Atlantis [Paperback]

David Gibbins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2005

Archaeologist Jack Howard is a brave but cautious man. When he embarked on a new search for buried treasure in the Mediterranean, he knew it was a long shot. When he uncovered a golden disc that spoke of a lost civilization more advanced than any in the ancient world, he started to get excited. But when Jack Howard and his intrepid crew finally got close to uncovering the secrets the sea had held for thousands of years, nothing could have prepared them for what they would find...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Marine archeologist Jack Howard may have found the key to uncovering Atlantis, the legendary sunken city purportedly built by a flourishing culture. A scrap of papyrus discovered in an Egyptian desert, which may contain a secondhand account of the lost city, sends Jack scrambling to assemble a team, including Costas, an MIT- and Stanford-trained expert in "submersible technology" and Katya, a beautiful Russian Atlantis specialist. Once prepped and in position in the Aegean Sea, Jack and company find themselves caught up with Kazakhstan terrorists and a multicountry fight over a missing Soviet nuclear submarine—and that's before they've uncovered the ancient secrets of the lost city. It's thrilling stuff for sure, but the story limps along on complicated, exposition-heavy science that's doled out much too slowly (characters walk each other—often and at length—through their particular areas of expertise as the plot requires). Gibbons, an underwater archeologist and Cambridge University Ph.D., knows his science; still, things don't pick up until the second half of the story, when the dive gives way to a more straightforward kidnapping plot. The historical conspiracy angle gives the book Da Vinci-esque appeal, and the intense visual details of the team's marine discoveries make it naturally cinematic, but if history and science lectures aren't your cup of Dramamine, you might want to give this one a pass. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Review

"The historical conspiracy angle gives the book Da Vinci-esque appeal, and the intense visual details of the team's marine discoveries make it naturally cinematic."—Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Headline Paperbacks (July 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0755324226
• ISBN-13: 978-0755324224
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 1.2 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,016,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Documentary, June 16, 2006

By 

Shields (TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlantis (Paperback)

I bought this book because I was getting on a plane in Italy to fly for about 9-10 hours to the states & I had only 20 pages left of my other -good- (Salvatore's - Exile) book. Well, let me tell you... It was a mistake. This was the only English language book at that airport that resembled anything remotely decent. Except the Da Vinci Code. And I didn't really wanna read that. I wish I had now. Anyways onto the book review.
What ticks me off about this book is that it is written more like a documentary. I mean why throw all that useless information at us when it's not needed. It is as if the author wants all the readers to know just how smart he is so he puts in every fact he can think of on every subject.
"Oh," the author says. "We are talking about Native Americans now? Well, did you know that they did this? And this? And that? Oh, and what about that?"
LEAVE THAT STUFF OUT!!! Geez. At one point the main characters were swimming through the underground cavern and: A.) The main character was about to run out of air. B.) He had a gunshot wound that possibly fractured his ribcage and not to mention left a gaping hole in his stomach. But what do these characters do? Do they swim as fast as they can to safety? No... They do exactly what normal people wouldn't do. They sit around and examine every possible artifact and give its history. I mean its not as if they cant come back once they get resupplied and sewed up.
The story is just so unrealistic its dumb. The guy named Costa could easily put MacGyver to shame. His backpack and belt pouch contained more cool gadgets than Batman's utility belt. Every subject that came up in the book he was a genius on. Except ancient writings. That was the woman's special skill. Oh, and she was an expert on guns. And submarines. And russian technology. And terrorism. And just about everything else...
All in all these three people, in which fate brought together to explore Atlantis are possibly the smartest people on the whole planet bar none. Yet I believe my greatest pet peeve of this story is that they never really had a challenge... Not really.
-I'm being followed by two helicopters that are armed to the brim with huge missiles = No problem. I'll pull out my rifle and show them who is boss.
-I'm afraid all our efforts to find Atlantis will be for nothing because we can't decipher the Atlantian symbol language. = No prob. We got a Blonde Scientist Lady who can read that in seconds. She -is- a genius remember.
-I've got a big gun wound in my stomach. = No problem I'll just swim in Icy cold water to numb the pain.
-I'm being held hostage at a huge military terrorist base & my guard is Arnold Schwarzenegger's twin. = No problem. I'll just judo punch him in the spinal cord when he's not looking and steal a helicopter right from under the flight manager's nose.
-The whole world has been looking for the city of Atlantis since its existence became known. The Russian's and other large military groups are looking for a Submarine that sank. = I find both at the same time.
-I'm stuck in Atlantis and the whole underground tunnel system is a maze that no ordinary man could ever escape. = No problem. You remember that disc I found last week, which just by coincidence doubles as the key to atlantis's front door? Well it also is a map of Atlantis too! Read the directions to me, my beautiful blonde scientist lady, who just as easily could have been in a James Bond Book.
I am truly sorry if I spoiled anything to future readers of this book. But, you know what. I am glad I spoiled it. Maybe now you won't want to read the thing. It is by far the worst book I have ever read. Don't believe me? I created this account on Amazon specifically just so I could warn all you people to never read or buy. This -is- my first review. Especially don't buy in a foreign country where the exchange rate is outrageous and you get charged like 2-3 times as much for it.
I did however have to give this book one star because the people here at Amazon believe no book is actually only worth 0 stars. So I'll give you one reason you should by this book: if you like books where the main character is -Indiana Jones - James Bond - & Chuck Norris - All rolled into one: then this is the book for you. Good Luck if you decide to buy.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Archeology 101, January 29, 2007

