The Hike
A Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
The Hike just works. It s like early, good Chuck Palahniuk. . . . Magary underhands a twist in at the end that hits you like a sharp jab at the bell. . . . It s just that good. NPR.org
A page-turner. . . . Inventive,...
A page-turner. . . . Inventive,...
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The Hike just works. It s like early, good Chuck Palahniuk. . . . Magary underhands a twist in at the end that hits you like a sharp jab at the bell. . . . It s just that good. NPR.orgA page-turner. . . . Inventive, funny. . . . Quietly profound and touching. BoingBoing
From the author of The Night the Lights Went Out and 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.
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CHAPTER ONETHE PATH
There were deer all over the road. He drove past a street crew in orange vests carrying a dead one off to the side of the highway, gripping the animal by its dainty hooves and moving it like they were carrying a small table upside down. After that, he saw more and more of the deer: some whole, some ripped in half, some just pieces of raw meat. Some were consigned to the shoulder, and he wondered if they had been dragged there or if the big, hulking trucks had plowed into them and chewed them up and spat them out in random pieces off to the side. There were a lot of trucks on this highway, all of them faceless. They didn t seem to be driven by people at all. They were just there, seemingly operated by some grand master switchboard, programmed to never stop. And they were legion. They had paved the asphalt with all that deer blood under him.
His only companion in the car was the disembodied female GPS voice coming from his phone. She kept silent for fifty miles as he looked out his window at the last gasps of fall in the distant hills pretty red and yellow swaths of foliage surrounded by sad patches of gray, like an
unfinished oil painting. Eventually, the GPS, with an inhuman calm, led him off the highway, down a ramp and to the right, then up a hill and to the left. Then she commanded:
In five hundred feet, turn right.
She was ordering him to turn directly into a cliff face, which he disobeyed. He stared down at his phone after passing up the proposed turn into oblivion: Rerouting, rerouting, rerouting . . .
Come on.
Eventually, the GPS stopped screwing with him, and led him up the steeply sloped driveway of a small mountain resort. It was a wedding mill. He could tell. There was an entire villa of wedding party bungalows, along with designated Smile Spots where a pushy photographer could hold a dozen groomsmen hostage for forty-five minutes without access to a
... mehr
cocktail. He drove up the private road, past a bridal salon and an open courtyard for summer ceremonies, all the way to the surprisingly dumpy main inn at the end of the loop. It was a Tuesday. Not even cheapskates get married on a Tuesday. His was one of only three cars in the driveway. He got out and left a message for his vendor:
Hey, it s Ben. I m here. See you at seven.
He walked through the main entrance and was greeted by an old, shabby lobby. Yellowed wallpaper. A table of frosted, maple leaf-shaped cookies wrapped up in little bags that cost five bucks each. Coffee urns that had been drained hours ago. Off to the left, Ben spied a wooden
bar with swivel stools, but no bartender present. A small girl in a billowy cupcake nightgown danced around the cookie table in her bare feet as her mother screamed at her.
Will you get dressed? This floor isn t clean!
She shooed her daughter up the stairs as Ben walked over to the reception area. No one was at the desk, but he could see a sad little office open behind it. He let out a meek Hello?, the kind of Hello? you use when you creep downstairs at night to see if a robber has broken in. A short old lady shuffled out of the office and took his credit card and ID.
She looked at him funny. He was used to that. He had a long scar that ran down from his eye to the corner of his mouth. Whenever people looked at him, they saw the scar and assumed he was a mean person, even though he wasn t. Or, at least, he wasn t in the beginning.
What time does the bar close? he asked the clerk.
The bar?
Yes, the bar. The one over there.
I think the bar closes around nine.
Hey, it s Ben. I m here. See you at seven.
He walked through the main entrance and was greeted by an old, shabby lobby. Yellowed wallpaper. A table of frosted, maple leaf-shaped cookies wrapped up in little bags that cost five bucks each. Coffee urns that had been drained hours ago. Off to the left, Ben spied a wooden
bar with swivel stools, but no bartender present. A small girl in a billowy cupcake nightgown danced around the cookie table in her bare feet as her mother screamed at her.
Will you get dressed? This floor isn t clean!
She shooed her daughter up the stairs as Ben walked over to the reception area. No one was at the desk, but he could see a sad little office open behind it. He let out a meek Hello?, the kind of Hello? you use when you creep downstairs at night to see if a robber has broken in. A short old lady shuffled out of the office and took his credit card and ID.
She looked at him funny. He was used to that. He had a long scar that ran down from his eye to the corner of his mouth. Whenever people looked at him, they saw the scar and assumed he was a mean person, even though he wasn t. Or, at least, he wasn t in the beginning.
