Customer Reviews

Atlantis Found

5 star:		(150)
4 star:		(86)
3 star:		(50)
2 star:		(37)
1 star:		(48)

 

 

"Atlantis Found" is Clive Cussler's best work since the terrific "Sahara" came out in 1992. The plot is one of his best, the action is non-stop and there are also several pleasant surprises in the book that will make you smile when you're not rooting for the dynamic duo of Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino.

I had enjoyed his most recent novels ("Flood Tide", "Shock Wave" and "Inca Gold") but they didn't grab me like his previous novels. But "Atlantis Found" leaves no doubt that the "Grandmaster of Adventure" hasn't lost his touch at the keyboard. A rip-roaring read!

Mr. Cussler's books are great escapist fiction. His newest, "Atlantis Found", I believe is one of the better tales he has told. The other enjoyment that comes with a Cussler novel is watching the professional critics try to trash his work. They don't get it, but as these novels routinely make the best-seller lists, we the readers do. The critics do get it, but they prefer books that get the literary equivalent of an Academy Award, while Mr. Cussler takes home The People's Choice Award.

"Atlantis Found" is way over the top, fantastic in what is spread on its' 534 pages, and most importantly fun, and a great read. Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino are a combination of, Indiana Jones, James Bond, The Saint, the members of the old and new Mission Impossible teams, and a dash of The Duke John Wayne leading the cavalry. Sure the book has its cliché's, but does not every Bond film as well? Mr. Cussler gives his readers what they enjoy, and what may be one person's cliché, is another's cue that he or she is about to embark on an adventure with old friends. If you read Mr. Cussler you have probably read well into this latest work, and if you are not yet amongst his readers, "Atlantis Found", is a good place to start.

I'm sorry to say but I am disappointed in Atlantis Found. Cussler is known for his brilliant plot twists and his ability to weave unrelated ideas into a suspenseful journey through a modern day treasure hunt. Inca Gold for example is one of Cussler's finest works of literature. He combines the death of two unrelated heroes and the idea that the Earth will be destroyed by a deadly microbe. The final outcome is both suspenseful and energetic. You would expect his strengths to only get stronger, but Cussler seems to have lost some of his creative genius. Atlantis found has virtually no plot twists or in-depth characters. We see none of see none of Pitt's legendary ability to pick up any woman he wants. Each character is only summarily described with no emphasis placed on their strengths or ability's. I recommend you read this book, but a library is a much better place to get it. This is one of the few Cussler books that when you put it down at the end, you may never want to pick up again.

Clive Cussler does it once again - he has written yet another Dirk Pitt adventure worthy of a place in classic popular literature! This time Dirk Pitt, Al Girodino and assorted colleagues discover the artifacts from an ancient civilisation which was wiped out by a comet hitting the Earth in 7120 BC. This part forms a fantastic prologue. Then we move to 1858 AD, where a British galleon is found in the Antarctic ice filled with treasures from a distant age . . . then in 2001, Dirk is back! What is the significance of a mysterious German billionaire and his family holding Nazi treasures? When he learns that such family, the Wolfs, are responsible for trapping them in a Colorado mine and covering up the evidence to stop others seeing the artifacts, Dirk once again uncovers more than expected - a villian more diabolical than any other he has encountered! When I read what the bad guy's ultimate aim was, it was pure James Bond material, of course, but it didn't stop my enjoyment of the book. Clive Cussler is the master of escapism. The prose is simple to follow without too much in the way of technobabble, the pacing is fast and consistent and the story is surprisingly believeable at times. And the ending was both a surprise in itself and very amusing! We also meet a certain character called Clive Cussler during the second half. 'His name sounds vaguely familiar,' says Dirk Pitt in the narrative. I don't know why people dislike Clive writing himself into the story, I think it's great fun myself. But this book ranks as one of Cussler's finest moments, along with SAHARA, DRAGON, NIGHT PROBE and TREASURE. Don't miss this one!

