The Golden Elephant: Rogue Angel, Book 14

Rogue Angel #14

by Alex Archer

After risking her life to uncover a Chinese imperial seal, only to have it stolen by a cunning tomb robber, archaeologist Annja Creed feels she has endured one treasure-hunting fiasco too many. But when a mysterious collector offers a reward for a priceless golden elephant, Annja gives in. After all, there are bills to be paid, adventures to be had.

The artifact is said to be hidden in a vast and ancient temple complex in the mountainous jungles of Southeast Asia, and Annja must meet with various scholars in order to pinpoint its location. But when each expert she visits is found dead, Annja fears someone else is after the artifact.

And her. And she's probably next on the killer's list.

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Ebooks, Action, Paranormal

229 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

A house name for the Rogue Angel series, published by the Harlequin Publishing's Gold Eagle division.

The first eight novels were written by Victor Milan and Mel Odom. New writers joining the series starting with book nine include Jon Merz and Joseph Nassise.

Reviews

[Craig]

This is the fourteenth Rogue Angel adventure and was the sixth that was written by the late Victor Milan- under the house pseudonym Alex Archer, of course. Annja Creed is an archaeologist and historian who appears on a syndicated television program called Chasing History's Monsters. She's also the heir to the blade and power of Joan of Arc. This one has some minimal input from the two Joan-adjacent guys, Roux and Garin, but Annja does meet an interesting young woman known as Easy, who has a similar lifestyle to herself. It's about a search for another ancient religious artifact, the titular golden elephant, and is set in Southeast Asia. The book is labeled science fiction on the spine, but it's really all straight pulpy fantasy. The settings are all quite well described, and it's a fast-paced adventure. In between all of the Lara Croft/Indiana Jones/Sara Pezzini trappings there's some good character development, interesting historical speculation, and a fast-paced and interesting story. There's a lot of fighting, some of which seems kind of pointless, and Annja seems a little too willing to go along with Easy, but it's good pulp fun. The ending is an uncharacteristically hopeful one.

[Paraphrodite]

3 stars.

SPOILER ALERT

This is one in which Annja plays the angel of death as practically everyone she connects with dies.

I'm starting to see a pattern with all these different authors. Whilst one author likes to develop the relationship between Annja, Roux and Garin, another likes to give Annja romantic flings, this author is the one that seems to concentrate on lots of action and high body count. I have to admit I generally prefer the ones that delve into Annja's relationship with Roux and Garin.

We are introduced to another kick-ass female character, Easy, in this episode. It's a pity that so far, none of these kick-ass females make a reappearance in the books. Hopefully that will change in the later books.

[Richard Rogers]

I think this is a pretty good example of pulp fiction, which is why I give this a 4 (even though I'd score it lower if it were a stand-alone novel). Except for a few lulls, there's lots of Indiana-Jones type action. The setup for the plot--the search for a possibly-legendary relic--is pretty typical, but it works, and it's made to feel as realistic as any action movie of the same type. The characters are as round and believable as most genre fiction, and there are moments of deeper reflection than one might expect from this category of book. The exotic (to a Western audience) settings are fleshed out quite well. And though the stakes don't seem as high here as they might in other kinds of novels, reading a little bit more like a comic book, they are as high as you'd like them for this genre.

(That's a lot of caveats, I realize. But I feel like pulp is a different kind of writing and reading, with specific genre expectations, and I want to be clear about the rubric in my head.)

Annja is hunting for a golden elephant rumored to be somewhere in Southeast Asia. Her search becomes dangerous, and it's complicated by the interference of another young, capable, resourceful adventurer, Easy Ngwenya, who becomes a kind of rival to Annja. Their interactions become the most entertaining part of the story. Because Easy pushes her, Annja has to do some soul-searching about the ethicality of her whole relic-hunting lifestyle. She'd convinced herself she was saving important historical objects from treasure hunters, but she's forced to consider whether she isn't doing exactly that thing.

There's a good amount of philosophical musing taking place in the jungle while bullets are flying overhead, and I think it added something to the story.

Though it dragged in the middle and was headed toward a 3-star rating (in my mind), it pulled it out toward the end, especially the very end, and overall was breezy fun, both entertaining and satisfying enough to deserve four stars.

