Rating: 
Summary: Very, very bad. A terrible waste of paper.
Review: This was without a doubt the worst book I have ever had the displeasure of reading. From the moment you pick it up to the moment you put it down you are continually assaulted by the most unrealistic, poorly researched, dribble you are ever likely to come across. The story struck me as some sort of high school writing assignment fleshed out to become a novel, and I have to wonder why any editor would give it the time of day. The characters have no depth, the action is so unrealistic that it is laughable and the attempts at plot twists leave you with your intelligence well and trully insulted, especially if you have any interest in the military. I found myself wondering if the author had bought himself a book on 'Special Forces of the world' and just plucked names at random without any real understanding of the military, it's weapons or it's people that is so vital in making a story like this work. When I bought this book I had high expectations having heard some favourable reviews on the radio but I'm affraid the only reason I forced myself to finish it was to see just how silly it could get and believe me, in this respect I was not dissapointed. I think Matthew Reilly should read a few novels by real military and science fiction authors and see how it should be done, but until then, please do not waste any more paper, not to mention inocent reader's time with any more books like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Ice Station - adults playing with Action Man?
Review: When I want to read a good story, I pick up a book. When I want to see special effects, pyrotechnichs and impossible acrobatics, and people still walking away live and well after that, I go and watch a movie. We are already used to the action seen in movies being completely unrealistic. After all, hey, that's Hollywood, not life. Their job is to take a decent book, take out all the story, and pour in the latest stunts and computer animation tricks. With "Ice Station", Matthew Reilly attempts to write a movie on paper. There are special effects flashing and booming on every page (I wonder if the author was making swooshing and banging sounds while writing), and the action described in the book would be blatantly exaggerated even for a story invented on the spot by six-year-old kids playing with Action Man figures. Add to this a few factual errors and patent impossibilities (e.g., a diving bell imploding under water pressure, which cannot happen because in a diving bell internal and external pressures are the same), and you got a brick that I, for one, won't be reading again. I held on to the end only because I was in an airport and could not find anything else to read. I gave it one star because there seems no way to give a zero-star rate.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, Dumb Fun
Review: There are some novels you read just because they're a roller-coaster ride, pure fun, and this is one of them. Sure, it doesn't have anything in it I haven't seen before, and to call the characters one-dimensional is to credit them with one more dimension than they actually have, but... I didn't care. It's a thrill ride, a popcorn movie in your head, a good old-fashioned adventure in the pulp tradition. You might sit back and say "Aw, c'mon," but you WILL be entertained. Maybe someday Matthew Reilly will being writing more polished, sophisticated Lit'rachoor, but this is a good, fun start.
Rating:
Summary: One of the all-time WORST books I've ever read.
Review: Imagine.You're in your 20s, and you're strapped for a plot for a book. What do you do? You dissect your video shelf, that's what. This dreadful piece of bilge contains elements shamelessly cribbed from "Sphere" (a bad judgement call to begin with); "Quatermass"; "The Abyss"; "The Rock"; "Aliens"; "Predator"; "Orca"; "The Thing"; "Ice Station Zebra" (and, unbelievably, a reference to "Nixon"), and WAY too many more to mention. You then add further insult, by populating your cast with two-dimensional characters called "Gant"; "Snake"; "Hensleigh"; "Cameron", etc. It's put together with Neanderthal incompetence, and boasts some of the most turgid action sequences I've ever had to wade through (I wondered if my body clock was actually slowing down, it seemed to take an eternity to reach the "climax"), and plot implausibilities that will have you HOWLING with laughter. I mean, please. Has this author ever even read a BOOK before? The dialogue is SO bad, it has to be seen to be disbelieved. Teflon-coated, one's focus slides off the page in despair. Usually, in even a BAD book, there's at least ONE memorable line. Not here! (Immortal badinage like "Mr. Nero; string him up" is even reused more than once.) I grieve for the trees pulped to make this travesty. I honestly can't even recommend a single star. It's Z-grade nonsense like this that makes you realise just how GOOD authors like Coonts; Brown; and Clancy really are. AVOID THIS BOOK LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Rating: 
Summary: Damn fine!
Review: This book is an excellent read, fast paced and exciting, there are however plot holes as you would expect to find in any book, but beware it is very Hollywood! Why you would find a child on an Antartic Science station is beyond me and then for that said child to be a whizz kid is also another bone that sticks in the throat, get past the minor flaws and this is well worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: unputdownable rubbish
Review: Wow. First time I've read a book in 1 sitting for a long time. So you'll know its untaxing, edge of the seat stuff. Get over the "killer" whales, all too defeatable SAS, magnetic jiggery and nuclear pokery and set yourself up for a very big roller-coaster ride. If you like Die Hard, Rambo, X Files and ConAir buy this. However if you find the realism of Tom Clancy, Dale Brown and Bravo Two Zero your thing keep away.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute page turner
Review: If you're looking for a serious literary book then look elsewhere! This is reading for pure pleasure, providing you like the genre of Clive Cussler, et al. Forget about the fact that some of the technical info is a bit off, just go along for the ride. I started reading this in the afternoon, and was still going in bed at 11pm, thinking "there'll be a break in the action soon, I'll turn off the light then". At 3am I finally decided that wasn't going to happen, and only forced myself to stop reading because I had to get up for work in the morning. Considering that the author is only in his early 20's he's done a sterling job on this. I look forward to seeing more of his books in the future. ps. Temple is his next book which was released earlier this year in Australia, and is just as good, even though not quite as much of a page turner.
Rating:
Summary: A Page Turner
Review: The action never stops in this book - it grabs you from the very beginning and never lets up. Page turners are seldom found these days, the action is relentless and makes you want to find out what happens next. However not for the faint of heart, it is gory and violent.
Rating:
Summary: Kind of 'Hardy Boys' on speed
Review: Despite a fascinating initial premise, this book quickly descends into the kind of back-to-back action scenes that make Indiana Jones look positively tame. With Dale Brown, Clive Cussler et al., you get the feeling they have some idea of what they are writing about, having either exhaustively researched or experienced first hand the subject material. With Reilly, you get the feeling he picked up a kid's geography book, started reading the section on Antarctica, and then threw it down half way through. Only passing reference is made to the sub-zero temperature of the waters there - characters regularly immerse themselves in it unprotected and get out non the worse for wear. Furthermore, the British and French Special Forces are portrayed as cold-blooded killers from the 'Blofeld School of Evil Laughter', whereas the American Marines befriend seals and little children (who later fly the nuclear powered fighter....). Implausibility seems to be the order of the day, and though the book gains a small amount of redemption in a nicely written epilogue, by then I'd long since stopped caring.
Rating:
Summary: Turn it off!
Review: This book had few flaws that I will now address. Number one: little research. The SAS are the world's best fighting and killing force, hands down, no question. No way could the SAS get mopped all over the floor like they did. And killer whales usually do not, despite their name, kill people. Sorry Matthew, I guess someone neglected to tell you that the movie Orca is not based on a true story. Two: unbelievable. When one man can defeat a submarine singlehandly, kill a man in hand to hand combat with his hands cuffed, and wreck a hovercraft by throwing his helmet at it, well. Besides these flaws I still give this book four stars. Why? Becuase it is so much fun. The aerial combat, the aformentioned submarine combat, the hovercraft chase, the battle in the dicing bell, the sequence in the ice cavern, the passages dealing with Pete Cameron and his wife whose name I have forgotten, and the sequence with Book and the detatchable hood really shine. Suspend your disbelief long enough to read it. I know you'll like it.
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