Book Review: The Last Odyssey by James Rollins

The Sigma Force is in a race against the clock as they take the journey of Odysseus and try to stop a global war.

My Rating for The Last Odyssey: 5 Stars and a Series Recommended Read

Find the book at Amazon

Sigma Force is forced to embark on a dangerous journey in order to save the world in this exciting and twisty new adventure by James Rollins. For centuries, the legendary city of Troy was a myth until its walls were uncovered in the nineteenth century. Now Homer’s twin tales of monsters, myths and more in the Iliad and The Odyssey are up for question. What is myth and what is fact?

When an archeology find in Greenland glacier is discovered with artifacts from the Bronze age, questions arise even as danger mounts. In the captain quarters is a map and a globe made by the famous Banu Musa Brothers that trace the journey of Odysseus and the hidden realm of the titans in Tartarus. Now as Sigma is drawn into the race against tyrants and more as the word of its weapons and more gets out. Now Sigma must take the famed journey and enter the gates of hell in order to stop a global war a tyrant is determined to provoke.

Wow is all I can say after devouring this wonderful action-packed ride that James Rollins creates in THE LAST ODYSSEY. Filled with science marvels, historical gems and a threat to contemporary day world, the author creates a story that will leave you on the edge of your seat till the very last page is read. I love this author’s books as he weaves a story filled with historical facts and myths, science marvels and more that somehow work in his Sigma Force series and add in colorful and yet complex characters, well, lets just say, get ready for a wild ride each and every time you pick up one of this author’s books. Filled with  twists and turns, this story flows smoothly, delivering you on a journey that may or may not be true in real life and you can’t help but be drawn into the world he has created as you fly alongside these amazing characters as they race against the clock to stop destruction yet again.

THE LAST ODYSSEY is full of amazing characters and being the fifteenth book, I can honestly say this author tops his last release spectacularly. Some Easter eggs are thrown in that will shock you to the core and I flipped the pages eager to see where this author’s story ill take you next. I have my favorites within the Sigma Force characters and I couldn’t help but gasp is few times as they got in one adventure after another. Ad in some new characters to help things along, well you got the makings for a wild, action packed ride that will leave you breathless till the end.

THE LAST ODYSSEY is a wild ride and one you can not put down. So, strap in, get ready for an adventure of a lifetime and enter the gates of Hell with the Sigma team. Just don’t forget to breath along the way as you get caught up in the adventures and twists of the story. I can not wait to see where this author goes next because each time, I think he can’t top himself; he succeeds beyond my wildest imagination.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement

Book Spotlight~ Reconnaissance (Paradise Reclaimed #2)/Giveaway

Reconnaissance (Paradise Reclaimed #2)

by Aubrie Dionne

YA Sci-Fi/Futuristic Romance

Categories: Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian

Publisher: Inkspell Publishing

Release Date: May 1, 2013

Heat Level: Sweet

Word Count: 50,000

Available at:

Amazon | ARe | B&N | Inkspell Publishing | Kobo

Description:

Nova Williams has lost her one shot at Lieutenanthood and at love. Lieutenant Crophaven has promoted her rival, Andromeda, all because her lifemate, Sirius, sacrificed their mission to win back Andromeda’s love.

While sneaking out to prove Andromeda is a fake, Nova finds an alien ship hovering over their colony. Lieutenant Crophaven assigns her to a reconnaissance mission, giving her a second chance to redeem herself. Sirius must fly her and a research team to the vessel to decide if they are a threat. Thrown together with the lifemate that betrayed her, she battles with her own jealousy while her team battles for their lives.

Can she forgive Sirius in order to save her team and warn her colony?

Aubrie grew up watching the original Star Wars movies over and over until she could recite and reenact every single scene in her backyard. She also loved The Goonies, Star Trek the Next Generation--favorite character was Data by far--and Indiana Jones. But, her all time favorite movie was The Last Unicorn. She still wonders why the unicorn decided to change back to a unicorn in the end.

Excerpt:

A drone, as deep and low as the growl of a primordial beast, resonated in my gut and I yanked my hand away. My heart sped like someone had fired a starter gun to a race, and my chest tightened until I couldn’t breathe.

That blaring blasphemy wasn’t from my ship.

The sound tapered off, leaving me in silence. I stared at the bones, wondering if I’d imagined it, or if I should hide here in the ruins in case the sound came back.

What am I doing? I’m a team expedition leader, for crying out loud!

I pulled myself back together. Everyone else was attending the ceremony on the ship. The thick hull, designed to protect us from deep space, blocked all sounds from the outside world. I was the only one who would have heard it. The only one who could investigate. I thought about going back for help, but every second I delayed, the source of the sound could disappear. Besides, I didn’t want the credit taken away from me. Not this time.

I scrambled to the window and climbed over the ledge, throwing myself down so fast my ankles exploded in pain. Cursing, I hobbled up the embankment of the excavation site. The sound boomed around me, vibrating the crystals underneath my feet. I fell to my knees and covered my ears. It reminded me of warping metal, growling monsters, and screeching alarms all at the same time.

The sound came from the jungle. I pulled myself up the incline and peered over the edge. A dry, fiery breeze blew my hair back, and I looked above the rustling canopy.

