The Sixth Extinction by James Rollins

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After a military research station broadcasts a distress call ending with the order “Kill us… kill us all,” Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma are called upon to investigate. When they arrive at the lab, they discover a blight has destroyed everything within fifty square miles and that the blight is now spreading. An apocalypse is on its way, an event that might lead to the infamous Sixth Extinction. Forced to decipher an ancient threat rising from the distant past, the Sigma team will follow an ancient map rescued from the Library of Alexandria, one that points to Antartica and a prehistoric continent where a new form of life may spell death for an entire world. A true race against time begins, one that could spell the end of humankind if they were to fail…

As usual, James Rollins combines historical mysteries and cutting-edge science and technology to deliver a fast-paced thriller that starts with a bang and never let’s up! I’m a huge fan of Rollins’ work and have devoured every novel in the Sigma Force series and in the Sixth Extinction Rollins’ not disappoint. Once again, the team is forced to race against the clock to fight off the end of the world, taking the reader on a whirlwind adventure full of science and history. As usual, all of these elements are discussed in the end of the book, providing a glimpse into what is real, what is not and what may just be… Despite the fact that this is the 10th novel, it is easy to follow along with the storyline and the characters, though I would definitely suggest that anyone interested in the series start at the beginning with Sandstorm or at least Map of Bones.  While one of my favorite characters was absent from this one, all the other Sigmas are present and Rollins also manages to include a number of winks to some of his non-Sigma novels through some secondary characters. The Sixth Extinction works both as a thriller on its own terms and also as a continuation and evolution of the overall Sigma force series. Definitely a must-read!

I gave The Sixth Extinction 5 stars.

New on the Library Shelves 27 07 14

AKA Showcase Sunday

A new segment here, participating in the Showcase Sunday meme over at Books, Biscuits & Tea.

 

 

A good haul for review copies this week, with a nice mix of non-fiction and fiction, including the latest T.E. Woods Fix novel, which is turning into a great thriller series. In terms of books purchased, a new Star Trek novel is always great to get, especially when it is a continuation of the wonderful Vanguard series! Will be reading that some time next week.

 

 

 

For review:
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott (history)
The Sixth Extinction by James Rollins (thriller)
Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch (sf)
The Darkest Hour by Tony Schumacher (alternate history)
2040 by Graham Tottle (sf)
The Unforgivable Fix by T.E. Woods (thriller)
How to be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis (non-fiction)
Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke (thriller)

 

 

Bought:
Dissonance by Erica O'Rourke (fantasy)
Detective Comics Volume 4 by John Layman (graphic novel)
Star Trek - Seekers 1 by David Mack (science fiction)
The Skeleton Crew by Deborah Halber (non-fiction)

Showcase Sunday is hosted by Books, Biscuits & Tea.

The Eye of God by James Rollins

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Goodreads

 

After a military satellite crashes, though not before releasing a final blurry glimpse into a catastrophic future where the eastern seaboard of the United States is a fiery ruin, the members of Sigma Force – joined by a pair of Vatican historians – race to recover the satellite before it falls into enemy hands. When this mission becomes tied to a centuries old mystery surrounding the fall of the Roman Empire and rooted in the story of Genghis Khan, Gray Pierce and his colleagues must find Khan’s undiscovered tomb before a weapon hidden for centuries can spell the final fate of humanity...

James Rollins’ Sigma Force novels have been a long-term reading project for the past few years; I read the first one on holiday in 2010 and have been slowly working my way through them ever since. The series is a well-written, well-plotted and exciting one, combining cutting edge science with historical mysteries and the occasional hint of more sfnal elements. The characters start out as the standard thriller fare, but they have developed throughout the books into more rounded, complex people, dealing with some slightly more thorny personal issues. At their core, though, the Sigma Force novels have remained pulpy, over-the-top, seat-of-the-pants thrillers, which are right up my alley. With The Eye of God I have caught up with the series just in time for the release of the latest, The Sixth Extinction, next month.

As with the other books in the series, The Eye of God combines a historical mystery with a cutting edge sf thriller. From the opening chapter, where we discover a military satellite carrying experimental dark matter able to peer into the future, the novel propels us into a race against time to track down the downed satellite while searching for the truth about Genghis Khan and his final resting place. Without giving away the heart of the plot, we quickly discover that finding Khan’s tomb may be the only way to save the Earth and the human race from a world-ending event – the stakes don’t get any higher than that! Along the way, the book takes encompasses quantum physics, alternate universes and the possibility of parallel lives.

The element that means the series just keeps getting better with every book is the way that Rollins has slowly built up the personal lives of his cast of characters, something that he continues to do here. The Eye of God allies the end-of-the-world stakes of the primary plot with a more personal journey for Gray and Seichan on one side and Vigor and his niece on the other. While Gray and Seichan start the book trying to find Seichan’s mother, thus affording us a glimpse into her past and the tragedy of her upbringing, the priest Vigor who has been an integral part of the series since the beginning, is dealing with a tragedy of his own. These more internal journeys provide the book with its heart, making The Eye of God the best of the series so far.

As usual, The Eye of God is an expansive, even epic book, both in geographical and historical terms. A true globe-trotting novel, The Eye of God takes us from Machau to Washington, from Rome to the heights of Mongolia. At the same time, we are introduced to the history of Genghis Khan and Atilla the Hun, whose stories are integral to the plot. All of this combines to create a real page-turner, the chapters flying by at a great pace. This is helped by Rollins usual knack for descriptive passages and historical information – none of this is ever bogged down in overly long prose or pace-killing info-dumps. We get just enough information to create an evocative sense of place or time.

All in all, The Eye of God is an excellent addition to an excellent thriller series. Perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Steve Berry or Indiana Jones, The Eye of God combines pulpy action with an evocative sense of place, enhanced by a keen eye for historical detail and cutting edge, even sfnal science. The pages seem to turn by themselves, building as usual to a corker of a finale, with the very survival of the Earth at stake. Yet throughout, Rollins never loses sight of the personal core of his characters, giving us a truly internal journey for many of them. I gave The Eye of God 4,5 ancient skulls out of 5.