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
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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.
I am so glad you enjoyed it this one! I saw it around but I wasn’t really interested in it, but your review made me wonder, it sounds pretty good!!
Thanks for sharing!!
It was different than I expected, which is a good thing:-)
This sounds like a book I’d like!
It has so many good elements:-)
Great review! I’ll have to try it!
I hope you get the chance!
It sounds like it would be worth a read. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Lisa! It was worth reading:-)
I was already looking forward to this book. It’s not super high in my list but I do wanna read it this year. We’ll see if I get around to it. There are so many elements that you mentioned in your review that really speak to me. At first I was like oh no Alden just lost his dog, do I really want to read that but then you mentioned that the author handles it really well and I trust you!
It was the perfect “dead dog” story, very well done.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, which was much more emotional and hopeful than I was expecting.”
Exactly! I think it’s what sets this book apart from most horror ones that play with multiverse, portals and the like. Also, I agree about Alden’s dog (now I think you were referring to him when you commented on my review? I had a different character in mind though…the one who joined the quest…).
Awesome review as usual :).
After I wrote that comment on your review I thought you might have been referring to the OTHER character that appears near the end. And I loved that one too!
This sounds intriguing… although I can’t help flashing to the TV show The Summit, which I hated 🙂 Hopefully, this is much better than that was!
Ha ha I’m pretty sure this is better than The Summit!
This very much has me thinking back to the ’97 movie, Cube, except that all the strangers wake up together inside a cube and must try to get out without dying. And I recall reading something by Alastair Reynolds about a tower that someone tries to ascend and stay alive. All interesting ideas that when done well can be very entertaining.
I don’t think I’ve heard of Cube before, but it sounds really good.
I’m glad this one worked better for you than the other RPG type story. It does sound like an interesting concept with a varied cast of characters. I find it particularly interesting that certain levels are familiar to different characters as it makes the gameplay element sound pretty unique. Great review and I’m relieved to hear that the doh subject was well handled. I hate when they throw those kind of things in just for shock value.
I loved the dog in this story and the story surrounding her. And I believe it was a very personal storyline for the author, which is probably why it worked so well.
Glad you enjoyed this one too! I really liked it, even though I do agree about the slower bits in the middle. I also agree that it is just fine that we don’t delve too deeply into all the characters- it would never have worked had the author tried to, and I think the book would have suffered. I agree, the ending was definitely emotional! And very fitting, IMO!
Trying to develop 13 characters would definitely be too much!
Sounds good! And I’m intrigued by your note about how he handled the dead dog part of the story. As I know those always make me cry. Great review!
Reading this now, but because of a busy schedule I’m making slow progress. Sounding pretty good though!
I’m not sure about this one but happy you enjoyed it.
Lynn 😀