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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Atlantis (Jack Howard, #1) in Books

Nov 8, 2019  
Atlantis (Jack Howard, #1)
Atlantis (Jack Howard, #1)
David Gibbins | 2005
5
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Books where Atlantis is assumed to have been fact are nothing new, and quite a few adventure thrillers use it as the springboard for their plots. This is hardly suprising as it is a widely known myth and a handy way of drawing the reader in.

This book takes a slightly different approach, at least initially. His archaologist hero Jack Howard finds out about an ancient text that sheds more light on the story of the sunken civilization. Gibbins then does a good job of deconstructing the myths using real evidence of Egyptian, Minoan and Greek archaeology and rebuilding into a hypothesis which leads Howard on a quest to discover the source of the myth. I really enjoyed this part of the book, the author's knowledge in this area shows in some deft explanations.

However once on the trail of Atlantis a villainous adversary appears and this is the point where the book struggles as it tries to marry an interesting and plausible story of historical investigation and a thriller. Unfortunately I didn't think this worked as the book couldn't work out what it was anymore and the change between styles was very uneaven. There is a particular segment where the heroes are being pursued into the inner sanctum of Atlantis with all haste - and then spend a long time investigating the wonders of the frescos and artefacts they find within.

To my mind Gibbins is a good writer when what he is writing about is the archaeology and historical references. This novel didn't need the added threat of the villain and it just cheapened the deal. It's not exactly a bad book, just a bit confused about its identity. Howard himself is also a confused character, being essentially a charismatic history buff he has no problem being a hard-nosed killer and also seems to shrug off potential danger to his friends and colleagues without a thought.

I read The Tiger Warrior a little while ago and enjoyed that more simply because that book concentrated on the history and the archaeology with the threats being realistic and relevant to the plot.

The unevenness in this work can perhaps be forgiven as a first novel. As the Tiger Warrior showed Gibbins does have the potential for a good book if the ingredients are right. Unfortunately this isn't it.
  
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Eleanor (1463 KP) rated The Priory of the Orange Tree in Books

Jan 14, 2020  
The Priory of the Orange Tree
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Strong female characters (2 more)
No filler
Deep history and lore
Battles could of been stronger (0 more)
Compelling Fantasy
Wanting to try and branch out from just reading mainly thrillers this year I decided to get back on the fantasy track and picked this up at the library. I’m really glad I did it’s a great fantasy adventure set in a lore and history-rich world. I did have to get the ebook as well, as my wrists couldn’t cope with long reading sessions of the hardback copy and I didn’t want to put it down…..

It’s not an overly complicated fantasy tale and despite its 800+ pages, I found I was breezing through it at pace. It easily kept my interest and didn’t get too bogged down at any point. We have a tale of ancient evil rising, and a divided world will need to find a way to work together to defeat it.

Brimmed full of strong female characters we meet Ead hiding in the royal household of Inys under the guise of a maid-in-waiting but really is a kick-ass slayer/mage type, trying to protect the Queen. Meanwhile, on the other side of the great Abyss (big continent dividing ocean), we have Tane who has spent most of her life training to be a fearless dragon-riding warrior. The story is told from 4 different POVs but those two are the most engaging.

We have some romance (sigh lovey-dovey stuff - gross) but we don’t get bogged down in it and it feels entirely part of the story (not just tits and arse for the sake of it).

None of this book felt like unnecessary filler, despite epic journey's, we didn't have to read about every breakfast and lunch eaten (cough...). If anything some of the coincidences in characters meeting felt like it could of had more embellishment but I’m not really complaining it kept the story moving at a good clip. I felt the world that was built deserved a bit more of a complicated/nuanced tale but appreciate not having to slog through many years of sequels to get a conclusion. I didn’t feel the battles lived up to the overall size of the story but that may just be me watching too much TV...

Overall just what I needed to get me to want to keep branching out and reading a more diverse selection of genres - Go libraries!!!.