I requested this book on a whim and wasn't sure what to expect when I picked it up. What I certainly did not expect was a speed run through chaos that was part humorous, part horrifying (the gore is real in this one, friends), and part gut wrenching insights into loss and loneliness. Hanks does a wonderful balancing these elements and each POV character has a distinct narrative voice. This was a fun, quick read.

I felt like this book is more of a horror than fantasy sci-fi. There was no true meaning behind why these characters where to ascend and alrhough they had to get through levels it felt like exactly that a game with no true intentions other than to learn about humanity, it was repetitive and I felt let down with th story as I would have liked more character growth in the story.

Thank you NetGalley as I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

I will jump right into what I enjoyed about this; I really enjoyed the discussions about AI and Government which are two relevant topics as of late. The discussions and opinions within the novel around these topics too were very pertinent.
I ended up highlighting a lot of lines and vocab in this because I found a lot of good sentences and there was a great choice of vocab throughout.

I was surprised by just how violent and bloody this story ended up being. While it didn't put me off, I do think it's good for others to know what is going on in case they're sensitive to reading about such scenes. There were some lovecraftian horror and twisted scenes so if you're squeamish, be careful reading this one.

Unfortunately the things I did not enjoy; the repetitiveness. By the time we got to round 4 or 5 of the ascensions, I was starting to really crave a change of pace and scenery; while the beach scene did offer a breather and something different for a time, I was really hoping we'd switch gears completely within the plot and/or hoping we'd start getting povs and chapters from characters down on earth. I wanted to know how people are dealing with these suddenly vanished people and if they can see them at the tower or not. Did anyone even notice 13 people (especially a cabin attendant mid-flight!) had gone missing? How did they react? Did anyone believe them? etc. But the novel stuck to going through 9, hard emphasis on 9, of the same sort of challenge the entire story, which caused me to feel that the last 30-40% was a bit of a struggle to get through because it was just the same thing over and over. Finally, the ending doesn't answer a whole lot either, so if you're someone like me who expects a solid answer to main mysteries by the end of the novel, you're going to feel unsatisfied.

The Way Up Is Death is a super quick and fun sci-fi thriller with horror elements. It reminded me a bit of the book Questland from a few years ago crossed with The Hike by Drew Magary which is a book I think about often!

I loved the video game feel to this book and will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author! I flew this one and highly recommend it for fans of games, scifi, first contact, and horror!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the eARC of this title!**

The Way Up Is Death is a wild ride - full of heart, brutality, and a whole lot of gut punches. It’s set in a castle/tower in the sky, where thirteen random people are thrown together and forced to climb, all while making impossible choices along the way.

I really enjoyed this book. It has some genuinely sweet moments that highlight the best of humanity, but just when you start to feel comfortable, something completely brutal happens out of nowhere. And I loved that about it. The story doesn’t hold back, and the contrast between the tender and the horrific made everything hit harder. Some of the sentimental moments leaned a little too sweet at times, but the sheer intensity of the brutal ones kept it from feeling overdone. The message is clear: be decent, help each other, have integrity, and maybe don’t be a total shithead.

And that ending? Absolutely wrecked me in the best way.

Big thanks to Dan Hanks, NetGalley, and Angry Robot for the ARC! All thoughts are my own.

An extraordinary blend of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Metaphysics, THE WAY UP IS DEATH is literally unforgettable: I can't stop pondering it, and nothing distracts me for long. This is a novel that seems on the surface to simply be an adventure tale, coupled with snark, up-to-date culture shock, and gore, but its core runs through much, much deeper than that. I believe this will reach Classic status, and will achieve cult-classic status before that. What a wonderful, terrifying, enlightening movie this would be! [I give you the late David Bowie as the character Alden!] I can't rave enough yet simultaneously I am speechless in awe. Just simply Wow!

I read this book in less than 24 hours and the only reason I didn’t finish it in one sitting is because my body unfortunately needs sleep (rude). The Only Way Up is Death so absolutely wild, I couldn’t stop, I had to keep reading. I read it while brushing my teeth, I read it while walking my dog. If you’re struggling to get out of a book slump, this is the book to get you out of it. If you’re not, this is the book to read anyway because it’s rad. It gets right into the action (of which there’s a ton) and as I mentioned before, it’s basically impossible not to keep turning the page.

It was easy to feel like a 14th person in the group of 13 confused people forced to climb the mysterious tower. No one knows what the hell is going on, so I was like, “hey, same,” and we all began the ascent together. And I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t… that. Sorry, no spoilers. You likely won’t be expecting it either but it’s all awesome.

Of the 13 people, there were some obvious main characters that were more finely developed. I loved Rakie and Earl, I despised Dirk (seriously, he is the worst and I just know people like him actually exist which makes me hate him more), and Nia was beautifully written and relatable, but I think I most closely related to Alden. As he ascended the tower, he came to some realizations about grief that hit pretty close to home for me and I found it comforting.

