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Subterranean by James Rollins
Book Summary InformationAuthor: James Rollins Edition: Mass Market Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 1999-06-01 ISBN: 0380792648 Number of pages: 416 Publisher: Harper
Book Reviews of SubterraneanBook Review: A good yarn Summary: 5 Stars
I'm re-reading this book and it's almost as good as the first time I read it. I know the ending already, so I can't fault the book for not being as good as the first time I read it.
I've read some of the readers' reviews and I have a few comments to make.
First, you HAVE to suspend belief. I mean, this is a book about explorers finding a civilization under the Earth's crust. If you refuse to accept that, you shouldn't be reading this type of novel. Go read a newspaper or Newsweek or something. Secondly, if you say this book is ridiculous because of that, then you might as well say the same thing about Jules Vernes' books, or Issac Assimov or Arthur Conan Doyle.
Thirdly, I didn't find the characters all that bad. and not cardboardy at all. In fact, I find Rollin's earlier books much better than his later Sigma books, a huge difference. The difference is that in these stand alone books Rollins isn't constrained to bring essential characters back again, again...... and again. He can kill them off without penalty (except for the penalty of making up and fleshing out new characters for each new book). And if you don't like the characters, you don't have to see them again. And so what if the characters are not deep thinkers up for Nobel Prize or Academy Awards? They don't need to be. OK, they may be stereotypes, but I just need them real enough to move the story along, I'm not going to date them or be blood brothers with them.
What I liked: I liked the story line. I'm here to read an out of the world adventure story and that's what I got. Rollins put together a good setting. There was a lot of suspense, and he populated the book with interesting enough creatures. There are only so many settings on earth you can put your characters in and Jules Verne, Doyle and Burroughs pretty much nailed them all, so it's pretty tough to come up with new settings, but I think Rollins did a good job.
He did a good job of bringing us readers along an exploration where you didn't know what was going to happen next and it was an exploration that was fraught with dangers and dangerous creatures, and they were dangers which he was able to transmit/transfer to us readers sitting on a chair at home. The first time I read it, it kept me wanting to turn the page, and the next one and the next one. That my friends are why we call these books page turners and why I'm giving it a 5. And like I said, if you find all this ridiculous, don't read this genre again. Adios!
Summary of SubterraneanTravel to the bottom of the earth to a place you never dreamed existed. Beneath the ice a hand-picked team of specialist makes its way toward the center of the world. They are not the first to venture into this magnificent subterranean labyrinth. Those they follow did not return. Over the rocks...Across the yawning caverns...beyond the black river...You are not alone. Into the darkness where breathtaking wonders await you-and terrors beyond imagining...Revelations that could change the world-things that should never be disturbed...At the bottom of the earth is the beginning. Keep moving toward a miracle that cannot be, toward a mystery older than time.
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