Temple

Rating:
Summary: Add This Author to Your Reading List!
Review: In the constant sarch for new authors to read, Matthew Reilly is my newest. Having seen his new hardcover on the stands, I opted to look for one of his earlier books in paperback to start and see if I liked his style. Well I wasn't disappointed at all. In fact I am impressed. This book had a great story line and constant action, that had me reading till late into the night and morning. The story, which revloves around a language specialist who's been co-opted to Peru to look for a rare Incan idol, is fast-paced and full of interesting ancillary side stories and action. The combination of archaeological mystery with a Clive Cussler/Dirk Pitt story-line is always a winner with me; assuming it is well written and does not labor on fine points. The really best part of this story was that just as I thought it was over, it picked up yet again as the story moved on to another conclusion. I think you'll enjoy this book and hopefully his others as well.

Rating:
Summary: Overstays its welcome but still darned good
Review: Temple is a cracking 400 page adventure yarn;only problem is it goes on for over 700 pages and in so doing demonstrates the old axiom that less can be more

It centres on the race to obtain an old Inca statutette,made from an meteorite and containing a substance vital for a new superweapon developed by the US and coveted by other groups. Involved in the chase are Nazis,American survivalist groups,more than one branch of the US military and the German army

Stirred into the mix we have rapacious carnivores on land(the fearsome rapas)and water(Giant caimans)hostile natives and boobytrapped caverns a la "Raiders of the Lost Ark"'comparisons to which are increased by its hero being a resourceful academic who turns out to possess a distinct trace of the man of action in a crises

Interspersed with modern day heroics we have entries from a 17th century journal kept by a resourceful priest,which points the way to the location of the idol

Bags of action and pace but it justs gets a little ridiculous with too many last minute rescues and nick of time escapes to maintain credibility

These are the faults of inexperience and over-enthusiasm.The next few books 'in which it is to be hoped the wilder excesses will be reined in,should be special for he is good at describing action and his characters are neatly if lightly drawn The writing is now and again naive--do we really need the interpolation of words like"splat"and "ker-ching"to tell us bullets are flying around?

The most interesting bits for me were the sections pointing up inter depeartmental rivalry within the military.It disabuses readers who might think all services within the US military are on the same side

Rating:
Summary: And then, suddenly, I was turned off.
Review: I picked up this book as a reading fodder for the long flight, thinking that I could get some vicarious enjoyment out of the seemingly interesting action scenes, mysteries, and predicaments of the characters. Two hours later I had to set it aside. Too bad I couldn't fling it away for the fear of hitting fellow passengers.

I will not summarize the plot, suffice it to say that it is initially engaging enough to get you into the story. Whether you can keep reading it or not depends on how addicted you are to this type of writing. My personal frustration with the book is based on the following.

The characterization leaves much to be desired, but with this type of book it's not a problem in itself. However, throughout the action sequences there is an egregious overuse of the words 'suddenly', 'incredibly', and the like, not to mention the ever-present exclamation marks that the author seems to like more than the story itself. He is not writing a book, he is scribbling down a not very-well directed movie that is playing in his head.

Before this one, I read Clive Cussler's Atlantis Found. Same genre, much better book. Check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Non Stop Action Thriller!
Review: When I first picked up Temple, I was unsure of what to expect. At first, Matthew's Reilly's book took on the lure of a Lincoln Child/Douglas Preston or James Rollins novel and quickly turned into a hi-tech, action driven story more along the lines of a Tom Clancy thriller. While I loved the non-stop pace of the book, and it does keep you intranced, it became a little to believe. William Race has to be the luckiest or unluckiest person in the world to dodge death so many times I actually lost count. What Race goes through in 48 hours would make put most action characters to shame. Of course this is my only complaint. Everything else from the story of the idol to the thrilling race between several powerful and well armed forces makes this book a worthy read. If your looking for a believable story, look elsewhere. If your looking for the next summer blockbuster, Temple is the book to read!

Rating:
Summary: Temple
Review: Uh....I am not even done this book yet, and today it almost went into the trashcan. I usually like just about anything, and I did like Ice Station an am looking forward to grabbing a copy of Area 7, but this book is a bit too much. It's like reading James Bond on steroids...too many increadible feats, too many "saved at the last minute" senarios. Uh...I'll keep reading though. Good reading all.

Rating:
Summary: TEMPLE is no place to worship if you like good sci-fi.
Review: Matthew Reilly may have put a lot of thought into writing this novel, but none of it went into researching the science. The plot focuses around obtaining an idol sacred to the Incas which is--coincidentally--made up of the most powerful explosive in existence. The material is called "thyrium-261" and apparently comes from a binary star system. The American government is after it; the unified German government is after it; and a latter-day group of well-bankrolled neo-Nazis is after it.

Thyrium-261 is complete and utter nonsense, as is most of the rest of the "science" in this novel. In fact, the errors in the science were so obvious and glaring that it robbed the novel of almost any enjoyment.

I have to be honest--this is laziness. Instead of finding a logical premise on which to base his ultimate weapon, Reilly makes up something out of whole cloth and the result is a mismatched patchwork that a middle-school student would be able to point out as sophomoric.

