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The Domain Trilogy #3

Apocalipsis maya

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2012
¿Es real la profecía maya del Apocalipsis?
 
Desde hace dos mil años el calendario maya ha profetizado el fin de la humanidad en una fecha que corresponde al 21 de diciembre de 2012. Al aproximarse ese día, la codicia, la corrupción, el colapso económico y la violencia parecen dirigir a nuestra especie al presagiado desastre. Pero otra amenaza apocalíptica se cierne sobre nuestro futuro inmediato, una advertencia muy real que puede acabar no sólo con la humanidad, sino con el planeta entero.
 
El tercer libro de la saga de Steve Alten sobre la profecía maya es una montaña rusa apocalíptica de aventuras que sigue a Immanuel Gabriel, el héroe gemelo superviviente descrito en el Popol Vuh, hasta el fin del mundo y hacia un dramático encuentro con su difunto abuelo, el arqueólogo Julius Gabriel. En el proceso, Julius revela todo lo que los mayas sabían y temían: desde los secretos mismos de la Creación que antecede al Big Bang, hasta la existencia de extraterrestres que han venido a la Tierra para salvar a nuestra especie.
 
El universo no es lo que parece, como tampoco lo es la existencia humana, y ese reloj en marcha que comienza en la concepción y termina con nuestro último aliento, no es ni el fin ni el principio, sino una compleja farsa diseñada para ponernos a prueba. Y el reloj ya está en marcha...

560 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2009

44 people are currently reading
1031 people want to read

About the author

Steve Alten

62 books1,358 followers
Steve Alten grew up in Philadelphia, earning his Bachelors degree in Physical Education at Penn State University, a Masters Degree in Sports Medicine from the University of Delaware, and a Doctorate of Education at Temple University. Struggling to support his family of five, he decided to pen a novel he had been thinking about for years. Working late nights and on weekends, he eventually finished MEG; A Novel of Deep Terror. Steve sold his car to pay for editing fees. On September (Friday) the 13th, 1996, Steve lost his general manager’s job at a wholesale meat plant. Four days later his agent had a two-book, seven figure deal with Bantam Doubleday.

MEG would go on to become the book of the 1996 Frankfurt book fair, where it eventually sold to more than a twenty countries. MEG hit every major best-seller list, including #19 on the New York Times list (#7 audio), and became a popular radio series in Japan.

Steve’s second release, The TRENCH (Meg sequel) was published by Kensington/Pinnacle in 1999 where it also hit best-seller status. His next novel, DOMAIN and its sequel, RESURRECTION were published by St. Martin’s Press/Tor Books and were runaway best-sellers in Spain, Mexico, Germany, and Italy, with the rights selling to more than a dozen countries.

Steve’s fourth novel, GOLIATH, received rave reviews and was a big hit in Germany. It is being considered for a TV series. MEG: Primal Waters was published in the summer of 2004. A year later his seventh novel, The LOCH, hit stores — a modern-day thriller about the Loch Ness Monster. Steve’s eighth novel, The SHELL GAME, is about the end of oil and the next 9/11 event. The book was another NY Times best-seller, but the stress of penning this real-life story affected Steve’s health, and three months after he finished the manuscript he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Steve’s ninth novel, MEG: Hell’s Aquarium, is considered to be the best of the best-selling MEG series. Steve says his best novel is GRIM REAPER: End of Days. The story, a modern-day Dante’s Inferno, takes place in New York when a man-made plague strikes Manhattan.

Steve’s novels are action-packed and very visual. He has optioned DOMAIN, MEG and The LOCH to film producers. Steve has written six original screenplays. His comedy, HARLEM SHUFFLE was a semi-finalist in the LA screenwriting contest, his comedy MINTZ MEATS was selected as a finalist at the Philadelphia film festival as was his psychological thriller, STRANGLEHOLD. Steve’s reality series, HOUSE OF BABEL won at Scriptapalooza. He has also created a TV Drama, PAPA JOHN, based on his years coaching basketball with Hall of Fame coach John Chaney.

Over the years, Steve has been inundated with e-mail from teens who hated reading …until they read his novels. When he learned high school teachers were actually using his books in the classroom (MEG had been rated #1 book for reluctant readers) Steve launched Adopt-An-Author, a nationwide non-profit program designed to encourage students to read. Teachers who register for the program (it’s free) receive giant shark posters, free curriculum materials, student-author correspondence, an interactive website, and classroom conference calls/visits with the author. To date, over 10,000 teachers have registered, and the success rate in getting teens to read has been unprecedented. Steve now spends half his work week working with high schools. For more information click on www.AdoptAnAuthor.com

As an author, Steve has two goals. First, to continue to work hard to become a better storyteller and create exciting page turning thrillers. Second, to remain accessible to his readers. Steve reads and answers all e-mails, uses the names and descriptions of his loyal fans as characters in all his novels, and even hires readers as editors, depending on their particular expertise.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
Profile Image for A~.
312 reviews7 followers
October 31, 2016
I sometimes wonder if we deserve sentience. Why? Because we let people publish books like this and then people like me read them.

