Since reading Into Thin Air two years ago, I've wanted to read another book about climbing, but always had a stack of other things I wanted to get to first. When I saw this book pop up on my Overdrive app with the audiobook available, I decided to go for it.

This book focuses mostly on K2, which isn't a mountain I knew much about before reading this book, other than knowing of its existence as the second-highest mountain in the world. Ultimately, I find the history of the various expeditions very interesting, even if I found the writing to be somewhat all over the place. I think I would've preferred the timeline to be more linear, rather than starting with the more recent expeditions and then jumping all the way back and then moving forward again. It just felt a bit confusing at times.

The sections that are taken from diary entries are really interesting to me, and learning the dynamics of the different groups was also really intriguing. It's shocking to me to even think of attempting to climb a mountain at all, much less with a group of people you don't at least have a basic regard for.

The story of the 1954 expedition and unraveling the truth of what happened was actually very shocking. To think of what these men were willing to do in hopes of eternal glory is just astounding to me. I know that sounds naive, but I cannot imagine myself treating another human being the way these men were treated.

As far as the authorial voice, It's obvious that Ed Viesturs is incredibly knowledgeable and experienced with what he is discussing. After all, he is a renowned climber in his own right and knows many of the players involved in the campaigns he's writing about. He's also well-read with regards to literature out in the world about K2 and cites them many times throughout the course of this novel.

It's interesting because while he says that there is an un-written rule that you don't air your groups 'dirty laundry' regarding turmoil or bad blood among the climbers, this book does contain a multitude of commentary regarding other published works and climbers. Also, every time something awful happens, he follows up the account talking about himself and how he never got into that sort of situation for this reason or that. Many considered that to be really smug and arrogant, and while I see where they're coming from, it didn't really bother me. It may have been a bit self-congratulatory, but I feel like if I'd climbed all of the tallest mountains in the world (some multiple times) I'd probably come across that way as well.

I will also say that this does feel the slightest bit dated, which isn't a criticism as much as a heads up. There are things that hadn't been done at the point of this book's release (an American woman reaching the summit of K2, for one example) that have been done now. But that information was easily found after I was done reading, and it would be silly to hold not being able to predict the future.
I do think that this could've been structured a little more neatly, as I previously stated, but I found it to be very compelling and I'm glad I read it.