The Abominable, by Dan Simmons.

A good many years ago I had a passion for reading books about mountaineering. This started by reading 'The Ascent of Everest', a book by John Hunt, about the conquering of the world's highest peak by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. What followed in quick succession were books about early expeditions to the high Himalayas, Frank Smythe and Eric Shipton; the ascent of Annapurna by Maurice Herzog, how he snipped off some of his blackened, frost-bitten toes (or was it his fingers? it's a long time ago since I read it) on the train on his homeward journey. These tales of courage in the face of adversity are hard-set in memory.
Why I mention this interest in reading about mountaineering expeditions at the outset of this preliminary review is that Dan Simmons' book, 'The Abominable', brings the atmosphere of the tales about the high peaks back again. I am seventy-seven pages into the book, and boy, am I loving it. The writing is superb and the promise of a story to get my teeth into over the next weeks is alluring.
I'll report back.
JJ