Discovery is an ambitious book and you notice that immediately. It opens big with strange forces moving pieces on a board humanity barely understands, Then it quickly shifts into newsroom, and later missing expeditions, and government secrecy. It’s juggling cosmic horror, conspiracy thriller, historical mystery, and character drama all at once.

Surprisingly, a lot of it works.

The mystery surrounding the Rosie expedition hooked me, fast. Something clearly went very wrong in the South Pacific, and the slow reveal through letters, tapes, and investigations kept things exciting. I also enjoyed the newsroom scenes. Nessa Decker is a good lead because she reacts how a reasonable person would - she’s cautious, skeptical, and trying to separate fact from spectacle while everything grows increasingly hard to explain.

The atmosphere is great, too. The horror always hangs in the background. Even when characters are just talking in offices or arguing over evidence, there’s an unease that something larger is already in motion.

That said, ambition sometimes works against the book.

The prose gets dense and performative, especially early on. Long monologues and stylized narration slow the pacing when the story would benefit from getting to the point faster. The cast is large, and while many characters are memorable, it takes time to understand who matters most. The shifting perspectives add scope, sure, but also feel unfocused. Just as you start to vibe with it, the book moves elsewhere. Eventually the pieces come together, but the middle stretch demands patience.

Tone is another mixed success. At times the book balances dark humor, horror, and thriller elements well. At other moments, the theatrical style feels excessive. The story clearly enjoys its own weirdness, which is part of the appeal, but it tends to lean a bit too hard into it.

Still, the central mystery remains compelling, the cosmic ideas are unsettling in a good way, and the gradual realization of what humanity may have uncovered gives the later sections weight. You start with a missing expedition. You end up asking much larger questions about knowledge, power, and whether some discoveries are survivable at all.

It’s uneven, but interestingly so. Even though I struggled in places, I’m glad I’ve read it.