Rating: 
Summary: Great premise but doesn't deliver.
Review: The premise for this book was truely unique (to me) and I was anxious to see it explored. The set up was good and I liked how various events brough the underwold denizens to our attention - but once the expedition "to the center of the earth" began the book just fell apart for me. There were just too many leaps of logic for me to maintain suspension of disbelief. One glaring example is that the expedition was supplied with caches of bottles of wine, various gourmet foods, batteries, clothes, etc. by pods that were dropped off via drilling through the sea floor and miles of rock precisly into the tunnels where the expedition was travelling. It was never actually expalined how the water on the sea floor (exuding tons of pressure I'm sure)was kept out of the tunnels once the drilling was complete? At one point soldiers are actually transported into the tunnels via a pod drop which left me asking why didn't they just send the expedition in that way??? It was plot devices like these that left me disappointed in The Descent. With a bit more work it could have been great. If you are capable of substaining huge leaps of logic to drive a story forward then you may find this one more satisfactory than I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Journey to the gates of Hell
Review: Jeff Long is his imaginative and disturbing novel The Descent, explores the existence of a labrynthine underworld inhabited by horned, gargoyle like, devilish humanoids called Homo Hadalis (hadals). Hadals had through the centuries, lured humans underground to serve as slaves, breeding stock, chattel and food.Through the eyes of his main characters, "Ike" Crockett, Ali von Schaade, and Major Elias Branch we get to experience the unearthing of this nightmarish gateway to Hell. Crockett, an American mountaineer based in the Himalayas, while snowbound in a Tibetan cave accidently stumbles into a cavern system. While exploring, he becomes captured and enslaved by the aforementioned demonic underground denizens. Ali, a nun specializing in linguistics while working in an African leper colony becomes aware of the presence of what seems to a Satanic being within her Kalahari desert base. Major Branch shot down while piloting a helicopter in Bosnia, crashes only to be terrorized by sickly white bodied humanoid forms that have eminated from a burial ground. A preponderence of evidence of the existence of a world miles beneath the surface of the ocean convinces the multi billion dollar Helios corporation to finance a mission to traverse the underworld beneath the Pacific ocean. A team of 150 composed of scientists and mercenaries embark on a 8000 mile underground journey. Led by Ike who subsequently escaped from the hadals and including Ali they commencing their harrowing, dangerous and illuminating trek of discovery. Meanwhile topside a group called the Beowulf group composed of older academic type and clerics meet in an attempt to locate and discover the identity of Satan, who they believe actually exists. The sum total of these machinations is a creative yet overly meandering novel touching on sensitive topics that left this reader fascinated yet somewhat dismayed.
Rating:
Summary: Almost Painful
Review: This book has a great premise, and starts out very promising.
But I got the impression that Long was straining to create an epic that just wasn't there.
He could have made it a fun romp, but he chose to go the "high" road in creating a book that took itself too seriously.
An epic novel can be a true adventure to read, but a novel that thinks it's an epic can be laborious. I couldn't wait for this one too end.
Rating: 
Summary: A book I am ashamed to have really loved
Review: While I am not proud to say this, I enjoyed this book more than any I have read in some time, and I am not sure why. Part of the fun, I believe, is to figure out gaps in the plot that are hinted at, but never really filled in. Parts are disturbing in a fun way. He really outdoes Steven King on the old vomit meter. While I could not put it down, I could not escape the feeling that I was reading a really trashy, awful novel. However, the really disturbing and occasionally hilarious bits and pieces more than make up for it. If nothing else, he deserves great credit (especially writing before 9/11) for the hilarious adventures of a Taliban army taking on a Hell that may have been a bit more secular than they expected.
Rating: 
Summary: Good start poor finish
Review: First time out with this author.
While I enjoyed the unique story line ... well, as unique as anyone can be in this genre, I have to agree that the plotline was stretched a bit thin.
I think the first hundred pages were spot on. But then things slowly became too involved and wondered about without unity.
I do like that the author can write with some muscle and doesn't make any pretense about writing unabashed horror.