What time does the bar close? he asked the clerk.
The bar?
Yes, the bar. The one over there.
I think the bar closes around nine.
... weniger
Autoren-Porträt von Drew Magary
Drew Magary
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Drew Magary
- 2017, 288 Seiten, Masse: 12,8 x 19,5 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: PENGUIN BOOKS
- ISBN-10: 0399563873
- ISBN-13: 9780399563874
- Erscheinungsdatum: 20.06.2017
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
Drew Magary s new novel, The Hike, follows Ben, a dad trying to get home after wandering into a parallel universe on a business trip. . . . Buy it for all your friends everyone loves a good dad odyssey. GQ
The Hike just works. It s like early, good Chuck Palahniuk leeched of all bitterness and class warfare back when Chuck was still weird and tired and furious. It s like a story you tell yourself on a long drive alone in the dark. It s fun and fast and bizarre, familiar yet completely other. But the real kicker? Magary underhands a twist in at the end that hits you like a sharp jab at the bell. You'll see stars, I promise, but I don't want to come within a million miles of spoiling for you. It s just that good.
NPR.org
A page-turner. . . . A successful work of contemporary fantasy. It displays a writer in command of his voice and experimenting with more traditional forms of narrative, while being inventive, funny, and, by the end of the work, quietly profound and touching.
BoingBoing
It s kind of a more cynical version of The Phantom Tollbooth mixed with a game of Dungeons & Dragons from Community creator Dan Harmon s podcast Harmontown.
Wired, chosen as one of This Summer s 14 Must-Read Books
At once heartfelt, nerve-wracking, and soul-searching, The Hike is an emotional punch to the gut draped in the trappings of fantasy and psychological horror. It s a beautifully written novel with thoughtful characters, crunchy descriptions, and crisp action. I loved every single ounce of this book. I m already looking forward to re-reading it and I only finished it a few days ago. Easily a contender for a slot in my top five favorite books of 2016.
Tor.com
Often hilarious, as you would expect any book by Magary to be, but like The Postmortal there is a real darkness and thoughtfulness to Ben s journey that will keep you engrossed.
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i09.com s Summer Reading Guide
A gonzo fantasy adventure with a simple premise: a guy gets lost in the woods. Yet with Magary, getting lost means being chased by dog-faced murderers, crashing into an iceberg, almost getting eaten by a giant, and being forced to build a castle for the undead. In short, things get weird.
Men's Journal
The Hike does for casual hiking what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean. . . . An existential, metaphysical journey into what would happen if you ended up in an alternate universe that challenged everything you thought you knew about yourself.
GeekDad.com
A fun and funny book.
PopMatters.com
The Hike reads like a mix of The Odyssey and The Phantom Tollbooth, with the same humor Magary uses on Deadspin. . . . Along the way, Magary s hero hunts for an enigmatic mastermind, encounters man-eating giants and monsters, and teams up with a talking crab. What starts out as a saga of suburban ennui quickly turns into gripping tale of survival.
Washington City Paper
Among the strangest books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. . . . True to its nature, the story stays unpredictable and weird right up to the climax. Magary s book is a love letter to fans of gaming, fantasy and adventure, but above all, to open minded readers who can relax and hang on for the ride.
BookPage
A road novel, a psychedelic Pilgrim s Progress for the 21st Century, Cormac McCarthy after three scotches. . . . I loved every single page of it. . . . [This book] is very good. Tell your friends.
The Free Lance-Star
Magary s second novel (after The Postmortal) features elements reminiscent of Homer s Odyssey, Stephen King s Dark Tower series, Lewis Carroll s Alice in Wonderland, and the PC game King s Quest. Mostly, it is a reminder of not only how easy it is to get lost but also how difficult it can be to find one s way back. Fast-paced and immensely entertaining, this is highly recommended for sf fans and adventurous literary readers.
Library Journal (starred review)
In this literary odyssey, Magary combines fascinating dream imagery, assorted video game tropes, and a story structure that s deliberately predictable (with nods to many other tales of wandering through strange lands before returning home) but still surprising.
Publishers Weekly
Creepy. . . . Magary isn't shy about getting weird fast. . . . [He] even nails the ending with a Twilight Zone twist that would have Rod Serling nodding with approval. An eerie odyssey that would be right at home in the pages of the pulpy Warren comics.
Kirkus Reviews
The Hike is Cormac McCarthy s Alice in Wonderland gritty and terrifying but with deliriously surreal twists and turns. There s not a chapter that doesn t shock and surprise, and underneath it all is the levity and wit I ve come to expect of Drew Magary s writing.
