The Descent

Rating:
Summary: engrossing
Review: Starting with a bunch of short exciting chapters that introduce the main characters and the fantastic story idea, The Descent hooked me immediately. There's a lot going in this multileveled book but at its heart it is a great adventure tale. However, I also feel that the author tried to do too much with the story. Some chapters seem pointless and confusing and could be omitted. The main story line (of the Helios expedition) makes the book absolutely worthwhile but I think some of the ideas should have been used in separate (but related) books. I'd love to read a "Descent" series. The bottom line is I love the book and I'm still thinking about it days after finishing.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging, but Choppy
Review: This book has an interesting premise - a real hell, with real demons - but the author threw the plot together loosely around this idea, and it shows. The book starts out strong, but forces you to make some very big leaps of faith and logic. The idea that the military would be so initially interested in the Descent right off the bat was a little hard to swallow,and author Jeff Long doesn't flesh this part out very well. Rather, he rushes through as if he knows how implausible it sounds, sacrificing the strong story for long descriptions of these impossible military events. Other parts of the story, such as details surrounding the ancient hadal civilization, were fascinating, yet the author neglected them for passages featuring the long, boring Helios expedition. It was very dissapointing to see such a great vein of ideas ignored for mindless military action, but I suppose this is a ordinary thriller, not an intellectual one.

The book does has it's moments, and, thankfully, a stong, believable lead character in Ike, who I believe is the backbone of the story. It was interesting and full of mindless-but-exciting action, enough to keep me reading and flipping pages, but it is not great literature (though I doubt few would expect it to be). I had high hopes for this book, particularly after the strong beginning (a truly frightening chapter set in the Himalayan Mountains), but after that it's hit or miss, more often missing the mark. For the interesting ideas presented, the book gets a 3.

Rating:
Summary: Jules Verne + Clive Barker = falls a bit short of both
Review: This tale of humanity's discovery of a savage subterranean race should appeal greatly to those who enjoy highly-researched military-scientific novels, in the vein of Crichton or Alistair MacLean. Long has a very original and vividly-imagined fantastic vision of his underground world, and a seemingly intimate understanding of the workings of our military-industrial-powered surface world.

However, I ended up being somewhat disappointed in the book. I bought it on impulse after reading the jacket and part of the first chapter while standing in the bookstore. Initially, it had the earmarks of a fascinating horror novel, albeit a bit gruesome for my usual taste, a la Dell's Abyss series. Unfortunately for me, the book's early implicit promise of insightful psychological terror-even supernatural occurrences-gives way to a rather mechanistically descriptive tale of strategy and exploration.

Tantalizing hints of appalling human masochism, cruelty, and negligent insensitivity fade noiselessly to a dead end. A very lyrical and intriguing story of a captured human becoming a mad holy man among the subterraneans is shown only as a diminutive aside. Instead, the book features lots of seasoned military men engaging in stoic macho posturing of one kind or another, despite the addition of a semi-lapsed nun as a protagonist.

Furthermore, while Long's writing is clear and straightforward, with occasional teasing forays into the darkly poetic, I was distracted by non-writerly errors. Although the plot and subplots are rigorously accurate, the symbolism is appropriate, and the main characters reasonably fleshed-out for the genre, Long makes "regular-guy" vocabulary mistakes. He uses "bemused" (puzzled) when he apparently means "amused," he repeatedly uses "enormity" to mean "enormousness" instead of "great wickedness or evil," (which could have been very useful given the subject matter,) and he noticeably overused the word "gracile" (pet word syndrome.)

Long himself has veins of untapped subterranean resources. I would LOVE to see him write something purely imaginative and less scripted.

To sum up:
Military, industrial, espionage, gory battle, scientific, "hard" sci-fi fans = YES!
Psychological thriller/horror, insightful dark speculative fiction fans = NO.

Re cover art: very skillful and well-wrought, but the inside-cover depiction of one of the "savage" subterraneans was disturbingly African in appearance, especially given that the writing describes them as being pale and albino! In the context of our society's damnable history of associating African descent with brutality, this was a very questionable choice of illustration.

