The Descent

2.5, I think. Yes, it was problematic. I have little to say on the science, since I don't know enough about it. I definitely find it awkward when a white male uses racial descriptors in certain ways. This was written almost twenty years ago, so he probably didn't mean to sound offensive, but he did. In some ways, this didn't age well.

As for the story itself, I confess that I ate it up. As always, though, the ending wasn't particularly engaging. The characterizations are shallow, except for a few of the characters. And some of the characters are exposition-spewers. There is also a character that is needlessly intelligent and annoying, but he goes out like a total punk and also kills his lover for no good reason.

Ali is totally white man's burden, even though she's a nice person. Pretty white savior in Africa and in Subterranea is at worst reprehensible; at best, it's just bloody awkward. But again, I'm not completely aware of what real life was like back in 1999, because I was at a Christian college (not a progressive one either, and I was very naive). So did people in the real world realize how awkward it was at the time? I suspect not, judging by reviews in the front of the book.

That said, this book was fun. I devoured it. It was fascinating, although I was disappointed by the hadals in the end. And the dropping of the balls on different characters.

But when this book was straight-up horror, like the first chapter, it worked pretty well. There were some delightfully creepy bits. I just wish the whole book had worked as well.