In the first book the world was saved. In the second book the timeline was saved, I think? This book we find out why people abandoned Earth in the future sequences of the last book.

Characters

Immanuel: He is now Dr. Strange mixed with Batman. After his girlfriend dies in his arms he spends the next years training to become a new "The One" He gets to meet his own dad when his dad was a kid. And you thought you had father issues.

Lilith: She is head of the evacuation of Earth. Last book we were told all about how sexual and beautiful she was and how sex was her weapon and her abuse. More of the same.

Devlin: Daughter of Lilith and Jacob. He is supposed to be the devil, or thinks he's the devil or represents the devil in humanity. I am not sure because by the time the book is over we are told that there is no devil, that there is a devil, and that the devil is us and no real answer given.

After his girlfriend dies Immanuel goes off to train and take his super powers seriously. Wandering the globe he learns from ancient masters and improves himself. Along for the ride is Salt and Pepper.

During one of this spiritual trips he finds out that he is the reincarnated embodiment of Chilam Balaam and ancient Mayan High priest. He was leader of a group of Mayans and was betrayed by another Mayan and thrown into a well with his followers. But instead of dying they fell into a wormhole and ended up on Earth far in the future where no humanity is left. He and his followers build up a mighty civilization which eventually culminated in a floating city, the one that we see in the second book. But Balaam never sees this as he is killed by another Mayan named Seven Macaw.

Yes we now have a reincarnation of an ancient Mayan who lived in the past, died in the far future but then was re-incarnated in the books present. (This is the least complicated part of the book.)

The book firmly establishes that all of the events that have happened were because of time traveling humans. There are no aliens, just very superior advanced humans. All settled.

Next the book introduces aliens. Apparently besides all the time traveling there have been alien visitors to the Earth and some of them are captured and being held by a secret organization.

Immanuel in 2047 is finally caught by the police and is taken to Lilith. We find that she is not the bad guy she was in the last book. Her fight in the future and the subsequent cleansing by Jacob has retroactively made her good. What about the bad acts she did before now were they good? Did she not do the dirty with Jacob and conceive a Devil kid? Nope apparently all that happened. So her time traveling cleaning I guess ran out of power.

She reveals that she has been building a Mars base, where by the way they have found a buried ocean cruise liner from the year 2047, don't' ask it won't come up again but it's a setup for an as of unyet written sequel. The reason why is that she somehow knows from her future self that there is going to be an explosion of the Yellowstone caldera and this is going to make Earth uninhabitable for quite some time.

Her son Devlin has turned bad and they need to kill him before he somehow still sets up the bad stuff that happened in the last book. Oh and they need to then take a shuttle and travel to the past to stop the creation of a black hole in 2012. Black hole, did I forget to mention that. Besides the space whale that was going to kill the world in 2012, besides the nuclear war that was going to destroy the world in 2012, besides the massive eruption in the near future of 2047 that will destroy humanity apparently the world is also screwed because stupid scientists used a particle accelerator back in 2012 which created a baby black hole that lives in the force dimension that Lilith and Jacob use for their special powers.

Lilith discovers that she is the reincarnated wife of Balaam, so important is her role in the past that she is given the name 1st wife. She and Jacob with their super hormones have sex. Then while hunting for Devlin the world quickly goes to hell. Yellowstone erupts and ash is filling up the atmosphere. The US government sends the important people to Mount Weather to survive.

I stopped reading at this point and re-read part of the first book. I researched on the internet but have not found this mentioned. But apparently Steve Alten forgot he destroyed Mount Weather in 2012 with a suitcase bomb because it is now in this book to destroy. (Yes this is the same timeline and yes, no reason is given for it being back)

Running out of time Lilith and Jacob go to Houston and take the last space shuttle into space. Not knowing that Devlin is hiding in the back. They go into space they watch the world first get covered in ash then get eaten by a black hole. Lilith goes into the back of the ship to make a sandwich or something and ends up coming back only as a disembodied head. Jacob fights and kills Devlin, whom we find out is a reincarnation of Seven Macaw, but the space ship enters the wormhole wrong and instead of landing in 2012 like expected it instead lands in 1990 Peru.

