Ben reviews Dan Simmons’ new novel The Abominable
Book Review: The Abominable
October 30, 2013- Categories: Book Reviews,
- Books,
- Horror,
- Review,
- Video Games
August 4, 2024
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I really recommend Mike Miller’s “The Yeti” instead for a similar but superior story. I read someone else describe it as “‘King Solomon’s Mines’ meets HP Lovecraft,” with which I agree. There is even a solid backbone of faith and morality in the story too:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Yeti-ebook/dp/B00FHVNJE6
Dan Simmons’ “The Abominable” is basically a far weaker version of his” The Terror,” which I actually did enjoy. Both are epic, historical adventures involving frozen climates and supernatural monsters. However, this version of the same story takes all the worst qualities of “The Terror” to the extreme: long-winded exposition, slow start (over 200 pages before they even get to the mountain,) sporadic suspense in the sake of local color and history and confusing, out-of-the-blue ending. This one’s for diehards only, or those in love with early 20th century mountain-climbing, of which there’s far more than any monster.
Again, read Mike Miller’s “The Yeti” instead for a more enjoyable and fun read about treasure-hunting soldiers battling the famous monster.
I’ve noticed that on virtually every review of The Abominable there’s a comment – almost identical to yours – slamming Simmons and promoting this self published novel called The Yeti.
Given that the book has a fairly low sell rank on Amazon, I’m forced to conclude something suspicious is afoot. My guess is you’re either the author or someone associated with him. If that’s the case, knock it off – both here and on other blogs. I can’t think of a more amateurish, low-class way to promote your book then to slam an established author while spamming other blogs.
Preach it, De Bono. Preach!
Out of curiosity, I did a bit more digging and found that you left – virtually word for word – the same comment on The Washington Posts’s review. Seriously? At least at Amazon and the AV Club you changed up the wording a bit. Apparently we don’t warrant more than a cheap cut and paste. Let me say once again: your attempt at cheap, piggybacking, unearned publicity for your book is PATHETIC. That is all.
Amen.