Review: The Abominable

The Abominable by Dan Simmons
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was certainly not at all what I had expected. I admit to hoping, perhaps naively, for more of the on-the-edge-of-your-seat reading that was present in The Terror but was a bit underwhelmed by the suspense of this story. Almost half the book was spent in preparation for the group's trip to Everest, and they didn't get there until about 47% of the way in. By that point I was somewhere around 300 pages in, and felt the story hadn't even started yet. I was exhausted! He's usually much better at moving the plot forward, but this story lagged.

If you're going into The Abominable expecting a monster book or a horror book or even something science-fiction-y, you're going to be disappointed. It was none of those, really. And that's not a bad thing, but it certainly cut back a bit on my enjoyment.

Overall, this is a great novel. It's not my favorite, nor is it his best, but I'm not going to knock it for what it is. The only reason it's getting three instead of four stars is because I personally didn't find it as thrilling as other books of his that I've read.

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Book Haul

Via Instagram

Yesterday I went gift-carding, a.k.a. shopping with gift cards.  I knew I only had $20 to Barnes & Noble, but I also knew I wanted three specific books, so I figured what the heck and got all three.

Last night I started Allegiant, but I wish I'd re-read Insurgent first.  Oh well, already on my way!

This is probably my first "major" book haul in a while, even if it's only three books.  I've been swapping at BooksFreeSwap and getting single books here and there when something comes up, but otherwise I haven't been really shopping for any books since probably my birthday (the last time I had major gift-cardage and could buy a lot).  It feels goooooooood to have brand new books in my hands.

Once I had all three in my hands I decided I needed to check out or I'd spend a lot more than intended.  I did look around the media section but not for long.  I didn't even let myself get a peek at the F/SF section.  The Abominable was still up as new, even though it came out in October.  I guess that's still new.  I was just happy to see it getting some serious shelf space.  I'm about 40% of the way through at the moment, and they still haven't even gotten to Everest yet.  I'm kind of tapping my foot, waiting waiting waiting.  It's a long set-up.

When was the last time you had a somewhat major haul?  What did you buy?