Immanuel is found in the middle of a Nazca line drawing with no memory of anything by Gabriel and Michael....you know what I am just going to walk away now....
Stomp stomp stomp (WHATTHETHJIODGBJKNWEOIRJFAJFHJO:JRPOANJOIJH)

Okay back

We now find that Borgia is still alive, of course, and after not getting the girl he went into government service and started working on interrogating aliens. Why the aliens are in this book I don't know. They serve no purpose and just make everything even more confusing. After finding out that some of the aliens know about ancient Mayan culture he has Julian, brought in.

Meanwhile Immanuel has fallen in love with Michael's aunt. Eventually it's discovered that she is the reincarnation of Balaam's wife and the Pre-reincarnation of Lilith.

Borgia starts to talk to mirrors and it is revealed that he is talking to his Seven Macaw and that he is a reincarnation of Seven Macaw. (The world apparently only consists of 12 people and everyone knows each other.) Macaw warns Borgia that it would be in his best interest to make sure Mick is not around when he betrays Julian.

Gabriel finds a girlfriend. His father tells him to dump her. He doesn't and he runs away to marry her.

Julian works with Borgia but finally has enough. He sets up the archaeological conference that he died at in the first book. Borgia sets him up again and again Julian has a heart attack. When Immanuel tries to give him his heart medicine he soon discovers that they are Tik-Tak's and were replaced by Borgia.

Immanuel attacks Borgia blinding him and is sent to the insane asylum that Mick originally was sentenced to. Mick gets a call on his wedding night that his father is dead. His new wife turns to him and says, "It was nice knowing you. The priest was fake." She had been hired by Borgia to distract Mick.

Mick picks up his father's calling. A few years pass and it's 2012. Dominique is assigned to be Immanuel's psychiatrist. She is confronted by Mick who tells her that Immanuel was set up and is totally sane, he isn't. She doesn't believe him until she is taken to Peru and meets a witch who turns out to be her mother. Her mother says she is one of the super power descendants of the old white dudes and she can see the future. She sent Dominique away as a kid so that she would one day cross paths with Mick and that she should listen to him.

Immanuel escapes, Mick and Issac fall in love have sex and become super saiyans. For some reason the dragon does not rise this go around but instead the worm hole that was supposed to appear in 2047 appears now. No explanation is given as to why it was 35 years early. It is about to destroy the earth when the original Dominique and Mick fly the moon Phobos into the mouth of the black hole and destroy it. Immanuel is trapped in the force inside the ship Balaam because the super saiyan sex that Mick and Dominique had got her pregnant and one of the kids inside her is Immanuel and two souls or something or another can not be on the same dimension at the same time.

The book closes with a scene on ancient Mars. A cruise ship sucked up by the black hole at the beginning of the book is on Mars. The passengers are quickly introduced to some relative of the Gabrel's. He apparently saved the ship when the black hole took it. He tells them he will explain more later but first they need to repel the invaders. Over the railing of the ship Lizard Aliens start to attack.

The book promises a sequel, which has thankfully not happened.

This series started off with aliens and ancient prophecies and ended up with a warning from the author that the Large Hadron Collider or some other particle accelerator was going to kill us. He hoped that we all survive the year 2012.

I really really wish I was someone who drank.

Profile Image for Analia.
770 reviews
November 16, 2019
2,50/5 estrellas

Me gustó poco y nada...ésta tercera parte de la trilogía parte del año 2047 y por fin pongo fin a ésta trilogía de la cual sólo me gustó mucho el segundo libro "Resurrección Maya", luego le seguiría "el testamento Maya" y éste en último lugar; es que...me ha aburrido más que el primer libro.

La temática y los personajes de los libros anteriores continúan presente en "Apocalipsis Maya" pero el autor introduce una situación real -muy- que refiere al tema de la partícula de Dios -el borrón de Higgs. que hemos visto en los noticieros y documentales años anteriores; Pero no sólo eso, sino también aparece el tema de hoyos negros, big bang, se desatan mega tsunami lo que da al libro un poco de aire catastrófico, mezclado todo con algo de la mitología maya y otras filosofías lo que le da más dimensión a la trama del libro: El planeta puede desaparecer. Y si, aquí no me pareció creíble y fue donde comencé a aburrirme y ni hablar cuando el autor vuelve en el tiempo al año 1998 y luego pasa al 2012 y ahí se queda abierto para una cuarta parte porque esto "continuará" (pero yo no pienso leerlo)

Un aspecto positivo es que los capítulos aquí son más cortos lo que ayuda en la agilidad de la lectura y se resumen hechos y situaciones que han pasado en el primer y segundo libro, nada más que aquí Steve lo desarrollo con más profundidad mezclándose con "la destrucción planetaria". Los personajes van y viene el tiempo y tenemos presente dimensiones y realidades alternativas sin olvidar el tema base de la trilogía: el bien y el mal.
Aquí veremos a Lilith encabezando el proyecto HOPE que no es otra cosa que una empresa pionera en la industria del turismo espacial y Manny que por supuesto está vivo y debe salvar el mundo.

