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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.
An enormous snow-covered mountain has appeared in the Pacific Ocean. No one knows when exactly it showed up, precisely how big it might be, or how to explain its existence. When Harold Tunmore is contacted by a shadowy organization to help investigate, he has no idea what he is getting into as he and his team set out for the mountain.
The higher Harold's team ascends, the less things make sense. Time moves differently, turning minutes into hours, and hours into days. Amid the whipping cold of higher elevation, the climbers' limbs numb and memories of their lives before the mountain begin to fade. Paranoia quickly turns to violence among the crew, and slithering, ancient creatures pursue them in the snow. Still, as the dangers increase, the mystery of the mountain compels them to its peak, where they are certain they will find their answers. Have they stumbled upon the greatest scientific discovery known to man or the seeds of their own demise?
Framed by the discovery of Harold 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.
"Binge's superlative imagining of how the mind-blowing scientific discoveries, which have global implications, would affect his characters elevates this above similar genre fiction. Admirers of Michael Marshall Smith's The Anomaly will be riveted." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An entertaining SF thriller that's unable to catch up to its vision." —Kirkus Reviews
"Ascension is a pastiche of august influences. The epistolary structure is borrowed from Dracula. The doomed expedition that drives Harold mad is akin to H. P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness....Binge earns his place among these literary lights with an expert story of creeping dread and cosmological horror." —Booklist
"Thrilling...full of exploration and intriguing thoughts about the true nature of life on Earth...An exciting story where the undiscovered wonders of Earth prove as exciting as those out in the galaxy." —Library Journal
"Binge has written a profound and elegiac story that examines science, faith and the concept of humanity itself — what it means to live and die, to yearn and strive, and all the spaces in between. I will be thinking about this one for a long time!" —Sunyi Dean, bestselling author of The Book Eaters
"A science fiction mystery that uses a classical concept, but with a beating heart. Both the science and the suspense are perfection, all held together by a robust emotional core. I enjoyed it immensely." —Tade Thompson, award-winning author of Rosewater and Far from the Light of Heaven
"Exerts an irresistible pull, setting not only a scientific search in motion but also a transcendent quest to unravel mysteries of existence and human meaning. Suspenseful yet also deeply contemplative in turns, this is a novel that spins the mind and asks us to step with it into the unworldly." —Pitchaya Sudbanthad, author of Bangkok Wakes to Rain
This information about Ascension was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Nicholas Binge lives and teaches in Edinburgh. Ascension is his first book in the U.S.
My Darling Boy by John Dufresne
The story of of a man whose son collapses into addiction and vanishes into the chaotic netherworld of southern Florida.
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