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289th out of 1,112 books
—
1,594 voters
Subterranean
by
James Rollins (Goodreads Author)
Travel to the bottom of the earth to a place you never dreamed existed. Beneath the ice a hand-picked team of specialist makes its way toward the center of the world. They are not the first to venture into this magnificent subterranean labyrinth. Those they follow did not return.
Over the rocks...Across the yawning caverns...beyond the black river...You are not alone. Into...more
Over the rocks...Across the yawning caverns...beyond the black river...You are not alone. Into...more
Mass Market Paperback, 410 pages
Published
March 1st 2007
by HarperCollins
(first published January 1st 1999)
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What a thrilling, captivating page-turner. Wow, this was a terrific book. A group of scientists led by top archaeologist Ashley Carter are selected to investigate a subterranean labyrinth in Antarctica. Things don't go as planned and the action and excitement never let up. The set up is good, the story is great and the payoff is super. I loved it and am off to pick up my next James Rollins book.
Writing as James Rollins, Jim Czajkowski's first novel follows a tried and true formula much as one would expect from Clive Cussler. At times I thought I was reading a Cussler adventure :~D except that Subterranean was a bit more of a formula than even that. I certainly understand why Jim used a pen-name LOL.
The idea that, in large caverns under Antarctica, lived marsupial "dinosaurs" and humanoids and things in between is fresh. The descriptions of underground areas reminded me much of some of...more
The idea that, in large caverns under Antarctica, lived marsupial "dinosaurs" and humanoids and things in between is fresh. The descriptions of underground areas reminded me much of some of...more
Rollins delivers an action packed thriller guaranteed to make you hesitate before entering any kind cave like structure. I’m a huge Rollins fan and he always delivers a fast paced story with unexpected twists, there’s even a little romance in the mix. I find myself holding my breath during the action scenes because you never know who might die or even lose an arm or leg. Excellent story, kept me guessing until the end. Highly recommend it.
Subterranean is a solid adventure novel mixed with an archaeological mystery, somewhat similar to Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Thunderhead. Parts of it are a little trite (a team member exploring the story's deep caverns has claustrophobia, of course, leading to manufactured moments of suspense that you see coming a mile away), but it's a fun read if you're willing to just go with it. Ultimately, I think the job could have been done in fewer pages; by the last 100, I was skimming here and...more
**Spoiler** Subterranean was the last of James Rollins books that I had not read and I suppose it was a so-so experience. I do love the fast-paced action/adventure that Rollins delivers but I think there was just too much going on in this story. A research team is sent to discover a new environment found underneath the bottom of the world, there they discover the unimaginable…but what they have not been told is that another research team walked through the same passages before them…and disappear...more
Subterranean was one of the first James Rollins books thatI read. I really enjoy suspenseful novels, but have a hard time finding great books. Most of them are either bland or excessively predictable. I am glad to say that Subterranean was a fantastic suspense book.
As is with all of his novels, the descriptions of the environments was beautifully rendered. I could vividly picture the whole scene as it unfolded on the small papers of the novel. The characters have great depth to them without bein...more
As is with all of his novels, the descriptions of the environments was beautifully rendered. I could vividly picture the whole scene as it unfolded on the small papers of the novel. The characters have great depth to them without bein...more
Ok, I have finally read this book..
I can't say i was a huge fan of this particular book. I just could not relate to the characters in this book. In-fact I already forgot names of the characters, except Michaelson, Jake? and Linda???
I loved the setting of Mt. Erebus. As well as the scenes with the creatures, but sometimes it seemed a bit overdone and repeated,, but what can you except with a creature chasing people round the labyrinth?
This book reminded me of two books from Mathew Reilly (mainl...more
I can't say i was a huge fan of this particular book. I just could not relate to the characters in this book. In-fact I already forgot names of the characters, except Michaelson, Jake? and Linda???
I loved the setting of Mt. Erebus. As well as the scenes with the creatures, but sometimes it seemed a bit overdone and repeated,, but what can you except with a creature chasing people round the labyrinth?
