Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider #1

by Dave Stern

With a priceless artifact of an ancient civilization, the key to absolute power, up for grabs, Lara Croft risks everything to keep this remarkable weapon out of the hands of the Illuminati, a top-secret cabal that is conspiring to use the artifact to control all humankind. Original.

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Action, Mystery, Thriller, Games

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Dave Stern has written/edited/collaborated on multiple previous works of fiction/non-fiction, including the New York Times-bestselling biography Crosley, the epistolary novel Shadows In The Asylum, and an unauthorized Adam Sandler biography composed with the help of the good people in the Smith College Library. His most recent work is Codename: Blackjack, the second thriller in the Sagas of the Cincinnati series.

His author photo is woefully out of date.

Reviews

[Joss loves Jace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good history of action.

[Cisz Geverink - Strasters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een boek geschreven op basis van een film (in plaats van een boekverfilming), het bestaat echt. Het is al flink wat jaren geleden dat ik de film zag (release 2018), maar kan me herinneren dat ik er enorm van genoten heb. Toen het boek op mijn pad kwam, moést ik hem natuurlijk hebben. Hij stond echter jarenlang ongelezen in mijn kast. Achteraf natuurlijk weer zonde, want ik heb er echt van genoten. Sentiment ten top! Dave Stern heeft een hele fijne manier van schrijven, en weet het verhaal te vertellen alsof je de film weer beleefd. Is het een famtastisch geschreven, spannend boek? Nee, absoluut niet. Maar soms hoeft dat ook niet om er toch van te kunnen genieten. Normaal zou een boek een verrijking van de film zijn, nu geeft het geen breder beeld van de personages, meer inzicht of details. Het is gewoon wat het is. Dus 3 sterren, maar wel een heerlijke trip down memory lane ♡

www.facebook.com/thebookbabecisz

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet Lara croft. Find her in movies, video games and this book. In Croft Manor, Lara sees the first third of a planet alignment What she didn't know is that she would become a part in trying to protect the power associated from that alignment from falling into the wrong hands and find herself in a science fiction adventure.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As novilisations go, this was better than the movie. It gives more insights into the characters and the outlooks on life. I really enjoyed it. Course, I love the Tomb Raider books and games, so I probably should love it.

Lara takes on the Illuminati in a quest to control pieces of a triangle that will give power. Who will win? Croft of course!

[Victor Orozco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright for a novelization. Told a little bit better than the movie. I did like that Daniel Craig's character was seen more sympathetic. B

[Adeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Už jako malá jsem Laru zbožňovala - ať to byly hry nebo filmy. Takže já vlastně ani pořádně nemůžu napsat recenzi, kde bych pořádně něco vytýkala.

[Paul Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so close to getting a five star rating, but there was one thing about it that kept it from obtaining that final star. Throughout the book I was constantly laughing, intrigued, and filled with suspense. This was definitely one of the best books that I've read in a long time. Lara croft is a lively character, and her two friends, Bryce and Hillary just make the story that much more believable. Ultimately I couldn't pick a favorite between Bryce and pimms. Both stuck out as amazing characters to me, and I just love stories that do that. I even almost picked Lara out of all of them, and I'm the kind of guy that never liked the main character actually. This book was amazing, but like I said in the beginning, there was one thing that kept it from that fifth star, and that thing is imagery. Though imagery was definitely found in this book, there wasn't enough of it. I found myself constantly guessing on what a certain item looked like or what a certain building looked like. Although the story have a short, vague image of these things, it simply was not enough. The major flaw in the imagery aspect of this book though is the characters. Throughout the story, the only imagery I received was the characters hair color, nothing about their build, facial features, our even their eye color; again, I was left in the dark about this, forced to guess. All in all though, this was a phenomenal book. I would definitely recommend it as a must read.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synopsis
The Power...
An ancient relic called the All Seeing Eye that grants the owner the ultimate power in the universe. A power so immense that those who possess it could rule the world.
The Illuminati...
A secret brotherhood hell-bent on finding the All Seeing Eye and taking over the world. A sinister band of men who will stop at nothing to fulfill their diabolical plot.
The Hero...
Lara Croft! The greatest tomb-raiding high-flying adventurer of all time, who just so happens to hold the key to finding the All Seeing Eye.
Through the living jungles of Cambodia to the frozen wasteland of Siberia, Lara Croft takes you on her greatest adventure. The clock is ticking and time is running out....


