Subterranean audiobook

Subterranean is a thriller novel written by James Rollins. After reading his Sigma Force series (finished the 2022 release during the summer), I wanted to explore more. I recall many of his books being on airport bookstore shelves, and I grabbed a few before flights. Always enjoyed them, and this one had a strong plot to it. What lurks below Antarctica? How does the animal and plant life compare with the evolution happening all over the rest of the world? Which nasty creatures will try to kill a newcomers? So many suspenseful moments, especially as the focus shifts chapter by chapter to different groups of explorers and scientists. What this lacked was the evil force trying to stop the teams from discovering history. There was definitely an evil character, and we learned which one it was fairly early on, but (s)he wasn't really working for someone else who was part of the story... so things felt lighter than usual from other books. But that said, the evolution aspects were intriguing, and it left me wondering what happened to the new life that was located in the caves below the least unknown continent?

I grew up hating novels. Sad but true. As a child, the books I was introduced to (by school) were horribly boring and not relevant to my life at all. I grew up believing that all novels were boring, and by high school, I cringed at the sight of novels. I read comic books throughout high school and college, and it wasn’t until I came across Subterranean (on a flight) that I realized people wrote fun books. So, this is the book, and the author, who got me reading novels and opened my eyes to the possibility of writing them myself (I was a screenwriter at the time).

This was my second James Rollins being Amazonia. And personally I found myself enjoying this book a lot more then Amazonia. Once again the adventure was great. And James Rollins does such a good job at crafting a really fun story that I really enjoyed reading. While this book was long it never really dragged. Being 530 pages the story really flows. In this book you follow a wide range of characters. The main characters being. Ben and Ashley who are the leaders of the team. You also follow not enough in my opinion Jason who is Ashley's son. And he was personally a huge highlight for me in this book. I did have a few problems with this book. The main one being that the secondary characters and story was way more interesting for me. And I just enjoyed reading there story more. And the last 50 pages really were just kinda boring. And the biggest problem I had was the Epilogue even though it was three pages. It was just boring and not really worth the read. If you are a fan of a great adventure. You should take a look at James Rollings books. All in all this was a really fun book. And I will be reading more books from James Rollings.

This book reminds me of an over-the-top 80s action flick. Some bizarre left-field, non-necessary additions to the story. These might make you roll your eyes and ask yourself "Wtf am I reading?". In the end, I still found it pretty damn entertaining for what it was. 3.5/5

I had a bit of debate about what rating to give Subterranean. On the one hand, it was an extremely addictive read. I was happy to power through this one and was rapidly turning the pages to see how everything came together. On the other hand, there were too many predictable elements and times where I felt we were drowning under deus ex machinas.In the end, I opted to round this up to a four-star rating. It was addictive, it was a story I was happy to devour, and the predictability and eye rolls were not enough to leave me unhappy with the book. Sure, I would have liked more. However, what I was given was perfect for an easy read.All in all, not my favourite from James Rollins, but it was enjoyable.

Che volete che vi dica? A me è piaciuto. Un po’ Jurassic Park (il riferimento è al film, non ho letto ancora il libro, sob!), un po’ Viaggio al centro della terra (questo invece l’ho letto), un po’ Indiana Jones (sempre film)... insomma c’è un po’ di tutto in queste pagine, ci sono tante cose, tanta azione, tanti colpi di scena, tanta adrenalina da sperperarla!Lo so: i personaggi sono stereotipati, tutti belli, tutti coraggiosi, tutti eroi; c’è il cattivo (anzi, i cattivi) di turno, il ragazzino (ma che l’hanno portato a fare?!? ma poi in effetti ha fatto la sua parte), ci sono le bestie mostruose, una civiltà preistorica, un labirinto di cunicoli e grotte, un tesoro immenso, misteri, veleni, magia e tanta, tanta fantasia.Tutto nelle profondità del vulcano Erebus, in Antartide. Se è vero che in superficie la vita è impossibile su questo continente, direi che nelle sue viscere il calore non manca; mi chiedo come non sia esploso!Sarà pure un’americanata, ma ha assolto appieno alla sua funzione: mi ha catturata, mi ha trascinata in un’avventura assurda, quasi paradossale, fantastica e chi più ne ha più ne metta. Mi ha tenuta legata alle pagine più di quello che mi sarei aspettata.Era ciò che mi serviva.Il mio primo Rollins è stato promosso!Avanti un altro...🌏 LdM: Antartide 🇦🇶 🅰️ A come Avventura📖 LxNL - TBR dic/20 task 3

