This week, we feature novels ranging in locale from Hawaii to Mount Everest and a revelatory history of the Third Reich’s abuse of pharmaceuticals.
Fiction Thrills at Everest’s Peak
‘Abominable: A Novel’
By Dan Simmons
Great stories need three things: a solid plot, memorable characters, and an engrossing setting. Simmons brings all three together in his novel about an attempt to summit Mount Everest while also trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of several climbers.
Little, Brown and Company, 2013, 672 pages A Grand Tour of the Aloha State
‘Hawaii’
By James Michener
Your bank account may not allow for a vacation to the islands, but “Hawaii” is the next best thing. This thick novel was the first where Michener brought places and their people to life through fiction. We start with volcanoes forming the islands, then move hundreds of years through history: the arrival of the Polynesians, then the Europeans and missionaries, and the Chinese, as well as the making of modern Hawaii. This heavily researched piece of historical fiction offers a grand respite from the blast of winter….