Customer Reviews

The 6 Sacred Stones: A Novel

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

This is for those who have not read Matthew Reilly. This is your typical sifi-occult-dungeon and dragons-ancient history-techno-thriller. And I am not joking about that. Remember the old movie SPEED? It had three action scenes in it, enough for three movies. Well this is like that but more and bigger. Your jaw drops with each action scene. You wonder how he can top that one and quess what? He does. Reilly is Australian and that plays an important part in his writings. For you see, he has found the new enemy, the new bad guy, the new villian-us the US. As a matter of fact the Arabs are one of the good guys. YOu need to read 7 Deadly Wonders before you read this one because Reilly refers back to it often. I have read all of his books and they are all except for one deal with old world lengends. It is like sitting through a lecture by Indiana Jones. Clive Clusser use to be the leader in this type of lituratue, but he has grown old and soft. Reilly is the new leader is non stop action. I know it is over the top but boy is it fun to read. I don't think we will see a Reilly novel made into a movie anytime soon. The cost of the action scenes would be extremely high and to costly for studios. Give this a try, you won't be sorry.

I am a little puzzled at why some people who have read Reilly's previous novels are having a problem with this one (and 7 Deadly Wonders for that matter). What were they expecting? I don't want this to sound the wrong way, but if you've read one Matthew Reilly novel, you've read them all. Certainly they are ALL different, but the action is on a scale that is head and shoulders above ALL authors I am currently familiar with. The storylines are all different, too--but the action sequences on one book are no more outlandish and unbelievable than they are in ANY other book by him.

I LOVED 7 Deadly Wonders. Think of it as the DaVinci Code on a MOUNTAIN of steroids going Warp 9.9. Great story and most importantly: FUN. One thing I really love about Reilly's novels is that he doesn't take himself, or his stories too serious that he sacrifices in order to make everything 100% believable. If you want that, go read a non-fiction book or something by Clancy. If you want absolute thrills that takes action/adventure storytelling to a whole new level? Read Reilly.

The 6 Sacred Stones is a direct sequel to 7 Deadly Wonders. At the end of that book, through the tireless efforts of Jack West and his rag-tag group of heroes, they did something extraordinary that secured Austrailia as the dominant country on the planet for the next 1,000 years. But what Jack and all the others did not know, is that there was a counter to the Tartarus Rotation which eliminates that herculean effort and in effect helps to usher in the end of the world. It's quite a complicated storyline, much more so than anything else Reilly has produced before, and while it's pure fantasy, who cares as long as we have a great time along the way?

6 Sacred Stones takes us literally all over the globe, from China to South America to Dubai and Africa and many points in between including Stonehenge. Creative is one word I could use to describe this book, but I'll use Exhausting instead because that's how it leaves you once you finish. Oh--and talk about a cliff-hanger...! It seems many people are more than a little upset that as the story ends we leave Jack West--who escapes death more than once in this one--literally falling into what could very well be a bottomless pitt without any possible means of survival or rescue. What I personally believe and through experience with previous Reilly novels has taught me is that NOTHING is set in stone necessarily. As I read Ice Station I cannot recall how many times a character was painted seemingly into a corner that was impossible to get out of--and yet that is exactly what happened. Just reading about the prisoner train rescue scene in 6 Sacred Stones ought to give most an idea of just how Reilly manages to snatch characters quite literally right out of the jaws of death...so, do we write off Jack West Jr? Absolutely NOT. He'll pull through...I don't know HOW he'll do it, but mark my words, in the 3rd and final volume of this trilogy, he'll do it.

In short, if you are a fan of Reilly's novels, I honestly cannot see why you wouldn't like this one as well. Be forewarned: the ending is amazingly abrupt and finding out what happens will test our patience in a BIG way...but if you liked 7 Deadly Wonders, you really ought to get a major kick out of additional exploits with Jack West and Co.

I just finished reading this book not ten minutes ago, and wanted to give my opinion of it. I enjoyed it immensely. I know there are a lot of critics of Matthew Reilly's writing style, and I've rendered my opinion on that matter in another review for his book The Seven Deadly Wonders, so I won't repeat myself here. I will say that this book was so much fun and very exciting from start to finish, and I did enjoy the cliffhanger ending, which makes me all the more excited to see how it turns out. I love a good adventure story, and as I tell everyone who inquires, Matthew Reilly is the best pure action writer out there. I have all of his books at home and have thoroughly enjoyed reading his style of escapist storytelling. I enjoy Mr. Reilly's books for what they are: pure adrenaline. And please keep it coming.