My heart stammered then beat into a frenzy. A massive ring of a ship, twice as large as the New Dawn, hovered over the jungle. Spires jutted from the top and the bottom, like a two-sided pin cushion. Blinking reddish lights adorned the ends. The hull was a dull gray shield of impenetrable metal with no sight panels or markings of any kind.

The buzzing sound made my eardrums throb. I pressed my nose up against the crystal ledge and peered over as my whole body shook. The lowest spire, thick as a nuclear reactor, lengthened from the belly of the ship until the tip hovered a meter from the jungle canopy. A trap door opened, and a beam of white light seared a hole in the foliage. The smell of burnt vines choked my throat, and I cowered against the side of the ledge.

I have to warn the ship.

About the Author

Aubrie wrote in her junior high yearbook that she wanted to be “a concert flutist” when she grew up. She majored in flute performance at the University of New Hampshire on a full scholarship, then secured two teaching jobs at a University and a local community music school. While playing in orchestras and teaching, stories popped into her head, and she used them to make the music come alive for her flute students. Her students said they were so good, she had to write them down! Maybe they were right, who knows? Two careers seems to keep her busy. For now.

She is represented by Dawn Dowdle and writes sweet and adventurous fantasy, science fiction, and contemporary romance.

Connect with Aubrie Dionne:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads

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WRITER'S WRITE...WRITING PARTNERS FEUD

IT CAN'T BE DEFINED
By Angelica Hart & Zi

To write as partners, the collusion and collision of ideals and ideas must be for the most part non-violent. What does that mean? If the work is expected to be harmonious, the two authors at some level must philosophically agree, bickering for ego's sake can't succeed. To know us is to understand that we are not quite disagreeable with each other since we have agreed to agree, holding the work more important than our own point of views, which can often differ greatly, but... but... but... on the following topic we empathically concur.

One of the most paramount issues in the genre in which we write is that of defining love.

We have both agreed it is one of those exceedingly interesting things where it's a case of, you can't define it, though when you see it, you know it. It is as intangible as air but you need it to breathe life into your heart and soul. Even the most angry, most apathetic, most egregious need love in their world, no matter how much they might deny it. People respond to love, grow and blossom, yes, just like flowers as corny as that may sound. Angelica empathically insists that love is different for every person. Zi has taken a position that he is not certain that to be the truth but floating within the metaphysical properties of love are common denominators that can be defined.

Just today we have worked on the following paragraph which is a part of a short we have been developing. We'd like to share it with you.

"The last of her tea slipped past her lips, cooling the parch that settled in her throat, a parch that lingered in her heart as she searched the faces that passed, searched for him, and when the day drew on, she also watched the roll of each wave chasing the next unfolding in white puffs of foam then dissolving, and then again… it unfolding and dissolving… it unfolding and dissolving… it unfolding and dissolving…that sequence never ending… never changing… it was like love, she thought, a lover chasing a lover... minute after minute… hour after hour… day after day… year after year… they dissolving as if lost in one time, their time. She knew this was the way of love, with its wash and roll, soft and subtle, relenting toward an abstract objective though for each it was sharp and precise. But for those who have known love it was abstractly keen. This universally oxymoronic ideal of love first called Adam to Eve and every man since, never waning over all time."

One of the first manuscripts we did together resulted in the following piece of poetry. The reason we are sharing it is it shows the harmony necessary to at minimum respectfully deal with the concept of love. We both admit openly we don't have the answers, but we feel the questions.

ELEUTHEROMANIA vs. MONOPHOBIA
(Excessive zeal for freedom vs. fear of being one)

I’ve cried a million tears for you
And I don’t know why.
You don’t care; you don’t share one
Feeling for me.

I’ve cried a million tears for you.
I love you
And, I could never give a single
Reason why.

As my heart beats as one
Walking life’s paths, hand in none.
I wince, that hurt of silent loneliness
I cry help, I cry… for lovingness.

I’ve cried a million tears for you.
I felt a millions fears.
Chances are you have not thought of
My name, why?

Burning deep inside is a need to be two.
So passionately that time’s blindness would ensue.
Yet, my heart beats as one
Walking life’s paths, hand in none.

I’ve cried a million tears for you.
Wet my pillow case
Night after bitterly lonely night
For you, why?

I’ve cried a million tears for you.
And you have not let one dampen your cheek
I pity your world… your compassion.
I cry… millions... why?

Please free me… from my next tear.
Release your grip upon my heart.
I want the glory of smiles unbridled.
Please free me… from my next fear.

On a daily basis we honor and respect the give and take, pull and draw of that one universally fundamental emotion. Love. It would be the most grievous disservice to any connoisseur of our genre. This we have pledged to each other. Now, outside of the issues of love we have few boundaries. So, grandmothers might piece their navels and uncles might step in dog do-do and the occasional rat might find its way into one's cereal box, but we hope you can trust that our point of view about love is that we believe it is grand and glorious. And, yes, according to Angelica different for every individual

We'd love to hear from anyone interested in what we do. Anyone who writes us and leaves an s-mail address, we will send you a gift and add you to any future mailings.

Angelica Hart and Zi
KILLER DOLLS
SNAKE DANCE
CHASING GRAVITAS
angelicahartandzi@yahoo.com
angelicahartandzi.com

BOOKS can be purchased at
Champagne Books
http://www.champagnebooks.com/