Okay, I'm admitting it up front-- I am addicted to Clive Cussler and have been since I was ten. I've read every Dirk Pitt book and, for awhile, I wanted to grow up to be just like him (at least I think I've given that up).

I know going in that Cussler has developed a formula for his books that he doesn't deviate from. (Give Clive some credit, however-- it's got to be hard to come up with an original way to destroy the world every two years!) There will be a car chase in a classic automobile. There will be some megarich arch villian who wants to kill many people for personal profit. There will be a situation in which there is no way the woman will survive, yet Dirk manages to save her anyway. (You just knew that there'd be a cave-in and Dirk would come to the rescue, didn't you?) You will get the exact same descriptions of all the reoccurring characters that were in the previous books. I accept this because, like I said, I am addicted and Dirk and Al are fun, which is ultimately what brings me back (not to give anything away, but Dirk's actions at the end of the book are classic). After all, fiction is supposed to be entertaining.

While "Atlantis Found" is better than the stuff Clive put out in the late 1980's (sorry, but "Sahara" was terrible), it still falls short of his early works. Remember when the historic event of the prelogue was somewhat of a mystery and actually became an important part of the plot? Not in this book.

But if you're a Cussler veteran, you've come to expect this and will enjoy the book nonetheless. And if your new to Cussler's books, you won't care about any of this. Just make sure you also pick up a copy of "Raise the Titanic," "Night Probe!" or "Vixon 03" to make sure you really get a sense of this author's mastery.

One last thing-- Clive, STOP WRITING YOURSELF INTO THE BOOK! It's unbecoming.

I am only disappointed when they end. I read so quickly through them that I then regret reading them so fast. This one had a suspenseful plot and different kind of adventures for several members of NUMA not just Dirk. Great read, do not do like I did though, don't read it too fast, because it makes the wait for the next one even longer!

The geological descriptions, mirroring those of the catastrophic meteor impact at Chicxulub off the North coast of Yucatan implicated in the extinction of the dinosaurs, caught my attention with the first page of Atlantis Found and kept me reading to the end. Although I really don't care for the Dirk Pitt persona-he seems too much of a comic book character-I did enjoy the pace and shear adventure of the tale. It is certainly very imaginative.

Like the Bond series, every woman is a beauty of one type or another, every bad guy (or gal) is totally reprehensible, their demise justly deserved, and every "good guy" from 8 to 80 exhibits intelligence, fortitude, cavalier indifference in the face of physical danger, and the comic repertoire of a Bill Cosby. Each one is a hero at whichever of the different stages of the male life cycle he may be. If middle aged fathers have fantasies, they are undoubtedly of exploits similar to the Dirk Pitt series: their hair "maturely" greying at the temples, their muscles aching but undaunted by their travails, and just their very life experience able to outwit even the most brilliant of the bad guys. (Too bad, though, that we don't give the guys in our lives the credit they are very much due for reading us to sleep as children, helping us with math problems as adolescents, and forgiving us our arrogance as young adults, and for the very much braver task of being there day after day when they might possibly have realized more of their own dreams instead!)

I was glad for once to find the oft repeated Atlantis story told in a more light hearted vein. I've studied ancient history, including early Greek history, and have come across the persistent modern belief in Atlantis often enough to cringe when I meet it again. The author's treatment certainly made it much more fun to contemplate. Like some of those mainstream geologists mentioned by Cussler in the book, whose stodgy concepts of earth science forbade them to believe in a continent that sank beneath the sea, I too am skeptical. But then I've studied geology extensively, too. Continents are really too light to sink. They float. Not on water, but on the much denser but more plastic magma that lies beneath them. Cussler's concept of a transgressing sea is almost the only way that Atlantis might be considered remotely possible. (Though I too believe that the Greek island of Santorini, ancient Thera, is a more likely candidate.)