And I found more comfort in the book, which feels weird when I look back on it because I’d easily describe it as sometimes funny but mostly terrifying science fiction which doesn’t sound at all comforting. Between the violence, in-fighting, and general confusion, there were drops of commentary on humanity, the way we treat each other, and the things we value, as well as the importance of caring for and about the future regardless of whether or not we’ll be here to see it. I loved the inclusion of those themes and the ways in which they were perfectly woven into the story.

I’d been looking forward to reading this one for a while and am so happy I can now say I’ve read it and it lived up to my expectations and then some!

To be honest, this one just wasn’t for me. The Way Up is Death by Dan Hanks offers an intriguing premise and a fast-paced adventure, but it didn’t fully hit the mark for me. The story is rich with action and the concept of a post-apocalyptic world filled with dangers is compelling. However, the execution felt uneven at times and fairly predictable.

Sudden buildings being constructed overnight would be rather handy. Except no one built it. And of course once the memes started everyone stopped being concerned with the giant floating tower in England. Well some peoole suddenly cared a lot about the tower when they are at the doors, pulled from different parts of the surrounding area, with the words "ASCEND" floating in the air. 13 people from different people walks of life, a teacher/small town band member in grief, a put upon artist with terrible coworkers, and a children's author, a priest, male model, a father and his kid to name a few. Unfortunately for them the Tower wants them to climb and is going to insist they do.

Reasons to read:
-I didn't guess what the tower was and I rather enjoyed not being right
-The characters, you are going to root for some, hate others (certain ones or else)
-Well that's a damn good reason to be sad
-Even the worst person's POV is interesting to read
-You are going to go through it

Cons:
-Really don't pull punches on the finales of the books

This was quick-paced and full of action, which is what kept me reading until the end, but it was a bit too predictable for my taste. The problem with basing an entire story on a big question (like "why did this giant tower appear and force thirteen people to fight their way to the top?) is that the answer is almost never as interesting as the question. Each level of the tower was a different environment from the last, but functioned very similarly for the plot—bad things chase them and try to kill them before they reach the entrance to the next level. This got repetitive after a while. I did find myself amused by Dirk's caricature-like evilness (and saddened that people like that actually exist). And I adored Rakie; she's the MVP.

Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This is a gripping and thrilling read that will captivate fans of science fiction and horror who enjoy thought-provoking explorations of humanity, existential crises, and the human condition, as they embark on a heart-pounding adventure with a diverse cast of characters.

The Way Up is Death is a genre-bending book about a group of people who are abducted from their lives and turn up in front of a mysterious tower. They are forced to climb it, and each level has new horrors. This book definitely has some horror vibes, and there was more gore than I was expecting. But it is still a fun sci-fi read! I enjoyed all of the different level set-ups and found myself rooting for... most.. of the group lol.

Thanks to Angry Robot Books, Dan Hanks, and NetGalley for sending me a copy to review. My opinions are my own!

I don’t want to say too much about “The Way Up is Death” because to do so would be to give too much of the book away. And there’s a lot of really good, beautiful things about this book that I don’t want to take away from anyone else. And even that is saying too much.

This book is Science Fiction with a slice of some pretty gory moments that, surprisingly after the first couple, I didn’t mind too much. I am not a fan of horror novels as I don’t have the stomach for them nor for that sense of foreboding and the heebie jeebies that seem to always go along with them. So imagine my surprise when after the first two graphic scenes (they may have in fact been the worst) I anticipated those moments of violence and, while I dreaded them, I came to accept them, similar to some of the characters’ eventual response to the tower.

This book is intriguing, compelling, and thought provoking. Thank you @netgalley and @angryrobotbooks for the advance #drc. #thewayupisdeath by @dan_hanks is out now!


#bookreview #sciencefictionandfantasybooks #sciencefictionbooks #danhanks #angryrobotbooks #fyp #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

A mysterious tower in the sky is seen over England. No one seems what to think about it or how to make contact with it, until 13 people are suddenly "beamed" and appear at its base, prompted to "ascend" it, as it is the only way to survive. But what happens when they reach the top?

If you have seen the movie "Cube", the concept is similar - people have to work together, overcome its fears at each level, and confront important philosophical topics. At each floor of the tower, there's a new theme, a new gain, a new loss until things get a different turn, and you see what the chosen people are really fighting for there.

I liked that the book seem to cross genres, but kept the speculative theme on point. There's adventure - it felt like a movie with all the action -, it has thriller elements, sci-fi splashes and even horror. My issue with it was very personal, as I was just expecting the author to up the ante, but somehow I felt that even as each level had its own uniqueness, it felt the resolution in each one was kinda flat. Some characters were just there to be cannon fodder, as some levels were just there to further the plot.

