Excavation

Year: 2000

Abstract:
A group of grad students find themselves trapped in a collapsing ancient tomb. There's something funky going on though, as they are forced to move through several complex puzzles, being chased by strange beasts and none other than the Spanish Inquisition itself!

Advanced Mind
Exploration/Quest
Military/Fighting
Horror
Magic
Advanced Technology
Time Travel/Alternate History
Science
Aliens/Beasties
Contemporality

Other books in this series:
None

Spectre's Review
The first third of this book was very good, and very engaging. Then it started to degenerate into an everything's-going-to-be-okay book, written for the movie screen. I'd watch this movie, that's for sure. There's enough stuff in it to make it very interesting.

I liked the idea of an ancient nanotechnology that operates on human thought. I also liked how the author resurrected elements of the Spanish Inquisition. The very end, where one scientist in particular had formed a team to study Substance Z as it's known, I found to be very interesting.

There were many technical inaccuracies (especially the part about Substance Z being very explosive when in contact with heat or flame. Funny how no one caught that in several thousand years of study). There was a bit too much play on potential romances, and such. I like the characters, and was suitably disappointed when one of them dies. By the time the main character dies, though, there's no worry, as Substance Z can heal that, no problem.

From a literary perspective, this book was written fo an eighth-grade reading level, typical of New York Times best seller authors (hey, I wouldn't complain if I was one, though). However, it was written in a realistic fashion, so if I didn't know anything about archaeology or the Spanish Inquisition, I'd feel quite comfortable with the author's ideas.

I definitely recommend this.

Date posted: 2002 01 23

Spectre's Rating
Minus one for being a written-for-a-movie book. Minus one for having the characters solve EVERY puzzle.

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