Although a little pedantic, the information that the scientists in the book provide Pitt about history, geology, astronomy, and anthropology is, for the most part, quite accurate. The reader gets to learn a little bit about these subjects along with the adventure (and just might develop a new interest, following up on one of them). Cussler's own background in underwater archaeology (he participated in the search for the CSS Hunley, the world's first successful submarine lost during the Civil War) and in deep sea diving make the oceanographic descriptions and the underwater exploits of his characters seem more real. Certainly his widely traveled life has given him a talent for describing the details of the world's different cities, landscapes and cultures. The pacing of the story is superb. One hardly has a chance to get in sync with any one adventure before the heros are off chasing the bad guys again in some other part of the world. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions and adventures in the gold mines of Colorado, and the description of the Opera House in Buenos Aires.

Enjoyable too is the fact that the book does not take itself seriously enough to try to place itself in any "real" time. The President is a fictional character. Technology that for us is just beyond the horizon and therefore familiar only as buzz words (nanotechnology) is in the present tense for Pitt and his peers. That leaves the door wide open for the author to let ancient Atlantis and its artifacts survive the end of the story. Unlike similar stories where all traces of the discovery must be "lost" to keep the story "true" to our times, Cussler lets the reader glory in the relicts of the ancient city preserved beneath the ice. We get to imagine the treasures as existing for our enjoyment, not forever lost. Much more satisfying.

The book presents itself as good fantasy fiction of a particularly masculine variety.

Cussler fans rejoice! Atlantis Found is Awesome! Clive Cussler's latest thriller will not disappoint the legion of fans worldwide who have been waiting two long years for a Dirk Pitt novel. Along with the classic Dirk entrances, fans will be surprised and pleased that Dirk's long time leading lady,Loren Smith, takes an active roll in the plot. Many suprises are in store for our heros as they battle the odds to save the world from a destruction beyond comprehension. Be prepared to spend a few sleepless nights reading Atlantis Found. You will have a hard time finding that "stopping place". Yes, Virgina, there is a Santa Claus. He delivered a classic Dirk Pitt novel just in time for Christmas.

The few reviews I've read of this are all WAY OFF! Obviously the so-called 'professional' reviewers have little idea of what constitutes a 'good' book written by the 'Grand Master of Adventure'. If you are a fan of Clive Cussler, GET THIS BOOK. Is it a dramatic departure from the writing style he has done in the past? Nope. In fact his style seems exactly the same, but like a fine Bond movie, we keep coming back for more to see what kinds of adventures Dirk and Company can get into next--and still escape from-- while managing to save the world at the same time. My hats off to Clive for a great tale told in fine form. If you fancy yourself a pure Pitt fan, don't deny your addiction...give IN and BUY THIS BOOK. By the end you will have staved off the nights of obsession just trying to wait until the paperback edition, and whetted your appetite for more, and you just might re- read some older Pitt adventures, just for fun. Reading the stories of Dirk Pitt is like re-joining a dream you awoke from that you didn't want to. Enjoy and thank me later.

Mr. Cussler, I am a big fan and have read all your Dirk Pitt books. They are great entertainment. Even when Dirk and Al make escapes more improbable than James Bond or Rambo, they do it in such style that avid readers like me let it slide -- and even enjoy it.

However, a theme developed in your newest book posits an improbability that I can't quite get past...

In your book, Atlantis Found, your character, Dr. Friend, describes the Ross ice shelf as the largest body of floating ice in the world. The premise of the book is that movement of this ice would cause an imbalance or increased wobble in the rotation of the Earth, triggering a cataclysmic polar shift.

Here's what's bugging me... My dad, an old sea-dog told me as a very young boy that a floating object displaces its exact weight in whatever medium w/in which it is floating -- in this case, water. So, if the Ross Ice shelf were to move, the water displaced in its new location would weigh the same as the Ross Ice shelf, and the water that rushed in to fill the position formerly occupied by the ice shelf would weigh just the same as the ice shelf.

The only reason floating ice is larger in volume than the water it displaces is that the ice is crystalline and has a lower density.

In short, no net weight shift would take place at all. Things would be different if the ice fell from land into the sea.

So, either my dad was wrong, or you are. Or perhaps your point is that Nazis are just stupid people...