In the late 18th century, the famous British scientist Edmond Halley (yes, the same one that discovered the comet named after him) theorized that the Earth had a hollow core, capable of supporting life thanks to an inner sun. While the theory was later disproven by other scientists, the so-called “hollow earth” theory---much like the “flat earth” theory---still had several defenders well into the 19th century. Indeed, despite it being considered “pseudo-science” by many reputable scientists, a few vocal and adamant hollow earthers continued to perpetuate their theories, preposterous as it is.Today, the hollow earth theory has been relegated to the ash-heap of Silly Scientific Ideas, but occasionally it pops up in conspiracy theories and science fiction to help explain everything from what really happened to the dinosaurs, the disappearance of the continent of Atlantis, and the real source of UFOs.Many famous science fiction authors, such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, have dipped their quills into the idea-stream of the hollow earth theory. It’s an idea that just can’t completely be extinguished.Which brings us to James Rollins’s 1999 novel “Subterranean”, a cheesy contemporary sci-fi action/adventure pulp novel that resurrects the hollow earth theory in a grand way.According to his bio, Rollins is a veterinarian with a passion for spelunking and scuba diving. In between neutering cats and dogs, wandering in caves, and swimming with dolphins, Rollins also, apparently, has found time to write more than a dozen novels, all of which have been bestsellers.Rollins is comfortably situated in that niche genre that Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler, and Steve Alten also inhabit: lots of science-y stuff, lots of action, and lots of testosterone. It’s contemporary pulp fiction.“Subterranean” was Rollins’s first published novel, and for a first novel, it wasn’t bad. Highly derivative? Absolutely. It’s basically “Raiders of the Lost Ark” meets “Jurassic Park” meets “Congo”. (It’s not a coincidence that two of those three movies were based on Crichton novels, all of which I’m pretty sure Rollins read and used the plots as a template for this novel.)But let’s be honest: if you’re going to borrow heavily from other sources, you really can’t pick any better sources than those.In the novel, a scientific expedition has been formed to travel to Antarctica to discover an underground set of vast labyrinths. The team discovers an entirely new and undiscovered ecosystem of plants and animals that have evolved and flourished for millions of years. They also discover intelligent life.Unfortunately, as things are wont to do in such novels, things go awry. Secret agendas are discovered. Tragic mishaps occur. Unexpected monster attacks. Global life-threatening revelations. Heroic derring-do. You get the idea...As ridiculous as the novel is, though, it is still extremely entertaining, and it clearly demonstrates an early talent for this kind of action/adventure yarn for which Rollins has become so well-known.

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 written a more contemporary SciFi book.With the exception of WHY the hell that damn kid was allowed to be brought along on an Antarctic exploration, I found the plot excellent, pacing tight, and characters believable. Some might groan at the Mimi'Swee, but Crichton has done weirder and gotten away with it. I must admit though, I just couldn't picture those skateboard things they used. I will absolutely track down more by James Rollins. Unfortunately, the only one I have on hand at the moment is The Judas Strain, which is book 4 of his Sigma Force stuff. I hate starting in the middle of a series.

Não é segredo nenhum que sou uma grande fã dos livros de James Rollins, nomeadamente da série Sigma. Por isso, quando soube que ia ser editado, em Portugal, mais um livro do autor, fiquei logo muito entusiasmada.Subterrânio é um stand-alone e, por isso, quem tem algum receio de se iniciar com a Sigma porque são já quinze livro publicados, têm aqui, a par com Amazónia, um bom livro para ficarem a conhecer a escrita do autor.Apesar de ser publicado agora em Portugal, foi originalmente, publicado em 1999 e foi o livro que tornou James Rollins num autor de bestsellers.Vamos viajar até à Antártica, mais precisamente, às suas profundezas, onde acompanhamos uma equipa de vários especialistas, que irão explorar o local. Os que eles desconhecem, é que não são a primeira equipa a investigar este mundo subterrâneo e, que a equipa anterior, não voltou.Para quem conhece os livros do autor, esta história tem os ingredientes habituais, pois vamos entrar numa narrativa, cheia de acção e muitos perigos. No entanto, temos uma novidade, a introdução de elementos que transformam esta história com contornos de fantasia/ficção-científica. Algo que a mim, me agradou imenso, e que me manteve sempre agarrada à história e às descobertas deste mundo subterrâneo. E, a sério! Este novo mundo, que tem então elementos mais fantasiosos, agradou-me bastante.Como ponto, menos positivo, tenho de mencionar o epílogo que acabou por não acrescentar nada de mais à história.É certo que não é o melhor livro do autor, mas, não esquecer, estamos a falar de um livro escrito em 1999, e que mesmo assim, manteve-me sempre agarrada à história. Sei que também não será um livro que agradará a todos os leitores, por ter aquele toque mais de ficção-científica mas, mesmo assim, sugiro que, se ficaram curiosos, lhe deem uma oportunidadeOpinião em vídeo aqui

