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A review by leviathan_01
Hell's Aquarium by Steve Alten
1.0
"...An Instand Classic!"
That's what Washington Daily News wrote about this book.
This made me question if the guy(s) who reviewed the book had actually read it, or judged about its content by its cover... Because this book is certainly not good!
The plot is hardly believable. A prince from Dubai has discovered an ocean just beneath the Earth's crust, inhabited by prehistoric and fearsome lifeforms. The Arabs have already built a specialized aquarium to hold the creatures and that's why they need Jonas Tailor's help. Meanwhile, J.T. is having his own problems trying to control his 100 ton shark. I'm not gonna reveal the rest of the story but you can pretty much guess what follows.
The science and the biology of the creatures presented in the novel were both ridiculous. If you want to read more about them(and the plot, too) read the spoiler below. If you don't want to spoil the 'surpise', then go buy the book and have a good laugh with all the crazy and stupid stuff written in it.
The thing that bothered and irritated me at the same time were the prehistoric creatures that made an appearance in the novel. First of all there were trilobites and sea scorpions. Their existance in that ancient sea bothered me, as the "geological anomaly", as the prehistoric sea was refered at one point, had formed 200 million years before the appearance of Megalodon, which means(in case you haven't already realised)it formed in the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic period. So, how could such arthropods exist there if they had all been wiped out during the Permian-Triassic extinction(252.28 mya)? Anyways, lets forget about the trilobites and sea scorpions 'cause the biggest problems start here. The book is literally filled with all kinds of marine reptiles(nothosaurs, mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs and giant turtles), all with one very, very unusual characteristic: gills. Yes, that's right, GILLS. Not only dozens of species of prehistoric marine reptiles had survived but, according to Alten's imagination, no major evolutionary adaptations had occured to their body structures(save for the gills). They were essentially the same creatures that, according to natural history books, had been wiped out of the face of the Earth more than 65 million years ago. Not only Alten had allowed dozens of ancient species to escape extinction but had also given them the ability to breath underwater. Not only is this anatomicaly inaccurate, it's also something outrageous about someone who cares about things related to paleobiology, like me. Oh, I almost forgot, there are also other prehistoric fishes in addition to the Megalodons. There is not much to say about them except for the fact that they all appear unchanged after so many millions of years.
All these errors(mentioned in the spoiler) as well as many others, with the addition of, the author's obvious lack of knowledge about prehistoric marine life and evolution and a stupid ending compose an unoriginal, scientifically inaccurate and predictable story.
Despite this book being so terrible, I am looking forward to reading the next installment in the series, "MEG: Night Stalkers", just because I am curious to see how the story will develop.
That's what Washington Daily News wrote about this book.
This made me question if the guy(s) who reviewed the book had actually read it, or judged about its content by its cover... Because this book is certainly not good!
The plot is hardly believable. A prince from Dubai has discovered an ocean just beneath the Earth's crust, inhabited by prehistoric and fearsome lifeforms. The Arabs have already built a specialized aquarium to hold the creatures and that's why they need Jonas Tailor's help. Meanwhile, J.T. is having his own problems trying to control his 100 ton shark. I'm not gonna reveal the rest of the story but you can pretty much guess what follows.
The science and the biology of the creatures presented in the novel were both ridiculous. If you want to read more about them(and the plot, too) read the spoiler below. If you don't want to spoil the 'surpise', then go buy the book and have a good laugh with all the crazy and stupid stuff written in it.
Spoiler
As I already mentioned above, there is an ocean beneath the Earth's crust filled with prehistoric beasts. Alright, I'll buy that, as it sounds rather logical to me. I mean, its something like an underground lake filled with hydrothermal vents(so life could not just exist but actually thrive there).The thing that bothered and irritated me at the same time were the prehistoric creatures that made an appearance in the novel. First of all there were trilobites and sea scorpions. Their existance in that ancient sea bothered me, as the "geological anomaly", as the prehistoric sea was refered at one point, had formed 200 million years before the appearance of Megalodon, which means(in case you haven't already realised)it formed in the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic period. So, how could such arthropods exist there if they had all been wiped out during the Permian-Triassic extinction(252.28 mya)? Anyways, lets forget about the trilobites and sea scorpions 'cause the biggest problems start here. The book is literally filled with all kinds of marine reptiles(nothosaurs, mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs and giant turtles), all with one very, very unusual characteristic: gills. Yes, that's right, GILLS. Not only dozens of species of prehistoric marine reptiles had survived but, according to Alten's imagination, no major evolutionary adaptations had occured to their body structures(save for the gills). They were essentially the same creatures that, according to natural history books, had been wiped out of the face of the Earth more than 65 million years ago. Not only Alten had allowed dozens of ancient species to escape extinction but had also given them the ability to breath underwater. Not only is this anatomicaly inaccurate, it's also something outrageous about someone who cares about things related to paleobiology, like me. Oh, I almost forgot, there are also other prehistoric fishes in addition to the Megalodons. There is not much to say about them except for the fact that they all appear unchanged after so many millions of years.
All these errors(mentioned in the spoiler) as well as many others, with the addition of
Spoiler
a 100 foot Liopleurodon(that also breathes underwater)Despite this book being so terrible, I am looking forward to reading the next installment in the series, "MEG: Night Stalkers", just because I am curious to see how the story will develop.