"This journey by Glenn Thompson was about the exploration of the underground watercourse at Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas. I have taken cave tours in the past, but Glenn's story let me know I have never really experienced or understood cave life.
"The second chapter, which explored Glenn's youth, set the stage for me to understand his curiosity with water and his fearlessness in exploring. It prepared me to hear about his journey to enter this cave system in a way no one had tried before.
"Glenn's photos and maps punctuate the text, allowing a novice like me to visualize what he was experiencing. His way of telling the story made me feel as if I were diving right alongside him and his co-explorers. Not to spoil, some of their experiences were on the edge, and their actions exemplified their wherewithal to find ways to safety.
"In Chapter 7, when Glenn explains the scientific and technological findings he discovered in Blanchard Spring Caverns, he carefully guides us to understand the significance of his conclusions. Having worked in Yellowstone National Park, I especially related his discussion of the growth of stalactites and their relationships with other geological events to the ancient volcanic explosion in the Yellowstone area.
"In his conclusion, Glenn shares how his time in Blanchard Springs Caverns led him to find his current career. I will most certainly visit the Caverns on my next trip to Arkansas."
By Nan Weber
Nan is an author, actor, and lover of the land. She has published three books: Mattie: A Woman's Journey West, Singing in the Saddle: The Life and Times of Yellowstone Chip, and her latest release, Richard K.A. Kletting Utah Architect and Renaissance Man: His Life and Works."
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"Glenn has crafted an engrossing read that left me wanting more. When he dived into a frozen Rhode Island pond wearing a thin wetsuit and no booties, I felt a chill. When he and his teammates crawled over sharp shards of suit-ripping stones cemented in calcite to reach water, I winced. I listened with them in wonder at the sound of water gently cascading over a staircase of rimstone dams. The book is riddled with such moments.
"Each chapter left a visceral imprint, and yet this is much more than a book about cave exploration. It is an inspirational journal of a curious, adventurous soul. It is an unearthed time capsule of a period in American history when the Apollo space program inspired many to ask "What's out there in the darkness?" That question drew Glenn to a remote cave system in Arkansas where this adventure unfolds. This book belongs in the library of all who admire intrepid spirits who confront seemingly impossible obstacles and triumph in the end."
By Fred Stratton
Chairman, National Speleology Society-Cave Diving Section
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"There is a particular kind of exploration story that belongs to another era: one in which curiosity, improvisation, youth, geology, and nerve converged before the procedures and equipment we now consider essential had fully taken shape. Glenn Thompson's Into the Absolute Darkness: The Epic Drama of the First Underwater Exploration of Blanchard Springs Caverns is such a story... Read as a historical memoir, it captures the wonder, danger, naivety, and determination of early exploration. It reminds us that the maps, standards, and procedures divers rely on today were often preceded by uncertain, imperfect, and courageous first steps into-as the author says-absolute darkness..."
InDepth Magazine
Full review with images: https://indepthmag.com/into-the-absolute-darkness-book-review