This book reminded me of two books from Mathew Reilly (mainl...more
Subterranean is an uninspired collection of clichés featuring dull, unlikable characters doing foolish things. Rollins is apparently incapable of writing women, mistaking shrill bitchiness for empowered and simpering helplessness for feminine. Ashley, his main character and "empowered" woman, is driven by the phoned-in motivation of motherhood. Her son exists as a character only to be put in danger so that tension can be artificially heightened, despite the fact that if she cared so much about...more
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I've been reading a number of books lately with really annoying, narrow minded heorines who eventually gets saved by the open, easy going and fun hero...as if someone can change personalities and perceptions just like that.
I'm a huge fan of James Rollins and once more, I was astounded by his ability to weave a good plot into a stunning, rich text combined with just the righ balance of teasing tid bits of history, action and suspense.
Unfortunately, the main character of Prof Ashley Carter really...more
I'm a huge fan of James Rollins and once more, I was astounded by his ability to weave a good plot into a stunning, rich text combined with just the righ balance of teasing tid bits of history, action and suspense.
Unfortunately, the main character of Prof Ashley Carter really...more
Jun 13, 2012
Jeremy
marked it as to-read
Beneath the ice at the bottom of the Earth is a magnificent subterranean labyrinth, a place of breathtaking wonders—and terrors beyond imagining. A team of specialists led by archaeologist Ashley Carter has been hand-picked to explore this secret place and to uncover the riches it holds. But they are not the first to venture here—and those they follow did not return. There are mysteries here older than time, and revelations that could change the world. But there are also things that should not
Oh dear, where to start? I could go with witty remarks:
It's Jurassic Park! It's a movie script! It's...SUBTERRANEAN!!!!
Or I could liken it to a children's cartoon, in which case it's basically just Scooby Doo...underground. Fred and Daphne break off from the group and hump like cats while the remaining trio try to outsmart the old innkeeper who's dressed as a cave-trotting velociraptor to scare off the tourists. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for you pesky kids! Sad...more
It's Jurassic Park! It's a movie script! It's...SUBTERRANEAN!!!!
Or I could liken it to a children's cartoon, in which case it's basically just Scooby Doo...underground. Fred and Daphne break off from the group and hump like cats while the remaining trio try to outsmart the old innkeeper who's dressed as a cave-trotting velociraptor to scare off the tourists. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for you pesky kids! Sad...more
When an 80-something year old lady brings a bunch of books into my store, many of which catch my eye or are one I've read before, and points to this book and says, "I really liked that," I'm gonna snag it.
Thank you, old lady.
Immediately, I began to draw parallels from Subterranean to Jeff Long's The Descent. However, there's not really much in common between the two. Giant underground cavern systems populated by various creatures - that's it. Long's book is Horror, in my opinion. Rollins has wri...more
Thank you, old lady.
Immediately, I began to draw parallels from Subterranean to Jeff Long's The Descent. However, there's not really much in common between the two. Giant underground cavern systems populated by various creatures - that's it. Long's book is Horror, in my opinion. Rollins has wri...more
More like Fraggle Rock than a serious adventure book
I’m a big fan of Rollins, when the guy is good he is very good and the entertainment is grand, sadly for me this was not the case but reading the 1-3 star reviews was comforting ( and hilarious) enough to know that I’m not crazy and that this book was a dud to many other readers as well. Subterranean is one of his first early efforts and it has a shape of a story but personally I found it lackluster, confused and not very well planned out. The...more
I’m a big fan of Rollins, when the guy is good he is very good and the entertainment is grand, sadly for me this was not the case but reading the 1-3 star reviews was comforting ( and hilarious) enough to know that I’m not crazy and that this book was a dud to many other readers as well. Subterranean is one of his first early efforts and it has a shape of a story but personally I found it lackluster, confused and not very well planned out. The...more
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Erster Satz: So weit das Auge reichte, bedeckte blau schimmerndes Eis den Kontinent.
