Ascension by Nicholas Binge is an epistolary novel where well-respected physicist, Harry Tunmore, documents the investigation of the scientific team he is a part of, who are exploring the bizarre appearance of a giant mountain that has formed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Although immensely bright and talented, Harry is a loner who has isolated himself from family, friends, and loved ones. This self-inflicted penance has allowed Harry to excel in his scientific field, travelling the world, building his reputation, and leading him to be respected enough to be a part of this exploration team. He has hardened his heart when it comes to feeling and emotions.

This makes it slightly surprising that he writes the letters expressing the strange and beyond comprehensible happenings on the mountain to his niece, Harriet. The letters act as chapters and occasionally feature editor's notes which usually reference the letters' dates or conditions (how worn etc...), adding an extra layer to the peculiarities that take place on the mountain.

"IF YOU EVER READ THIS. TELL OTHERS. DON'T COME HERE."

The above statements were on the advanced review copy I received for this novel and intrigued me enough to start reading straight away. Ascension gripped me from the moment I started reading, and, throughout, is a high-octane, science-fiction thriller, littered with intelligent and dynamic set-pieces. Approximately 70% of the novel takes place on the mountain yet this narrative never becomes dull or predictable.

Binge writes well, with real clarity as he brings the drama to life, set against this almost otherworldly backdrop. Some sections of Ascension are science-heavy, relating to and referencing many theories that are far too advanced for my understanding. This did not take away from my enjoyment, and, if anything, heightened my empathy for the characters as they, some of the cleverest minds on the planet, were left baffled by the unexplainable.

Ascension features some excellent character creations and these are brought to life by Harry's descriptions and impressions regarding personalities and motives. High-intensity adventurer Bettan and military affiliate The Warden are great supporting characters, as is the scientist Naoko, whose path with Harry has crossed prior to them being reacquainted on the mountain.

Around 20% of Ascension is comprised of flashbacks and although I did not enjoy these as much as the scenes set around investigating the mountain, they are a welcome change in pace and culminate excellently (although slightly predictably); shedding light on the reasons for Harry's isolation and almost stoic nature. These past events are normally revealed to coincide with an update that occurs on the mountain and feature knowledge-nuggets that enhanced the main story timeline. For example, indicating why he is writing to Harriet, and explaining the relationship situations with other members of his family.

Ascension is a stimulating and hard-to-put-down 300-page science thriller. It is complex, clever, thought-provoking, and thoroughly intriguing, with some fascinating concepts with regards to time and predicting the future, and our understanding of humans, nature, and the universe. 8/10.

Keeping you on the edge of your seat, Ascension primarily focuses on the journey of Harold who, estranged from his family, is enlisted onto an expedition to investigate a mountain which has just appeared in the ocean. Taller than Everest and seemingly appearing out of nowhere, Harold's letters to his niece Hattie, provide the narrative to his mind bending journey to the top of the world.

With much Lovecraftian imagery, Ascension is also a tale of guilt and the human search for acceptance. Though not a genre I reguarly read, this was an entertaining novel, providing ample characters for me to love and hate, as well as bits mystery and intrigue amongst the fantasy/sci-fi elements.

The problem with this book, I feel, is it is just a tad too cheesy and ridiculous for speculative fiction. I found it more palatable when I told myself it was horror.

Ascension definitely works better as a horror-- monstrous creatures in the night, minds being taken over by mystical forces, religious themes, campy twists --but I came in expecting something akin to Sylvain Neuvel's Sleeping Giants so I was disappointed.

Also, the epistolary format is usually one I enjoy, but it did not work for me here. I couldn't quite buy into Harold sitting down to write these exceptionally detailed letters in between being pursued by various mountain horrors. And it bothered me that he was addressing his young niece in them-- would he really include all the "fucks" and references to making love to his wife? It was one more thing that ruined my suspension of disbelief.

Then there were the extensive flashbacks, which bored me. I'm sure they were there to break up the monotony of mountain trek, run from the monsters, trek trek, run from the monsters, but I really didn't care that much.

I already mentioned the "campy twist" above, but I really feel the need to emphasise how much this made me cringe. When Harold realises the truth, it's made into a big sinister aha moment, but it was just sort of funny. (view spoiler)

None of this was helped by the fact that "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus came into my head at the start of the ascension and the more I read, the more the book seemed to parody the lyrics.

Thank you to Harper Voyager for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for a review!

Through a series of letters to his niece, a physicist reveals creeping revelations as he joins a team of other scientists and officers ascending a mountain which appears out of nowhere.

This book is accessible sci-fi, focusing on themes such as self-forgiveness, faith, and religion on a descent, or rather an ascent to madness.

”But you don't have to be ashamed of who you are. That is not humility. That is ... self-flagellation.”

It’s chilling (get it?), horrifying, and thrilling. It was addicting to read, I had to know what was going to happen - I couldn’t stop.

