Atlantis. The world’s mightiest empire. Its secrets have been lost to the ocean’s depths, but in this high-action race against the clock, marine archaeologist Jack Howard is about to find out that the gods of Atlantis live on—through a terrifying new evil.
A lost Nazi bunker in a forest in Germany contains a dreadful secret. But is there a horrifying new dimension to the Nazis’ rule of terror? When Jack Howard, head of the International Maritime University, and his team of adventurers return to the lost island of Atlantis in the Black Sea, they realize they’re not just on the trail of the most sought-after treasures in history but are about to uncover a surprising link between Atlantis and the 1930s expeditions of Himmler’s Ahnenerbe, the Nazis’ Department of Cultural Heritage. But unbeknownst to Jack, shadowy figures from his past are joining forces—and they have their own ghastly vision for a new Atlantis. Can he stop them before it’s too late?
Canadian-born underwater archaeologist and novelist. Gibbins learned to scuba dive at the age of 15 in Canada, and dived under ice, on shipwrecks and in caves while he was still at school. He has led numerous underwater archaeology expeditions around the world, including five seasons excavating ancient Roman shipwrecks off Sicily and a survey of the submerged harbour of ancient Carthage. In 1999-2000 he was part of an international team excavating a 5th century BC shipwreck off Turkey. His many publications on ancient shipwreck sites have appeared in scientific journals, books and popular magazines. Most recently his fieldwork has taken him to the Arctic Ocean, to Mesoamerica and to the Great Lakes in Canada. After holding a Research Fellowship at Cambridge, he spent most of the 1990s as a Lecturer in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies at the University of Liverpool. On leaving teaching he become a novelist, writing archaeological thrillers derived from his own background. His novels have sold over two million copies and have been London Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. His first novel, Atlantis, published in the UK in 2005 and the US in September 2006, has been published in 30 languages and is being made into a TV miniseries; since then he has written five further novels, published in more than 100 editions internationally. His novels form a series based on the fictional maritime archaeologist Jack Howard and his team, and are contemporary thrillers involving a plausible archaeological backdrop.
I've given this author a chance to improve, as I really love archeological mysteries and have enjoyed a couple of his previous works BUT now I've DNF'd 2 books and that's enough for me. This again is like a history lesson that I will be tested on, and the dialogue method of advancing the story is stilted and ridiculous. I felt most of the first half was spent recapping what happened during previous entries in this series and again, the dialogue was stilted and ridiculous. Did I say boring? I meant to. While I don't want to author-bash the real-life underwater archeologist, I wish he would arrange for a ghost writer that he could pass his undoubtedly outstanding knowledge to so that an incredible story could emerge that I could stand to read (I've noticed that this is a common occurance+ of authors that are/were "other" professionals in their "real" life; its HARD to be an interesting writer and they shouldn't feel bad that they can't do it without sounding like a teaching professor).
Αν εξαιρέσει κανείς ορισμένα γεγονότα από προηγούμενα βιβλία που είχαν μείνει στην μέση και περίμεναν να μπει ένα οριστικό 'τέλος' (πράγματι,εδώ βρίσκουμε πολλές πολλές αναφορές σε παλαιότερες περιπέτειες των ηρώων, που έχει αφηγηθεί ο συγγραφέας στα βιβλία που προηγήθηκαν) δεν βρίσκω ΚΑΝΕΝΑΝ ΑΛΛΟ λόγο για την ύπαρξη του συγκεκριμένου. Αποτελεί απλά έναν "επίλογο" των όσων ξέραμε μέχρι σήμερα και τίποτα παραπάνω - εκτός από πολλά ανευ ουσίας επιστημονικά και αρκούντως εντυπωσιακά μπλα μπλα μπλα. Ο συγγραφέας βάζει μια μεγάλη τελεία στις έως τώρα περιπέτειες του Τζακ Χάουαρντ και ΕΛΠΙΖΩ ΟΛΟΨΥΧΑ στα επόμενα να αλλάξει λίγο τη γραμμή πλεύσης του, μπας και σταματήσω να παρακαλάω να περάσουν γρηγορότερα οι σελίδες. Αμήν!
The author's correct name is DAVID GIBBINS. Please make the correction.
I first “discovered” David Gibbins in 2009, reading his archaeological thriller ATLANTIS. I just finished book 6 featuring underwater archaeologist Jack Howard. Gibbins returns to Atlantis to bring closure to Howard’s first adventure. As in his previous novels, David Gibbins provides a postscript that tells what is real and what is not. This is an entertaining way to learn about some history and religion.