Also eigentlich bin ich ja wirklich eine reine Fantasy Leserin, nur hier und da noch einen Thriller oder Krimi. Bücher wie Sub Terra habe ich bisher noch nicht gelesen, aber als ich das Cover des Buches sah und dazu die Kurzbeschreibung, konnte ich einfach nicht widerstehen. Das Buch hat mich wie magisch angezogen und ich wollte es unbedingt haben sobald es erscheint. Ich habe es mir dann auch geholt und den Kau...more
Also eigentlich bin ich ja wirklich eine reine Fantasy Leserin, nur hier und da noch einen Thriller oder Krimi. Bücher wie Sub Terra habe ich bisher noch nicht gelesen, aber als ich das Cover des Buches sah und dazu die Kurzbeschreibung, konnte ich einfach nicht widerstehen. Das Buch hat mich wie magisch angezogen und ich wollte es unbedingt haben sobald es erscheint. Ich habe es mir dann auch geholt und den Kau...more
Picked this up at the local Costco and thought it would be a good read as I had read a couple of other James Rollins books and enjoyed them. Suspense/Thrillers that take place in different parts of the world are one of my favorite genres and I was looking forward to going on an adventure in this one, but I was utterly disappointed. A good book takes me about a week to finish, which is pretty fast considering I rarely have time to sit down and read with all the other stuff that occupies my day. T...more
1 like · like · see review
I am not always the most intellectual reader, so oftentimes I will read a book simply for its entertainment value. This book, while certainly not the greatest, did manage to entertain, so I gave it 3 stars.
"Subterranean" is sort of a more modern approach to Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth." A group of scientists and military men discover the remains of an ancient civilization in Antarctica -- not on the surface, but under it. Certainly sounds like a straightforward enough appr...more
"Subterranean" is sort of a more modern approach to Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth." A group of scientists and military men discover the remains of an ancient civilization in Antarctica -- not on the surface, but under it. Certainly sounds like a straightforward enough appr...more
1 like · like · see review
A group of scientists along with military might and the macho Navy SEALS add to this high adventure in the unexplored caves of Antartica. The team is there to learn about a lost civilization and explore the depths but are unaware that a team went 3 months before them only to be lost. They are now looking for the lost team and exploring. It has all the typical personalities set for an adventure, a cholosterophobic biologist, the strong-willed anthrapoligist, an adventure guide for spelunking and...more
A team of specialists including paleoanthropologist Ashley Carter, her son Jason, spelunker Ben Brust, evolutionary biologist Linda Furstenburg and geologist Khalid Najmon (who is not what he seems) embark on a secrecy-shrouded mission to Antarctica, where a deep subterranean labyrinth has been discovered.
There's red herrings and a romantic subplot between Ben and Ashley (as well as Khalid and Linda), and wild speculations about evolutionary pathways, marsupialism, what really killed the dinosa...more
There's red herrings and a romantic subplot between Ben and Ashley (as well as Khalid and Linda), and wild speculations about evolutionary pathways, marsupialism, what really killed the dinosa...more
Jul 27, 2011
John
added it
What an AWESOME book! It's really quite amazing that this was James Rollins FIRST novel. I have read all but one of his "Sigma Force" novels (his most recent work) and I must say that THIS book was quite different, and utterly thrilling. The style was simpler, with fewer characters and plot threads to keep up with. The STORY though, was just bloody brilliant. Had some elements of Jurassic Park and perhaps "Journey to the Center of the Earth" even, but with a totally authentic and original feel t...more
Pretty good. I thought it faded a little towards the end, offering extra action in lieu of actually tying up loose ends. Read Jeff Long's "The Descent" for a much better version of an extremely similar story. That said, this was the first Rollins book I have read and I'm sure I'll now read more.
I really don't know what to rate this book. Reading it was a delight in the way that watching "Mansquito" is a delight. Nearly every sentence was a cliche. The dialogue consisted of things no person would actually say out loud. The characters were all stereotypes - the Australian spoke entirely in similes about kangaroos. But since the main villains were (view spoiler)...more
Rollins is definitely a good storyteller, but the story had several weaknesses in the plot. The characters were well-described, yet I had difficulty with Khalid Najmon. It seemed farfetched that our government wouldn't have done a better "check" on his background. Unlikely, that the real Khalid's family was in on this conspiracy. As well, too convenient to have Major Dennis Michaelson's brother Harry be the only survivor of the previous mission. A bit too contrived.