The commando team and very special little girl from The Seven Deadly Wonders are back to save the world from certain destruction yet again, and their enemies are just as bad as ever. Australian superman Jack West, Jr. leads the pack, this time to recover six sacred stones that need to be found in exotic locales around the world, cleansed by the Philosopher's Stone they also must find, and then put in their special places inside a tight timeframe to prevent the utter destruction of the world. Of course, not only are these six sacred stones hidden in booby-trapped, dangerous places, the other men who want them and the power they will gain by them are hot on the heels of Jack's team, and they aren't afraid to kill whoever gets in their way. Plus, they are led by Jack's arch enemy, his father.

As usual, Jack's team zips around the world in their 747, the Halicarnassus, getting shot at, captured, escaping, and committing dozens of other feats of derring-do while trying to save the world from certain destruction in the nick of time. His writing tends to be a bit juvenile and he scribbles outside the lines of realism quite a bit, but that's Reilly's way. Think of an excitable guy with an Australian accent who enacts embellished stories with lots of expansive arm gestures and a continually rising voice. It's not for everyone, but I must say that Reilly's books are a whole lot more entertaining than a great number of adventure thrillers on the shelves these days, and this book was an improvement over his last two. The action is still coming hot and fast, but this time out, Reilly chose to develop his characters a little bit, and the book really benefited from this effort.

Matt Reilly is not the author for anyone looking for a "realistic" historical thriller, but if you like lots of action coupled with impossible stunts, you like your characters slightly overblown and obsessed with nicknames, and you're a fan of last-minute rescues when everything seems lost, this book delivers. My biggest complaint is that I felt cheated at its abrupt ending, which was really no ending at all. I had a feeling that there would be a sequel when I was about 7/8 through the book and they hadn't even recovered the second stone yet, but I felt that readers should have been warned about this ahead of time. I was a bit disgusted when the book quite literally left us hanging, but not so much that I won't go out and buy the next one, even though I already know how it will end.

Certainly no literary masterpiece, however it is very entertaining and introduces the reader to alternate theories about past Civilizations, which I find very thought provoking (A la Graham Hancock). It's a good read if you like this stuff. It can be a little far fetched at times but you just have to enjoy the ride. This is a continuation of Seven Deadly Wonders, so be sure to read that book first. You also have to wait for the author to release the conclusion to this story, so if you don't like 'to be concluded' titles this is not for you.

Reilly always plays fast and loose with the English language but this is terrible writing. It is childish, hyper and in places just plain stupid. Half of the sentences end with exclamation marks and the other half are in italics. It is like trying to read a script of the old TV Batman. Kapow! Bang!

The story does not hold together and is totally unbelievable. Yes, we expect this with Reilly but come on, the guy couldn't give us anything plausible? At all?

Again, I get it that Reilly is over the top. We expect that and even want it but this was so weak and immature that I couldnt take the book seriously. I will read another...Temple and Ice Station made me that loyal, but if I want something this outlandish, I can buy comic books for much less.

I read this book -I started with the 1st in the Jack West series -ok we got an ending in that one. Great Book! This one we get a cliff hanger. All right just makes you want to buy the next one, but why did he have to end it with a small boy crying in the dark alone? Yes the hero in trouble -we get that -but the last scene is one of utter despair that I think colored my entire enjoyment of this book. I will not recommend it like the 1st, and may not even recommend the 1st to anyone else.

I'm a big fan of Matthew Reilly. Love his action. The book was great, but unlike his other books...this one's going to be part 1 in a series, so it ends on an awful cliffhanger! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The plot is simple. A team of highly skilled people, who have given themselves names like Scimitar and Wizard, must garner all their high tech resources and mobilize to prevent the end of the world. Their quest is to locate the 6 sacred stones and place them on the 6 sacred pillars, which are located at various mystical places around the globe. Only then will the Dark Sun, the opposite of our star sun, be neutralized. That's it. The plot.

The Six Sacred Stones is more a series of sensational action sequences using incredible devices, which do not yet exist in the more mundane world, than a novel. Reading this book is like watching a Road Runner cartoon. There is no character development, no mystery (you know the good guys will always come out ahead), and, considering all the escapes from the jaws of death, no suspense. Fans of chase scenes, sci-fi gadgets, and endlessly resourceful heroes will enjoy the story. Not recommended for more serious readers.

How can this author be on the NYT best-seller list, with such terrible writing? The story does not hold together, is childish, and so poorly written that it does not even have a shred of believability. What is with his fascination with "call signs" for each character? The conversation between characters is childish at best, and inane at worst.

Underlying the horrible writing are some clever ideas, but the author is unable to turn them into a novel that has any value. I forced myself to read it, but I could not wait to get the book out of the house.

How about some real characters, real conversation, believable escapes? The novel is filled with completely fabricated and impossible escapes that make it impossible to take the story - or the author - seriously.

Don't buy this book. It isn't worth the paper it was written on.