Customer Reviews

Temple

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I must admit that reviewing Temple isn't easy for me.

My usual reviewing style is to pan a book for minor inconsistencies in the plot or for unrealistic characters or for a lack of accuracy in information presented as being historically correct. By these standards Temple deserves one star (at most).

But here I am giving Temple four stars despite it being the most blatantly unrealistic and totally improbable book I've ever read!

The operative words here are BLATANTLY unrealistic. And FUN.

Reading a book by Matthew Reilly is like going to a liars convention, where the person who tells the most outlandish, unbelievable, crazy, entertaining story is the winner.

William Race, the hero of Temple, spends approximately 750 pages in constant action, fighting for his life, running for his life, dodging bullets and surviving one disaster after another, always at the very last "nanosecond" (one of Mr. Reilly's favorite words). William Race does things that are not just improbable but totally impossible. He cheats death every 10th page and spends the next nine pages getting into a situation that has only one possible outcome: certain death!

Several other reviewers have characterized Matthew Reilly's books as "comic books in words". Exactly! They can also be compared to the old Batman TV shows, where the screen explodes with a "POW" when one of the characters punches another character.

Here's an example of Matthew Reilly's prose (page 434 in the paperback edition I read):

"Race hit him again, and again, and again - yelling with each punch as the Nazi staggered backwards.
'Get -'
Punch.
'- off -'
Punch.
'- my -'
Punch.
'- boat!'"

In conclusion, totally unrealistic, totally improbable and 100% entertaining!

At the end of the paperback edition I read there's an 11-page interview with Matthew Reilly that I found quite interesting. Mr. Reilly is very up-front about writing books that attempt to pack as much action as possible between the covers, and he also describes how he became an author:

"What led you to self-publish Contest (Matthew Reilly's first book)?"

"Simple. I offered it to every major publisher in Sydney and they all rejected it!"

Sounds like something so improbable that it could be straight out of a Matthew Reilly book. :-)

Rennie Petersen

How can I convey the flavor of this action-thriller without giving away any plot details?

Imagine all three Indiana Jones movies rolled into one film, and imagine that film was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by John Woo. Throw in the action sequences from _Commando_, _True Lies_, and _Eraser_, and the world-domination plots of your five favorite James Bond films. Then give it six cups of coffee and a steroid injection.

This book has all the stuff you want in a great adventure: a precious Incan idol, a four-hundred-year-old manuscript (with its own adventure tale), caimans, giant black cats, Nazis on jet skis, and a secret weapon that could destroy the earth. There are reluctant heroes, countdowns to doom, cliffhangers, fistfights on conveyor belts, daring rescues, hairbreadth escapes, lots of corpses (including some with exploded heads), many levels of treachery and double-dealing, and a sentence that begins, 'Somehow, they had managed to get past the urine-soaked skulls'.

It's wildly, delightfully, exuberantly implausible. And it's _great_ adventure.

All I can tell you without spoiling anything is this: Will Race is a linguist, and some military types want to enlist his help on a secret project. Of course he agrees, at which point the adventure begins and never lets up until the very last page.

If you start this book, be prepared not to do anything else for a while. And make sure you read it someplace where you won't be embarrassed to have people overhear you saying 'Nawwww!', 'Whoa!', 'No way!', and 'Yee-haw!'

Way cool and lots of fun. Oh, and if you're one of those girlyboys who whines about 'character development' and $@#%! like that, you are most definitely looking at the wrong book.

It would be sooooo easy to "diss" "Temple", the second novel by Aussie, Matthew Reilly. As a matter of fact, as you scan through some of the other reviews of this book, you find a lot of that. But, there are those,(like myself) who try and rise above that type of criticism and just take this book at the "face value" in which it was written. It's not intended to be anything more than a terrific action yarn. And, while it's not "great" literature, it will certainly give you your $5.99's worth!

