The Abominable

A Novel

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Length: 29 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

A thrilling tale of high-altitude death and survival set on the snowy summits of Mount Everest, from the best-selling author of The Terror.

The year is 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.

Deep in Tibet and high on Everest, the three climbers - joined by the missing boy's female cousin - find themselves being pursued through the night by someone…or something. This nightmare becomes a matter of life and death at 28,000 feet - but what is pursuing them? And what is the truth behind the 1924 disappearances on Everest? As they fight their way to the top of the world, the friends uncover a secret far more abominable than any mythical creature could ever be. A pulse-pounding story of adventure and suspense, The Abominable is Dan Simmons at his spine-chilling best.

©2013 Dan Simmons (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Chilly Action

This was an outstanding piece of historical fiction... The story and action kept me reading, despite what I thought of as very average narration... At times I found the narrator a little grating, otherwise this story would have deserved 5 stars... The setting was superbly described, and the plot gained in intensity all the way through to the climax... Abominable indeed, but not in the way you think, but I won't spoil why;)

This is historical fiction

I liked the characters, the writing was excellent, and the narration was topnotch. I really have only one quibble. see below the spoiler warning


SPOILER:

Where's the snowman? When you listen to a book called "abominable" written by a horror author, you expect at least one abominable snowman! By three quarters of the way through the book, I was thinking "wow, this is a really slow build, when does the yeti attack?" but alas, no yeti here!

A Must Read! Great from start to finish.

After reading/listening to Dan Simmons “The Terror” I didn’t except to find a better story. “Abominable” exceeded those expectations. The story is beautifully written and highly recommended.

Stunning story of an early assent of Mt Everest

Dan Simmoms continues to amaze me with this fantastic story of a 1926 Mt Everest climb and the myriad of geopolitical events on which its characters become entwined, tieing the story together over several decades . The surface story alone is an amazing description of the Mountaineering skills the climbers, early innovations of the equipment and breathtaking observation of the raw beauty of the Mountain. The backstory is full of twists and turns and reads like a mystery which only reveals itself toward the end of this huge tomb. it is a long listen but I enjoyed every minute!

Great story but misleading

I listened to the entire book. Enjoyed it, especially the mountaineering aspect, but was really bothered that there was nothing supernatural. No yetis! The premise was very and how the book is advertised is misleading.

Beautifully written historical fiction

If you like historical fiction you’ll love this book - legend, nazis, yeti, & Mount Everest lore it’s all here, excellent narration

Not about the abominable snowman

This is my first novel by the author. And with the name of the book being called abominable you would think that it would be about the creature. The story does reference the creature but there is no actual payoff.

Great story, great detail

Dan Simmons writes long books. That's what he does, and he does it well. Carrion Comfort is the other I've listened to (around 30 hrs long) and that made me want to listen to others of his.
The Abominable is a story about an American, Jacob Perry who ends up on an expedition to Mt. Everest. The expedition has perils and secrets that a normal trip to Everest does not hold.

This story is great. There are a lot of details, scene development, and character development. I am very familiar with the terminology and technical details of mountianeering and rock climbing so I really enjoyed those sections of the book as they were factual and well researched.

The action of the story moved along nicely and the premise of the action and danger was believable. Simmons also did a nice job of setting the story up early so when situations happened later, they happened naturally and flowed well.

There were some flaws. I thought Carrion Comfort was pretty much perfect, so I was surprised that there were some distinct things about this book that I did not like.
The main character wasn't very likable. As the story went on he got more annoying and less likable. By the finale, I kinda wanted someone to punch him, or at least I just wanted him to stop talking. The narrator didn't help either. His tone didn't need to be quite as whiny and complaining as Jacob, which made him even less likable.

Also, I thought the extra side-story that could have brought some fun thrills into the story just fizzled and never developed.

With those criticisms, I still give it four stars because it was a great story that is worth the listen. The research and details are impressive and fit well within the story.

Basically a 30 hour description of climbing

As stated it was a long description of climbing techniques with a dull story connected.

Took long enough...

The story was solid but, but the narrative wasn't in much of a hurry to get to the point. Also wandered around as if lost.