So what do I think?
I am a huge fan of the game, the movies, and now this book. I have read this book back when I was in high school and did a full book report on it. This book is amazing. I could not put it down. It is very closely related to the movie and even includes the deleted scenes in this book. I enjoyed this book very much and would love to read it again on occasion. I highly recommend this book to all fans of the game and action lovers. This book is very exciting and it is very hard to put down. It really keeps you on your toes as it is also very thrilling.

[David Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...she was falling through one of those areas of temporal discontinuity..."

Best way to describe this book, it was a fun Tomb Raiding adventure with some heart. It being a novelization of the films operates in it's own continuity to the games, but it brings in and mentions some of Lara's previous adventures in the games such as TR 1 and 2. This was a fun difference to the movie and added a lot to Lara's characterization in my opinion, as well as a couple of other character's backstories.

The book treats Lara as it's greatest asset which means that her and the backstory with her father are by far the most interesting parts, which is as it should be, but everything else falls a bit flat. While it's not poorly written, I'd have liked more descriptions of the exotic locations, and the antagonist Powel was a generic villain, he had some moments, but was mostly cardboard evil. There were also continuity fails at the end when they are counting down, they'd go from 2o minutes to 30, back to 20 and from 20 seconds to a minute remaining, but that was the only continuity fail I noticed in the book. That and the logic of the Tomb Raiding in some areas is best not questioned, that being said it was still very enjoyable.
(3.5 Stars)

[Sidra19 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this Book, extremly Great and really Loved it a lot. It was Awesum Adventurous and Exciting. Fun exploring and i totally loved Lara's Character. And for the MOvie i believe Angelina Jolie was the Perfect Actress for this Role, As she has got the Stuff for it as opposed to other actresses who might have ruined it. I Recommend to all my Friends!

[RumBelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this many years ago, and I have to say, as movie novelizations go, it was pretty good. It stuck to the movie you saw, while at the same time added enough back story and additional character and plot elements to fill out the story nicely. The action, adventure and thrills translated well in the book, at times the descriptions were better than the screen. A fun, adventurous book.

[Butterflykatana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and deeper adventure then the movie was. Lara Rocks!!

[J.W. Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I basically read the book to see if it was the same as the movie, it was but more detailed, read with ease and finished quickly.

[Carola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because I am a Lara Croft fan I read it and I loved it. But it wasn't really special.

[Shuhei Yamashita]

7 words: expedition, study, knowledge, burden, chimneypiece, train, letter

[Fatema · Rating 4 out of 5]

its fab!!!!!

[Gaby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this book a few years ago and i really enjoyed it,great accion and great characters.

[Morgan K · Rating 4 out of 5]

No gonna lie. I loved this book in high school. I was slightly obsessed with Daniel Craig though. Way back in 1998.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently watched the original Lara Croft films (with the stunning Angelina Jolie) and then the reboot (with the not quite so captivating Alicia Vikander) and purchased the novelizations to read afterwards. While I had the sequel already (but not read it yet), I’d had a bit of trouble getting this one, as the price seems to fluctuate - and mistakenly grabbing a “cheap” copy, ended up with me wondering why it was all in German! (There are quite a few of these being sold by sellers on different platforms, so always check the language!)

My initial thoughts about this book were that it was utterly boring, and the author has come from the Diana Gabaldon School Of Description. The book is 343 pages long, compared to 1hr 40mins of film. The sequel (by the same author) is 292 pages long, compared to 1hr 57mins of film. Work THAT one out. This book DRAGS. My opinion is the film sequel DRAGS no end, but this could have been chopped by a good 50-75 pages, and been an excellent read.