I would recommend Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant if you enjoyed this - instead, rather than going to the heights, you’re going to the deeps.

I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to the fantasy and mythology genre, but, I am widening my perspectives and so far loving it. The author has done this brilliantly. The story is beautifully written, the characters come alive on the page, the settings pop and all characters have believable voices. One of the key elements of this book is world-building, the author has created an intricate and detailed world, complete with its own histories, cultures, and languages. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

"Ascension" is a pretty good read. There's a lot of action, a lot of humanity, a fair bit of gore, a thrilling story, and great writing to carry it all. I do have one very small complaint, but I can't tell you about it without ruining the book for you... So you'll just have to read it yourself and see if you can guess what it is!

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

I see that I am out of step with most other reviewers, because the book didn't grab me .I thought it sounded interesting, but I really struggled with it .Oh well, can't win them all, and I am sorry it didn't do it for me.

This book is really gripping - the kind of book you can't put down. There are so many elements that are unlike anything I've ever read before. Considering that basically the whole novel takes place in a location that doesn't exist in our world (that is, an unfathomably large mountain that has sprung up seemingly overnight), the author does a great job of creating a visual image of said mountain. I have never climbed a mountain, and can't really imagine what it must look like. But the descriptions of Base Camp, and the weather conditions, were such that a mental image formed, along with an understanding of just how vast and isolating this must be. The descriptions of the heart of the mountain - the tesseract - are particularly cinematic.

The main character also is unique - neuro-divergent, with an amazing genius but often unable to comprehend human emotion. I have read plenty of reviews that found him unrelatable. I agree in part that he can be difficult, but I found myself warming to him and the way he experiences the world as sometimes out of sync from himself. I also enjoyed the metaphysical, philosophical elements that our narrator uses to try and make sense of the mountain (even though parts of it do feel like the author showing off his scientific knowledge, and can be very hard to grasp).

I also really enjoy the ending. Spoilers - the dual idea of whether the experiences on the mountain really happened, or whether they were the result of a psychotic break because of the immense guilt Harold was feeling was really interesting, and I like to believe both ideas simultaneously, no matter how contradictory!

There are elements of this book, however, that didn't work for me. The main one, and one that I really struggled to get over, was the lack of commitment to the idea of the unreliable narrator. We know pretty early on that the bulk of the novel will be told to us through letters written by Harold at the time of the events, and we are also told that the letters have no sense of a natural sequence or chronology. This ties with the notion that the further up the mountain they go, the more time starts to lose all meaning, and the more Harold describes himself as unable to hold onto a single thought for even a second. How, then, is he able to write such detailed and clear accounts of what is happening? Apart from the dates at the beginning of each letter that don't quite fit together, there is no confusion, or misrepresentation of events, which are entirely the things I would expect from a narrator going mad from extreme cold, unnatural occurrences, and mysterious - and often fatal - experiences. It almost feels like we are promised something confusing and disorienting, which the perfect narration then disappoints. For me, I wish the author would have fully committed to a development of the unreliable narrator, tying in with Harold's experiences becoming more and more confusing for him.

I've read a ton of books over the years. Some I didn't enjoy, some barely made an impression, some I've liked a lot, some I've loved beyond belief. And then there are a select handful, like ASCENSION by Nicholas Binge, that I want to physically place in every person's hand that I see and say "Please, do me a favor and just read this. No it really doesn't matter what genre or type of books that you usually enjoy, trust me and read THIS ONE." That's really the best way I can properly articulate my feelings after finishing this extraordinary book.

ASCENSION is a fantastic blend of so many different sub-genres that I adore. There are elements of science-fiction, horror, techno-thriller, and weird fiction, just to name the most prominent ones that come to mind. The completely fascinating story of a mysterious mountain that appears in the ocean seemingly out of nowhere is one that you can't help but get caught up in. And having the expedition to explore it told in a series of letters is such a cool way of experiencing the enigmatic find through the eyes of the person witnessing it for the first time.

If that alone wasn't engrossing enough, there is a heart wrenching side story of love and loss told via the reflections of the main character as he goes over the events of his life leading up to that point. That is what really made this book one that will stay with me long after reading it. Some of these scenes are so powerfully moving that they impacted me just as much as the mystery of the mountain did, but in a more personal and emotional way. There were moments when I didn't know which part of the story I wanted to jump back into more because they were both equally riveting. And therein lies the type of brilliant storytelling that Nicholas Binge has brought forth with his latest release ASCENSION.

This book also tackles some pretty heavy topics, one of which is the much debated issue of science vs faith. The main character does struggle with this at times as he is a former doctor turned physicist but was also raised in a household where religion was an everyday part of life. So there is that interesting dichotomy that is presented and throughout the book he is faced with a tug of war of sorts between the two. There were a couple of moments when I thought, oh this is going to go down a super preachy road and end up being a convenient, "God is the answer to everything" message. But I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case and the faith aspect isn't done in a overtly heavy handed way at all. Rather, I found that it is there to give another perspective on things.