Save your money--don't worship at this TEMPLE.

Rating:
Summary: Applause, Applause!
Review: Why the Applause Applause and only three stars? Well, I cheated and read the bio of the author, so, like it or else, I had to add his age into the equation. I read it as an editor, which may be unfair, but couldn't be helped. The book is rife with errors, no doubt, but it is also rife with exhilaration and ingeniousness, with an energy that is almost palpable. So I forgive the errors. Mister Reilly will learn, I think, and if he is as smart as he appears to be, he will be much more circumspect in the future. This guy has a lot of talent and creativity, and I rather enjoyed the youthful bursts that broke through in this novel; I almost (almost) hope he never loses them.
Others have reviewed the actual story, so I won't bother with that. Characterization is rather vague. The only character pretty well developed is the central one. Still, a plethora of characters are handled quite well, all told. The writing itself is almost refreshingly simplistic, not trying to be anything, as is the dialogue, which is utterly realistic. There is something here, but it is only the beginning. I am interested to see the evolution of Mr. Reilly, to see just how good he becomes. This book is a very good start, but that is all it is. A work of literature it is not, but it is most certainly an amazing accomplishment which also happens to be a pretty good read.
All in all, I would say this is a fun read, but not a great one (sorry, Matthew) and I sincerely hope that this author applies his prodigious skills to writing worthwhile literature in the future rather than just turning out easily forgotten best-sellers.

Rating:
Summary: Reilly Does it Again
Review: Eagerly, I awaited this book in paperback. I was Not disappointed, either. Filled with exciting chases, action and suspense, I couldn't put this book down.
It starts with the conquest of the Inka empire and the search for a mystical statue revered by the Inkas. Fast forward to 1999 and a break-in at a top-secret lab to steal the ultimate Doomsday device. Enter a professor of Ancient languages to translate a manuscript detailing the location of the mystical statue, now known to be of an extra-terrestial element needed to fuel the Doomsday device.
The chase is on with the Army trying to recover the statue before the Navy. It seems that COngress is considering eliminating one military service, probably the Army but if the army had the Doomsday device and the trigger, then they would survive.
Throw in a ruthless Nazi power who wants to destabilize the world economy by blackmail.
Throw in domestic terrorists who simply want to destroy the world.
THrow in an ancient beast, the rapa, who can defeat caimans in a fight.
Add those ingredients together and you have an excellent, edge-of-your-seat read for the beach or backyard.

It does, however, stretch the credibility to suggest that a professor can overcome trained soldiers and psycho-terrorists, perform incredible feats of physical prowess and never lose his hat. A couple of scenes remind me of Star Wars and Indiana Jones a little too much for coincidence. The book is a little long, too. It should have ended after the 4th machination.

Other than those minor quibbles, the book is great. I await his next book eagerly.

Rating:
Summary: Just too wrong
Review: Let me start by saying that I'm a big fan of fantastic adventure novels by Clive Cussler and similar, as well as more technical action novels, and usually my suspension of disbelief goes really far...I really wanted to like this novel, but Reilly seems to have made the mistake of getting way too technical and specific without having the remotest clue about what he's writing about. Some of it could have been forgivable, but it was pretty much pervasive through the novel. He confuses fission and fusion at every turn, his supposed planet killer laughs at the basic laws of physics, while he invents some new ones. Even the basic chemistry you learn in high school is just plain wrong. Most of the astronomy is ludicrous, as well. Otherwise, it's probably a real fun novel - if you can get past some really apparent errors.

Rating:
Summary: Pss-ss-sst-! Matt! Your moustache is slipping!
Review: Sometimes a relatively harmless and rather entertaining con-man will approach you for some kind of hand-out, and you really don't want to call his bluff just because you're enjoying his spiel. But if his fake moustache keeps slipping, there's only so long you can keep a straight face before you have to say something.

It's not uncommon for a sprawling action-adventure book to make a factual error, here and there. No author is perfect. Usually the slips are minor, or at least easily forgivable within the suspension of disbelief.

The problem with Temple isn't that there are a few errors. Not one damned thing in it is correct.

In short order, we have interstellar meteorites (there is no such thing, and we couldn't place where they came from if there were), the Pleiades called a binary star system (it is a constellation; Sirius is a binary star system), a big pack of killer cats somehow surviving for centuries from generation to generation inside a sealed pyramid (they are at least fed, but Reilly doesn't know the difference between a panther and a jaguar, and neither species is in the slightest pack-oriented), cayman crocs and killer panthuars fighting to the death in lakes and rivers (wouldn't happen - the crocs would slither away with their tails between their legs, and the cats would have no other thought on their minds but getting the hell out of the water), a doomsday weapon requiring an interstellar element being built before the element is even known to exist, guaranteed to destroy the entire planet if it is ever used (highly practical, nest-ce pas?), and five hundred year old Spanish documents describing daily Incan life in a way no history book would even come close to supporting (in fact, the documents read exactly as if they were written by a contemporary action-adventure novelist)...and all this is just for starters.

So, why even two stars? Hey, I still kind of enjoyed the con.

By the way, these flaws aren't as noticeable in Reilly's first book, Ice Station, which is a much better read.