I’d like this blog to be an exercise in promoting amazing books by authors that might not be the Stephen Kings of the world, celebrity-wise. I love that guy, I think his most recent work is some of his best, but nobody needs to advertise for his latest novel. Everyone’s going to read it anyway. Drew Magary is not Stephen King.
I’ve been a fan of this author for several years. His earlier work The Postmortal is a really, really good examination of some of the potential ramifications of immortality, and I’d encourage everyone to read it. But this post is about The Hike, so let’s get into it.
Readability is very important to me. If the tone, setting, and general vibe of a book really sucks me in, I’m much more likely to follow that rabbit-hole all the way to the end. But there are too many books to read, and too few years to do it in. So is The Lord of the Rings an amazing novel? Of course! Would I read it for the first time now, in 2016? Of course not–that’s about 75 pages too many of preparations to leave the Shire. Not very high on the readability index, that one.
I found The Hike to be easy to get sucked into, and hard to stop reading. That’s usually a good sign for me. It’s a book about choices–those huge, life-altering choices we make, even though we don’t truly realize they’re made until after the fact. We probably feel we have a boring life, and wish that wasn’t the case. But the protagonist here realizes just how much he’d do to get it all back.
This blog will continually be skirting the edge of spoilers, since I’m fully in opposition to anything that ruins a perfectly good book or movie for unsuspecting folks. Suffice it to say that The Hike is about a journey (well, okay, a hike) that starts in a very mundane place and ends up somewhere nobody could ever expect. Along the way, there’s plenty of pathos, adventure, horror, and enough incredibly funny sections that I never knew where the tone was about to head.
This book is technically fantasy. I place it firmly there due to the fact that there are very few elements to the story that could be considered realism. Surreal is the word of the day here, folks. Don’t think we’re talking about elves and sorcerers, but there is a heroic magical talking crab. And one giant. Okay, and some guys with dog heads and knives. That’s enough description. You really must experience The Hike for yourself.
Due to my discomfort with five-star rating systems, let’s go to a 100 point rating scale. I’d give The Hike a 95% and be very confident with that score. Give it a shot if you’re looking for an interesting read. It’s got a nearly perfect rating on Amazon, with 100 reviews.
In case you don’t know how to google a book yourself, here’s a link to buy The Hike.
Thanks for stopping by, and keep reading!
matt reads 