Jeffrey Cranor, New York Times bestselling cowriter of Welcome to Night Vale
The Hike is so much fun, has so much pure velocity, that I didn't realize until it was too late what I thought was a drumbeat of excitement was actually the novel s secret, powerful heart. Magary s new book is a metaphysical thrill ride that will stay with me.
Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
Praise for The Postmortal
An exciting page turner . . . Drew Magary is an excellent writer. This is his first novel but he tells the story masterfully. . . . The most frightening thing about The Postmortal is that this could really happen it s not a supernatural story, but it s even more terrifying than zombie apocalypse.
Mark Frauenfelder, BoingBoing
Unnerving. . . . An absorbing picture of dawning apocalypse . . . The Postmortal is a suitably chilling entry into the it s-the-end-of-the-world canon.
The Austin Chronicle
The first novel from a popular sports blogger and humorist puts a darkly comic spin on a science fiction premise and hits the sweet spot between Margaret Atwood and Kurt Vonnegut.
Ron Hogan, Shelf Awareness
The Postmortal surprised me in a good way.
Michelle West, Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine
Magary s vision of future technology and science is eerily realistic.
The New York Press
A gonzo fantasy adventure with a simple premise: a guy gets lost in the woods. Yet with Magary, getting lost means being chased by dog-faced murderers, crashing into an iceberg, almost getting eaten by a giant, and being forced to build a castle for the undead. In short, things get weird.
Men's Journal
The Hike does for casual hiking what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean. . . . An existential, metaphysical journey into what would happen if you ended up in an alternate universe that challenged everything you thought you knew about yourself.
GeekDad.com
A fun and funny book.
PopMatters.com
The Hike reads like a mix of The Odyssey and The Phantom Tollbooth, with the same humor Magary uses on Deadspin. . . . Along the way, Magary s hero hunts for an enigmatic mastermind, encounters man-eating giants and monsters, and teams up with a talking crab. What starts out as a saga of suburban ennui quickly turns into gripping tale of survival.
Washington City Paper
Among the strangest books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. . . . True to its nature, the story stays unpredictable and weird right up to the climax. Magary s book is a love letter to fans of gaming, fantasy and adventure, but above all, to open minded readers who can relax and hang on for the ride.
BookPage
A road novel, a psychedelic Pilgrim s Progress for the 21st Century, Cormac McCarthy after three scotches. . . . I loved every single page of it. . . . [This book] is very good. Tell your friends.
The Free Lance-Star
Magary s second novel (after The Postmortal) features elements reminiscent of Homer s Odyssey, Stephen King s Dark Tower series, Lewis Carroll s Alice in Wonderland, and the PC game King s Quest. Mostly, it is a reminder of not only how easy it is to get lost but also how difficult it can be to find one s way back. Fast-paced and immensely entertaining, this is highly recommended for sf fans and adventurous literary readers.
Library Journal (starred review)
In this literary odyssey, Magary combines fascinating dream imagery, assorted video game tropes, and a story structure that s deliberately predictable (with nods to many other tales of wandering through strange lands before returning home) but still surprising.
Publishers Weekly
Creepy. . . . Magary isn't shy about getting weird fast. . . . [He] even nails the ending with a Twilight Zone twist that would have Rod Serling nodding with approval. An eerie odyssey that would be right at home in the pages of the pulpy Warren comics.
Kirkus Reviews
The Hike is Cormac McCarthy s Alice in Wonderland gritty and terrifying but with deliriously surreal twists and turns. There s not a chapter that doesn t shock and surprise, and underneath it all is the levity and wit I ve come to expect of Drew Magary s writing.
Jeffrey Cranor, New York Times bestselling cowriter of Welcome to Night Vale
The Hike is so much fun, has so much pure velocity, that I didn't realize until it was too late what I thought was a drumbeat of excitement was actually the novel s secret, powerful heart. Magary s new book is a metaphysical thrill ride that will stay with me.
Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
Praise for The Postmortal
An exciting page turner . . . Drew Magary is an excellent writer. This is his first novel but he tells the story masterfully. . . . The most frightening thing about The Postmortal is that this could really happen it s not a supernatural story, but it s even more terrifying than zombie apocalypse.
Mark Frauenfelder, BoingBoing
Unnerving. . . . An absorbing picture of dawning apocalypse . . . The Postmortal is a suitably chilling entry into the it s-the-end-of-the-world canon.
The Austin Chronicle
The first novel from a popular sports blogger and humorist puts a darkly comic spin on a science fiction premise and hits the sweet spot between Margaret Atwood and Kurt Vonnegut.
Ron Hogan, Shelf Awareness
The Postmortal surprised me in a good way.
Michelle West, Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine
Magary s vision of future technology and science is eerily realistic.
The New York Press
... weniger
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