It's so difficult to put into words exactly how brilliant of a read this was for me. It's a story that gradually peels back layer after tantalizing layer until the ultimate mystery is finally revealed. And let me just say that the ending of this book is even more rewarding than the insanely awesome journey leading up to it.

ASCENSION is a book that blew my mind in so many ways. I never wanted to stop reading it for a second and I felt like my mouth was constantly ajar in astonishment. I have a hard time thinking of another book that was this much of a roller coaster adventure ride while also being a deeply emotional character study at the same time. I would be shocked if this book didn't make gigantic waves when it drops in a couple of weeks. It may very well end up being my top read of 2023. If author Nicholas Binge wasn't a household name before, he most certainly should be after this shimmering jewel of a novel. He's an absolute superstar as far as I'm concerned and I will never miss a single book that he writes going forward. You shouldn't either!

Wow, this is truly a book that you cannot put down. The suspense starts almost straight away and stays until the end. This is not normally by type of genre but I liked the premise and so decided to give it a go, and I am so pleased that I did. The story itself is based on letters that are found after the main characters death and tell of a mountain that may or may not be alien in nature. I found this book questioned religion in a way that I have not come across before and I found myself considering parts of the basis of religion that I was so sure of however that is not to say that this is a book predominately concerned with the bible but rather there is a vein that threads through the mountain itself and the reason as to why it is there,
This is sure to be the must read of the year and will stay with you long after you have finished.

This is a thriller that will have you thinking about life itself.

Told in a series of letters to his niece, Harold has been taken to a remote mountain, somewhere in the world. A barren, isolated place that twists and turns his mind.
But, how do we know what is true? How does he?

An interesting sci fi thriller.

Through his letters, we meet physicist Harold who is a part of an exploratory team of scientists who are sent to a mysterious mountain that seems to have suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Where did it come from? Why did all but 2 scientists from the previous expedition die, and why are those 2 who survived so changed, and scared of what the mountain holds? We follow the team on their way up the mountain, as they discover all its mysteries and try to make sense of things that don't seem to be of this world.

I don't usually reach for sci-fi or horror/thriller but after reading this book's summary, I couldn't get it off my mind and I had to request an ARC. I quickly got accepted and I read it in the course of a day, even trying to sneak it in during my lectures in university. It's been a while since the last time I was so entertained by a book and couldn't put it down, It was just too gripping! I had to know what would happen next. The writing was fantastic and I didn't see any of the twists coming so I was pleasantly surprised any time the author took things in a direction other than the one I was expecting. It really keeps you guessing until the end. I think it would make an extremely entertaining movie, and I would love to see it on the big screen! I'll definitely be on the lookout for anything new this author will have to offer in the future!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Surprisingly, a great book. It's very much a one off plot that is difficult to categorise. It's adventure, sci-fi and mystery. Although it is written in the form of letters to a neice, it is really just good narrative. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing an eARC to review!

A mountain appears in the middle of the ocean, and the desire to know why brings up interesting questions about intelligent life, corporate greed, and the inability of humans to just leave things well enough alone. Even though the blurb says speculative thriller, for some reason I wasn't expecting The Da Vinci Code/Blake Crouch vibes, but that's definitely what this book is. It also at times gets into debates about science vs religion, and morality.

I was enjoying this well enough up until the 80% mark where things went a little off the rails, and there was a certain twist that was maybe the most goofy thing I've ever read. It's strange because a lot of the book feels like the author telling you how smart he is (and yet SO humble), but then the end is almost like a Fast and Furious movie. I didn't quite gel with our protagonist and found the philosophical conversations a bit like I was getting beaten over the head with the author's hot takes. I also felt at times like the other characters were only there to help/hinder our protagonist, rather than being fleshed out characters in their own right.

Overall I think you'd enjoy this if you liked the books mentioned above, but sadly I don't think I belong to that group of people.

I must admit that I slightly mis-read the blurb for Ascension and was expecting more of a psychological thriller (much like the brilliant Breathless by Amy McCulloch) than a sci-fi horror story!

Ascension starts off fairly normally with an introduction by ‘the author’ of the book, who has published his brother’s letters after finding him in an institution many years since believing him dead. The rest of the story is told through these letters from Harold to his brother’s daughter as he and a team of scientists and soldiers climb a mysterious mountain which has appeared overnight. Although the trip starts with secrets, betrayal and paranoia, there are soon scary creatures, murders and time travel to contend with in a race to the top. I thought the letter format worked well to tell the story and the book in general is well written with enough to get you hooked in. There are footnotes explaining the dates which are written at the top of each chapter, but these weren’t formatted well for my Kindle, sometimes being several pages later on. Hopefully this is fixed by the publication date – I personally love a clickable footnote (hint hint!).