Ste Alten vuelve a sufrir desvaríos futuristas como en el primer libro pero todo para atar cabos sueltos uniendo Religión y Ciencia y conectar todo y crear una sola trama del libro. Por supuesto, como bien libro "yanquee" sigue con su "obsesión": no he de olvidar que aquí se encuentran "cara a cara" con un ET y fue decir: "nah, no te creo nada". Lo único que rescato son los aspectos psicológicos que aquí son pocos y nada porque no hay mucho que agregar a la esquizofrenia paranoide.

Recomendado para quien haya leído los dos anteriores.
Profile Image for Siobhan.
5,014 reviews597 followers
July 24, 2015
The first book in the trilogy was a decent read. The second book in the trilogy was nowhere near as good – to the point where I had to drop my rating right down. The third book was somewhere between the two prior books. It was okay, but only just so. In fact, the two stars I have given it is to sum up the whole series: nothing great but at least I can say I have read it.

With this final book, I felt as though it was a case of taking everything that had been built so far and throwing it straight out of the window. I do not mean this merely in the sense of it is the cliché time altering ending, but in the sense that even characters seemed to be completely different from prior books. It was as though the drastic changes in the characters came about simply so that the story would go in the desired direction. I could have, possibly, lived with such a thing except the reasons given for a lot of the characters made no sense at all. Plus, a lot of these changes, because they were so drastic, seemed to leave characters rather flat. Where had their individuality gone?

Alas, such a thing seemed to be necessary for the whole timeline change to occur. We all saw it coming, just as we have in many movies and books. I have no problem with this device, as it is not the worst one out there, yet it was not executed as well as it could have been. Too many things were thrown at us, certain events not as amusing as they were probably intended to be.

Overall, I was disappointed by this last book. Actually, I was disappointed by the whole series. It had such potential yet it all got lost somewhere down the line. I think the hardest part for me is the ‘to be continued’ ending to this trilogy. I get that it is due to the changes that occurred in history, leaving our mind open to what could possibly come to be, yet a part of me is fearful that another book may come. With the scariest part being that I’m the kind of person who would go ahead and pick up the book despite knowing better.

Basically, if you have started the series it is something you have to finish yet if you haven’t there are better books to spend your time reading.
Profile Image for John.
1,458 reviews36 followers
October 22, 2012
As if this storyline weren't already convoluted enough, Alten provides us with even MORE time travel paradoxes, world-ending disasters, government conspiracies, and Kabbalistic nonsense. If that all sounds pretty damn exciting, please be forewarned: Alten goes about it in pretty much the dullest way imaginable. And I can't say I didn't see it coming, either. Book 2 in the series was so bad it gave me a brain tumor, but for some reason I still couldn't stop myself from diving right into book 3. Oh, well. At least PHOBOS was a definite improvement over the previous book, albeit a slight one. Maybe that's because you don't even really get to the story until about the last third of the novel (which, coincidentally, is when PHOBOS really starts to suck). Before that, it's mostly just a lot of reiteration of what went on earlier in the series, as well as a plethora of Alten's paranoid ramblings on everything from atom smashers and UFO's to Big Oil and Kabbalistic interpretations of the Bible. Apparently, there will eventually be a book 4 in the series. I hope to God that doesn't happen--because then I will probably feel compelled to read it, too, and will likely end up hating myself over my inexplicable need to consume every last morsel of Alten's writing.
Profile Image for Jesus Velasco.
440 reviews
October 1, 2023
Apocalipsis maya es el tercer libro de la trilogía El testamento maya, del autor estadounidense Steve Alten. La novela fue publicada en 2011 y continúa la historia de Immanuel Gabriel, el héroe gemelo superviviente descrito en el Popol Vuh, el libro sagrado de los mayas.

La novela comienza con Immanuel Gabriel y su hermana gemela, Sarah, en un viaje a Guatemala para investigar la profecía maya del fin del mundo. Al llegar a un templo maya, Immanuel descubre que es el elegido para salvar a la humanidad.

Immanuel se embarca en un viaje peligroso para detener el apocalipsis. Durante su viaje, se enfrenta a una serie de desafíos, incluyendo a un grupo de mercenarios, una organización secreta y un ejército de criaturas prehistóricas.

