THE WAY UP IS DEATH by Dan Hanks – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Way Up Is Death by Dan Hanks
Published by Angry Robot on January 14 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror, Science fiction
Pages: 400
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

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.