ATLANTIS GOD (ISBN 978-0440245841, paperback, $9.95) begins with a brief retelling of part of the Gilgamesh legend (Gilgamesh and Noah sailing westward out of the Mediterranean world across the Atlantic Ocean). From that point, the International Maritime University staffers embark on a journey to prove that Atlantis existed and that the Atlantean civilization 7,000 years ago marked a turning point in humankind’s belief systems. There are long sections of the book that detail the reasons how the concept of the worship of gods emerges from the worship of the natural world.
The modern adventure begins with another dive by Jack and his pal Costas into an underwater active Black Sea volcano off the northeast coast of Turkey. There they discover more proof that this is the site of Atlantis. The great flood of the Black Sea caused by the melting of Ice Age glaciers destroyed the ancient city of Atlantis 7,000 to 11,000 years ago.
Along the way, there are flashbacks to the last days of Nazi controlled WWII Berlin. A Nazi super-weapon of mass destruction is the prize sought by present day bad guy, Saumerre, a top official of the European Union. The IMU crew visits the underground laboratory bunker near the Belsen concentration camp in Germany and another bunker in Berlin. It’s up to them to prevent Saumerre finding and/or gaining control of this weapon. The action concludes with a confrontation of the forces of good and evil in the Bahama Islands near the island of San Salvador.
Go! Buy! Read!
Merged review:
In mass market (small) paperback the title of this book is ATLANTIS GOD.
I first “discovered” David Gibbins in 2009, reading his archaeological thriller ATLANTIS. I just finished book 6 featuring underwater archaeologist Jack Howard. Gibbins returns to Atlantis to bring closure to Howard’s first adventure. As in his previous novels, David Gibbins provides a postscript that tells what is real and what is not. This is an entertaining way to learn about some history and religion.
ATLANTIS GOD (ISBN 978-0440245841, paperback, $9.95) begins with a brief retelling of part of the Gilgamesh legend (Gilgamesh and Noah sailing westward out of the Mediterranean world across the Atlantic Ocean). From that point, the International Maritime University staffers embark on a journey to prove that Atlantis existed and that the Atlantean civilization 7,000 years ago marked a turning point in humankind’s belief systems. There are long sections of the book that detail the reasons how the concept of the worship of gods emerges from the worship of the natural world.
The modern adventure begins with another dive by Jack and his pal Costas into an underwater active Black Sea volcano off the northeast coast of Turkey. There they discover more proof that this is the site of Atlantis. The great flood of the Black Sea caused by the melting of Ice Age glaciers destroyed the ancient city of Atlantis 7,000 to 11,000 years ago.
Along the way, there are flashbacks to the last days of Nazi controlled WWII Berlin. A Nazi super-weapon of mass destruction is the prize sought by present day bad guy, Saumerre, a top official of the European Union. The IMU crew visits the underground laboratory bunker near the Belsen concentration camp in Germany and another bunker in Berlin. It’s up to them to prevent Saumerre finding and/or gaining control of this weapon. The action concludes with a confrontation of the forces of good and evil in the Bahama Islands near the island of San Salvador.
The cover of this book said it would be a combination of Clive Cussler and Indiana Jones. I like Cussler and Indiana, so I was sure I would like this. The premise sounded good, but the actual execution of the novel was terrible. It must be the author's style. There is no characterization. Sure, the characters walk and talk (a lot), but you don't get a feel for who they are. Most of the text was devoted to long text blocks of characters talking. This got boring really fast. Part 2 of the book was set in 1945, and was much more palatable than the rest of the book. Overall, I would not recommend this to anyone looking for something similar to Cussler. I don't think I will read anymore books by this author. I don't like the feeling that I'm being lectured by a character every time he speaks.
**I did read Gibbin's first boot Atlantis, and then reread this one. Still not a great book.
Although written as a standalone novel, I recommend reading this one as part of the series as I was a little lost as it referred back to it's predecessor many times. Highly riveting and never ending action made this book fly by until I was surprised and a little disappointed I was finished it. I love books dealing with Nazi supernatural stuff and this book did not disappoint. Although it's titled “The Gods of Atlantis”, it dealt primarily with the end of the Second World War and Himmler. This story had so many twists and turns and storylines that intersected and diverged that I was hardpressed to put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone and I would recommend starting at the beginning, which I'm going to do as soon as I can track down the first book in the series. I was to know how Jack found Atlantis in the first place!
