which lessened my enjoyment of the big twists and reveals.
Though I will say Binge’s writing does well to bring a range of emotions to the page in those segments of personal reflection when he is unpacking the mysterious past of the protagonist. There was also some interesting and thought provoking discussions on the themes of faith vs science, humanity and autonomy.
And so despite being a bit of a miss for me overall I think this story would make a brilliant mini-series.
Final Rating - 3.5/5 Stars
CW: violence, gun violence, injury, blood, murder, death, child death, fire/injury, suicide, body horror, grief
--
It has taken me some time to get my head around wording my thoughts for this book because though it was an engaging read it fell a little flat by the end.
A quick read and a good mashup of genres Binge has written a mind-bending story. Told through the letters of a lost scientist - Harold Tunmore – addressed to his niece, we follow the journey he and a group of fellow scientists took when they were sent to explore a bizarre mountain that had randomly appeared in the middle of the Pacific. The writing successfully conveys all the tension of a real life mountain hike as well as the “what the fuck” feel of everything that goes on during the expedition.
The epistolary format and this being represented in the book as a published collection was really clever however, I feel it was also a hinderance the further you read. The lengthy monology descriptions and anecdotes that the narrator was penning for the reader just felt a bit overkill and slowed the story down for me. Particularly with how fast the primary and more intense mountain plot was.
From about midway on towards the end, the narration started to feel a little monotonous and I found I was able to predict some of what was going to happen which lessened my enjoyment of the big twists and reveals.
Though I will say Binge’s writing does well to bring a range of emotions to the page in those segments of personal reflection when he is unpacking the mysterious past of the protagonist. There was also some interesting and thought provoking discussions on the themes of faith vs science, humanity and autonomy.
And so despite being a bit of a miss for me overall I think this story would make a brilliant mini-series.
Final Rating - 3.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Murder, Child death, and Blood