For those of us who hadn’t played the Lara Croft games before seeing the films/reading the novelizations, yes, you expect some build up, an introduction to who she is, her life, etc. The author uses the opening chapters (and beyond) to describe everything. And I mean everything. This quickly bogs down the storyline, while you scream for it to move forward. So many minor details which, true, you could have completely missed on film, but when you’re skimming the book, it kind of defeats the purpose.

And I agree with other reviewers, who have said that the action sequences are all too briefly described. Yes, they are over in a flash. It’s almost like the author either can’t write the action sequences, or he struggled with not being able to describe them as well as they would appear on screen. So he just didn’t. I expected the action sequences to positively burst from the pages, but they’re bookended by pages of descriptive nonsense, which is quite disappointing. (And it’s the same author who goes on to write the sequel.)

The other issue was the bad guys (including Alex) just didn’t stand out in the book. If I was reading this prior to seeing the film, I would literally have no idea what they looked like, they were that shockingly described. I don’t know how novelizations work, whether it’s taken from a screenplay, or the author has seen some completed scenes from the film, so has a rough idea of how to describe the characters, but the bad guys were cardboard cut outs. Cut down on some of the minutiae and he could have easily spent some time fleshing out the bad guys sufficiently.

Overall, I’m giving this book a solid three stars, even though, for me, it’s hovering around the 2.5 star mark. But since you can’t give half stars ... If you can get past the over description and the pacing issues, this is a good read and will make you want to watch the film again. Is it a good novelization? No. This is one where I wish the sequel had been written by a different author.

[⟢ n sunset ⟣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eu sempre amei os filmes, e resolvi ler isso por nostalgia e diversão...
Mas se é que é possivel, com essa leitura amei essa estória ainda mais!!!

⟢ 10/ 10 ⟣

Não esperava muito de uma novelização mas isso foi sensacinal!

Lara clássica e maravilhosa, que saudade! E as referências aos primeiro jogos (estórias) aqueceram meu coraçãozinho ❤

Um monte de coisas ficaram muito mais claras aqui do que no filme (o que é bem compreensível — mas que eu não esperava com tal nível de detalhes)... Contextos, motivação dos personagens e ligações entre eles. Ficou muito bom. Sem dizer o quão as cenas são muiiiito mais completas e trabalhadas.
Mesmo já sabendo tudo de cabo a rabo e de cor, esse final conseguiu me pegar e me emocionar novamente ❤

Desenvolvimento do Enredo · 10/10 · ★★★★★

Como já disse na introdução, tudo que foi apresentado no filme aqui foi trabalhado de forma esplendida! Desde adição de contextos, detalhes, e referências até a profundidade que as cenas inéditas — que não estavam no filme — apresentaram, o que por ser uma novelização eu não esperava e fui surpreendida maravilhosamente. Muitas passagens me emocionaram muito. Mas pode ser grande influência da nostalgia também!

Ambientação e atmosfera · 10/10 · ★★★★★

Lindo! Nossa! Foda! Me imergi completamente na leitura com a forma que o plot foi elaborado. Descrições precisas e imaginativas.

Construção de Personagens · 10/10 · ★★★★★

Lara está perfeita! É a exata Lara que mora no meu coração para semprezinho~ E isso era o requisito mínimo para essa leitura.
Agora Alex e o Powell, foram dois personagens que superaram minhas expectativas demais. Powell sendo retratado de forma extremamente desprezível (e mensões honrosas a toda a caracterização dos Illuminati também); e o Alex que até ganhou um arco muito mais claro — em relação ao filme — que eu amei, com uma leve redenção no final. Eu até shippei cara, nunca tinha parado para realmente shippar esses dois apesar do claro envolvimento entre eles. Esse livro acendeu a chama desse casal. Eu não fui ler esperando isso, mas me agradou muito.
Alem desses, todos os outros personagens secundários foram muito bem caracterizados e eu me afeiçoei muito — talvez com ajuda de já ter assistido o filme tantas vezes e já ter certo carinho. Mas todas as descrições e desenvolvimento me deixaram muito contente.

