Dark Matter: the gripping ghost story from the author of WAKENHYRST

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They respect and fear the mountain and display a great deal more common sense than their western paymasters.

Jack is a character with whom most readers can relate and care for - he's lonely and confused, clutching at straws to stay afloat. 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. Kangchenjunga, as well as other mountains, are places of wonder, where the immense scale becomes alien, and where euphoria morphs with desolation. Plus, you can’t ever go wrong with a cabin/isolation story in an icy location ( The Thing, “Ice” from The X-Files, etc).I thought, ‘I’m quite good at exams, why don’t I do law for a couple of years and maybe I’ll be published by then? In fact, I believe keeping the apparitions largely off the page aided in ensuring the raptness of my attention and the fear I shared with the explorers. As daylight gives way to constant darkness, Paver creates an atmosphere so tense and claustrophobic that I could literally feel the cold creeping in through the cracks in the wall, grateful of my own bedside lamp that kept the night at bay whilst reading.

The story crucially features animals in the plot – a lion, a falcon, and a dolphin; the dolphin from the first book, the lion from the second book onwards, and the falcon from the third book onwards. Thousands of years ago an orphan boy and his wolf cub challenge a demon bear that threatens to destroy their world for ever. I know I've read something good when, upon finishing it, I immediately want to re-read it, to immerse myself in its world once again - this was one of the rare few to provoke such a reaction. From a time of myths and ancient magic will come the legend of the lost city of Atlantis, tales of gods and warriors - and the rise of a hero. This, as with my former read, felt suffused with tension throughout, despite the scant sightings of what haunted their dreamscapes and dogged their footsteps.

That’s what he’s after now: relics of the Lyell Expedition; and a chance to complete what the great man began, by being the first in the world to conquer an eight thousand-metre peak—with the added lustre of planting the Union Jack on the summit, and beating the bloody Germans. By turns Stephen is innocently naive and darkly fearful, while simultaneously dismissive of the superstious behaviour of the local inhabitants engaged as guides and servants. I say that with a gap because it was also not as wholly impressive as I wanted it to be either, but an entertaining ride all the same.

Both are books about spooky mountain climbs, and because I loved the former book so much, this one had a lot to live up to. Normally, I dislike comparing an author’s novels, but there is much to compare in, “Thin Air,” to “Dark Matter.The hugely successful Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series arose from Michelle's lifelong passion for animals, anthropology and the distant past—as well as an encounter with a large bear in a remote valley in southern California.

However I know enough to be convinced that something terrible took place… No doubt the journal would, as you suggest explain much of what happened, but it has not survived, and I cannot ask Jack himself. While tthe remaining three are decided on reaching Gruhuken, the Scandinavian captain of the vessel does not want to sail - although he eventually succumbs and sets course to Gruhuken, he does not want to share the reason for his reluctance. Horror stories that take place in isolated places are great and I was quite looking forward to being swept off my feet. Dark Matter relates the experiences of Jack, a former student of physics who, at 28, is poor, lonely, sick of London life and hates his job as an export clerk. I just wasn't expecting to be confronted with such blatant attitudes of sneering superiority over the beliefs of people who were native to the region, especially in terms of their spiritual views.And the male group dynamics, particularly the love-hate relationship between the Pearce siblings, not only give an authentic 'historical' touch, but also provide a nicely developed theme which runs through the novel. Dark Matter is a spellbinding read – the kind of subtly unsettling, understated ghost story MR James might have written had he visited the Arctic.