REVIEW: The Hike by Drew Magary

The Hike by Drew Magary
Publishing information: Kindle
Publisher: Viking; 2 August 2016
ASIN: B01839Q436
Standalone
Copy: Out of pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Amazon

Synopsis: "From the author of The Postmortal, a fantasy saga unlike any you’ve read before, weaving elements of folk tales and video games into a riveting, unforgettable adventure of what a man will endure to return to his family

When Ben, a suburban family man, takes a business trip to rural Pennsylvania, he decides to spend the afternoon before his dinner meeting on a short hike. Once he sets out into the woods behind his hotel, he quickly comes to realize that the path he has chosen cannot be given up easily. With no choice but to move forward, Ben finds himself falling deeper and deeper into a world of man-eating giants, bizarre demons, and colossal insects.

On a quest of epic, life-or-death proportions, Ben finds help comes in some of the most unexpected forms, including a profane crustacean and a variety of magical objects, tools, and potions. Desperate to return to his family, Ben is determined to track down the “Producer,” the creator of the world in which he is being held hostage and the only one who can free him from the path.

At once bitingly funny and emotionally absorbing, Magary’s novel is a remarkably unique addition to the contemporary fantasy genre, one that draws as easily from the world of classic folk tales as it does from video games. In The Hike, Magary takes readers on a daring odyssey away from our day-to-day grind and transports them into an enthralling world propelled by heart, imagination, and survival."

I don't recall how The Hike made itself known to me. It may have been something I read from Jeff Vandermeer, or it could be from a list of books that I should be reading. Either way, I ended up purchasing this one and only knew what I read from the blurb on the Amazon page.

When I was a few chapters into the book I had debated about calling it quits as it is one of those tongue-in-cheek, smarter than you type books, or at least that is how it felt in the beginning. But knowing it was a short book, coming in at less than 300 pages, I knew it would be over quickly and I could put it out of my misery. However, as I continued to read the story of Ben and the smarminess disappeared and I started to find myself engrossed in the story.

While the "Producer" became a little predictable a little before the reveal, there is another little ending that was foreshadowed that I had forgotten about until Magary brought it back to my attention. It was this even, an event I won't spoil for you, that made the whole adventure worth reading.

The Hike has a lot of great moments in it and once you get past the smugness of the beginning truly unfolds to be a decent little read that doesn't get enough publicity. There are quite a lot of little nuances to the book that I would probably really pick up on if I were to do a re-read. Overall, The Hike won me over.

Overall 7/10