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Stephen's fraught relationship with his brother Kits, was one of the main conflicts of the story. Besides Stephen, and sometimes Major Cotterell, I didn't like any of the white members of the expedition. They were either driven by greed and pride or cowardly in the face of injustice or common sense. It gave me a smug sense of satisfaction when Kits received his just desserts. A tightly wrought tale that keeps the reader wondering to the end whether the terror is merely psychological, or if there is in fact something dark haunting the slopes of Kangchenjunga. The wide-eyed wonder at the expeditions's arrival in Longyearbyen and the first impact with the reality of the Arctic is an amazing part of the novel. The details conjure up the atmosphere of infinite space and edge-of-the-world reality faced by the group in a very convincing manner and the passage from the blinding light reflecting on the ice to the relentless darkness set a heavy weight on my chest as I was reading. I cannot recommend this book enough. If you enjoyed Michelle’s previous ghost story, Dark Matter, you’ll love this one. If you love anything supernatural, a bit scary, ghostly, then you’ll enjoy it too. It’s a fantastic read that’s absorbing and totally paralyzing. Beautifully, lyrically written. A five star read if ever there was one!”
Thin Air By Michelle Paver | Used | 9781409163350 | World of Thin Air By Michelle Paver | Used | 9781409163350 | World of
A small group of guys get together for an expedition in the wild northern Arctic. They've already chosen a spot for their observations. The problem is, the spot happens to be haunted! I've been a long term fan of Michelle's, for over twelve years since Wolf Brother came out and started an obsession with worlds and words that just won't ever leave me (and I hope it doesn't!). I've always been more of a YA reader. Adult fiction doesn't normally do it for me, but I have authors that are auto-buys, or auto-reads, meaning I will get whatever they choose to publish, be it their masterpiece or a shopping list. And Michelle is right at the top of my auto-read list, so I read her first ghost story, Dark Matter, when it came out a few years ago. I had always hoped Michelle would do another ghost story because I think her writing lends to them so well. She just builds suspense so masterfully and has you absolutely rapt. So when I knew Thin Air was on the way I could not of been more excited. On a personal note the book came on a day when I was feeling particularly down, given the horrendous year I've had, and the proof came with a little note from Michelle herself who is a lovely lady and I hope to meet again some day as I have fond memories of meeting her when I was a teenager!Michelle Paver climbs the heights with a tale of horrors… stark and gnawing tale of horrors lurking at the limits of human endurance and beyond. If you enjoyed Dark Matter, you won’t be disappointed this follow-up” I particularly liked the interplay of the Sherpas and the Sahibs. The Sherpas are laughed at because of their beliefs, it turns out though that prayers and superstition are the only defence against what’s up on that mountain. Shame on you Sahibs 🥶 Paver develops these tensions very well. Then the gradual development of a sense of haunting, initially denied by the empirical Stephen: Granted, such stories about climbing mountains in the 30's have a long tradition. And of course, so do ghost stories. But regardless, this mash-up was first and foremost WELL WRITTEN. Modern style, of course. Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home >
Dark Matter: A Ghost Story by Michelle Paver | Goodreads Dark Matter: A Ghost Story by Michelle Paver | Goodreads
Well what happens is that three men become one when one of them takes ill. (Yes, they're in communication with civilization via the 'wireless,' and yet civilization is several days away in any emergency.) Plus there might be a ghost? A spirit? Or is it just your imagination? And what about all those flensing knives they found buried in the ground? Ahhh ..... Ghosts - or fictional ones, at least - tend to haunt inhabited places, whether houses, churches, castles or hospital wards. So used are we to the traditions of the genre that a description of a decrepit mansion full of dark corners and unexplained creaks is enough to raise in us readers expectations of phantoms and ghouls. In this regard, Michelle Paver's "Thin Air" - much like its predecessor Dark Matter - is not your typical ghostly tale since it is the very remoteness of the haunted spaces which makes the setting particularly eerie. The context of "Thin Air" is a 1935 expedition to the summit of the Kangchenjunga in the Himalayas, the third highest peak in the world. A team of five Englishmen, including narrator Stephen Pearce and his brother "Kits", set off in the footsteps of a disastrous 1907 expedition, made famous through the memoirs of its leader Edmund Lyell. It turns out, however, that Lyell's memoirs might have left out some of the more unsavoury details of that doomed attempt, as our intrepid protagonists will discover to their dismay. Indeed, memories and relics of the Lyell expedition seem to cast a pall over the new climb. Michelle Paver is most famous for writing a series of fantasy novels for younger readers - which I have not read - and Dark Matter, subtitled A Ghost Story, is her first novel for adult readers. One of the underlying themes of the story is hostility both imagined and real. The whole story is in the context of a diary kept by our hero and so we get only his opinion, his viewing of the situation but Paver enables us to see his mistakes and misunderstandings and misrepresentations because, when all else is said and done, he is an honest