Subterranean by James RollinsOverall rating: A wonder revamp that gave a fresh new look to a old classicLet’s face it. Well thought out science fiction action adventure stories are had to find. They’re unrealistic and often times has no science facts to support the science fiction. Among the good ones are Prey, Timeline and other Crichton novels has been the best in that area. But it’s hard to find authors beyond that. Then lord behold, sitting by itself at a table at a yard sale was book for 25 cents. The book was Subterranean By James Rollins.This book to start off with is a re imaging of Journey To The Center Of The Earth. That was something that is great about this book. It is a throwback to a classic. And if your one of the classic sci-fi geeks who like HG Wells and Jules Vern, it’s perfect.The story starts off with a scientist name Blakely who is putting together a team to explore a set of caverns deep under the Antarctic. There is Ashley a anthropologist, Ben a professional rock climber, Linda a biologist, and Khalid a geologist. Then tree soldiers. They are second team sent out after the disappearance of the first group months before.They are to travel, map and study. The book does take off to maybe a slow start, but the fun characters keep you entertained. His characters have depth and a back story. And then they are just likable. It was done so well that they tossed un a love story between Ashley and Ben and it went well with the story because evocate about these people. And most of them are believable.The book is unpredictable and enjoyable. It had just a tiny bit of horror to it in the middle. The monster roaming underground and the fact that they must preserve their lights to find their way back up when they become lost. Then there’s eventually a underground city along with trouble from all sorts of different things making things worse.The good. Great adventure. Once the action starts, it doesn’t slow down. It’s a old story told with a fresh new look and I liked it a lot.The bad. There’s isn’t much. But just to not spoil anything here I won’t say a lot There in the book, everything has reasoning believable. Yet there is a twist toward the end, that just isn’t. It may make you roll your eyes when you reach that point, but by the that point the book has offered you so much, that you just have to accept it.But over at it’s great. It’s fun, enjoyable and just wonderful. it’s throw back to classic that is sure worth the read.4 smoothies of out fourP.S. check out my book and ebook website at Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

I actually really enjoyed this fast paced adventure thriller, and surprised myself in doing so. It certainly isn't my usual kind of novel and yet Rollins has a way with words that draws you into this strange and yet somehow remarkably scientific world. Out of everything, his characterisation is probably the weakest aspect of the novel, but this is carried by a quick pace, lots of twists and turns and the detail and imagination of this underground world. It's an easy read that I tore through in the better part of a day and neatly combines science fiction and adventure into one very smart read.In a way it reminded me a lot of Jurassic Park in the way it used science and evolution as the basis for the ecosystem that has evolved over millions of years in complete isolation to the rest of the world. Because whilst this isn't a prehistoric ecosystem, it is an ecosystem untouched by technology and mankind. The evolutionary lines have taken completely different turns and have led to series of life forms that have developed and evolved down the marsupial and monotreme evolutionary pathways. It's cleverly done, for Rollins himself notes that these evolutionary pathways are more or less dead ends within our own world and there aren't a vast amount of extant species to compare with. This gives him a huge scope for his imagination to run wild, there are no existing boundaries created by existing evolutionary knowledge.James Rollins also does a fantastic job at building up tension within the novel. Between the intricacy of the unknown within the caverns and the threats both within the group and from the creatures surrounding them, the level of stress cracks and fractures the relationships. All in all, a solid read. More could have been done with the characters, but perhaps that would have slowed the pace down and made it far less of a tightly written and paced read. I've never read anything by James Rollins before, but I am certainly interested in looking for more of his works and giving them a try.