Thin Air

By: Michelle Paver

Narrated by: Daniel Weyman

Length: 6 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Chosen for Simon Mayo's Radio 2 Book Club, this is the chilling new ghost story from the best-selling author of Dark Matter.

The Himalayas, 1935.

Kangchenjunga. Third-highest peak on earth. Greatest killer of them all.

Five Englishmen set off from Darjeeling, determined to conquer the sacred summit. But courage can only take them so far - and the mountain is not their only foe.

As the wind dies, the dread grows. Mountain sickness. The horrors of extreme altitude. A past that will not stay buried.

And sometimes, the truth does not set you free.

©2016 Michelle Paver (P)2016 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Another hit from Michelle Paver!

If you've read Dark Matter and loved it, you're going to love this one too. As with in line with her typical style, haunting atmosphere, excellent prose, 3-dimensional characters, and subtle but unrelenting terror that grips you tighter than any offering from the blood & gore genre.

I've one request from Audible: Please add all of the books in Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. I'd love to listen to the whole series but some of them are missing in Audible.

Daniel Weyman gave an absolutely phenomenal performance as the narrator. He not only has a beautiful tone but also has the acting talent that brings out all the emotions of the characters. He's now in my top list of narrators that also stars Jim Dale, Simon Vance, and Simon Jones. I cannot pay him a higher compliment. Bravo!

Exceptionally Creepy

Michelle Pacer does it again with a truly compelling and terrifying tale. Claustrophobic creeping dread, best way I can think of to describe the atmosphere she created. The narrator is equally amazing making for a Perfect ghost story for the Holiday season. 12/10 will listen again!

Thin Air

This is an engrossing and claustrophobic story whose atmosphere and message gets under your skin. Daniel Weyman does a fantastic job at steering away from a melodramatic performance where others wouldn't have been able to, and Paver does an outstanding job at making THIN AIR more than just your average ghost story. Purchased a copy in hardback so I can scribble my notes down once I listen to it again.

Not scary and quite boring

So annoyed that people reviewed this as a) scary and b) a good story. It was neither and I’m starting to think Audible reviewers are fake. I’m so upset by this thought you have no idea. This book sucked tho. Doubt anyone will even read this review tho.

3rd time around....

I cannot express how much I love this book. It is creepy, and cold, beautifully well written, and read exactly as it should be. Every time I listen, I catch something new and even though I have listened to it 3 times.... I still won’t listen in the dark.

Great Story AND Fantastic Narrator

For me, this story has it all. I really have listened to it 4 times. I can not say enough good things about the writing. But what I really want to rate is the narrator. I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Many times, a good story is ruined by the person reading. Thin Air is read perfectly by Daniel Weyman. I have sought out other novels read by him based solely on this performance. He is one of best narrators I've heard. Thank you Michelle Paver for writing such a unique story. And thank you Daniel Weyman for bringing it to life.

A refreshingly different kind of story

It is a fresh and imaginative setting. The story is a mystery thriller seasoned with the supernatural that does not rely on jump scenes or jump false alarms which turn into nothing. No gore or other lazy attempts at building tension. On the contrary, the atmospheric tension steadily crescendoed from beginning to climax. The story was linear and easy to track. The characters spoke and acted realistically which for me makes the story more believable and thus more haunting. My only criticism, and this is a really light criticism, is I felt the main character spent too much time in his inner monologue. But the story was so responsibly crafted with the reader in mind that it wasn't really a bother at all. Great tempo. Great use of descriptive and expressive language which really drew me into the story. I appreciated the author's note at the end telling a bit about writing the story. And, the narrator has a great voice and used it appropriately in varying the cadence and pitch.

Another

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Michelle Paver and this book delivers on the ever-present aura of dread that oozes from her storytelling. This was not my favorite of her works and does pale in comparison to her masterpiece that was Dark Matter. It is still well worth your time, and the narration and pacing are superb, but if I was to offer you one recommendation I would implore you to read (or listen to) Dark Matter instead as the stories and narrators are quite similar but DM weaves a more complete tale IMHO. Either way, you can't go wrong and both these works deserve to be a part of any horror collection.

Bone Chilling

Bone chilling atmospheric book. Similar to Dark Matter by Paver but still would recommend. Makes you feel like you are there.

Thoroughly enjoyed the story

I just finished this audible book on a long drive; it was thoroughly entertaining and the final chapters demanded your attention as the story came to a climax.

A tragedy that can never be righted

This is the story of two brothers who are taking part in an expedition to climb one of the lesser known Himalayan Mountains and following in the footsteps of an ill-fated expedition that took place twenty years earlier. The main protagonist is Stephen, an embittered man who has recently broken off his engagement because he felt he was becoming too much like his brother Kits. Whereas Stephen is intelligent and introspective, Kits is a natural and popular leader who nonetheless has the flaw of being snobbish and dismissing anybody who does not fit in with his class and his view about how things should be done. From the outset the Stephen is blighted with a sense of foreboding after meeting one of the survivors of the earlier expedition but intends to push on regardless in order to satisfy his sense of rivalry with his brother.
Michelle Paver takes us back to a time when men had been brutalised by the First World War and an imperialist world, but had learnt none of the lessons, instead desperately clinging onto the old order. Their casual racism and cruelty is shocking but even the privileged are trapped in a system of inheritance that only favours one beneficiary and destroys any possiblity of sibling love. The description of the journey through the jungle and finally the mountain is beautiful but also filled with an oppressive sense of discomfort at the alien environment encountered by the men. As the men ascend the mountain they become affected by the altitude and mountain sickness and it is here that Stephen gets the sense there is another presence accompanying them.
The slow reveal of what really happened during the previously expedition is perfectly timed and the poignancy of the tragedy is a visceral blow to the senses. This may be a ghost story but it also goes further by showing us that the we can all be tainted by the knowledge of evil even when we are not the direct protagonist.
The narration by Daniel Weyman is brilliant – a true master of his craft. The book is every bit as good as Dark Matter and I will be recommending this heartily to family and friends.

