The Way Up Is Death

When I imagine the aliens coming, I always imagine that they would pick somewhere amazing to land their ship. Probably America as all the movies have trained my brain to think that way. The place I do not jump straight to is Manchester, or at least the hills around the city. I know those hills well enough and although great in their own way, I am not sure they are amazing, but in Dan Hank’s The Way Up is Death, Greater Manchester is where the mysterious tower appeared, and Greater Manchester is where the book is set. Or is it?  

The looming tower appeared in the skies of the North of England one day and became a social media sensation, but like anything else in this country, after it did nothing for a few weeks we kept calm and got on with it. Fine for the majority of us, but thirteen people suddenly find themselves taken from their lives and placed in front of this tower. Their task to ascend to the top. For what purpose? No one knows, but it seems that not all the strangers will make it back to Earth alive. 

Science Fiction and Urban Fantasy are full of high concept ideas, but Way Up must be one of the highest I have read in a long time. Not only because the tower is suspended in the sky, but because it is such an out-there idea. Hanks is building a reputation of high concept ideas, often informed by a diet of 80s media. Way Up plays on this once again with a simple idea, executed in a manner you could see being made as an Amblin Entertainment movie in the heart of the 80s. 

Like in Hank’s earlier Swashbucklers, the author does not wallow too much in nostalgia but uses it as a tool to tell a modern story. In this case, the nostalgia comes in the form of assorted styles and genres. Each floor of the tower represents a different memory for one of the chosen; be it a version of The Poseidon Adventure, a naff science fiction adventure, or a tropical island. The book does not take many stops in the action as the contestants must move on as they are chased by a malevolent force. 

The book will appeal to a reader who enjoys lots of different ideas and constant action. Moving from one area to another does lead to some disjointed settings, but Hanks manages to keep the story together by having the character development act as a constant. These 13 strangers are seemingly picked at random from across society, so are not always the best examples of humanity. Will this lead to problems or is it what the tower wants? 

There are cliques and cliches in the characters, some are more forgivable than others. A teacher suffering from a loss, a reclusive artist, a father, and daughter. Other characters less likeable; the children’s author who uses AI in their work, the cancelled comedian etc. Those that suffer their fate early are given an unfair hand as they are not given time to develop any redeemable characteristics. Those that make it to the higher levels are given far more depth and as a reader who care more, even about the more despicable characters. 

The tower itself acts as the final 14th character and is arguably the most important. Hanks does the wise thing and does not overexplain the reason for the tower or its motivations. These play out as the book progresses and are open to some interpretation, allowing some depth to the story and it gives the reader some ideas to cogitate on whilst all the action is happening. 

I have not read something quite as action packed and full of twists as Way Up in a long time. The Scarecrow novels by Matthew Reilly are the closest I can conjure up. This is a novel that has a high concept and has a fun time telling it. The book is shocking, grisly and in places it can be a little silly. As a piece of entertainment, there are few books I will read this year that will be able to compete with the amount of energy and ideas on the page.