Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War

This debut novel by Karl Marlantes is the best war novel, I've ever read, and I know you'll agree. Marlantes spent 30 years honing this fiction about Vietnam, time well spent. Often, when authors spend so much time on a single piece, the reader wishes they hadn't. Marlantes is a great exception.

Below are the reviews of some great authors:

“Matterhorn is a novel of great authority and humanity. It builds inexorably to a devastating and magnificent final movement.” —Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain

“Unforgettable . . . A beautifully crafted novel of unrivaled authenticity and power, filled with jungle heroism, crackerjack inventiveness, mud, blood, brotherhood, hatred, healing, terror, bureaucracy, politics, unfathomable waste, and unfathomable love.” —Christina Robb, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of This Changes Everything

“Matterhorn is that rare modern novel destined to become a classic. Karl Marlantes has written a riveting and harrowing portrait of young men at war.” —Vince Flynn, author of Pursuit of Honor

“Matterhorn is one of the most powerful and moving novels about combat, the Vietnam War, and war in general that I have ever read.” —Dan Rather

“As warfare shapeshifts its way into a new century, the publication of Matterhorn is perfectly timed. Karl Marlantes tells a riveting, richly detailed personal tale of soldiers in Vietnam, and in doing so, he brilliantly illuminates the defining war of the last half of the twentieth century. Matterhorn reminds us, profoundly, of our flawed humanity, capable of individual grace and collective horror.” —Robert Olen Butler, author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

“Never have we seen the particular horrors and challenges of Vietnam so richly explored, and never have we felt the tactile experience of the war depicted with such mesmerizing force. We see the big picture, but as with all great novels, it’s the tiny details—the mud, the leeches, the adrenaline-drenched dread of combat, and the tender joy of comradeship—that linger with the reader long after the story is over.” —Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and Hellhound on His Trail

“These are the words I wrote down while reading Matterhorn: authentic, funny, heartbreaking, infuriating, devastating. This great book crawled under my skin on the first page, and I suspect it will remain there for a very long time." —David Finkel, author of The Good Soldiers

“Matterhorn is a masterful and thrilling drama about an event of national importance that we have barely understood. Marlantes conjures grace out of suffering, honor from despair, sense out of nonsense. The men and women of this story have long deserved a homecoming, and we needed to hear their true story. Marlantes has delivered a heartbreaking achievement. He has written a timeless work of literary fiction.” —Doug Stanton, author of Horse Soldiers