Narrated by Hugh Weller-Poley. From the book translated by Sam Taylor.
Released 2nd June 2022 by Gallic Books.
From the cover:
Stan has been hunting for fossils since the age of six. Now, in the summer of 1954, he hears a story he cannot forget: the skeleton of a huge creature—a veritable dragon—lies deep in an Alpine glacier. And he is determined to find it. But Stan is no mountaineer. To complete his dangerous expedition, he must call on loyal friend Umberto, who arrives with an eccentric young assistant and expert guide Gio.Time is short; the four men must descend before the weather turns. As bonds are forged and tested, the hazardous quest for the Earth’s lost creatures becomes a journey into Stan’s own past.
A Hundred Million Years and a Day is a mesmerizing story of nature, adventure, and of one man's determination to follow his dream, whatever it may take.
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Stan is a man obsessed with fossils. Ever since he found his first one at the age of six, it was his passion to become a palaeontologist, and he obtained the dizzy heights of professorship at a young age, but the one great discovery he has always hoped to find has eluded him.
In the summer of 1954, while attending an academic function in Paris, Stan hears an unlikely story from a small child about the skeleton of a dragon lying in a cave beside an Alpine glacier. He has a suspicion that these fossilised remains might just be the chance he has been looking for to make his name for posterity, even though he knows nothing about mountaineering.
Stan persuades his old colleague Umberto to join him in his quest, and Umberto brings along his eccentric assistant Peter to help. In the company of experienced guide Gio, the men set off up the mountain in search of Stan's dream. Their chances of finding the cave are slim, and they must be back down the mountain before the weather turns against them.
Strong bonds are forged between the men as they battle against the unpredictable weather and inhospitable conditions. Nothing is easy about this expedition, and they are sorely tested as the difficulties of their task cause tempers to fray, but as they inch forward in their search for treasure from the past Stan finds himself turning over memories from his own life too. In this place, high above the world, Stan is finally able to come to terms with all the painful experiences that have shaped him.
The story cuts back and forth between Stan's account of the expedition through the seasons of a single year (Summer through to Spring), with flashbacks to poignant moments of his childhood and the events that convinced him his destiny lay on a remote glacier in the Alps. For a relatively small book, there are so many moments of gripping action and adventure, with a glorious atmosphere of suspense, and I adored the way that the glacier and the dragon both become characters in their own right as the story plays out.
The human characters are vividly drawn and their personality traits contrast cleverly throughout the story to bring about moments of touching harmony and tense contention which take you thorough a wide range of emotions. Stan himself is not always an easy person to like, and there are times when he acts in a way that brings you up sharp as you want to give him a reality check, but his dedication to his dream somehow keeps you rooting for him even at his darkest moments. The impact of their near impossible task in conditions that push them to the very edge of their sanity is profound, and Andréa ensures you feel the human toll with force, but there is also warmth, humour, and companionship between them that is deeply moving. Stan's memories also bring alive the fondness he still feels for the mother he has lost with intense poignancy, and you cannot fail to be struck the powerful hatred he harbours for his brutish father in every fibre of his being. Everything about the physical environment too is described in stunning detail - you see the harsh beauty, and appreciate the subtle dangers that can make complacency fatal, almost as if you are there.
I must stop to praise the translation by Sam Taylor, because it is extremely difficult to retain nuance and emotional complexity in a work of this kind without introducing a sense of distance between the original and translated book, especially one which packs a lot into a novella-sized story, but this book oozes with sentiment and meaning in every carefully chosen word. It is superb. I also love the way an audio book can bring a story to alive with the right narrator, and Hugh Weller-Poley does this to perfection. I found myself becoming completely lost in his voice right from the beginning.
This book really worked its way under my skin and reduced me to a blubbering mess at the end. I came to it expecting a mountaineering story of derring-do and masculine feats of strength, and although there is plenty of both here, it is the tenderness and philosophical depth of this tale that has left its impression on me in a way that I will never forget. This is a very special book.
A Hundred Million Years and a Day is available to buy now in paperback, ebook, and audio formats.
Thank you to Gallic Books for granting me a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
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