man. Chosen for Simon Mayo's Radio 2 Book Club, this is the chilling new ghost story from the bestselling author of Dark Matter.Born in Malawi to a Belgian mother and a father who ran the tiny 'Nyasaland Times', Michelle moved to the UK when she was three. She was brought up in Wimbledon and, following a Biochemistry Degree from Oxford University, she became a partner in a big City law firm. She gave up the City to follow her long-held dream of becoming a writer. So I got halfway through this book and realize that absolutely nothing has happened yet. I got tired of waiting for them to get to the punchline so I'm putting this book down. It was like nothing's happening.... nothing's happening.... ok he saw a shadow. And nothing's happening again. It is rich in atmosphere, the environment stunningly described. Kangchenjunga is a formidable character in its own right and it is a deadly one. But it is also such a satisfying ghost story, so perfect for these darker evenings, and it is wrapped within a beautifully told and sad tale. Thin Air succeeds as an excellent ghost story and horror novel but it is also a wonderful piece of historical fiction and I thoroughly recommend it.” I was not disappointed again - the writing flowing and she really sets the tension and when it comes it is terrifying. 'Thin air' is set in 1935 and is about a group of English men climbing the Kanchenjunga a sacred mountain in the Himalayas. The descriptions of how the men and their Sherpa's set off and built their camps as they begin their assent is well written - the attention to detail is particularly fascinating. A riveting read that I couldn't put down - but on a note of caution it's best to read with all the lights on! History Makers: Female Writers Dominate the 2023 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award Shortlist
Michelle Paver – Creator of Legends Michelle Paver – Creator of Legends
The Sherpas are wrong. This mountain has no spirit, no sentience and no intent. It’s not trying to kill us. It simply is.” [famous last words…] I had a good time. That's pretty much all. It has brotherly angst, a fight against the elements, tragedy, pettiness, and above all, really great foreshadowing. Most of my enjoyment came from trying to find out what Kind of ghost story it would become, and when I learned, I was mightily pleased. Nuff Said about that. Paver's descriptions of the topography are marvellously vivid and add to the sense of menace that suffuses the story' - SUNDAY TIMES I’ve been in the mood for a good ghost story for a while, and when another book blogger told me that Michelle Paver’s novel Dark Matter was not only suspenseful and spooky, but also set in a wild remote place, I didn’t need any more persuasion! And I must say that it lived up to all my expectations. This book made me scared of the word Glacier. If I had any desire to climb a mountain it's totally erased now(I am scared) The atmosphere is impeccable. I literally walked together with Stephen and his groups through the ice monster. If you love a slow-building, atmospheric ghost story DON'T MISS THIS!It seems like the book took way too long to set up the scene and the characters when it was completely unnecessary to do so. Like I said I was about halfway through the book when I decided to stop reading it. Paver's writing style managed to read like a diary or first person tale from an actual survivor of a mountain climbing disaster. She expertly set up a failed 1907 Lyell Expedition and explained the impact it had on climbers in the 1935 Cotterell expedition at hand. Because of this, combined with the likability of everyman narrator Stephen Pearce, I was pulled in from the beginning. This is a slim book, and a simple story, but it has all the elegance of a classic ghost story -- Miriam McDonald * SFX * This is pacey, readable historical fiction with a good sense of period and atmosphere. I enjoyed Pearce’s narration, and the one-upmanship type of relationship with his brother adds an interesting dimension to the expedition dynamics. However, I never submitted sufficiently to Paver’s spell to find anything particularly scary. I’ll try again with her other ghost story, Dark Matter, about an Arctic expedition from the same time period.
Thin Air – hooked! – Michelle Paver Thin Air – hooked! – Michelle Paver
The book transports the reader into cold, inimical terrain, forcing them to question the evidence of their over-stimulated senses * METRO * Thin Air is a wonderfully evocative and creepy story but it's more than that - it's a capturing of the awe of nature, the exhilaration of climbing and of a time during British colonialism which combined some noble endeavours but also an awful lot of ignoble behaviour. Of course, of course, of course, I recommend Thin Air to you. * THE BOOK BAG * Chosen for Simon Mayo’s Radio 2 Book Club, this is the chilling new ghost story from the bestselling author of Dark Matter. Paver's descriptions of the isolated and intimidating landscape create an eerie, unsettling atmosphere that gets under your skin * DAILY EXPRESS * In the first part of the novel, Paver sets up some brilliant foreshadowing for what is to come, and even whilst our characters are in the comfort of company, there is a sense of foreboding building up in the shadows.
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Looking for a proper ghost story? Thin Air is a creepy, compelling tale of a Himalayan climbing expedition, where strange events on the mountain stir dread and panic.” If you have ever wanted to climb a mountain or to have some sort of insight into the preparation both mentally and physically, of the extreme effort it takes to even attempt something like this, then this is the book for you. * THE BOOK TRAIL *
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