Apocalipsis maya es una novela de acción y aventuras que combina elementos de ciencia ficción, historia y mitología.
Profile Image for Jan.
708 reviews17 followers
November 5, 2017
Book three, well yes of course I was hooked, I had to buy all three, and now it ends with to be continued!

Took me forever to read, not that it was not good, (but it is not as good as the other two, but one has to read to the end) but because I lead a very busy life, and I was also off last month at Cape Canaveral visiting the base on a tour, where all the first rockets of our space program went off, to view and immerse myself into our space history. Also got to watch a rocket take off the next day, right over our heads. Awesome, but not as exciting as the Shuttle. The base tour is not the Kennedy space center tour, it is different from Kennedy Space Center, and you only get to see these historic sites if you sign up for the Light House Tour. So if you are a space fan, check this out. (A best kept secret). It is real sad how everything is crumbling and yet, this is our space history. This book delves into our space history, and many of the chapters of this story take place in this area.

This book is a continuation of the prior two and does confuse the reader, we go back and forth in time, and back and forth with people, and history has been changed, and if the reader leaves the book for a few weeks, one may have to go back and read other chapters again, as one does go, WHAT!!! Give me a break here, that's not like the first book, and then a chapter later, that is explained with, how history has changed because of......whatever! So no, I did not enjoy this book
as much as the first one, or the second one. Manny goes on to save the world, or did he, all rather confusing. The Nordics pay a visit in this book, I was so glad to see the author include the Nordics as so many writers just go with the Greys. A reader might get lost in this story, I almost did. Can I really tell you what the story was about, nope, still confused. Read it for yourself.


Profile Image for Gladys Lopez.
240 reviews1 follower
May 18, 2019
“The test of existence is not a test of perfection, it is a test of transformation” Steve Alten.

I just finished the 3rd book of my favorite trilogy. This book took me 3 years to find it and, funny enough, found it as a Spanish used copy in France 🇫🇷. It is my guilty book pleasure, as it’s based on how Mayan descendants save the world around 2012. Of course, nothing happens in Guatemala/Mexico. All happens in the United States 🙄 thats why is my “guilty pleasure”. However, besides that, everything is worth. The Mayan facts are impressive and is unexpected the way @stevealtenofficial connects the dots, playing with wormholes on its literature, defying past-present-future and taking the reader through unexpected turn arounds. Worth the read of the three of them!

And who knows? Maybe the Hunahpu’s gen is indeed a strong, wise and powerful one. Sleeping inside people, waiting them to remember their real worth 🤔 🚀

.


{📚Book 12-2019: “Apocalipsis Maya” by Steve Alten} .

#️⃣ #bookstagram #booklover #bookworm #readingtime #bookstagram #booklover #livro #libro #yoamoleer #reading #englishbook #readersofinstagram #readreadread #leitura #goodreadschallenge2019 #lfl #l4l #bookquotes #readmore #leeresvivir #culture #culture #traveler #wanderlust #instapassport #seetheworld #exploretheworld #trilogy #fiction #mayan #mayans #maya
Profile Image for Jacob Petrossian.
202 reviews3 followers
June 16, 2024
The second half of the book had an interesting spin.

Overall I wouldn’t really recommend the series. Book 1 was cool, but it doesn’t really get better from there.
Profile Image for Kristin Lundgren.
305 reviews16 followers
February 17, 2012
Third volume in his Mayan doomsday set - there is another book alluded to at the end of this one, so he's not done. The first book in the series as I recall was straight doomsday stuff, with some fun SF touches. The second is a continuation of that, building up the characters that with be needed for a successful conclusion to the Doomsday event on the Mayan Calendar. This books builds on that, and introduces even more of the Mayan mythology about not only the Popol Vuh, and 2012, but also the ancient beliefs of the Mayan, Aztec and Olmec. This one I found confusing - Alten's last book before this was not a part of his usual fare (MEG - the ancient megeladon series) or Domain (the Mayan set) - it was a religious book about his studies of ancient Jewish wisdom, and what it meant for mankind. I never was able to read more than a small part. This book brings in some of that mysticism, and combines it with the Mayan prophecies about 2012, and the ancient race, the Nazca drawings, and time-travel - lots of it. It gets confusing, since one of the characters used a different name through part of the book, channeled an ancient Mayan god, reached out into an inner consciousness higher plane, and speak with people present and past) and also showed up before he was born. That everyone involved takes all this in stride is hard to swallow esp. as it , leads to a bunch of ET stuff, etc. Although I enjoyed it, I thought the first book, Domain, was better, and that this one relied way too heavily on time-travel paradoxes and the ancient beliefs and less of his characters, etc. But, if you don't mind some grand conspiracies theories, and I mean GRAND, and a lot of whisking back and forth without dates at times to anchor which time period you are in, this one's for you. As you can see by my rating, yet notes on the book, I was conflicted about it. It took a while to get through, but some of that may have been a need to stop in the middle for two days, and my short memory span, so that things got confusing for me, as I struggled to remember what was going on and who was who. You need to be sharp for this one!
Profile Image for Megalion.
1,481 reviews46 followers
April 1, 2016
3rd book of a trilogy. I enjoyed the first one. The 2nd was disappointing overall but I continued onto this one hoping that it would redeem and finish off the trilogy on a level with the first book.

