Forbidden Summit

Some mountains are not just difficult to climb. Some mountains are impossible. Danvedi Garwal has stood unconquered for centuries at the top of the Toribol Galaxy. Thousands of the finest climbers from across the known universe have attempted its slopes. Thousands have left their bodies on the ice. Not one has ever reached the summit. Alois Anwar intends to be the first. To do it, he has assembled the most talented group of mountaineers on the planet Ama. They are also the most damaged. Prejudice, loneliness, fear, and insecurity run deep in every member of this team, and Danvedi Garwal seems to sense it. The mountain does not just test climbers. It hunts them. Period cyclones, deadly parasites, carnivorous Muxphoy predators, and relentless ice worms are only the beginning. A rival Trescan team is already advancing up the other side, and the political stakes of the
climb could reshape the galaxy. But none of that explains why this mountain has never been conquered. The real reason is waiting at the top. And it will change everything. Forbidden Summit is a rare achievement in science fiction: a novel that delivers heart-pounding adventure and gut-wrenching human drama while building to a revelation that is genuinely, profoundly worth the climb. Award-winning and impossible to put down.
Kirk J. Pocan drew on his own wilderness mountaineering misadventures to bring this world to life. Some of those pages, he says, were written from experiences he still wishes he had never had. Perfect for fans of Andy Weir, Michael Crichton, and Kim Stanley Robinson.