There are quite a few characters on the expedition, but I didn’t really feel we got to know many of them except Harold and Naoko, his wife. This lessened the impact when some of them went missing or died later on in the trip. There are a lot of flashbacks to Harold’s life with Naoko and their son Santi and although I enjoyed the conclusion of this story and it was very heart-breaking to read, I thought there was perhaps too much build up and too much time spent on this. As the events on the mountain were so interesting and unusual I didn’t like the change in pace and shifting emphasis onto these flashbacks.

The book gets more and more into the realm of sci-fi as it progresses, but I found the conclusion to be a little odd and dare I say, far-fetched. This was quite a disappointment because of all of the build-up that had come before it. I did like the ambiguity in the ending though and it leaves you wondering whether the events had actually happened or not which I enjoyed.

Overall, Ascension is a creepy sci-fi tale which is well told, however the ending was a little too much of a stretch for me! Thank you to NetGalley & Harper Collins UK, HarperFiction & Harper Voyager for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Disturbing and utterly compelling, 'Ascension' is a thought provoking science fiction novel that is very difficult to put down. Apart from a short introduction and conclusion, it is told in the form of unsent letters written by a scientist, Harry, who joins a top secret mission to climb a vast mountain that has appeared out of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean. The small group of scientists, soliders and mountaineers head off into the completely unknown. The mission is fraught with dangers and mysteries - aside from the apparent impossibility of its appearance, the mountain is full of 'anomalies' - time behaves differently, people's behaviour changes, inexplicable things happen. And overshadowing the climb is the knowledge that the previous expedition all disappeared or went mad.

Despite not usually being a big sci-fi fan, I felt the same compulsion to keep reading another chapter as the characters did to keep climbing. I needed to know what was at the top of the mountain as much as they did. The atmosphere on the mountain is well described and I can still visualise the locations and characters. I liked the character of Harry and his companions were likeable or interesting or both. I really wanted them to survive and to understand what the mountain was.

One of the things that impressed me about the book was that there were reasonable explanations and I actually got a sense of satisfaction after reading it. Too often books or TV series set up 'mysteries' which you invest in only to be left with no answers and more questions. I don't know how well any of it would stack up to a physicist (I'm not one) but it seemed plausible enough to me. I also really liked how Binge described, via Harry, some really complicated physics concepts in a way that made perfect sense and wasn't dull to read. I felt like I learned something without any effort which is always a nice bonus from a book.

I'd recommend this to anyone who is looking for a book that's a bit different and thought provoking whilst also being a really gripping and enjoyable read. I'll certainly look out for more novels by the author.

A speculative thriller which will have you questioning even your own name by the time it has finished!

Ascension is a book that flatters to deceive. At first glance it's just another average sci-fi story. Yet the more you get into the book you realise that there's more to this story. It plays with your mind almost as much as the mountain played with the minds of those who set out to seek the answers. It has all the essence of a great story just bubbling under the surface. The characters are very well drawn, each relatable and yet just enough mystic to keep you guessing about them.

The plot is quite simple. A previously unknown mountain has appeared in the Pacific Ocean, far higher than Everest. A team of specialists is recruited to find out why it's here and where it came from. Simple you may think. No, like I said earlier it's much more than that. Told partly through the diaries of a now dead man, the story has more twists and turns than a mountain path. It messes with your mind. just when you think you've sussed the mountain, the author throws another curveball.

I really enjoyed this book by Nicholas Binge, a new author to me. The ending has you gasping for air as you reach the final dizzying peaks of the adventure. A new sci-fi classic? Maybe, certainly a great compulsive read. Top marks.

This is a very difficult book to review without giving too much away but it’s one heck of a good read. The story starts with Ben Tunmore suddenly finding out that his brother Harold, a physicist who has been missing for 30 years has been seen in a psychiatric hospital by a friend who was visiting a relative. Ben immediately travels to hospital and is shocked to find that it is indeed his brother who he believed to have passed away. Harold is a very strange state and very aggressive at times and not making much sense but in his briefcase Ben finds letters written by Harold to Ben’s daughter Harriet of whom Harold was extremely fond.
From then on in the book is told from the letters and what a weird and wonderful story it is !
I loved the way was written it really captured the atmosphere of the strange mountain that suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the strange happenings, time shifts and the overwhelming fear of what was out there.
So the book kept me gripped it was a very different read and now that I couldn’t put down and if you want something different well you have it here.
My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, Harper Voyager for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

This book wasn't what I had expected, I will admit I branched out of my comfort zone in the type of books that I enjoy and tried something new and discovered it just wasn't for me. The writing was very descriptive in places which wasn't always necessary. It would have been a good book however, it just wasn't my style and would better suit someone else.