It didn't. It dragged badly til about the middle but then it all went cockeyed again and I really didn't care anymore about keeping tracking of who was who. By then I'd invested so much that I finished just for the sake of it.

AND it ended with a promise for more! NO THANK YOU!


I will note that the author's foreward informed us that Phobos scares him because it could actually happen. One element being the Large Hadron Collider. It's potential to create a black hole that destroys the planet. Another being that lurking under 'Old Faithful' is a ticking time bomb that if set off, will bring around the 6th ELE for Earth. Extinction Level Event like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. This book is about 3 years old as I write this. I didn't know about the caldera under Yellowstone til recently and I agree with Steve. It's terrifying to think of. Reminds one to live each day as if it's your last.

Returning to the books, I'm reminded of the author's Meg series about megaladons. It's 4-5 books long plus a novella length prequel. The first 2 books were good. But the quality of the story diminished and I abandoned the series.

I still like the author and recommend Domain as well as the first couple of Meg books but I'll have to remember that sequels are not always gold with his books.
Profile Image for Patrick Ellard.
284 reviews3 followers
August 14, 2012
Phobos is the third book of the Domain Trilogy and continues from exactly where the second book finished. The original book of the series was an entertaining disaster story full of excitement and interesting characters but the second book was a total mess full of over-complicated plot points and plenty of mumbo jumbo that left you scratching your head as to what was going on.

Luckily for us this third book is an improvement on the second but not by much, the first half is again over-complicated nonsense full of pseudo-religious mumbo-jumbo but the second half finally gets things back on track and manages to be an entertaining time travel story that brings together elements of the Mayan doomsday prophecy along with plenty of sci-fi but there us still far too much religious undertones for my liking. It's clear that Alten has an excellent imagination but his editor needs to rein him in when it comes to over-complicating situations and including his religious ideals.

The ending is satisfactory enough, if a little underwhelming and Alten has clearly indicated that there will be a fourth book. Personally I think he should give up on this series and go back to what he does best, writing shark stories!
Profile Image for Diana Vera.
15 reviews3 followers
September 28, 2012
A dazzling look at Mayan mythology incarnate from New York Times bestselling author Steve Alten

For two thousand years, the Mayan Calendar has prophesied the end of mankind on a date equating to December 21st, 2012. As that day approaches, greed, corruption, economic collapse, and violence seem to be pushing our species to the predicted brink of disaster. But there is another Doomsday threat looming in our near future, a very real threat that can wipe-out not only humanity but our entire planet.


Phobos: Mayan Fear, Steve Alten’s third book in the Mayan Prophecy series, is a doomsday rollercoaster ride of adventure that follows Immanuel Gabriel to the end of the world and back again for one last shot at salvation. During Immanuel’s journey with his deceased grandfather, archaeologist Julius Gabriel, Julius reveals everything the Mayans knew and feared—from the secrets of creation that predate the Big Bang to the existence of extraterrestrials that have come to Earth to save our species.


The universe is not what it seems, nor is human existence. The ticking clock of physicality that begins at conception and terminates with our final breath is neither the end nor the beginning, but an elaborate ruse constructed as a test.


We are failing miserably.
Profile Image for Laura.
16 reviews
May 8, 2011
El mejor de los tres, menos alucinado y la segunda parte la termine en solo 2 dias.... el principio tambien es algo lento pero el final es muy bueno
Profile Image for Robbie Hadley.
24 reviews2 followers
May 8, 2012
Phobos: Mayan Fear is one of Steve Altens' best, well worth the 7 year wait. Can't wait for the next in the series
Profile Image for Pumpkin+Bear.
358 reviews16 followers
August 13, 2025
This review is kind of not fair because I HATED the second book in the series so by all rights I should have abandoned it, but this is what I brought to read on vacation, so here we go!

