The Rosetta Codex (Paperback)

~ (Author) "They came across the water at night..." (more)
Key Phrases: skin parlor, Conrad's World, Rosetta Codex, Captain Bol-Terra (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this oddly old-fashioned and low-key space opera from Philip K. Dick Award–winner Russo (Ship of Fools), Cale Alexandros, the heir to a great mercantile family who's abandoned at age five on a backwater planet, grows up among savages. Barely surviving into adulthood, Cale makes his way out of the wasteland to the planet's one civilized city, where he discovers the Resurrectionists, a cult dedicated to unearthing the ancient technologies of an extinct alien race, and begins to understand the meaning of the Rosetta Codex, a strange artifact he himself discovered in the wasteland. Cale must also deal with the mysterious Blackburn and his employers, the Borg-like Sarakheen, who want the artifact for themselves. After regaining control of the Alexandros family holdings on another planet, Cale sets off on a journey that will transform the galaxy, his goal nothing less than the resurrection of the ancient aliens who created the codex. Russo's landscapes and technologies are nicely alien, but readers will have trouble attaching to his somewhat flat protagonist, whose motives for bringing the aliens back to life remain unclear. (Dec.)
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From Booklist

Marooned in the wastelands of Conrad's World when his family's ship crashed en route to the city of Morningstar, five-year-old Cale remembers very little, except that his father told him to mention his last name, Alexandros, only to the people they were going to visit. For years, he is a slave, shuffled between groups of exiled thugs, until a trader offers him a way out. On the subsequent journey, Cale finds, in ruins deep in the desert, a strange metal book in an entirely unfamiliar language. Crossing the bridge to Morningstar and finding work, he also finds the Resurrectionists, who search for the truth about an alien civilization that used to exist on Conrad's World. Eventually, Cale discovers what his family was and the possibility of strange truths about the book from the desert, by which time he is in a race with those who want those truths for their own nefarious purposes. Russo's tale skirts the doldrums of predictability but finally hits its stride and balances adventure and mystery in a satisfying entertainment. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 375 pages
• Publisher: Ace Trade; 1st edition (December 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441013309
• ISBN-13: 978-0441013302
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,434,775 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat disappointing, but overall a fairly good book;, December 11, 2005

By	Lelldorin - See all my reviews

Richard Paul Russo first wowed me with Ship of Fools, which wowed me with both strong characters, a willingness to examine religion and the idea of god in a dark and hostile universe, and an excellent plot that remained strong throughout the entire book. After I read Ship of Fools, I picked up the Carlucci novels, which, while not as good as Ship of Fools, I found excellent as well. I had high hopes for his latest, but unfortunately they weren't all fulfilled.

Russo pens an intriguing tale, but whereas his tendency to leave his worlds fairly flat and sketchy worked excellently in Ship of Fools, where it helped to add to the sense of mystery and abandonment in the work, here it leaves the world feeling undernourished and two-dimensional. Russo inserts intriguing ideas here and there in the novel, but he never fleshes them out. In particular the technology of the world of the Rosetta Codex is left very vague. This is a very tight book, less than 400 pages long, but this is also one book that would have benefited from a longer length.

Likewise the characters fell flat for me. The hero, Cale, is frustratingly non-sympathetic for much of the book. The supporting cast seems to be completely defined by broad and simple character traits: Sidonie is scarred from her ordeals across the Divide, but still loyal; Cicero is old and obsessed with the study of the Jaaprana; Blackburn is an antagonist who nonetheless has a soft spot in his heart (or seems to) for Cale; the Sarakheen are Evil.

My biggest problem was that the plot seemed to run at the same speed and intensity the entire book; there was no real rising action, no climax, and no resolution. The book, in my opinion, starts on one note and really ends on the same note.

Despite my nitpicking, I enjoyed the book. It was far from his best work, but still an enjoyable read.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Russo's Codex, April 4, 2006

By	Michael & Angela (Florida) - See all my reviews

Personally, I loved the first half of this book. The concepts, characters, world-building, and ideas were a treat to read. I loved Conrad's World.

But, unfortunately, the latter half of the book fell apart. It got too big for it's britches, so-to-speak. Should have stayed in the divided planet of Conrad's World. I liked the landscape and dangerous exiles there. They made the adventure of this book shine.

I would have easily given this book a full 5 stars if Richard paul Russo would've made this go in a different direction. Just became too far out...literally.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent SF novel from Richard Paul Russo, December 22, 2005

By	T. Hooper (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Rosetta Codex is another excellent SF novel fron Richard Paul Russo. I was lucky enough to hear the author read from this new novel last week, and I was immediately interested in the story. As it turns out, I read the Rosetta Codex from cover to cover in one long sitting. He builds a very believable universe which in many ways reminds me of my favorite space opera and 'world builder' science fiction novels from the old school of SF writers. I enjoyed the lead characters and I think the author could easily write another novel set in this universe given the interesting ideas unleashed in this one.