Peak

This book was extremely well-researched, and I learned a lot about the physiology and technical aspects of mountain climbing, and the specific geography of the north face of Everest.

The characters were very relatable—the one exception was the one Chinese commander because he seemed almost cartoonish. By contrast, much more care was done with the Nepalese, Tibetan and Sherpa characters, portraying cultural practices without exotifying them, and showing them doing general everyday activities.

The Chinese commander (the only Chinese character with any dialogue) felt like a caricature. I understand that his function was to add tension to the plot, and he is not supposed to be a sympathetic character (he is singularly focused on exposing the plot to put Peak on the summit, and he uses his power in ways that endanger everyone), but I think more could have been done to avoid reinforcing stereotypes of Chinese people.

This book sparked a new interest for me in learning about mountain climbing and mountain climbing disasters. The author does not shy away from the fact that the death zone is full of corpses, and treats this fact with appropriate amounts of reverence and horror.

I'm excited to read more of this series!