That being said, there are some gems in it, and you need to read it to find out -Watch out for Leia !

Thank you to Angry Robot, NetGalley, and Dan Hanks for giving me an eARC of The Way Up is Death in exchange for my honest review.

I saw this online and was drawn in by the cover. I feel so privileged that I was allowed to read this story early, and even more privileged that one of my first reads of 2025 was so great. I was absolutely sucked into the story from start to finish, and I flew through it. The mysterious tower, the horror and characters were all so vividly realized and compelling. I loved the plot and concept of this book, definitely unique and fun. I cannot wait to get our physical copies in at the branch, because I already know a handful of people who are really going to enjoy this book!

The nitty-gritty: A mysterious tower is the setting for this entertaining sci-fi/fantasy tale, made better by Dan Hanks' emotional themes.

Dan Hanks takes a familiar idea—the survival game—and twists it into something new and exciting. The Way Up is Death is a fast-paced thriller with horror elements and a bit of a LitRPG feel to it, and while I wasn’t too keen on the last LitRPG book I read, luckily this worked much better for me. 

The set-up is intriguing: one day, in the sky above the UK, a huge tower appears, seemingly floating in the air. No one has any idea what it is or what it means, but then a word appears on the tower—”Ascend.” Soon after, thirteen random people, all ages, ethnicities and walks of life, are magically transported to the base of the tower, pulled out of their lives for a mysterious purpose.

Among the thirteen is Alden, a musician who is struggling with the loss of his beloved dog Leia; Nia, a movie set designer who is unhappy in her male dominated workplace; Dirk, a famous children’s author and social media darling; and Rakie, a thirteen year old who loves video games and wants to be a writer someday. As the strangers begin talking to figure out what’s going on, the tower comes to life, subtly pushing them in certain directions. Before long, it’s clear that this multi-level tower is meant to be climbed, and along the way, the “players” must choose the correct paths or be killed. Even stranger, each level is familiar to a different member of the group, as if the tower had pulled a memory out of their heads.

As the players move from level to level—and as their numbers start to decrease—one thing seems certain: only one of them will reach the top alive. 

This is a great combination of tense action, inventive “game play” scenarios and well developed, interesting characters. Each level of the tower is different from the last, which kept the story fresh. Do be aware that there are some gruesome death scenes, especially the first one which comes out of nowhere and was probably meant to shock readers.

With thirteen characters, it’s inevitable that Hanks focuses on just a few of them, so not everyone is fully fleshed out. However, I was OK with that. For different reasons, I connected with Alden, Rakie and Nia, and I absolutely loathed Dirk (who you are supposed to loathe, he’s an awful person!). Rakie is young but very brave in the face of all the horrible things that are happening around her. I empathized with Alden because he had just lost his dog, a fact that will resonate with lots of readers I’m sure. And speaking of Alden’s dog, without spoiling the story I want to mention that this is how you write a story about a dead dog. Maybe I’ve been extra sensitive lately about dogs dying in books, but I appreciated the way Hanks handled this element.

As the characters make their way through the different levels, they are forced to work together to figure out what the tower wants from them. I loved these introspective moments where the author explores big ideas like what’s our purpose in life, and how can we find meaning in our lives when so many things distract us from that purpose. Certain motifs are repeated throughout the various levels and rooms in the tower, and these motifs are important clues that eventually explain what’s happening. Hanks includes some philosophical themes and even a bit of Norse mythology, making the characters’ quest to reach the top of the tower even more interesting.

Despite the action and tension, I did find parts of the story to be slow, though. I found myself setting the book aside a couple of times to pick up a different book, and I think the pacing suffered from the repetitiveness of going from level to level. But that pace picks up significantly near the end, especially when only a handful of characters are left, and at that point it was hard to stop reading. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, which was much more emotional and hopeful than I was expecting. This was a bunch of fun and well worth your time.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

5 stars!
Ohhhhh man! This was a very good read!
Absolutely deserved the first 5 ⭐ rating of 2025!

@dan_hanks and @angryrobotbooks knocked it out of the park. I inhaled this story, reading the entire book in less than 24 hrs. I could not put it down. The tension, the heart, the horror and the sorrow. Yes, I cried and cheered too! Dan, you gave us everything!

Highly suggest you run right out and GET THIS BOOK!

Thanks to NetGalley and AngryRobot for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review. These thoughts are my own.

From the cover alone, this book caught my eye. Looking at the synopsis, I couldn’t help but be intrigued. And after a few short pages, I was hooked!

The entire opening for this book sucked me in and I had to keep reading to figure out the mystery behind this peculiar tower that floats over the countryside of the UK. I had no idea what to expect as we follow our random mix of strangers navigate the mysteries of the tower.

The mixture of characters and personalities we see in our strangers reminded me of Stephen King’s The Mist. Our characters each needing to learn how to work together and trust one another, while also being wary of each other in order to stay alive.