I did enjoy Benjamin Brust's...more
I did enjoy Benjamin Brust's...more
Take a tour through a labyrinth of caverns on a volcano island off the coast of Antartica. Meet deadly creatures that roam the darkness. See giant diamond deposits and other wonders. Throw in some evil guy with an agenda, An Austrailian cave explorer with aborigional blood that can do that dream time think and of course a couple women who aren't only scientists but athleticly built and pleasing to the eye (I think the playboy playmate ready scientist has been way overdone these days). Add all th...more
Wow, what did I think of this book? First let me put down what Goodreads says about it:
Beneath the ice at the bottom of the Earth is a magnificent subterranean labyrinth, a place of breathtaking wonders—and terrors beyond imagining. A team of specialists led by archaeologist Ashley Carter has been hand-picked to explore this secret place and to uncover the riches it holds. But they are not the first to venture here—and those they follow did not return. There are mysteries here older than time, a...more
Beneath the ice at the bottom of the Earth is a magnificent subterranean labyrinth, a place of breathtaking wonders—and terrors beyond imagining. A team of specialists led by archaeologist Ashley Carter has been hand-picked to explore this secret place and to uncover the riches it holds. But they are not the first to venture here—and those they follow did not return. There are mysteries here older than time, a...more
I wanted to like this, and it had glimmers of promise, however its flaws were too great for me to enjoy it in an immersive way. It bristles with convenient deus ex machina solutions to poorly thought out plot points and is pretty messy overall. The characters backgrounds and motivations are also too shallow and underdeveloped. The implausibility of several plot points was a lot to swallow also, even given the premise that this work is fiction requiring a hefty dose of suspension of belief. I slo...more
So this is by my mum's favourite writer--she has all of his books and frequently tells me about them as she's reading them. When she knew I was looking to read more with an adventure flavour (specifically caves), she gave me some of his.
I think other reviews have pointed out the flaws quite well, but...none of those things particularly bothered me. Is it, at times, cliche-ridden and a tad predictable? Yes. But Subterranean is, in many ways, the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster thrille...more
I think other reviews have pointed out the flaws quite well, but...none of those things particularly bothered me. Is it, at times, cliche-ridden and a tad predictable? Yes. But Subterranean is, in many ways, the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster thrille...more
May 04, 2011
Rebekkila
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
bookcrossing,
thrillers
Usually with thrillers there is not much to say about the story. This book had a sci-fi twist to it that made it different from the books that I usually read. While exploring a huge underground tunnel and chamber system underneath Antarctica a group of scientists find many life forms including a human like species. I love biology so I found the fact that all the species including the human type were marsupials very interesting since that is supposed to be an evolutionary dead end. There was lots...more
I made the mistake of asking my dad for a book recommendation and he recommended this. He has pretty terrible taste in books a lot of the time. The only thing this book had going for it was a decent amount of suspense. But every thing that happened was like a chess move, and you could see the ending of the book from page one. Oh, this person has claustrophobia ... I bet she gets stuck in a tight tunnel and has to overcome her fear. Oh, this lady brought her son ... I wonder if they are going to...more
I think my favorite part of this trainwreck (after the diamond-softening fungus and the Islamic jihadist who drinks) was Major Michaelson's magical morphing arsenal: every paragraph or so his weapons loadout somehow changes to SOMETHING HE DIDN'T HAVE A MINUTE AGO. Why is a US marine carrying an AK-47? And why on earth would he have sawed the barrel off, thereby ruining the gas tube and making it incapable of firing more than a single shot at a time? And why doesn't he have any 7.62 ammunition f...more
2 miles below Antarctica there exists a lost eco system which separated from Southern Australia a few million years ago. They have plants, fungi and water. There are predators and prey living with an ancient type of man like creatures.
When a scientific expedition sets out to explore this world it results in a gruesome story. Every moment has its violence and thrill. The story is complicated with the presence of a terrorist who tries to blow up the whole place.
It is a well written story but the...more
When a scientific expedition sets out to explore this world it results in a gruesome story. Every moment has its violence and thrill. The story is complicated with the presence of a terrorist who tries to blow up the whole place.
It is a well written story but the...more
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| Rollin advice | 20 | 80 | Jun 05, 2012 11:21am |
James Rollins is the New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers, translated into more than forty languages. His Sigma series has been lauded as one of the "top crowd pleasers" (New York Times) and one of the "hottest summer reads" (People Magazine). In each novel, acclaimed for its originality, Rollins unveils unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets--and h
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