Lost Empire: A Fargo Adventure [Hardcover]

Clive Cussler (Author), Grant Blackwood (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Fargo Adventure | Publication Date: August 31, 2010

Sam and Remi Fargo, heroes of Spartan Gold, return in this extraordinary new adventure from the number-one New York Times- bestselling author.

With Spartan Gold, a daring thriller that Publishers Weekly proclaimed "solidly in the Cussler tradition, [and] sure to please new fans and old," Clive Cussler introduced husband-and-wife treasure-hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo. In their electrifying new adventure, the Fargos make a startling discovery that others would kill to keep hidden...

While scuba diving in Tanzania, Sam and Remi Fargo come upon a relic belonging to a long-lost Confederate ship. An anomaly about the relic sets them off chasing a mystery-but unknown to them, a much more powerful force is engaged in the same chase. Mexico's ruling party, the ultranationalist Mexica Tenochca, is intent on finding that artifact as well, because it contains a secret that could destroy the party utterly.

Through Tanzania and Zanzibar, into the rainforests of Madagascar, and across the Indian Ocean to Indonesia and the legendary site of the 1883 Krakatoa explosion, the Fargos and their ruthless opponents pursue the hunt-but only one can win. And the penalty for failure is death.

Filled with the dazzling suspense and breathtaking action that are Cussler's trademarks, Lost Empire is a stunning new novel from the grand master of adventure.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cussler and Blackwood's second adventure to feature husband-wife treasure hunters Sam and Remi Fargo deviates little from the familiar formula of the first in the series, Spartan Gold. When Sam and Remi find a huge ship's bell on a dive off the Tanzanian coast, they must work to find a way to recover it without running afoul of the Tanzanian government. Meanwhile, Mexican president Quauhtli Garza, a staunch nationalist, knows that this bell comes from a former Confederate ship that sank off the east African coast after the Civil War. Garza fears the discovery of a missing piece of a Quetzalcoatl statuette, which was aboard the ship, will undermine his grip on power. Once Garza dispatches his henchman to Tanzania to deal with the Fargos, the novel devolves into a standard chase thriller. Uninspired dialogue ("I love adventure as much as the next gal, but there's something to be said for good food and a warm bed with clean sheets," Remi tells Sam) doesn't help.
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From Booklist

This is the second installment (after Spartan Gold, 2009) of Cussler’s action-packed new series featuring husband-and-wife treasure-hunters Sam and Remi Fargo, a spunky Nick and Nora for the twenty-first century. Scuba diving off the coast of East Africa, the couple discovers a bell, covered in cryptic carvings, from a long-lost Confederate warship. While they struggle to decode the clues found on the bell, a sinister faction is shadowing them in hopes of also discovering the secret to which the clues lead. Unlike the Fargos, this group does not want the secret uncovered and will kill to keep it hidden, as the discovery would result in a rewrite of the history books. In his inimitable way, Cussler throws everything into the pot: Confederate warships, the Aztecs, the Krakatoa explosion of 1883, pirates, and, in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock, Cussler himself in a cameo appearance. Blackwood, the coauthor, seems to have brought a breath of fresh air to Cussler’s usual testosterone-laced style by toning down the traces of xenophobia and misogyny that often permeate the long-in-the-tooth Dirk Pitt series. HIGH DEMAND BACKSTORY: Fans of Mathew Reilly and James Rollins will revel in this treasure-hunting adventure. --Michael Gannon

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1st edition (August 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399156763
• ISBN-13: 978-0399156762
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Forgo the Fargos, September 15, 2010

By 

Publius2010 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Empire: A Fargo Adventure (Hardcover)

I have read 99% of Cussler's novels, even special ordering Pacific Vortex! because it was almost impossible to find in stores. The Oregon Files are fun, as are the Isaac Bell books, and I can deal with the NUMA Files, even though Austin and Zavala are an inferior copy of Pitt and Giordino. But Lost Empire... wow. Stephen King published a number of books under the name Richard Bachman because he felt that "as Stephen King [I] could publish my laundry list and it would sell." Cussler should mind this tidbit because this book wasn't even a laundry list, it was refuse. So,to say that I was disappointed with Lost Empire is an obvious understatement. It actually made me feel like I was losing my mind at times. I'll explain.

Just about everything in this book was out of focus. There are pages dedicated to hotel rooms and meals that really serve no purpose, and as other reviewers have pointed out, no character development. Even more maddening are segments that are supposed to show how clever the characters are (lifting the bell from the bottom of the ocean, the whole "decoding"), yet they are so poorly written that you wind up confused. Then there are some glaring editorial mistakes that got me so turned around, I went skipping back pages to see what I missed. SPOILERS. For instance, when the Orizanga Codex is introduced, Sam Fargo says "Orizanga, that's something out of Blaylock's journal." I thought, wow I guess I missed that, so I went back 25 pages trying to find out where Orizanga was mentioned earlier. He wasn't. Here's another howler: When Sam and Remi get rounded up by the Madagascar Rebels, they are brought back to their Range Rover which "sat under The Three Wise Men." What wise men? Are there three sages sitting on top of the car? One begins to understand that these wise men are in fact some sort of rock cluster which is never mentioned, named or described. Bad editing. Poor writing. I won't even go into the incessant product placement for Apple.