Rating:
Summary: A page burner indeed!
Review: On the cover of the book someone writes it is a page burner - this is still too weak a characterization of what this novel really is. It leads us into a fantasy world that is very similar to ours populated by very credible characters and fantastic beings that, in their interactions, create most exciting and breathtaking plots. The idea of a sub-planet is not a new one, with Jules Verne being one of the first authors to lead us down there. But this novel is one of the most sophisticated ones I have ever read. It is not only that Long has thoroughly researched human history to create a dark background for his yarn, it is also the language, its rich imagery that is never ridiculous, and the powerful language that he uses, which force you to read the book in one go. Never is there a boring line in 561 long pages.
If you ask about the genre this novel belongs to, the answer is not easy: There is some SF, some fantasy, a lot of horror, and also mainstream. So you would imagine this could be a book for everybody to read. But beware: those who are afraid of blood and gore should think twice before reading it - although the book would be nothing without that. A page burner indeed!

Rating:
Summary: THE ROAD TO HELL
Review: THE DESCENT is a long, arduous trek to the farthest depths of the earth. Long has certainly delivered one of the most unusual novels I have read in some time. People with tons of characters and subplots, the story follows a team into the depths of earth to find Satan. There are several hints that Satan is really one of the Beowulf Society, a gathering of elderly scholars intent on discovering the true origins of the Satanic master. The resultant discovery is predictable, yet still has a sense of chills when the culprit is unmasked. Before that, though, you get several really creepy scenarios, particularly the opening chapter focusing on Ike Crockett and his doomed tour group; the hellish damnation of Branch, to name only a few.
This book has some real chills, some philosophical food for thought, and yes would make an interesting cinematic experience. Quite a different read.
RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: A pretty dumb book
Review: The premise for this book is awesome--turns out "demons" are living at the center of the earth, torturing people and wreaking havoc in secret. It starts out solidly, too--very exciting and darn scary, and when they started talking about the Origins of Satan, I was starting to think it would end up as some kind've Davinci Code-type mind-bender combined with an Aliens-type shoot 'em up.

But man, Jeff Long can't deliver on the goods in an enormous way. For one--the Beowulf Circle doesn't do anything. They talk about researching Satan, traveling the world, but Long never actually SHOWS it. They just gather AFTERWARDS, and blabber about it (and it's really clunky, awkward dialogue too). And when they finally come up with a hypothesis to Satan's true identity? Please.

Also, I kinda felt like the hadals are still an unknown quantity. Who are they? Where do they come from?? And most importantly, WHY are Satan and his minions so evil??? And I don't mean to ask "why is there evil", but I just don't understand why the hadals are bloodthirsty savages who will torture you to insanity. I won't spoil it for anyone, but a lot of things happen that seem very "out of character" for the hadals. Basically, I stopped being afraid of them, and that's something Long needed to prevent.

Human reaction to this stuff? Very unrealistic. I find it hard to believe that people wouldn't be more outraged or driven to wipe them off the face of the earth. If a foreign country tortured and killed millions of Americans the way the Hadals did, they'd be a crater. None of the characters are likeable either--Ike is a twisted, violent loner but not in a cool way, Ali is just dopey (another reviewer mentioned the passage where she is wistfully dreaming about "a place at the table" for the hadals, while simultaneously they're torturing the sh** out of a coupel soldiers. Stupid.) and Branch? Don't expect to see much of him--he disappears for about 300 pages.

And the ending? Yawn. There's a lot more, but I don't want to spoil it too much. But I couldn't recommend it to anybody with a brain. Read the first 200 pages if you must as they're pretty entertaining, but chuck it shortly thereafter as it goes completely downhill.

Rating:
Summary: Doing the Hades Thing
Review: Consider, for a moment, Satan. Him of the wretched, extremely hot place we call Hades (or that other word). Jeff Long decided to write a book about him and the result is "The Descent." Long is an interesting person; he is a mountain climber, a journalist, a historian, and he even worked as an election supervisor in Bosnia. I always admire people, like Long, who embark on such diverse and exciting activities. People like this seem to be able to do it all. Alas, they can't always do it all. One of the blurbs on the back cover mentions that "The Descent" is going to be a hot summer read. This is always a warning sign for me. Hot summer reads tend to mean shallow characterization, simple plot, and mindless prose. "The Descent" embodies most of these points while avoiding others.