You guys, the author writes the word "gelid" THIRTEEN times in this single book--sometimes multiple times on the same page! We've got:

"a gelid maelstrom located hundreds of miles above the mountain."
"the anomaly, its gelid-clear orifice defined by the inhaled debris"
"the gelid corridor leading to the higher dimensions"
"its gelid-like swirling distortion"
"the gelid fourth dimension"
"gelid air"
"a round object. Gelid. Spiraling into colors."
"the vacuous gelid eye"
"its gelid halo" (those most recent three were found in four consecutive paragraphs)
"its gelid surroundings"
"the air gelid."


I swear I have not seen such overuse of a single word since a Sherlock fanfic I once read that continuously described John Watson's eyes as "tawny." It was probably written by a 14-year-old, and it wasn't nearly as egregious as this!

Also, "gelid" just means "really cold," which 1) isn't so unique that Alten couldn't have just said "really cold" half the time, or, like, "icy," "frosty," "super cold," etc., and 2) isn't what I think Alten thought it meant. I honestly think he sort of thought it meant gelled, like Jello or something.

Another stupid thing: Immanuel never sees his beloved long-lost daughter again after she gets kidnapped at the age of 12 or so, and when it turns out that he has to go off in a different dimension on a spaceship and never come back and his daughter, just rescued from a government facility after having been tortured and experimented on for over a decade, video calls him to say goodbye, he does not seem to give a single fart about it. He's just all, "Okay, BYE!!!"

I was actually pretty into Steve Alten at the start of this vacation. His first couple of books I read were stupid but fun, and I was stoked to spend my whole vacation on fun action scenes and improbable plots. I dunno now, though... I think these last couple of books broke me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Vincent Paul.
Author 17 books72 followers
December 11, 2018
On 21st December, 2012 (according to the Mayan calendar), the world was to end. People, and I'm talking of those blinded by religion, self-flagellated themselves in penance, got rid of their worldly ways, and cleansed their dark souls in preparation for the apocalypse. For non-religious like me, we planned and strategised on how to conduct the post-Apocalyptic looting, especially the Central Bank was on our top list. BUT THE WORLD DID NOT END. That is the theme of The Mayan Destiny by Steve Allen.

On Page 394 - 395 is the summary of the whole doomsday and end-of-the-world conspiracies. There is no end of the world/doomsday, but (Steve Allen writes) It (doomsday) wasn't about asteroids or earthquakes, it was about out-of-control man's ego. Greed, corruption, hatred, negativity ... much of it fostered by an imbalance in the society - the elite one percent continuing its dominance over the ninety-nine percent. Political leaders, Big Oil, the banks ... the military industrial complex - entities whose only interest is to take for themselves by stifling the majority, preventing us from ascending the ladder of existence. We have to break the stranglehold ... we have to change the culture of 'me' to 'we' or we'll lose it all.

The world shall end because of man's creations, the desire to play the Supreme Being.

