Name: Ascension
Author: Nicholas Binge

The only way out is up.

An enormous snow-covered mountain has appeared in the Pacific Ocean. No one knows when exactly it showed up, precisely how big it might be, or how to explain its existence. When Harold Tunmore is contacted by a shadowy organization to help investigate, he has no idea what he is getting into as he and his team set out for the mountain.

The higher Harold’s team ascends, the less things make sense. Time moves differently, turning minutes into hours, and hours into days. Amid the whipping cold of higher elevation, the climbers’ limbs numb and memories of their lives before the mountain begin to fade. Paranoia quickly turns to violence among the crew, and slithering, ancient creatures pursue them in the snow. Still, as the dangers increase, the mystery of the mountain compels them to its peak, where they are certain they will find their answers. Have they stumbled upon the greatest scientific discovery known to man or the seeds of their own demise?

Framed by the discovery of Harold Tunmore’s unsent letters to his family and the chilling and provocative story they tell, Ascension considers the limitations of science and faith and examines both the beautiful and the unsettling sides of human nature.

Honours

Named a best book of 2023 by Vulture, The Sunday Times, Entertainment Weekly, the LA Times, and more.

Finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2023
Finalist in the Ignotus Awards 2024
A New York Times Editor’s Choice Pick
A Sunday Times “Best Sci-Fi Books of 2023” selection
A Goodreads “Most Anticipated Books of 2023” & “Most Popular Books of 2023” selection
A Washington Post “Best New Books of April” selection
A Polygon “Science Fiction and Fantasy We’re Most Excited For in 2023” selection
An Entertainment Weekly “Best in Upcoming Fiction” selection

Praise for Ascension

“The complete picture is as unique as the vast mountain at the book’s center. For fans of well-wrought science fiction and cosmic horror scares, Ascension is worth the climb.”
The New York Times · Editor’s Choice

“You gotta read Ascension by Nicholas Binge. Old-school creepy. Think Dan Simmons… a wonderful novel… five-star horror.”
Stephen King

“Thrilling, breathlessly paced, and poses thorny questions about time, fate, grief, and the nature of the self. Is it the accomplishment that makes us human or the quest?”
Vulture · Best Books of 2023

“Binge’s eerie speculative thriller looks both outward at the edges of scientific understanding, and inward at the meaning of responsibility, remorse and the human capacity for salvaging mercy from tragedy.”
The Washington Post

“Ascension is thoroughly recommended — a macabre, escapist pleasure for the thoughtful set.”
The Wall Street Journal

“A rollicking good read. Playful, inventive, and vivid, with addictive narrative drive. Astonishingly accomplished.”
Lionel Shriver, internationally bestselling author of We Need To Talk About Kevin

Read all the praise

“Incredible… Pitch-perfect. Binge elevates this above similar genre fiction.”
Publishers Weekly · Starred review

“An accomplished and clever speculative thriller that explores the limits of human knowledge — it is no surprise that it has been optioned for a film.”
The Sunday Times

“A vertiginous tale of discovery, horror and weird, time-bending phenomena… [Ascension] provides well-sustained tension and some excitingly wrought scenes of violence.”
The Financial Times

“If you think this sounds a whole lot like H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘At the Mountains of Madness,’ well, yes. Ascension is a lovingly retold version of a classic horror thriller, but with more humanity and real emotion; it is the story of a broken man and what redemption looks like in the real world. Plus, of course, tentacles…. [an] excellent page-turner.”
The Wall Street Journal

“A heady mix of wildly imaginative, action-packed storytelling and probing philosophical examination of — quite literally — the meaning of life…. It’s also a sustained reflection on the limits of being human… It offers a profound consideration of where our true power lies. Ultimately, it’s worth the climb.”
Chicago Review of Books

“The novel is smartly paced, deploying twists and turns strategically to keep the reader moving… Binge’s crisp prose moves well between science fiction concepts, Gothic terror and fast-paced action sequences.”
The New York Times

“Ascension is a pastiche of august influences. The epistolary structure is borrowed from Dracula. The doomed expedition that drives Harold mad is akin to H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness… Binge earns his place among these literary lights with an expert story of creeping dread and cosmological horror.”
Booklist

“A cross between Journey to the Center of the Earth and Heart of Darkness… An entertaining SF thriller.”
Kirkus

“Thrilling… full of exploration and intriguing thoughts about the true nature of life on Earth… An exciting story where the undiscovered wonders of Earth prove as exciting as those out in the galaxy.”
Library Journal

“Ascension delivers…. Gripping and intriguing.”
Daily Mail · ‘New Year, New Reads: Novels To Devour In 2023’

“Literary nightmare fodder like Scott Smith’s The Ruins and Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation.”
Entertainment Weekly · ‘Spring 2023 Book Preview’

“Ascension is a science fiction mystery that uses a classical concept, but with a beating heart. Both the science and the suspense are perfection, all held together by a robust emotional core. I enjoyed it immensely.”
Tade Thompson, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of Rosewater

“A weird and wonderful horror novel… Binge is an author to watch. A fantastic achievement.”
TJ Klune, New York Times bestselling author of In the Lives of Puppets

“Binge has written a profound and elegiac story that examines science, faith and the concept of humanity itself — what it means to live and die, to yearn and strive, and all the spaces in between. I will be thinking about this one for a long time!”
Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book Eaters

“Impossible to put down. A real page-turner. Binge is an author to watch.”
Richard Swan, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Justice of Kings

“Binge’s Ascension exerts an irresistible pull, setting not only a scientific search in motion but also a transcendent quest to unravel mysteries of existence and human meaning. Suspenseful yet also deeply contemplative in turns, this is a novel that spins the mind and asks us to step with it into the unworldly.”
Pitchaya Sudbanthad, author of Bangkok Wakes to Rain

“A scintillating speculative mystery, a harrowing survival adventure, and a stirring love story — Nicholas Binge’s Ascension is a mountain of a novel. I was whipping through the pages until I reached its peak.”
Katie Williams, author of Tell the Machine Goodnight