jennifermreads's review against another edition
2.0
Loved the adventure potential in the blurb. But the book ended up having way too much science for this gal who "majored in nouns."
All-in-all: Best for science nuts.
All-in-all: Best for science nuts.
poinssetia's review against another edition
2.0
Me llamo la atención el nombre y el tema que trata, pero la historia en si no es nada de lo que esperaba. Para mí la Atlántida se relaciona con la sabiduría y lo mítico, poco de lo que hay en el libro, aunque si hay mucho de lo científico, lo que resulta aburridor solamente agrega extensión al libro.
La historia en si es monótona y sin mayor interés que el de saber cómo logran descifrar todo y salar el mundo, tanto detalle científico, histórico y mitológico me pareció innecesario y que además le quitaba interés al problema central aunque se relacione con este.
La personalidad de los personajes no es llamativa y no tienen nada con lo que me pudiera identificar, por lo que al final no me importaba lo que pasara con ellos, además de que no parecían evolucionar emocionalmente a la par de los acontecimientos que viven.
Me parece que la historia podría funcionar mejor en un medio audiovisual, porque como literatura es aburridora y demasiado extensa para contar una historia sin giros narrativos de la que la se espera todo lo que pasa al final, y que no tiene un argumento que despierte emociones ni convence con la forma en que se desarrollan los eventos narrados.
La historia en si es monótona y sin mayor interés que el de saber cómo logran descifrar todo y salar el mundo, tanto detalle científico, histórico y mitológico me pareció innecesario y que además le quitaba interés al problema central aunque se relacione con este.
La personalidad de los personajes no es llamativa y no tienen nada con lo que me pudiera identificar, por lo que al final no me importaba lo que pasara con ellos, además de que no parecían evolucionar emocionalmente a la par de los acontecimientos que viven.
Me parece que la historia podría funcionar mejor en un medio audiovisual, porque como literatura es aburridora y demasiado extensa para contar una historia sin giros narrativos de la que la se espera todo lo que pasa al final, y que no tiene un argumento que despierte emociones ni convence con la forma en que se desarrollan los eventos narrados.
tabithar's review against another edition
1.0
This book started out well and was fast paced. However, the few weeks span it was covering in book time felt like forever. It had enough spots in which the plot slowed that I could not force myself to continue. I think this is the first book I have been unable to make myself finish.
weaselweader's review against another edition
2.0
“Instinctively she jumped back from the wall as the approaching light entirely engulfed her section of the tunnel”
Guess what I think of any author who presumes to write a science-based tech-thriller but allows the characters to dodge an incoming hazard propagating at the speed of light?
Much like James Rollins’ over-wrought efforts, Pavlou dumps everything into DECIPHER but the kitchen sink – the discovery of Atlantis; pyramids; technological civilizations that pre-date our own by thousands of years and out-strip our technology and knowledge of the universe by orders of magnitude; linguistics; translation of previously undiscovered written languages; the large scale preparation of obscure crystalline versions of carbon; disruption of all of earth’s physical systems by gravity waves created by cyclical solar storms; prediction of the arrival of those disruptions to the very day … and more. From the opening pages, DECIPHER not only starts over the top and never comes to the surface of sensible reality, it attempts to out-do itself with progressively more grandiose (and dare I say, ridiculous) action and events.
It seems such a shame because I was still willing to award two stars on the basis of the author’s side bar essays on science that was real and made sense. His description of historical language groupings, for example, was fascinating. Fiction is allowed to stretch credibility, to be sure, but DECIPHER was out of control and beyond the pale!
Not recommended.
Paul Weiss
Guess what I think of any author who presumes to write a science-based tech-thriller but allows the characters to dodge an incoming hazard propagating at the speed of light?
Much like James Rollins’ over-wrought efforts, Pavlou dumps everything into DECIPHER but the kitchen sink – the discovery of Atlantis; pyramids; technological civilizations that pre-date our own by thousands of years and out-strip our technology and knowledge of the universe by orders of magnitude; linguistics; translation of previously undiscovered written languages; the large scale preparation of obscure crystalline versions of carbon; disruption of all of earth’s physical systems by gravity waves created by cyclical solar storms; prediction of the arrival of those disruptions to the very day … and more. From the opening pages, DECIPHER not only starts over the top and never comes to the surface of sensible reality, it attempts to out-do itself with progressively more grandiose (and dare I say, ridiculous) action and events.
It seems such a shame because I was still willing to award two stars on the basis of the author’s side bar essays on science that was real and made sense. His description of historical language groupings, for example, was fascinating. Fiction is allowed to stretch credibility, to be sure, but DECIPHER was out of control and beyond the pale!
Not recommended.
Paul Weiss
elodie2711's review against another edition
5.0
Awesome. I think that word sums it up.
What more can I say except that it was an amazing story? If you're a fan of Atlantis, just read the book. Being a fan of the Stargate franchise, I found a couple of references there, although I don't know if M. Stel Pavlou intended to put them here or not (like the zero point energy, which reminded me of the zero point module in Stargate, to name one).
I'm not a native english speaker, and so I must admit, I had some difficulties understanding all the technical words, because there are a lot of it. You feel when you read the book that the author just had to spend an incredible amount of time researching and exploring all kinds of fields.
I've heard there will be a Decipher 2, and I just have one thing to say. BRING IT ON!!