That is all. I say NO MORE.
Profile Image for Karen Keller Books .
425 reviews22 followers
January 6, 2020
Creo que cualquier reseña de este libro se queda corto para describir todo lo que pasa en este final de trilogía, aunque debo decir que quedó abierta para una cuarta parte.
No sé cómo reseñar sin spoilear, asi que haré un mini resumen, por favor añadir mucho SCI-FI, mucho,mucho....más todavía por favor.
En esta entrega encontrarán, viajes en el tiempo, seres mitológicos, tecnología de punta, bing bang, cuarta dimensión, información maya relativa al fin del mundo, extraterrestres, Yellowstone, agujeros de gusano, HAARP, área 51, juego de protones y MÁS.
Lo entretenido que tiene esta tercera parte es que te entrega mucha información que realmente es algo tangible hoy en día y algo que si nuestros científicos siguen jugando, es algo que pueda pasar.
Quizás por eso, también da un poco de susto a la vez.
Debo reconocer que en pasajes uno tiende a perderse dad que el autor te entrega mucha información junta y es para marearse en algunos capítulos.
De los tres libros, me gustó más este porque tiene muchos desastres naturales (sí, me gusta leer y ver cosas sobre eso) e información antigua y cosas que científicos alrededor del mundo están haciendo en este minuto que nos puede llevar a nuestro fin.
La reseña de los dos primeros libros los encuentran mas abajo, "El testamento Maya" y "La resurreción Maya"
Profile Image for Ilaria.
Author 9 books56 followers
July 10, 2018
La profezia Maya non si è avverata… ma non è stata neanche scongiurata!
Immanuel Gabriel, sopravvissuto all’apocalisse nel precedente romanzo 2012. La resurrezione, è il vero predestinato a salvare la razza umana dall’imminente eruzione del super vulcano di Yellowstone.
Aiutato dai diari del nonno paterno e dai segreti svelati sulla creazione, riuscirà a cambiare il corso del futuro?
Ultimo libro della trilogia che mischia fantascienza e thriller di Steve Alten, l’ho trovato il più confusionario della serie. Sempre zeppo di tantissime informazioni, occorre leggerlo attentamente per non rischiare di perdersi niente… e probabilmente qualcosa me la sono persa perché non ho compreso molti aspetti della trama.
Tra i tre libri questo mi è piaciuto di meno, ma nonostante tutto il romanzo è pieno di colpi di scena e il finale è tutt’altro che scontato.
Grazie a Steve Alten per averci regalato questa entusiasmante e fatalistica avventura!
Profile Image for Kenia Espinoza.
207 reviews
August 9, 2020
No puedo culpar enteramente al contenido del libro, puede que resulte bueno para otros que han leído la trilogía completa, que no es mi caso. Este libro me lo gané en una actividad llamada Parque de Letras, Consistía en esconder por todo el parque títulos de libro Y el que lo encontraba, listo, lo reclamaba y te lo llevabas. Pero no tuve tanta suerte de encontrar alguno así, sino más bien que fue en una dinámica que consistía en recitar una cita de algún libro de memoria y podías llevarte cualquier libro que estaba en la mesa, Este fue el primero que vi y lo agarré, me pareció interesante el título y la portada me llamó la atención, Lo cierto es que nunca había oído hablar de él, Intenté leerlo pero esta es la tercera parte de una trilogía, y estaba muy perdida, no pude pasar de las 150 primeras páginas. Y la verdad es que tampoco la historia me gustó tanto como para ir a buscar información acerca de las dos primeras partes. Lo tuve que abandonar.
Profile Image for Libia RM.
20 reviews3 followers
November 27, 2017
Llegamos al último libro de la saga, ¡al fin! Si no les han dado curiosidad los libros anteriores, al menos lean éste. La historia continúa con la misma temática y personajes de los libros anteriores, pero introduce una situación MUY real y que en la actualidad, podría pasar en cualquier momento. El CERN ha encontrado el bolsón de Higgs, la famosa "partícula de Dios", pero en su soberbia no se dan cuenta que al momento de hacer chocar las partículas, se forman pequeños agujeros negros que son capaces de acabar con el planeta y todo lo que conocemos. Alten aún involucra la mitología maya y otras filosofías, pero se involucra más en este suceso que es real y más cercano de lo que podemos imaginar.
Calificación: 10/10
Recomendado: Es mi libro favorito de la saga y se los recomiendo 100%, siempre queda el miedito de que lo que estamos leyendo pueda pasar -o ya esté pasando- en realidad.
Profile Image for Paquita Gabarró.
376 reviews3 followers
April 6, 2021
Me ha gustado como los dos anteriores porque además se resuelven algunos enigmas que habían quedado pendientes en los dos libros anteriores. Pero por otra parte, el autor ha repetido bastantes cosas que ya habían quedado claras y creo que debe ser por eso que se me ha hecho un poco más lento en algunas partes. Con esto no quiero decir que el autor no me guste, me encanta como escribe y narra las diferentes historias. Lo recomiendo porque cierra la trilogía perfectamente.
Profile Image for Gary Murphy.
172 reviews
August 11, 2017
Liked this installment a lot more compared to the 2nd 1 but found it very hard to get in2 at the start to much going on bac and fro but was wort holding off it got going and any1 who has started this trilogy it never passes the 1st book and story about the end of the world comes to a end but ends with another installment 1 story ends another 1 begins
Profile Image for Ian Schultz.
57 reviews
May 26, 2019
It's hard to place the series in order of best to worst because they all have great points and some "bad" points. I will say that this entry is not filled with as much filler as the second book, but has an even more convoluted timeline that will make this book impossible to read without the other two being read first. But I did enjoy the hell out of it.
Profile Image for Patt Lisenbee.
138 reviews
November 25, 2025
Phobos: Mayan Fear by Steve Alten

The third (but not final) book in the Domain trilogy.
What can I say? You absolutely must read this book!
Original storylines are far and few between. This is amazing writing!
Profile Image for Isco Díaz.
2 reviews
November 5, 2017
Is a spectacular book, but... the finish is mmm... exciting and confused.
Profile Image for Sameer Kesava.
47 reviews
December 3, 2017
This book is mainly meant for fun reading, ideally while travelling. That's what I did. Found it fun and fast-paced.
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