Ritmo de leitura · 10/10 · ★★★★★

Comecei e não queria mais parar. Eu só parava de ler porque tinha mesmo que parar. Minhas noites foram muito quentinhas com essa leitura!

Escrita · 10/10 · ★★★★★

Sem o que reclamar. Este moço sabia sobre o que estava escrevendo, em diversos sentidos. Tá de parabéns. Honrou demais!

[Temporamores · Rating 5 out of 5]

This film novelisation is quite well done, I think, although having read the other reviews I’m not sure whether that would still apply to the same extent if you hadn’t watched the film first. But since I had, I didn’t pay attention to whether there was enough descriptive detail regarding the characters‘ physical appearance.
What I really like was that it fleshes out the character of Alex West a little, even though he suddenly disappears at the end and is simply not mentioned again, which is the same in the film. After what Lara and he have just been through, that’s not very satisfying or indeed realistic. I also like that there’s a little more sympathy with him in this novel, which captures the spirit of the film, but not its execution (one can tell that it was shot without a proper script in place, so some important storylines aren’t tied up at the end). So, in several ways, this novel is what the film should have been.

[Michael Quao]

Lara Croft, a tomb-raiding adventurer discovers a clock hidden by her long-lost father, and the clock leads to an ancient relic. She has to find the ancient relic before a secret organization called Illuminati does and save the world. I like how this book shows a feminist hero and a leader. She is very intelligent and is able to defend herself and others. This book is for younger girls because Lara Croft is a strong independent woman who goes on adventures and shows heroism through those adventures. For example, “It is our job to preserve the past; our task to plan for the future. Humanity is at a critical stage in its history, Pimms. We must step forward and provide the leadership that the world needs.”(Stern,116) I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to thriller and adventure fans. I admired the bravery that Lara has in this book to face the Illuminati.

[Alla Ricerca del Romanzo Perfetto · Rating 3 out of 5]

All'inizio, non lo nego, più volte ho pensato di lasciarlo, chiudere quella noia e cercare qualcosa che catturasse di più la mia attenzione....nelle prime pagine infatti viene decritto un corpo a corpo tra Lara e un robot super tecnologico....forse guardando le scene di un film sarebbe risultato entusiasmante, ma nello scritto, per me, non rendeva affatto l'idea. Dopo di questo ci ho messo un altro ben pò per capire la trama e da quel momento in poi mi è piaciuto. Una specie di Indiana Jones al femminile e con l'aggiunta della tecnologia. Nonostante tutto non mi sono sentita coinvolta, non mi sono affezionata a Lara e non mi sono incuriosita sul seguito.

[marysia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Matko, jaka to była zła książka. Źle napisana, z dziurami w fabule i okropnymi dialogami. Mimo wszystko czyta się ją całkiem szybko, nie dłuży się. I nie powiem, uśmiałam się na tych dialogach (nie dlatego że miały być śmieszne, ale dlatego, że były tak złe). Stąd dwie gwiazdki zamiast jednej.
Jeśli chcecie zapoznać się z tą historią to polecam sięgnąć do filmu lub gry. Na pewno nie będą gorsze, poprzeczka zawieszona jest wyjątkowo nisko.

[Nina_booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice action book, really enjoyed it. For me books are always better than movies, but this book was based of a movie, but still more enjoyable than movie. It is not 5 stars, because I felt something was missing, can not say what, but maybe more od Laras background.

[Inayah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word AMAZING

[William Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is rather odd: filled with altered time, changing people, fragmented places, and inside-out dogs.

[Koketso Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Vicki Gooding · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an exciting, full of adventure little book. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tomb Raider is known to me from the video games, for at least two decades. Unfortunately, I could not get into this book. It's not bad, it is just not special...