I’m slowly clawing my way back into the real world after the holiday season, and what better way to welcome in the new year than The Way Up Is Death, a title that catches the 2025 vibe. The book even includes a megalomaniacal social media influencer which feels very “on brand” for the times we live in.
What Is The Way Up Is Death?
If I were forced to come up with pithy tagline for The Way Up Is Death it would be “The Hunger Games meets Ready Player One.”
The novel’s central conceit is that a towering spaceship appears in the skies above the UK. It does nothing other than wait. After it has sat there for a while, dormant, everybody becomes used to it and gets on with their daily lives. Then, without warning, 13 people are teleported onto the spaceship and told to “ascend.”
Inside the spaceship are a series of levels that each tap into the psyche of one of the chosen ascenders. Many of them are slightly geeky and so many of the levels are based on computer games and game design principles, hence my comparison with Ready Player One. Each level tends to claim the life of at least one traveler, which is why I’ve likened it to The Hunger Games.
The way up is death. But there is only one way out.
Why Read The Way Up Is Death?
The higher we climb the better this novel becomes. It starts as an interesting reality show/battle royale inspired quest to escape the clutches of our evil alien overlords but, as the characters ascend, we learn more about their motivations and their hopes and fears. We discover who is strong and who is weak, who is heroic and who is cowardly.
We also learn more about the beings that brought the space tower into existence and why they are testing the hapless humans trying to navigate their way to the summit.
On one level (ahem) this book is a vertical quest story, with some interesting computer-game-related puzzles, but it has many levels above that. The Way Up Is Death is a satire of popular culture, in particular the superficiality of social media, and celebrity. The tendency for modern society to place appearance over actions, with a cheeky sideswipe at celebrity authors. The book also offers an examination of anxiety, self-worth, and imposter syndrome. Like a lot of good SFF at the moment, The Way Up Is Death is about friendship and found family.
My phrase “computer-game-related puzzles” hides a lot of the novel’s heavy lifting. I very much enjoyed the little touches of game design that the puzzles had, but as the climbers ascend, the levels become increasingly sophisticated and metaphysical. They’re windows into the competitors’ souls and add to how we feel about each of the book’s characters. Each level is responsive to the characters in the tower, and so reflects their personalities. In addition, we see how each of them deals with the latest piece of adversity the tower throws at them. They become a lot more than mere challenges.
As the novel reaches its conclusion, there are definite heroes and villains, but we’re never quite sure who will prevail. Regardless, the book’s denouement is gut-wrenching.
This is the first book I’ve read by Dan Hanks and the first review copy I’ve been sent by publisher Angry Robot. I want to thank them both for treating me to a breathtaking and intriguing novel to kick off my 2025 reading. The Way Up is Death marks Hanks as a writer to watch, and I’m excited to see what he comes up with next.
If you would like to pick up a copy of The Way Up is Death you can do so here, in the US, and here, in the UK. (Affiliate Links)
If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews, here.
I received a copy of this book in order to write this review.
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