These Chills Really Are Multiplying!

Michelle Paver has produced another genuine chiller with a story that follows an ill-fated expedition to the Himalayas. Although I have to say that of the two of her books I have read Dark Matter is the stronger this one again satisfied in similar fashion. It's a lovely old-fashioned ghost story, no huge horror or monsters just a growing feeling of unease and then dread told with patience and care.

Daniel Weyman is excellent, I've spent quite some time with him in my headphones and here I saw another side to him. This is a real performance and he hits the heights as the story draws towards its climax.

So, just as with Dark Matter this is an easy recommendation for anyone wanting a high quality old school ghost story. If you're after the Walking Dead or lots of gory horror (as I often am) this is much more subtle and won't satisfy. If you're debating between this and Dark Matter I would go for Dark Matter of the two but neither should disappoint.

perfect old-fashioned ghost story

I absolutely loved Dark Matter and was thrilled to find a new ghost story for the start of the winter. I get through the dark days and nights by listening and reading ghost stories. Somehow just not the same if sun pouring through the windows and birds singing merrily. As I was finishing this the rain was lashing against the windows and the room was lit by soft lamplight and I was so glad to be in my warm, cosy room and not an ice cave.
Once again the author transported me to a cold, hostile place where something dreadful awaits. Totally enjoyed this story and hopefully the author will continue writing a ghost stories and I will certainly buy them. Thoroughly recommend it.

Subtle and chilling

Where does Thin Air rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

9/10

What other book might you compare Thin Air to, and why?

Dark Matter by the same author. I don't mind when a subject I enjoy is revisited by someone who knows how to write it well. It shares many of the same flavours of Dark Matter, including being British to a fault, and I loved every word of it.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, definitely.

Any additional comments?

Subtle, chilling horror written by an author who has a brilliant voice for it. I recommend this and Dark Matter, by the same author, for those who love a good British ghost story.

One of the best downloads this year!

I have been waiting all year for Michelle's new book. I am a massive fan of Paver's ghost stories. Dark Matter was one of the great British ghost stories, and Thin Air is every bit its equal. And the bonus afterward by Michelle herself talking about the book is fascinating.

Another Winner, thank you, Michelle!

When's the next one out?

Unsettling and very enjoyable

Yes it's largely the same plot as dark matter but with a different setting, but I loved dark matter so this was very enjoyable. The last hour kept me up late and the writing was very descriptive. The extent of human endurance demanded by climbing the highest peaks on earth are fascinating, put a ghost story up there and it's a winner.

The other mountain of madness

Apart from the Lovecraft story alluded to in the review title, I cannot think of another mountain story in the supernatural/horror genre. It should be noted that there are virtually no similarities between the two.
Some reviewers have complained that Thin Air is too similar to Dark Matter. I can see what they mean, but I don't consider it a problem. In fact, I'd be very happy if Paver did a third one. It could be her vaguely M.R. Jamesian remote locales trilogy. I don't usually re-listen to audiobooks, but this one is on my to listen again pile, and I'm debating whether to re-read Dark Matter (I have the first edition hardback) or get it on audio.
I've been generous with the stars because this is one of those fairly rare occasions when the prose and the narration really mesh. Sure, you get good readers reading good stories, but sometimes they go beyond this; there is a synergy in which the narrator isn't just reading the words, he's telling his story. There is no Michelle Paver and there is no Daniel Weyman, there is just Stephen Pearce talking directly to the listener.
(I got a similar effect when I listened to Michael Maloney's reading of Christopher Priest's The Affirmation.)

Deliciously creepy!

I absolutely loved this story from Michelle Paver. For me it had everything, a mountain, a dog and a ghost. I will never look at a rucksack the same way again!!
The narrator was brilliant.
Thoroughly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good scare.

A little too familiar, a little too long

It must be very difficult to find a way of presenting the Empire-building English upper class (and a Scot) that doesn't feel like cliche. Perhaps there have been so many parodies (and perhaps the real thing wasn't too far off) that it may be impossible to describe frost-bitten Brits being plucky in the cold without risking a slight comic edge. This gave the characters a two-dimensional feel, possibly as they felt rather like amalgamations of every shivering bearded posh adventurer I've come across in fiction.

The spooky side managed a bit of mystery and threat, and the final chapter or so was reasonably dark, but overall the book felt like it could have been a reasonable short story. It really didn't need to be this drawn out, and it was very hard to engage with any of the characters as they simple didn't feel very real.

Excellent ghost story

I loved the audiobook of Michelle Paver's Dark Matter and I'd been hoping she would return to adult ghost stories. This is a superb audiobook.

Some reviewers have remarked on the similarity between Thin Air and Dark Matter - there are certainly similarities between the two books but that didn't matter to me - this is a genre work and if the main elements are not broken, why fix them! If you liked Dark Matter, you should love Thin Air.

There's a good narrative strand of sibling rivalry between the narrator, the mountain expedition's doctor, and his elder brother, who is the expedition's leader. But it is the slow build-up of tension from the supernatural elements that makes this book so good. The climax is gripping and horrifying without being gory and then there is a very moving aftermath.

I won't claim that this actually scared me, however, after I'd finished the audiobook, I happened to have been woken-up by the wind and rain in the middle of the night and I was transported to the Himalayas and the climax and ending of the novel.

I highly recommend this book.