Our 3 Book Picks for the Holidays

Dan Simmons

In Dan Simmons’ new thriller The Abominable, three mountaineers tackle Everest a year after the 1924 disappearance of a couple venturers. We spoke with the Longmont author about his passion for the mountains.

For The Abominable, what came first: historical intrigue or the storyline?

The story I wanted to tell weaved into early 20th century history, so then it was a matter of finding the right path, like climbing a mountain. But I often choose my next novel literally so I could do certain types of research. Here, I’ve loved true climbing tales since I was about 15. And after they found George Mallory’s body in 1999 there was a big resurgence of interest.

Do you have mountaineering experience?

Well, before I got married, I lived in Buffalo, New York, for a couple years, and for the Adirondack Mountain Club, we had to commute six or seven hours to get to the best mountains to do a little simple mountain climbing. So, it’s one reason my wife and I moved to Colorado in 1974. I’ve loved being in the mountains ever since.

What are you looking forward to from The Abominable?

I’m interested in how people react to the characters. The three main characters are “the Deacon” who wrote a play about the Great War, which he was in. He was a lord but he wanted to renounce his title, which was illegal in the 1920s. Then there’s young Jean-Claude Clairoux—the Tom Swift of the group. His father runs a steel plant, so anything he can come up with, like 12-point crampons or ascender, his father can come up with. And then Jake Perry. He’s my wide-eyed American that wrote the story down for me in 1991.

Most memorable holiday gift?

Oh, gosh…When I was about six or seven, the folks gave us a wooden frontier fort—made out of cardboard. Mix that with the Davy Crockett era I was growing up in—raccoon caps and muskets—and my little brother and I just loved the heck out of that thing. We played in it till it broke to bits.