This was somewhat disappointing, with the title I was hoping for more Atlantis stuff. And we do get Jack and Costas' diving at Atlantis again and some of a story of two brothers who were part of the exodus from Atlantis at the beginning, but then it goes right back to the Nazi and WWII stuff which I'm not as interested in. That being said, I do enjoy how he ties seemingly random elements of history together, even if he doesn't spend as much time as I'd like on certain elements. =) And on the plus side, it appears that the main bad guy/Nazi plot gets tied up in this book. I wondered if the series might end here, plot tied up, this book and the first one both have Atlantis in the title, but I was happy to see there is another book in the works.
The latest of the Jack Howard series. I have to say that this book is one of my all time favorites, partially due to all the history presented in it and also due to how the author revisited some of the themes and such presented in "Atlantis" as well as in "The Tiger Warrior." Overall, I had really been anticipating the arrival of this book and I was pleased with it.
I rather enjoy the combination of archaeology and thriller. You can see this in the number of such books in my read file. I enjoyed David Gibbons previous novel about Atlantis where he developed the idea that Atlantis was an advanced neolithic culture which had developed metallurgy before being inundated when the level of the Black Sea rose at the end of the Ice Age. However, this novel began in a manner I felt was ponderous as Gibbins and his team of fictional archaeologists developed a new theory that Atlantis saw the beginning of a shift in religious belief from shamanism to polytheism. It is not that the idea is unworthy of a discussion it is more that Gibbins presents the theory by each character expounding his ideas on the topic which is not a debate with opposing views but a clumsy way to present a theory. I persisted with the book nevertheless because Gibbins presents enough information including an early chapter set in the Taklamikan Desert where two malevolent characters plot to do Jack Howard a mischief. The reader thus knows there will be some action later in the book. We also know from the blurb that Nazis enter the story at some point. It is the events at the Zoo Tower which have the greatest ring of authenticity. While the story of Himmler's visit to the tower and his meeting with Ernst Hoffman are fictional (as is Hoffman himself) the tower and the story of how its defenders held out against the Russian army were not. Gibbins tells us about his use of eyewitness reports which helped give his account that sense of authenticity. This incident does not feature in Cornelius Ryan's account of the Fall of Berlin. I feel it should have. The discussion on Himmler's development of a Nazi quasi religious cult was welcome. Many people think the Nazi ideology like Communism was an atheistic set of beliefs. We are left wondering though. Was the Himmler cult centred on Wewelsburg just a screen for his real goal to find new weapons for the Nazis to use or did Himmler really believe in his cult of the Aryan Race? How Gibbins works the Bahamas into the story of both Atlantis and also Himmler's plot to restore the fortunes of the Third Reich is well explained by the geography and sea level rises in The Atlantic is also credible. Finally I have to feel that a little less archaeology might have improved the reader's experience of this novel.
Note: This is the 6th book in the Jack Howard series so this will not be an in-depth review.
If you know me in real life, then you will know that I have a love for ancient history and archaeology (I want to study it in college after I get in control of my overwhelming general and social anxiety.) One day, when I was out shopping with my mom, I found one of David Gibbins’ books, and I asked my mom to buy it for me (I have never had a job again because of my overwhelming social and general anxiety.). After reading the book, I fell in love, and I have been picking up and reading Gibbins’ books whenever I can get my hands on them. This one, Atlantis God, discusses the transition in the late Neolithic from shaman/animalistic to andromorphic religion and how this had unexpected and unforeseen effects throughout history.
With my love of history and Gibbins’ propensity for putting as much actual history as possible in his stories (He is an underwater archaeologist by trade), it should not surprise anyone that the parts I loved the most are the historical theories and ideas that were introduced in this book. For instance, I found the idea that the change in religion from animalistic to andromorphic lead to the formation of cities and civilizations very interesting, especially since the only theory I have heard up to this point about the creation of civilizations was that it was due to the development of agriculture. It was very interesting to hear an alternative theory.
Because of events that have happened in previous books, this book has very close connections to the world of terrorism, whether it be historic or current. It also has deep connections to Nazi Germany, mostly because of the discovery of a lost Nazi bunker in book 5. As a result, we learned a lot about Himmler, and as he was someone I didn’t know that much about, I found these parts enthralling.
All in all, I loved this book, and I can’t wait to read book 7. 5 stars!!!!!!!
This could probably have been a very good book of about half the size. There's action, there's mystery, there's history. All of these are handled pretty well. What isn't handled well is the history of the characters themselves. We're treated to page after page of backstory that is either irrelevant, already mentioned elsewhere or brought up incredibly clumsily in dialogue. Or all of those at once.
