Area 7 – Matthew Reilly

I am a bit impulsive  when it comes to books. I have a to-read list of about 80 books on my shelf waiting to be read and a  wishlist of about 90 books at the moment. I use bookdepository.com a UK based website which offers free worldwide shipping  and yet it is still cheaper than any Aussie based sites and far cheaper than going into a physical  bookstore. So anytime  i see or hear of a book i might like i add it to my wishlist and each week i buy a few books
So naturally when i find an author i really like their books get pushed through my wish list and get put to the top of my to-read pile.  Such is the case with the Scarecrow series by Matthew Reilly. First encountered him with the Great China Zoo then came across Ice Station after that i bought the entire series of Scarecrow straight  away.
Area 7 is the second book in this series. And follows on after the events of ice station. Here we find our hero stuck essentially  on Marine One. The helicopter for the President of the United States  That way he is out of the way and cant be reached by the media about his adventures in Antarctica (the previous novel Ice Station) A rouge Military General, hijacks a secret base the president is visiting and then sends in troops to try and kill the president.
This author knows what his readers want. For some reason in the back of each of his books there are interviews. Cant say i have ever seen this in other books so i don’t normally read that stuff but i failed to bring a second book for the train ride one day so once i finished this book i read the interview. Anyway in there was a quote from the author saying he doesn’t let character development get in the way of a good story. Man that just made my day. Lets be honest we are all 12 year olds at heart and we love explosions and action and adventure and if the story contains a small enough assortment of characters we can remember them by name so then we don’t need to waste time on character  development  just get to the action
And this book didn’t mess about, very quickly we were thrown  into the action and it didn’t let up till the end. Definitely  a good ride and keen to see where the next book  takes us. Once again Matt has delivered another no holds bar fast paced action story. Don’t think ill be reading much else but Matthew Reilly for anytime soon

20000 Leagues under the sea

For a long time I’ve been curious about the works of Jules Verne, mainly as a result of his numerous references in movies. I thought surely this must be for a reason, they must be fantastic works of fiction. However i have always had a sense of trepidation, in regards to classical science fiction.  Thinking his works will be very period defined and out of touch in the modern world. These thoughts are drawn out by such instances as, the novel/movie 2001 a space odyssey, Describes moon bases and interplanetary ships in the year 2001. This novel was written in the late 1960’s and reality feel far short of what was depicted. So how would a novel fare that was written in the 1870’s For this reason alone i have avoided the works of Jules Verne until now….

Having recently spun through numerous adventure novels recently, i decided to finally bite the bullet and see how “the classic” adventure novel goes. I had recently acquired a copy of the book from an online sale, however once it arrived it worked its way to the bottom of my to-read pile. Needless to say when i finally picked it up and begun to read it i was in for quite a shock

The Novel is surprisingly scientifically accurate, which of course was something i was worried it would not be able to do. The authors knowledge and description of a submarine is stunning considering how primitive the ships were of the day. I quickly fell into this book and without realizing it,  was on the edge of my seat so to speak throughout this impressive adventure. To be honest i was quite shocked at how well the book ages for almost 3/4 of the book i found it extremely difficult to put an age to it as to when it was written, since the adventures and science involved was remarkably accurate. it wasn’t until our adventure took us to a sunken mythical continent and to the south pole that some scientific inaccuracies surfaced

Those inaccuracies aside, it is a book filled with wonder. The author takes us on a remarkable journey that can only really be compared to a being in a documentary from the national geographic. The descriptions of sea life was incredibly detailed but not too overdone as to bore the reader with numerous listings of classification. Prior to reading this book i was always perplexed about its title. Since a league is a distance and not a depth, fortunately that discrepancy is taken care of by the end of the book. It is quite a grand adventure and as a result has definitely made me seriously consider reading another of his novels

 

Matt

 

The Numa Files – Book 7 – The Navigator

It all started a few years back, with an impulse buy at an airport, as i had forgotten to pack a book for the trip. 4 hours later, by the time the plane had landed i was hooker on Clive Cussler.

For me all it took was an intriguing blurb on the back for me to say ill take it. But it was because of the story inside (Arctic Drift) that has kept me returning back to Clive many a time. I now have over 30 of his books and he is definitely in my top 5 authors

His books for the most part are broken up into series based on the Protagonist. There is the Dirt Pitt series of 22 books so far, all of which i have enjoyed. NUMA Files consisting of 12 books, as well as the Oregon Files (9 books), The Isaac Bell Adventures (8 books), and the Fargo adventures (6 books) the later 3 series of which  i have not.  It was the 20th book (Arctic Drift) in the Dirt Pitt series that got me hooked on the author. In the Dirk Pitt series of novels there are the occasional crossover with characters from other novels, such as with Kurt Austin, the protagonist from the NUMA Files series of books. So naturally since i was hooked on the author once i finished the Dirt Pitt series i started off on the NUMA Files series, as i had really liked the main protagonist Kurt Austin each time he appeared in the other series

Prior to the start of this blog, i had read the first 6 books in the series hence why i’m starting from the 7th book now. Each book is a standalone story with minimal carryover to the next aside from an odd comment here or there. Or perhaps a change in title as someone is promoted. Kurt Austin is the head of the NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) special assignments team. On a side note, Ironically NUMA started of as a fictitious organisation within the Dirk Pitt series. However later on the author actually founded a real life NUMA which helps discover numerous wrecks mainly of ships of an American nationality.  Kurt’s role in the Special assignments team normally sees him and his team take on the toughest assignments in the most dangerous areas. How do people working for NUMA  who are engaged in oceanic research become involved in so many evil schemes or plots? i think this here is a strength of his writing. By making realistic choices by the characters and events believable. You don’t question or even notice how quickly the characters are brought into the plot. The 7th Book in this series, starts off the same as all his other books. With his trademark link to some historical event which as always resurfaces and has some significance later on. From the moment i start reading i’m wondering how will the plight of a bronze age sailing ship, fit in with modern events and characters, who deal with the theft of items from the Baghdad Museum. Suddenly one item that is rescued from this theft, is drawing far too much attention and after repeated attempts on its theft again the reader is ultimately lead on a journey to find king Solomon’s mines. Surprisingly along the way we draw in some historical people of well renown to add some depth to the story. long deceased presidents, secrets societies it seems everyone has had a hand at trying to find the lost king Solomon’s mines

The concept that i enjoy most about his novels, is there is always a touch of reality in them. whether it be it be an historical event or a modern one, It forms a basis for his story which he then adds on to. And how could i not mention the kind of James bond/Indiana Jones like Protagonist, which keeps you saying, oh just one more chapter tonight…..

From the standpoint of an adventure novel, i’d say it be 4 out of 5 stars. However from the NUMA files series point of view id say it be only a 3.5 out of 5. Mainly due to the fact that as i have read and shared the journey of this character through many novels i find the way he is swept up into the events of this particular story to be slightly dubious and a little far fetched, when compared to previous adventures. That being said it is still a great read filled with many twists and turns and quite alot of surprises along the way. Which ever way you see it, i have already bought the next few books in the series and they are slowly working there way to the top of my “to read” pile

Matt