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, a scientist of mysterious phenomena, 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.
100 pages I really like this letter style format so far (view spoiler)[ so what could this be? is it alien? is it making them see all the futures/all the possible paths of each decision? but they seem to time travel, right? so are they also bending time, seeing all the past and futures?? Hmmm....
and it broke my heart that he had just found his brother only to lose him again (hide spoiler)]
oooh wow (view spoiler)[ that dimension stuff took me a minute to wrap my head around. I would think it'd be more like a wave (or multiple waves) in time because they are also seeing themselves at different timeframes too! I hope they don't see anything too bad
but Jet coming back. Yikes! I'm sad for his fingers but we knew, from when his brother found him, that this had already happened.
there is no way this group isn't doomed. Is he one of the only to make it off this mountain?
and what are these creatures? The fact they are. . .breathing in weird things is just so mind-trippy! (hide spoiler)]
wow, this was a very good one! (view spoiler)[ so twisty and wild. I liked the layers of the last part. All the times they twisted in the wind, not sure what to do but then found each other. Bettan would not have been a good representative but to kill himself like that - to remove the possibility of what the gods offered. But, I guess in the end, he stayed true to who he was - selfish and yet, determined to be the one on top..
I like how their memories were the things that kept them sane - the pieces of themselves that kept them "human" and not like the leviathans. (hide spoiler)] this one was wild and very good!
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, a scientist of mysterious phenomena, 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.