[Theresa]

The Golden Elephant (Rogue Angel, #14)
by Alex Archer (Victor Milan)

The Golden Elephant shows the dynamic nature of the author to bring a story that flows through out and shows the nature of story creation. The authors craft is evident as he pulls the reader into the mystery. Not only is there an unknown temple which seems inflammable in the modern world, with all our technology, but that great historical treasures can remain unfound in the history of the world. The creation of characters to move the plot and the limitations of the main character are the heart of the story, its the connections that are made that make life meaningful. This story shows us the fickle nature of human relationships, and the fact that sometimes losing is the only way to win. I love how Victor Milan shows the vulnerability of the character while she remains indomitable. His ability to craft a story that pulls at the readers heartstrings is remarkable. This book is just another in a long list of wonderful stories.

[Karen Ford]

Annja Creed is hired by a mysterious benefactor to search for a legendary huge gold elephant rumored to exist in a list temple in Southeast Asia. However, she is not the only one looking, and her competitor has no qualms about killing to reach the artifact first.

This story moves along at a quick pace and stays true to the personality of Annja, unlike a few of the early novels in this series. It also has plenty of action, especially in the last third of the novel as Annja is pitted against two warring forces that want the temple for their own purposes. Giving credit where credit is due, it did keep me guessing as to the identity of the true bad guy until the very end.

Very recommended for fans of this series and all adventure novels.

[Laurla2]

sucked eggs. took 200 pages before anything interesting started happening.

annja goes off to myanmar to hunt for a golden elephant that may or may not exist (of course it exists or else there would be no book).

shes whiny and makes tons and tons of stupid decisions that are entirely out of character for her. other readers agree and call it the worst in the series. its just a terrible book that doesnt fit well in the series or with the character i've been reading about for 14 books now.

multi-author series. victor milan

[Me]

Golden Elephant.

Hmm.

As a past time reading experience, the book read just as I suppose as intended. Plot was predictable, characterization was a bit more than cardboard with two medium exceptions: EC and Giancarlo. Won't say much about the later but the former actually had some thought about her. Slightly promising. Suppose I shouldn't say much about her as well for possible future readers.

Still.

For what it is, fluff, it's passable and yet every once in a while the dialogue actually is nicely written.

[Deborah]

Not one of the better books. I didn't like the way Annja suddenly just goes along with her rival. It's not that I didn't like her rival in treasure hunting/archaeology. I just didn't like her suddenly giving up her values in this book. That and there are a ton of other things wrong with this snooze worthy book. The only thing that kept me reading was her and her rival. Even then it went slow. Sorry, it was just bad for me.

[Janice]

This one didn't really feel like a Rogue Angel story. Anja just didn't act like Anja. Kept feeling like I'd missed a book. Not a bad story per se, just didn't feel like it belonged with the others.

[Anya]

This was a dud and it wasn't anything like the other books. This author seems to mainly write for action and high body count instead of character relationship, culture or worldbuilding. I didn't like it and I hope the next ones are more enjoyable.

[Sarah Alawami]

I didn't think the murderer was who it was, I think anya and the reader are both shocked to find out who it is and what they really want. What a plot twist.

[Ann Babcock]

Great!!!!

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Shelley]

The Golden Elephant finds our heroine archeaologist Annya Creed deep in the tomb of the Mad Emperor Lu. Having retrieved a imperial seal, she finds herself running to avoid being drowned by a cascade of water.

Next we meed the Tomb Raider named EC (Easy or Elephant Calf) Ngwenya, a South African princess of wealth and attitude and notorious for stealing from tombs. Thus the Tomb Raider moniker. She sends a rope down to Annya, but steals off with the Imperial Seal. Another artificat gone.

Roux displeased at losing the Imperial Seal, sends Annya on a search for what is known as the Golden Elephant. It is reported to have green eyes, and lies in the valley of Siam. This time it's all about money. Roux keeps losing his fortune to his gambling addiction.

Note: Garin Braden makes absolutely NO appearance in this story. Just a quick mention.

Our villian for this story: Giancarlo Scarlatti who meets with a satisfactory ending.

The story takes Annya from London, to Paris, to Turkey, (where our last story ended) on to Germany for a flight to Thailand and then finally to Burma. There she meets up with fellow Americans Dr. Philip Kennedy, Patty Ruhle, and guide Eddie Chen. All but Annya meet a sad ending.