"Temple" is aptly described as "Indiana Jones meets Michael Crichton". There's plenty of military hardware and scientific technology for even the most avid "techo-geek". For those that enjoy graphic descriptions of battle scenes and "shoot-em-ups" there's plenty of that as well!

The story begins with the search for an ancient idol that holds the key to a doomday weapon that a variety of military groups are seeking - all the way from members of the US Armed Forces to Neo-Nazis. When linguist, William Race, is recruited to translate an ancient manuscript that holds the secret to the location of the idol, all hell breaks loose! Who will get the idol first, those intending to use it to destroy the world or those trying to save it?

Reilly takes the reader on a action joyride over the next 500 pages to the book's somewhat expected ending. Suspend your powers of logic, deduction and disbelief during that time and just enjoy the ride! There are some simply unbelievable situations that Race and his band encounter along the way, but there's little time to catch your breath as you're reading - so don't spend a lot of time "dissecting" the book.

Though, in this reviewer's humble opinion, "Temple" is not as strong an offering as Reilly's first novel, "Ice Station", it WILL keep you reading and fill a few days with an entertaining story loading with copious amounts of escapism. And, after all, isn't that what we're looking for when we're trying to kill a few hours?

I read this book while dangling from a parachute, with one eye open, upside down, and with three. . . No. . . Four! Yes, four angry crocs clamped to the seat of my pressed khakis (oh, by the way. . . one arm was tied behind my back). Seem impossible? That's nothing compared to what it took to get halfway through this novel. Is a one star rating being unfair? No. This is another "the aritifact is a meteorite with strange powers" treasure hunt. If you love Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler, James Rollins, Preston Childs, Jeff Long, Wilbur Smith, and the artifact-thriller genre, don't insult yourself by reading this run-on video-game-storyline. I learned nothing from this book. Let me repeat: It was all icing, no cake. Matt Reilly is young, and his writing espouses it; the tone of his book never goes beyond a superficial/scratch-and-sniff level. I got the impression he was writing for the pimple-faced-Xena-oglers or as a pitch to some UPN executive. I handed this book off to my 14-year old nephew and he loved it. Silver lining: Being a young writer, Reilly's "cliffhanger-a-go-go. . . and go. . . and go. . ." style, shallow character development, and blatant disregard for the laws of physics can only evolve into mature writing. God bless his editor; that person deserves a vacation!

Don't get sucked in by the cover art - this is a truly terrible book. All good fiction requires some element of suspending disbelief, but you need to suspend *everything* for any of Reilly's books. What gets me is that they are so cliched - there is nothing original in them: all characters, scenes and ideas have been plucked out of other books or films.

You just know that the "mild-mannered" professor is going to be able to pull of feats of athleticism, strength and fitness that would make Carl Lewis wince. You just know that some "good" guys will turn bad just when the plot seems to have run into a dead-end. You just know that ze evil bad speakink nazty villain guyz are going to be neo-Nazis - I mean, sheesh, try something original, man.

Not to mention the fact that all the action described is totally impossible, and requires last-minute escapes to move the book along. Reilly must have a mighty big bottle of "deus ex machina" from which to chug next to him as he writes.

If you want suspense, try Ludlum. If you want originality, try Colin Forbes. If you want weapons, try Clancy or Bond. If you have nothing better to do, give the purchase price of this book to charity and go take a brisk walk. Or bang your head against a wall. It will feel better when you stop, than reading this book.

I was given this book for Christmas. It was the worst present I have ever received. Totally unbelievable from beginning to end with cliched characters,plots and juvenile writing full of hackneyed words and phrases. But who am I to complain. Judging by other reviews this book is fantastic-such is life.

Okay, let me admit that I am a die-hard Reilly fanatic. Though "Area 7" left me disappointed, and "Hover Car Racer" flat-out left me cold, the Aussie remains my favorite author in the thriller genre. And without a doubt, "Temple" is his best book yet.

