Review: The Way Up is Death by Dan Hanks

Blurb:

A SFF thriller where a mysterious, otherworldly tower appears in the sky above the UK with a single word emblazoned above its doorway... ascend. A great read for fans of Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart.

When a mysterious tower appears in the skies over England, thirteen strangers are pulled from their lives to stand before it as a countdown begins. Above the doorway is one word: ASCEND.

As a grieving teacher, a reclusive artist, and a narcissistic celebrity children’s author lead the others in trying to understand why they’ve been chosen and what the tower is, it soon becomes clear the only way out of this for everyone… is up.

And so begins a race to the top, through sinking ships, haunted houses and other waking nightmares, as the group fights to hold onto its humanity, while the twisted horror of why they’re here grows ever more apparent – and death stalks their every move.

Review:

What would you be willing to do for the sake of humanity? That’s the question posed to Alden, a burnt-out teacher in England when he and 12 others are mysteriously pulled out of their everyday lives and transported to the entrance of a tower. Unfortunately for them all, the tower appeared in the clouds, so simply walking away just won’t do the trick. 

The group of people chosen to ascend ranges from a seemingly normal father and daughter, to a middle-aged social media star, and everywhere in between. They all bring their own baggage on the way up, and the Tower is determined to see them shed it once they enter. The only message given once they’re at the entrance is “Ascend”, and traveling upwards is quickly realized as their only option.

As the group travels up and up the Tower, each floor (or level) takes the form of one of their deepest fears. Each one of them becomes more surreal and horrifying than the last, and the group has to work together, even while certain individuals are more focused on winning the “game” they believe they’re taking part in, or die. The trials and tribulations that they face on each level can either make or break them, and to be honest I’d have probably died on level 2. Dan does an incredible job at not just showing the issues at a surface level, but has so many intricacies in each underlying aspect of the challenge that it takes more than 1 person alone is capable of. It quickly becomes a work together, or die alone type of story but it’s really much more than that. And as the book reaches its climax, that first question comes roaring back into the forefront.

I think the biggest positive for the book was the characters themselves. Especially two of the main POVs, the aforementioned Alden and Nia, who’s a conceptual artist who has also helped work on video games, which really comes in handy. The main comparison I have to this book is prime Stephen King; on the surface it seems like a bloody labyrinth, full of horrors and death but it really hits home harder in other areas that Alden and Nia are keen to let us view. Existential grief, sexism, inner turmoil and the pain of suffering are all themes that linger beneath the upper layer of horror, and those stuck with me long after reading.  

Another aspect of the novel that was incredibly well done was the descriptions of each of the challenges on the levels the group had to face. At face value, it seemed easy to go “oh, well let’s just do this and move on” when in actuality, the answer (and survival) was much deeper. I think that is a perfect analogy for life; where so many things can come up that challenge us, the nuances of each situation can appear differently to every individual person. What I see as the biggest obstacle would probably be different from what 5 other people see, and so on. The ways that Dan goes about putting this theory into words and acting on that idea is so incredible in its thoughtfulness, and it makes each paragraph, not just page, interesting to see how it gets resolved. 

Overall, this is a great book. The only downside I have is that one of the characters, Dirk (the social-media star) is so brazen in being an asshole it comes off cartoonish. We all know (for the most part) how obnoxious social media can be in the world and he was a flawless portrayal of that, which can get a bit tiresome but otherwise I have no complaints and only praise. One of the most thought-provoking books I’ve read in years, and I cannot recommend it enough!