The Abominable: Novel Review

Welcome back to your regularly scheduled PLM content!

A friend actually recently asked my thoughts on this novel, which made me realize I haven’t written a review on it yet, and wanted to! As such, welcome to my review of The Abominable! This one is dedicated to Emry!

The Author

Winner of the August Derleth award, Bram Stoker Award, Hugo award and more, Dan Simmons is an American author specializing in horror, sci-fi, and historical fiction. With a B.A. in English and a Masters in Education, Simmons’s literary career took off in 1982 when his short story, “The River Styx Runs Upstream” was published and awarded first prize in a Twilight Zone Magazine story competition.

His works include The Terror, Summer of Night, Drood, Carrion Comfort, among others.

The Novel

Published in 2013, The Abominable is a fictionalized take on the very real race to climb Mount Everest in 1924.

It's 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers -- a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American -- find a way to take their shot at the top. They arrange funding from the grieving Lady Bromley, whose son also disappeared on Mt. Everest in 1924. Young Bromley must be dead, but his mother refuses to believe it and pays the trio to bring him home.

- The Abominable Amazon landing page description

As the description above states, the novel follows the journey of three climbers determined to summit the mountain. They face a lot in their way: the elements, devious competitors, and something pursuing them in the night that seems utterly…inhuman. (You could even say abominably so.)

The Review

I read this following my reading of Simmons’s The Terror, which I really enjoyed. As such, I really wanted to like this one as well and, while it started with an intriguing premise, I felt like it fell rather flat (unlike Mount Everest, bahdumtsh).

Overall, this is a thick book that tries to be a spy thriller as well as a supernatural horror about the creature that haunts the mountain. As with The Terror, Simmons does a good job of mixing reality with fiction to create a compelling alternate world and timeline.

One thing that is quite clear throughout the novel is how much Simmons loves to research his subject matter and — don’t get me wrong, I am all about historical accuracy — but boy did that make the novel drag.

I feel like there needs to be a balance between historical accuracy, technical knowledge, and pacing with regards to fiction and The Abominable — unlike The Terror — didn’t achieve that balance in my opinion, unfortunately.

The subject matter was interesting enough that I did finish the book, though I skimmed over the long stretches of info dropping. I do want to call out as well that I really enjoyed Simmons’s take on a familiar monster (though don’t expect to see it right away).

Overall, it was a decent book. It’s detailed, well-written, and spins some good twists, but I think some readers might struggle at the slow pacing and over-abundance of technical detail. I know I did.

5/10

x PLM