What more can I say except that it was an amazing story? If you're a fan of Atlantis, just read the book. Being a fan of the Stargate franchise, I found a couple of references there, although I don't know if M. Stel Pavlou intended to put them here or not (like the zero point energy, which reminded me of the zero point module in Stargate, to name one).
I'm not a native english speaker, and so I must admit, I had some difficulties understanding all the technical words, because there are a lot of it. You feel when you read the book that the author just had to spend an incredible amount of time researching and exploring all kinds of fields.
I've heard there will be a Decipher 2, and I just have one thing to say. BRING IT ON!!
paulopaperbooksonly's review against another edition
4.0
it took me a while to read this...
Not because it was bad but because it was long with 800 pages.
I really enjoyed it... but it was too long.
It's a mystery enveloped in a thriller. My main problem, lets take that right from the bat it's the pace & length of the novel. Too big.
There are a lot of interesting parts, where they tell interesting stuff about the world that made me search lke language creation, roman stuff appearing in brasil, similarities between cultures that have no interaction whatsoever - enfin...
Basically something is happening to the sun and it will explode and destroy humanity. This is nothing new to be quite honest. Solar Flares but to the maximum exponential. Imagine a blast so big that will erase humanity. So after a discovery in the Antarctica a group of adventurers go forth to save the earth, from indiana jones kind of guys, to einsteins and even a sheldon..
Then it was, as I said a mix of thriller and history buff (which I really enjoy). By the end it was more focus on action. Some characters don't survive, others do.
If you enjoy thrillers, then go ahead. Expect like other thrillers. Character development = nil; action scenes where our protagonists are better than the army who have trained forever and some history, sociology and so on lessons. At least it hadn't much political stuff apart from that moment where the united states president asks the leader of the catholic church that he wants a new mandate and he in turn says that usa should destroy Atlántida unless the world falls to chaos because, basically all religions are a lie.
There were other political statements but from a novel written in 2001 I would not say it was influenced by this political drama we live nowadays.
Either way, advisable. It's best than some Matthew Reilly novels I've read because all characters, in those books are perfect in all senses and everything just ends nicely...
Not because it was bad but because it was long with 800 pages.
I really enjoyed it... but it was too long.
It's a mystery enveloped in a thriller. My main problem, lets take that right from the bat it's the pace & length of the novel. Too big.
There are a lot of interesting parts, where they tell interesting stuff about the world that made me search lke language creation, roman stuff appearing in brasil, similarities between cultures that have no interaction whatsoever - enfin...
Basically something is happening to the sun and it will explode and destroy humanity. This is nothing new to be quite honest. Solar Flares but to the maximum exponential. Imagine a blast so big that will erase humanity. So after a discovery in the Antarctica a group of adventurers go forth to save the earth, from indiana jones kind of guys, to einsteins and even a sheldon..
Then it was, as I said a mix of thriller and history buff (which I really enjoy). By the end it was more focus on action. Some characters don't survive, others do.
If you enjoy thrillers, then go ahead. Expect like other thrillers. Character development = nil; action scenes where our protagonists are better than the army who have trained forever and some history, sociology and so on lessons. At least it hadn't much political stuff apart from that moment where the united states president asks the leader of the catholic church that he wants a new mandate and he in turn says that usa should destroy Atlántida unless the world falls to chaos because, basically all religions are a lie.
There were other political statements but from a novel written in 2001 I would not say it was influenced by this political drama we live nowadays.
Either way, advisable. It's best than some Matthew Reilly novels I've read because all characters, in those books are perfect in all senses and everything just ends nicely...
zoey222's review against another edition
4.0
A book best consumed in large quaffs while the evening is young and your wits are about you. Pavlou has some truly fascinating information to share, but it can easily put tired eyes to sleep, and it's very difficult to jump back into the wordy narrative. Once you are along for the ride, it's engrossing and intriguing the entire time.
It's as if The Davinci Code, Indiana Jones, and National Treasure had a baby.
This book could use some thinning out of tautologies and redundancy. But it's an obvious side effect of the granularity this stories uses to impress.
If you are willing to put effort and time into this book, it's definitely worth a read.
It's as if The Davinci Code, Indiana Jones, and National Treasure had a baby.
This book could use some thinning out of tautologies and redundancy. But it's an obvious side effect of the granularity this stories uses to impress.
If you are willing to put effort and time into this book, it's definitely worth a read.
pjmurphy3's review against another edition
4.0
There is a strong combination of literacy, mythology, archaeology, geology, physics, mathematics and many other types of Sciences bleed into a urban fantasy Syfy high-stakes action adventure book. It did take some time to acclimate into the story because there was a lot of the hard Sciences pushed in the first 200 Pages or so. So I would recommend being prepared for that before you get into this book. It does take some time to actually get into the action of the story and with the DM out of characters that are listed it does seem that it is hard to track who is who. Once you to get into the main story though it does pick up and does become a better read for those to enjoy those kind of books. I do like the combination of finding the the Lost land of Atlantis and interconnecting it with the ancient human developments from around the world while also tying in the end of the world 2012 mythology oh, so for those reasons it did make it a better read.
ipacho's review against another edition
2.0
The fantastic investigative work is thrown to the garbage can by the lame love story, the one-dimensional characters and its terrible pacing.