Why did I feel like I was losing my mind? I would get frustrated with the writing, I would hand the book to my girlfriend and say "do me a favor, read this and tell me if you understand this / can picture what he's trying to describe." Cussler books are not supposed to be like that. They're fun, easy reads. Not ponderous.

So, whatever you do, forgo the Fargoes.

50 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lost Empire...Lost Reader, August 31, 2010

By 

Grubb Street Rapscallion "Writer/Director" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Empire: A Fargo Adventure (Hardcover)

Lost Empire...Lost Reader

The last time we saw the husband and wife team of treasure hunters, Remi and Sam Fargo, they were off doing their stuff in Spartan Gold, a la Indiana Jones. Now, they are back in a dud of an adventure entitled Lost Empire, again, co-authored by Clive Cussler and Grant Blackwood. Once more, I was left feeling dissatisfied on many levels.

First, I still have no idea what either Remi or Sam looks like. Oh, there are the brief descriptions where Sam is several inches taller than the rebels who capture him or that he can swim quite well, or that he knows some self-defense moves. But I could not see him, physically, as I read the novel. Also, I have absolutely no image of his wife, Remi; she just floats along as a sometimes wise-cracking companion to her husband. Curiously, the only character I can slightly envision is Selma, the researcher, organizer, travel agent, and computer/technical genius who seems to hold the Fargos' lives together by being able to arrange for the rental of planes or boats at critical moments, in often the most inaccessible and poorest countries in the world.

I also have problem with much of the dialogue, especially between Remi and Sam. I was able to switch back and forth, changing the name of the speaker from one to the other, with no differentiation in the dialogue. The other characters speak as "types," simplistically drawn: the evil villains, the manipulating and scheming politician, the revolutionary thugs, the CIA contact able to provide what is needed at a moment's notice.

Beyond the above points, the story is weak, little more than a treasure hunt, with no suspense, and a predictable outcome. True, the Fargos are often threatened by ruthless Rivera, the henchman of Garza, the President of Mexico. Garza, a self-serving, power-hungry politician, is attempting to rebuild both his personal and his nation's images with an attempt to return to the world of the Aztecs--through his ultra nationalistic party, Mexica Tenocha--before European invaders destroyed the Aztecs. Rivera, his personal thug, is a stereotype, able to withstand extraordinary pain and punishment to his body as he pursues the goals of his master.

The story involves a lost Confederate ship whose captain may have found the origins of the Aztec people, the revelation of which would topple Garza's government. The Fargos travel from Tanzania to Zanzibar, Madagascar to Indonesia, with several trips in between to Southern California where they draw upon the computer skills of their research staff led by Selma. Along the way, they are threatened by assorted villains, yet I never got the feeling that they were ever in danger, since they always managed to escape, with a few scratches and bruise, to continue on to their next capture and beating. After all, Indiana Jones never died...he always managed to escape the most outrageous cliffhanging dangers. So, too, do the Fargos manage such derring-do, with minor injuries...including Remi being shot in her leg...something which only manages to slightly incapacitate her.

But, no more spoilers. Let me just say that Lost Empire is written for a ten-year-old seeking some adventure, with comic book dangers and villains, content to read about characters who have superficial appeal and show no unique identities. I think Mr. Cussler and Mr. Blackwood would have done better to have had one lead character, either Sam or Remi, since they are they same, and flesh out that character into someone believable. Then, of course, they might have been able to create real characters, with whom the reader can sympathize and identify.

In his early days, Mr. Cussler wrote some terrific books, with Dirk Pitt and Al Giordano as people we care about. The two are individuals, cleverly drawn, in some ways opposite sides of the same coin. They are friends who watched each other's back, can anticipate the other's words and actions, and yet remain unique. The Fargos are cardboard cutouts by comparison. Perhaps, Mr. Cussler has run out of ideas, or is losing his writing skills, and is attempting to recapture the quality of his early work through co-writers. If that is the case, he should be more selective about his co-writers, and should also spend more time critically editing the final manuscript. If not, future novels of the quality of Lost Empire will find more lost readers.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money..., September 10, 2010

By 

Christopher Stott "Prof. Christopher Stott" (Seabrook, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Empire: A Fargo Adventure (Hardcover)

Does Amazon give re-funds? I'm a huge Cussler fan. I buy every book the day it is published. I've been reading and loving his work since I could read. I even learnt to SCUBA dive out of a passion from his books. His recent collaborations with other authors are usually pretty good too (not as good as his own work), but the link with Grant Blackwood isn't working...it's flat out embarrassing. Spartan Gold was awful, the first Cussler I literally put down mid chapter and never picked it up again. I even felt guilty about donating it to Good Will, it was that bad. I thought this was perhaps a one off, a special case of dreadful writing, and thought I'd give the Cussler / Blackwood duo another chance with Lost Empire. It was worse. I didn't think worse was possible.

Reading the 'professional' reviews on the slip cover has no made me doubt the veracity of those reviewers as well.

Mr. Cussler...Clive....shame on you! Worse yet, shame on your editor and publisher for even allowing this to reach the stands!!!