Rating:
Summary: tired, cliched story
Review: I normally would not have read a book with such an overused plot, but I was desparate for some entertainment while on vacation. The book is based on the tired premise that there is an underground race of humanoids (Hadals) that occasionally comes to the surface to capture humans to use as slaves. As usual, the Hadals are extremely strong, brutal, filthy, and ugly. We are supposed to believe that they were once more evolved than humans despite living almost 20 miles below sea level with no light, no food, and getting bombarded with radiation-yeah right. The main character, Ike, is (not surprisingly) a former climber/caver that took tourists on expeditions in the Himalayas. I say this because that is the background of the author, Mr. Long, and it is the only thing that he writes competently about in this book. His clumsy descriptions of evolution, linguistics, warfare, biochemistry, and religion are superficial at best. He does not present the detail and scope of these topics the way Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton do in their works and glosses over important plot points such as the transformation of some humans to Hadal-like form when they go underground or the ability of the Hadals to transfer their mind to others including humans. The story is the usual journey to the center of the Earth-type with a scientific expedition guarded by mercenaries and funded by an evil corporation that wants to colonize and exploit the underworld. There is the typical mercenaries/company betray the scientists and leave them to die. Then the mercenaries get picked apart by the Hadals, then Ike saves the day and rescues his girlfriend. The story is not only formulaic and extremely derivative, but there is also no suspense or intrigue. I managed to finish the book, but only because I am stubborn. This is not a stay-up-all-night-page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: The longest and slowest read ever!
Review: There are only two good things about this book 1)The cover 2)The last page. Don't waste your time like I did.
Rating:
Summary: A page-turner in every sense of the term...
Review: Well, maybe it's me. This book has a great, scary, philosophical comical tragical idea inside it -- but structurally it's an unholy mess. Beginning with some atmospheric, creepy tension-building, suddenly it rockets forward to an improbable/impossible set of circumstances -- as if the author is in too much of a hurry or unsure of how to morph the horror-story opening into a military procedural with sci-fi trappings, which seems the only place he's truly comfortable. Some of the writing is muscular and effective, especially the descriptions of physical suffering, but then there are the 800-pound gorilla elements: Eco-like fragments thrown in to please the intelligentsia. These appear almost at random and go nowhere. And some of the ideas are half-baked at best: after all, if a species can transfer consciousness from one body to the next, how can a civilization ever decline? What this book really needed was a better integration of the philosophical underpinnings with the adventure outline -- then you'd have something. That said, you will (1) not be able to stop reading it; (2) not soon forget it. For an altogether different experience but one which also affords some excellent and intense adventure writing, check out the NIGHT'S DAWN trilogy by Peter Hamilton (The Neutronium Alchemist et al) -- 'course, it too falls apart, but not until the very end...
Rating:
Summary: An exciting thrill ride with a different perspective
Review: First, the world created in this book simply stretches the imagination! Combinations of JRR Tolkien like mythology and Steven King horror woven into a modern day tale of archeological discovery and intrigue. The book starts out as a frightening thriller about a variety of interactions with unknown creatures and situations. It all comes together when it is discovered that an entire world exists beneath the surface populated by an unknown species. Is this Hell? The best aspect of the book is the vivid and remarkable creation of a world below the surface. The depictions of new species, and discoveries are painted with such detail that the reader is taken along on the journey with the characters. The depictions of several of the main characters are also well done. The pace and suspense keep the reader engaged throughout, eager to see what comes next. The theological issues often lack depth, but frame an interesting sub plot. In the end, several ideas are postulated but not really closed out, leaving much to the imagination. This is much more effective than trying to tie up all loose ends, as it depicts a more realistic mystery. Overall, I would say that this is a great story but the book is not for everyone. Fans of sci-fi, fantasy and Steven King type thrillers will not be disappointed at all, as it is extremely well written. I agree with the other reviewers here in that this has the potential for being a great film. An excellent addition to the fantasy genre.
Rating:
Summary: Please continue the story!
Review: This is one of the best novels I have ever read. I read it in a minimum number of sittings. I gave a copy to a friend as a gift and he felt the same way but said it was "the best" novel he had ever read. Why? A radical scenario that is presented with enough real-world factors to make it believable, a varied crew of characters who you become truly interested in, mysteries within mysteries, and a wild adventure that harkens back to the best of Edgar Rice Burroughs. However, there are a number of loose ends that beg for a sequel, or even a series. Mr. Long, I thought "Year Zero" was good too, but nowheres close to "The Descent", so what are you waiting for?
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