Wired, chosen as one of “This Summer’s 14 Must-Read Books” “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.” 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.” A successful work of contemporary fantasy. You'll see stars, I promise, but I don't want to come within a million miles of spoiling for you. But the real kicker? Magary underhands a twist in at the end that hits you like a sharp jab at the bell. It’s fun and fast and bizarre, familiar yet completely other. It’s like a story you tell yourself on a long drive alone in the dark. It’s like early, good Chuck Palahniuk leeched of all bitterness and class warfare-back when Chuck was still weird and tired and furious. Buy it for all your friends-everyone loves a good dad odyssey.” “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. 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. 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.Īt 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. Quietly profound and touching.”- BoingBoingįrom 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 Magary underhands a twist in at the end that hits you like a sharp jab at the bell.

The hike book drew magary