It's not that the idea is a bad one. The book starts off describing some strange incidents occurring in different parts of the world. A mountain climber by the name of Ike Crockett manages to trap himself and a tour group in a cave during a snowstorm in Tibet. They discover a strange man sitting on a throne covered with strange markings. When one of the tourists wanders off, Ike discovers some dangerous creatures in the cave system. In Bosnia, Major Elias Branch crash-lands his helicopter near a mass grave where an encounter with weird beings changes his life forever. Sister Ali von Schade discovers signs of an ancient proto-language in Africa, with references to a god called, "Older than Thou." Within a short span of time, the upper world discovers that there is a vast subterranean world spanning the entire globe. The military moves in to investigate, and suffers unbelievable casualties when underground humanoids called Hadals attack the soldiers. The president announces that Hades exists, kicking off a wave of exploration and conquest by a global corporation called Helios. In the meantime, a group of academics uses this discovery in order to discover if Satan really exists. The three characters above play a major role in the story, as an expedition moves through a tunnel system deep under the Pacific Ocean. Does Satan exist? Who are the Hadals? Why are the corporations interested in the underworld? These questions, and many others, are all answered--with varying degrees of success--within the space of 592 pages.

I had a tough time liking any of the characters in this book. It isn't due to characterization. The depth is good for the ones who count. It's their personalities I had trouble with. Ike is miraculously transformed from some outcast freak to a friendly guide on the expedition. The love affair that blossoms between him and Ali is one of the most contrived incidents I've stumbled across in a long time. Ali's unlikable aspects would merit a whole review by itself. She's supposed to be this smart, radical nun but she comes across as weak and immature. Her attitude towards the vicious Hadals is breathtakingly idiotic and naïve. Consider this excerpt from the book:

"Maybe we can make a place for them among us. Or they can make a place for us among them. But it all starts here."

This is immediately followed by:

"The torture of Walker's men began (by the Hadals). Their screams drifted up to Ali and Thomas.... Ali was certain the men had died. But then the screaming started again. With pauses, it would go on for many days."

Yeah, I can't wait to have some Hadals over for coffee and conversation. Long tries to redeem Ali when he has her come to a painful realization towards the end of the book. But examples abound throughout the book that Hadals are savages, cannibals, murderers, and torturers. Wake up, you knucklehead!

The science is weak as well. It is never explained how a radio message supposedly sent in the future can be heard through solid rock. Holes are punched through the deepest parts of the ocean floor and supplies sent through the hole directly into the tunnels with seeming ease. How is this done? I'm not saying that it can't be done but I would like to know if it can and how they accomplish the deed. It is also never adequately explained why so many humans want to colonize the subterranean world. Would you want to live in a tunnel? I can't imagine there are many of us out there that would, with the exception of the Unabomber.

The idea for the book is a good one; it's just not one that is executed well. Better execution of the characters would certainly help, as would a tighter plot. I can't say I would dash out to pick up another Jeff Long novel anytime soon.

Rating:
Summary: THE DESCENT IS TOPS IN READING ENTERTAINMENT!
Review: This novel of immense proportions grabs the reader and takes them on a journey to the very bowels of the earth and into a society that is both as ancient and as scary as mankinds worst nightmares. It is a thought provoking book full of adventure, horror, and underground history that is written both beautifully and with a sense od darkness that would give even Steven King a run for his money. The story starts out with a discovery that will put a man and woman into the jaws of hell itself and boggles the mind and imagination of the reader. Please do yourself a favor and read this novel that captures so many legends and myths that will leave you questioning and thinking of your own beliefs that we were all led to believe for eons. There are plenty of surprises and colorful characters that just drive this novel to one of the top 10 best books I have read in my 40-years of life. I am really looking forward to Mr. Long's next novel and am hoping to see the main characters again.

Rating:
Summary: what could have been............
Review: This was a good book. Yes, a very good book. I would have preferred he spend more time on the hadals' emergence from the subplanet, though. It seems like this book just missed the exciting stuff. This had potential to be a thriller along the lines of The Relic, but the author focused on his human statments. Decent read, but could have been oh so much more.

Rating:
Summary: The Descent (Review)
Review: This is a modern day Jules Verne with a twist! This is an excellent read...one you will not regret.