Just fresh out of press! Can't wait to read it - in a few days...

This is the sequel to "Seven Ancient Wonders". We meet the same characters and a few new ones. Again, the book is full of very interesting diagrams helping to understand the story. Just great! And it is again an absolutely gripping read! Reilly is really the master of those "cliffhanger-scenes"! The suspense is growing at a staggering pace.
And at the end, the reader will know that the story os not yet finished - it will go on in a next book. And we have to wait until this one will be fresh out of press... ;-(

It's hardcover, nearly 500 pages and weighs 815 grams (about 28 ounces). But I know there are several Matthew Reilly fans among the bookcrossers, so I'll make a bookray out of it. The following bookcrossers read along:

"niccijl" from Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom (int'l)
"Magika" from Ramberg, Nordland fylke, Norway (int'l)
"MsTeddy" from Vammala, Pirkanmaa, Finland (int'l)
"RockDg9" from Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia (int'l)
"Brookler" from Powell River, British Columbia, Canada (CAN and US only)
"perryfran" from Rockville, Maryland, USA (int'l)

RELEASE NOTES:

The book is off to "niccijl". Don't get sleepless nights!

Safely received yesterday. I've one other bookring in front of this but that shouldn't take too long. I'll journal again once I've read it and then send it on.

Updated - I enjoyed this, though not as much as his other novels. I'm beginning to like Jack West, though I still prefer his Schofield character. Not too sure I like how it ended and having to wait so long for the next instalment, but it was certainly fast paced and action packed.

Many thanks for letting me in on this bookring. It is now all packed up and will be going to the post office in the next day or so.

RELEASE NOTES:

Posted on to Magika in Norway - enjoy.

Arrived today, thanks. I have one other book to read before this one, but I'll get to this as soon as I can. Looking forward to reading more about Jack and his team.

This was an exciting and quick read (a week on 500 pages is quick for me!). I like short chapters and cliffhangers in this type of books, they make me read faster because I want to know what happens next and I always figure I have time for another two pages - and another two. And thankfully this book didn't have quite as many exclamation marks as "Seven Ancient Wonders". ;-)

There were places in the book where I wished I had "Seven Ancient Wonders" on hand to look up things in, because of all the references to the previous adventure. I love all the diagrams and illustrations throughout the book, as it's not always that easy to picture what the author intended, even with detailed descriptions. The characters are still hopelessly stereotypical, but that didn't bother me too much. I especially liked the twins and the Sea Ranger.

Reilly says in an interview at the end of the book that he tried to "come up with the biggest, boldest, most outrageous novel yet with the biggest, boldest, most outrageous cliffhanger ending imaginable" and I'd say he succeeded in doing that. This book is by no means a brilliant piece of writing, but that wasn't what I was looking for. It's fast-paced, action-packed entertaining fun, and I loved it. Now I just have to wait patiently for the next one...

Update 29.02.08: Mailed to MsTeddy yesterday.

Arrived today, thanks Magika!
I'll start to read it right away...=)

Oh, holy s**t!! That was goood!=)

So much action all the time, that's what I like..Can't wait to read the next book about the rest of the story..About that, has it already been published or is he still writing it?The name of the book?

Will send to RockDg9 as soon as I get the address.

And thank you book-man-8 for the opportunity to read this amazing book.=)

Arrived today! Looks good!

Yee-hah! What a ride!

As always it's not the best written prose in the world - how many times can the man use the word 'easily' anyway? He used it easily a hundred times. :oP But this was a great high-action adventure. I loved the diagrams and pictures, and loved how so much action and so many military devices were crammed into one book. On the surface the research is great, but I wouldn't want to delve to deeply into checking everything out.

Spoilers:

10-pages from the ending I'm thinking "No, no, no, no, no!!! We've only had two fucking stones!!! What about the other four?!" Will have to also wait patiently for the next book. Erg. What's it going to be called? ... 'The Four Remaining Sacred Stones'? ... or maybe 'Biggest Catastrophe You Can Think Of ... Averted! [With crocodiles]'?

Reilly loves his crocodiles.

Onto Canada now. Quite an adventure this book is having.

Posted off yesterday.

Safe travels little book.

This book arrived today. Quite a hefty looking book! I'm looking forward to reading it. Thanks.

I love these books! The bare-bones, action-packed writing gives a 500 page tome the feel of a light read. It seems like I'm reading the script for an action thriller film.

I don't really like books that have no ending, especially when the sequel isn't even out yet. The first thing I did upon finishing The Six Sacred Stones was hunt for info on when the sequel will be available. Matthew Reilly has posted on his website:

"The answer is: it is currently slated to be released in 2009, but if I write it fast enough, it’ll be released in Christmas 2008."

Sure hope book-man-8 sends it round in another ring!

Received this one in the mail today. Thanks book-man-8 for another interesting ray and Brookler for sending it on to me. Unfortunately, I have a few in front of this (since I am last on this ray, I may not get to it for a while) - currently, I am about 1/3 through another book-man ray - Sacred Games which is taking a little longer than usual because of its length (over 900 pages) and the use of so many Indian words (I wish I had a handy glossary) - I am enjoying it though!

On its way to quickheels in Florida. A selection from the Anything goes VBB. Enjoy!

Interesting ideas but about half way thru it started feeling like a bit of a parody to me. I know that wasn't the authors intent but it's now I felt.