And the mixture of horrors we meet between the different levels of the tower gave me vibes of the search for the second key in the film adaptation of Ready Player One, where they explore the hotel in the movie, Stephen King’s The Shining. Especially around the idea of there being horrors around every corner, and the concept of how things seem similar but not quite how they remember it should be. Bringing nightmares for each of the individual characters to life. It’s like a demented escape room, except you’re going up “floor” levels of a tower. But the floors don’t quite feel like floors with the horrors we find on each of these levels.

And speaking of Ready Player One, this gives off strong vibes of a horror game feel throughout the entirety of the book. Even our reclusive artist, Nia sees this as our strangers try to make their way up the tower. Treating the different levels like they would in a video game. And often saving their skins to avoid the horrors that await them.

A truly interesting concept. One which I found myself devouring my way through. I highly recommend this if you’re a fan of horror games and science fiction books!

I went through the majority of this book thinking it was a solid four star science fiction horror, thrilling and engaging, and then it grew into something that had me tearing up and highlighting like crazy.

When a tall crimson tower appears on a floating island above the Peak District of England, the citizens of Earth are temporarily obsessed with it, trying to figure out its origin and meaning. As it continues to float in the sky with no hints to its purpose, they slowly lose interest. That is, until a timer and a large word appear at its base: 'ASCEND.' Shortly after, thirteen strangers find themselves suddenly transported into the bottom of the tower and tasked with the challenge of making their way to the top. Each level of the tower contains deadly horrors that claim the life of one person as they rise and try to solve the mysteries of escaping. The tower creates scenes and puzzles at least partially inspired by their memories, while simultaneously challenging them to discover the meaning of life and prove their worthiness.

This story seemed like a brutal game of survival without an explanation, but each level slowly revealed a complexity and meaning. It was simultaneously so dark while gradually becoming hopeful, even as more participants died. This is one that I'll be re-reading more slowly, now that I'm past the rush of finding out what happens.

Thank you so much to Angry Robot for this ARC!

Rated 4.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Angry Robot for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

MORE TO IT

This book's premise is impossible to resist if you're the kind of reader whose mantra is "the weirder the better", but I'm here to confirm that, if you take a chance on TWUID, you won't regret being lured in, and you'll end up getting more than you bargained for. The short-and-sweet version of such premise: thirteen everymen and women from the UK (or just passing through) are pulled from their lives and forced to ascend an impossible tower in the skies, all while trying to fathom the how and (especially) the why in the process. From videogame settings to spaceships, from haunted houses to tropical beaches, a series of equally impossible locations (but ones that are somehow tailored to the travellers' past experiences) have the characters play a deadly game of escape rooms, of which they have to figure out the rules as they go. Exciting, isn't it? But if you tend to need a little more meat on your stories' bones, or if the cosmic horror premise and the content warning list left you on the fence about giving TWUID a chance, there are a couple more things you need to know. One: for a book that sheds so much blood and put its characters through the wringer, Hank's latest is surprisingly comforting and life-affirming. Two: for a book that relies so much on nightmarish experiences and frantic escapes, and even comes close to jumping the shark a couple of times (one of which quite literally 😂), TWUID is (also) surprisingly deep, so that you end up forgiving it for not making you care more for its characters (more of that below) or not giving you all the answers (if you're the type of reader who needs them, because to be honest, they're NOT the point here).

CRAMPED SPACE

When a book has a large cast of characters, it's a given that not every one of them can be fully fleshed out, more so if there's supposed to be a number of casualties among them. That being said, I think my biggest reservation about this story is that I would have liked to know some of the deuteragonists better, or see them develop beyond the trope they embodied or originated from. Not to mention, this would have enhanced the suspense of finding out who was going to reach the last level of the tower and ultimately survive, because some of the characters came across more like vessels to advance the plot (or even like actual cannon fodder) than people with real lives and personalities. On the other hand, there was an unexpected 14th character woven into the story that ended up feeling better developed (and surprisingly more relatable...I say "surprisingly" for a reason I can't spoil) than most of those we met at the start, and whose presence sent a beautiful message about overcoming our differences and helping one another across apparently insurmountable divides.

THE GOOD RACE

Speaking of messages, the one above is not the only one woven into the plot...TWUID has a lot to say about sexism, celebrity culture, the use of AI (and its proponents' inane justifications), and conversely, grief, morality, mortality and sacrifice, in a way that feels organic to the story and bends its cosmic horror premise in a very human direction. Especially in the current political and social climate (*gestures at the world*), this book is a breath of fresh air, and a gentle, yet passionate reminder that we're here to preserve/protect and create a legacy of love, not to exploit and scorch (burn, even) the Earth and the future to satisfy our whims and nurture our prejudices. You can't ask for much more from a story (besides it being entertaining), can you? 🙂