EC and Annya end up on the same side while trying to get two invading armies to fight against each other and save the artifact known as the Golden Elephant.

This story wasn't as good as the last one, which makes me believe that this author hasn't been with this series all that much. There were several fight scenes, but after losing all of her teammates to either a village attack, fall from a cliff or shot numerous times, the story just seemed to me to be a bit strained.

Of course, on to the next one! As of this entry, there are 30 that have either been released, or will be released by May 2011.

And this is, of course, the last book I shall finish before New Years 2011 :O)

[Kathy Davie]

This seemed to go off Archer's usual track. Instead of heading out on her own archeological adventure, Annja's doing a "job" for Roux to replenish the pot. Annja's previous experiences have been investigations for History's Monsters or her own scholarly excavations.

We do have the opportunity of meeting the Elephant Child...who, amazingly enough, doesn't die. Annja has agreed to purloin an artifact for a private party---an action she has always despised and EC is after the same artifact for the same purposes. Naturally, Annja has a swinging good time and helps save the day.

[K.A. Fox]

This story introduced a new character that I found interesting. Easy is entertaining and a strong fighter that can rival Annja with her uncanny ability to intercept her attempts to discover relics. I did feel one character's general evilness was obvious and I had him picked as the villain early on. There's a bit of political upheaval included to add some tension to the plot as it moves forward, but overall, I felt a lot of things that happened were just too darn convenient. And I missed Garin. And wanted to see more of Roux.

[Ryan]

Annja Creed is a Raider of Tombs with a heart of gold - and, luckily, the Blade of that Witch, Joan of Arc, that she can mystically call upon to help her save the relics of history from the clutches of unscrupulous archaeologists.

This was a fun book to read. There's not really necessarily anything new or intriguing here (the opening sequence, especially, seemed to be lifted almost entirely from Raiders of the Lost Ark), but it was a lot of fun to read in a trashy, pulpy kind of way.

[Mary]

I don't know, but Annja doesn't seem to be capable of making good decisions. And she's not very intuitive. Maybe it's to push the story along, but don't sacrifice the main characters brains for it. Maybe there are different ghost writers writing this series. If that is the case, some of them are clearly better than others.

[Michelle Kampmeier]

Not one of my favorites in this series. Just about everyone dies.. and I bet her arch enemy will never show up again. Her cop friend keeps showing up, albeit not very often, and never for something good. Other than that, it's Roux, Garin, and Annja in some mess that has nothing to do with them originally. Boo.

[Mark Polino]

The book start off in typical Annja Creed sword weilding fashion but archeology quickly dissolves into adventure and the body county rises much higher than in other Rogue Angel novels. Also, the novelty of th sword isn't well played throughout this book. It's still a nice diversion read but this series has so much potential and the books don't seem to be reaching that.

[Melinda]

I am re-reading this series (using the fabulous narration of Graphic Audio) and I have to say that Anya is a lot more naive (dare I say dumb) than I remember back when I first read these books. I love the series premise,but Anya's arrogant, my-way-or-the-highway, high-handed ways are starting to irritate.

[Heather Willson]

a different plot than usual - finding but not moving an artifact, battling 2 instead of one foe, finding a buddy to fight with instead of against, and lots of dead compadres. The crying jags still continue from the earlier books.

[Vanda Bromwich]

Another Anja Creed story. This time she is hired the find the Golden elephant hidden in the depths of the jungle in Burma. She is in a race to find it against a "pot hunter", a Zulu princess called Easy.
The sword is not in evidence as much in this book.

[Stasia Bruhn]

It starts off okay but soon this book goes downhill. Another disappointing one in this series :(

[Jcad6169]

One of the better ones.

[Sarah]

Annja Creed has finally met her match!

[Mozzell]

I expect this series to be a 3 star, but this book didn't make it to 3. I kept hoping it would get better, just never happened.

[Starfire]

The next in the Lara-Creed-Sorry-Annja-Croft-oh-whatever series.

Basic kick-ass chick brain candy, and ideal for eating up a few hours on a plane.

[Cindy]

Very much enjoed all the action. Enjoyed all the supporting characters..Hope the other female makes a return in the next story.

[Joana]

By far one of my favorites