The plot can be gleaned from the Amazon summaries, but I'll give the bare bones anyway. A Linguistics professor accompanies a team of Special Forces soldiers into South America to find a legendary idol, made of a chemical compound which could be used in the biggest superweapon ever conceived. Not exactly original stuff, but the resulting novel is a heady mixture of Indiana Jones, Bruckheimer blockbusters, and a raving conspiracy theory website. Startling twists, cinematic action sequences, and likeable if somewhat cardboard characters all combine to make this book one heck of a read.

Now the primary story is great, but Reilly also includes the parallel story of a Spanish priest and an Incan prince in the 1500s, with their own deadly escapades. So in effect you have two intertwined, incredibly entertaining yarns going at once. Let's face it..."Temple" is the greatest thriller ever written.

Aside from his limitations in character development, Mr. Reilly can't even do any decent research on his books. If he did, he'd realize that there are no such thing as Jesuit monks, people don't play baseball in New York in January, and a plethora of other details that prove that Mr. Reilly doesn't care to let basic research stand in the way of a story.

He does seem to know a lot about weaponry, however, which I suppose is an accurate reflection of his mindset. Be advised.

William Race, a mild mannered linguistics professor, is called to duty by his country to decipher an ancient manuscript which holds the secret location of an Incan idol which could be the power source for a super weapon capable of actually destroying the earth and all life as we know it. What we have here is a strange concoction with elements of Indiana Jones, Dirk Pitt and healthy scoops of Jurassic Park and Sergeant Rock thrown in for good measure. The end result, while sometimes exhilarating and enjoyable, leaves a strange aftertaste with the reader. "Temple" can be classified as a "guilty pleasure"-- a tale we are a little hesitant to recommend, but one almost satisfying in spite of itself.

Matt Reilly has a real talent for writing action sequences. He has a way to go (give him a few more attempts, he's only twenty-six) before he can be grouped with the likes of Cussler and Du Brul, but the potential is there. And his enthusiasm for the story jumps from the page. I can't recall reading a novel in recent memory where the writer's exuberance reached out and grabbed you with such convincing energy. I am sure Reilly had a great time writing this book. But in the end (actually about half-way through), the miraculous escapes, the totally unbelievable plot-twists, and the inability of the reader to suspend the good ole disbelief, become expected and pedestrian. In this tale the only group on the face of the earth NOT building a Supernova weapon seems to be Boy Scout Troop 23 of Fresno, California. And I'm sure if "Temple" had gone on for a few more chapters those devilish youths would have appeared with evil in mind.

Reilly is a good writer, with a terrific imagination. If meant to be a satire on techno-thrillers, "Temple" would be a raging success. As it is, I do not believe the author's tongue was in cheek as he wrote passages where the professor's derring-do make Dirk Pitt seem like a bookish pantywaist in comparison.

"Temple" is a roller coaster ride of a novel, with action, turns and twists aplenty. But after a few initial thrills, the ride turns out to be kind of boring. Let's hope Matt Reilly applies his talents to developing a better plot, with less reliance on unbelievable, super-human escapades and narrow escapes, in his next effort. He has the potential.

Matthew has it in him to steal Cussler's crown. That is an extremely bold statement I know. However it is 'imagination' we are comparing here, as that is the most important trait required for this genre of professional writing.

Maybe I am biased because I am Australian. However even I concede that Inca Gold wins hands down over Temple in every respect (from intricacy of sub-plots through to factual believability). It excites me though that my two favorite authors both happen to be fascinated by ancient Incan civilisation. It interests me mainly because I have been researching such material myself for the past ten years. These authors have proven that such information is more than simply an 'acquired taste'.

As with many books of the adventure variety, Temple suffers from its fair share of entirely implausible scenarios (never use the word 'nanoseconds' loosely!). However there lies more than enough compensation in the main plot, involved subplots, with commendable character development and interaction.

As with any book, judge Temple not soley by its wording, but by its ideas.