By 

L. Hoefling "McHuston" (Broken Arrow, OK, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Atlantis (Mass Market Paperback)

Mathematicians hated Dan Brown's novel "Digital Fortress," claiming it wasn't realistic enough to be believable. On that basis, archeologists should love David Gibbins' "Atlantis," touted as an underwater "Da Vinci Code."
The cover art, subject matter, and author's background offer great potential for historical suspense, and clearly Gibbins has the ability to deliver such a story.
Like "Da Vinci," an ancient puzzle holds clues that point to a civilization considered only mythical, until archaeologist Jack Howard and his team break the code and discover enough facts to lead them on an expedition to find the lost city of Atlantis.
Quicker than you can say "Clive Cussler," Jack and his team locate the exact locate of the sunken civilization, and fortunately, he and his team are experts in underwater archeology. They have all the latest equipment, miniature subs, robotic cameras, laser-driven cutting torches, sophisticated airlocks, and knowledge of all the current land, sea, and air-based weaponry.
That last bit comes in handy, since all sorts of weapon-toting adversaries are willing to do anything to steal away the find of the century.
If the story sounds a lot like Clive Cussler's "Atlantis Found," it may be because it is - the difference being Cussler's typical over-the-top dialogue, and Gibbins' writing that reads more like a tech-manual. Every character is an expert who explains everything in detail - Russian submarines, Greek hieroglyphics, Mediterranean hydrology - it doesn't matter. Everyone gets a chance to stand on a soapbox to spell out what the obscure facts mean to the Atlantis search.
Unfortunately, too much of a good thing tends to work against the result, and while Gibbins writes with the authority of the Cambridge PhD that he is, too much of the novel reads like a professor's lecture. "Atlantis" might be the perfect text for Marine Archeology 101.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Thank goodness, I didn't have to pay for it., June 24, 2008

By 

Cliff Bailey "Voracious Reader" (Houston Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlantis (Mass Market Paperback)

WARNing DO NOT waste your money on this book!!!!!

I was given this book at the Atlana airport. I was in the airport bookstore and almost bought the book Crusader Gold by the same author. When another customer in the book store advised me against it. He then gave me his copy of Atlantis and said that I should throw it into a "rubbish bin" (trash can for us americans)when I got tired of trying to read it. Well, nine hours later, I was in London looking for the nearest rubbish bin to dump this dreck in.

Basically

The plotline started out pretty good, then turned stupid.

VeRRRRRY long winded dialog about places and science that nobody is interested in unless you are an archeological grad student.

The lead charactors are the three smartest bravest, toughest prettiest people alive. Not to mention incredibly rich. (even the female character was tougher than the terminator). when ever somebody needed to know something. the Girl genius was there with a 10 page explanation of how everything worked, why it worked and what it meant.

I had to force myself to continue reading it but after I finished the book, I kept asking my self why I bothered.

The book really was that bad.