I can not get over the scene where one of the characters tells the main character about where the main characters daughter lives. Or the part where a 6 second scene in an exciting diving mission takes up 10 pages, not because the scene itself is described in that much detail but because after every paragraph describing one second, the main character starts daydreaming about how he has gone on other missions before.
As a (standalone) 6th book of a series, it makes sense that a lot has happened, but I don't think there's any reason to treat us all to the constant flashbacks and references. Readers of previous books don't need them, and readers who just want this story don't really need constant references to backstory that isn't really important to the story.
Also the book definitely lost some points when the main character completely glosses over the fact that one of his (28 years old) colleagues is dating his 19 year old daughter.
Even though the story itself was interesting and would have had me hooked, I found myself putting away the book over and over again.
Final judgement: 5/10, it had potential but too many things that turned me off.
Whew! I finally finished this book. Sure took me long enough. David Gibbins always has interesting ideas and presents twists on history that are plausible and often fascinating. However, his execution is often lacking. The biggest issue is that for a thriller, his books often don't have that much thrilling adventure. They are often just people standing around, sitting around, lounging around, or floating around talking. Endlessly talking! Every now and then, Gibbins inserts a daring escape into the mix like in this novel having his two main characters Jack & Costa trying to escape from an erupting underwater volcano. But generally his books are just a great deal of exposition.
This novel begins with the voyages of Noah and his brother Gilgamesh, escaping the floodwaters that are drowning the ancient city of Atlantis. This thread brings in notions of the way religion changed in those early years of man. Pretty soon the story shifts to a race to find a virus and bacterium that the Nazis hid away as a future tool to unleash a new world order.
Again, the books are always filled with interesting historical tidbits. I just wish the stories were more thrilling.
I wanted to love this but it just didn’t do it for me. With a name like Atlantis God, I expect a bunch of talk/adventure concerning Atlantis. I knew there was gonna be some Nazi stuff based on the synopsis on the back, but this was basically WW2 history/flashbacks with a bit of a hint of that somehow being tied to Atlantis. Started strong for the first maybe 50 pages setting up for retracing an ancient coup to a legendary lost civilization and the last 20 or so were a good time wrapping everything up. The stuff in the middle? Too slow! Too much talk, flashbacks, and attempts to build intrigue and suspense but nothing really happening. If you want a history lesson and made up flashbacks to war time Germany featuring Nazis, this is great probably. If you want action and anything to do with Atlantis, try Andy McDermott or one of the other books I’ve come across this year!
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Maybe 2.5? I guess this one just, ahem, pushed the boat out too far (is that even a correct idiom, idk). I know these types of books rely on extraordinary coincidences but the coincidences related to the characters was just far too unbelievable and the plot would have worked fine without them.
This author writes researched history into the tapestry of his own story. A good read though clearly not for the faint hearted. There are quite graphic accounts of Nazi atrocities which are still gruesome today. Despite that, a well written adventure that carries the reader along with it. Some of Jacks musings on the story clarify aspects of the tale. Others were a bit intellectually unnecessary and could have just been confusing. Enjoy.
Do you enjoy exposition? Like pages upon pages of of filler? Want a lack-lustre storyline? Then pick up 'The Gods of Atlantis' today.
For any sane readers steer clear. It is a wasted effort in trying to read this book, unless you want to read about the past events of characters that you care little about. You have been warned.
I'm really sorry David Gibbons but I read about 3/4of this book and then jumped to the end! It's the longest time I've ever spent reading a book but I had persevered! The story was so long because of all the facts and history you put into it. The action was at the beginning and seemed promising but it went downhill from there.
Gibbins keeps repeating himself and his book lack imagination, story-line and depth of character. The occasional touch of humour keeps them afloat but otherwise I doubt it I will bother to read the couple of books I have form him at home. Surely I will never buy him again. Don’t waste your time on this book. Total boredom
This is the last one I'm reading in this series, and it wraps up what ended up being a six story arc. Glad when I picked the fourth one up, I went to the trouble of finding the first three before I started. Decent reads.
Good story and characters but got too wordy in spots where I felt the need to skim. I understand there is the need for a lot of background info, but it isn’t often I skim over paragraphs when I read. Will try another of his books though.
A good book to read laying on the beach. You can put it down, start again and now right where you are. I enjoy the characters of Jack Howard and Costos. They are always up to something interesting and always escaping trouble by the skin of their teeth.