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Indiana Jones: Prequels #11
Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth
A dying man presents himself at Indy's office and gives him a mysterious box, which is found to contain some Icelandic spar—the mythological sunstone—and the last pages of the man's journal. They detail an amazing journey to Ultima Thule—the top of the world. From here, the stone will lead Indy on a perilous trek into the depths of the earth itself.
Librarian Note: Alternate Cover/Reissue of ISBN 9780553561951
Librarian Note: Alternate Cover/Reissue of ISBN 9780553561951
325 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 3, 1997
30 people are currently reading
889 people want to read
About the author
Max McCoy
46 books61 followersMax McCoy is an award-winning journalist and author. He’s won awards for his reporting on unsolved murders, serial killers, and hate groups. In addition to his daily newspaper work, Max has written for publications as diverse as American Photographer, True West, and The New Territory. He’s the author of four original Indiana Jones adventures for Lucasfilm/Bantam and the novelization of the epic TNT miniseries, Into the West. His novels, including Damnation Road, have won three Spur awards from the Western Writers of America. His novels, Hellfire Canyon and Of Grave Concern, have also been named Kansas Notable Books by the state library. He's a tenured professor of journalism at Emporia State University, in east central Kansas, where he specializes in investigative reporting and nonfiction narrative. He's also director of the university’s Center for Great Plains Studies. His most recent book is Elevations: A Personal Exploration of the Arkansas River, from the University Press of Kansas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 24, 2009
I'm a little embarrassed that I enjoy this pulpy pop-fiction, but what a fun indulgence.
December 2, 2021
This story was entertaining but it was a bit bogged down with the crystal skull subplot . I understand that these books where put out there to build hype for that movie but this would have flowed a lot more succinctly with our it’s inclusion.
April 2, 2016
I love Max as well as the Indiana series. He writes in an extremely engaging and clear way, allowing the reader to easily visualize each scene. Definitely worth the read! Minus .5 though for naming a book about "hollow earth" to only then find out that it took to the very LAST chapter for them to get there!
January 27, 2016
The 11th of the Indiana Jones Prequel novels and third by author Max McCoy is a nicely told romp of an adventure tale. It brings Indy to several interesting locales, among them Southwest New Mexico where Indy continues to pursue the multi-novel story arc relating to the Crystal Skull as well as to the far north where he and his companions encounter the opening to the Hollow World inside the Earth.
As always, what I like about the Indiana Jones books (besides the fact that they are about…well…Indiana Jones) is that they always weave in some actual historical events and people. This book contains a nice Afterword detailing the many theories of a hollow earth from the 19th and 20th centuries and just how prevalent the idea once was. It also describes Hitler’s rumored interest in the occult as well as the hollow earth theory which he supported by dispatching squads to the deepest mines in Europe and the Himalayas in search of an entrance. The Thule Society which became the German Workers Party and which Hitler then turned into the Nazi party is also a prominent part of Indy’s story in this volume.
Max McCoy does a good job of developing his Indy novels much like you would expect from an Indy movie: full of fun adventure, the pursuit of archeological treasures or knowledge, some humor, a pretty girl or two, and lots of danger. Only two more of these prequel novels left in the series (one by McCoy). It will be sad once I reach the end.
As always, what I like about the Indiana Jones books (besides the fact that they are about…well…Indiana Jones) is that they always weave in some actual historical events and people. This book contains a nice Afterword detailing the many theories of a hollow earth from the 19th and 20th centuries and just how prevalent the idea once was. It also describes Hitler’s rumored interest in the occult as well as the hollow earth theory which he supported by dispatching squads to the deepest mines in Europe and the Himalayas in search of an entrance. The Thule Society which became the German Workers Party and which Hitler then turned into the Nazi party is also a prominent part of Indy’s story in this volume.
Max McCoy does a good job of developing his Indy novels much like you would expect from an Indy movie: full of fun adventure, the pursuit of archeological treasures or knowledge, some humor, a pretty girl or two, and lots of danger. Only two more of these prequel novels left in the series (one by McCoy). It will be sad once I reach the end.
April 22, 2017
The storyline was good. Just really did not care for the writing. A lot of mistakes, holes, screwed up descriptions that made no sense.
The best was the Afterward. 10 pages of historical reference of what people thought lay beneath the Earth's surface. That part was very interesting.
The best was the Afterward. 10 pages of historical reference of what people thought lay beneath the Earth's surface. That part was very interesting.
January 25, 2012
A good addition to Indiana lore but as an adventure took too many detours before getting to the "Hollow Earth" of the Title. Everything that took place in New Mexico and New Orleans just seemed so pointless. I think there must have been a better way becasue that was a lot of work just to introduce one character.
As for the mythology I found it quite interesting. Make sure you read the afterward for more information on Hollow earth theories and Polar exploration.
As for the mythology I found it quite interesting. Make sure you read the afterward for more information on Hollow earth theories and Polar exploration.
October 2, 2025
Again McCoy delivers another great Indy tale with lots of fun and adventure. I like how there has been a narrative thread between all of his novels and appears to be resolved here. I think why this one doesn't score as high as the ending just didn't pan out and seemed a bit rushed. Plus the idea of putting a team together on an airplane, the Zeppelin and the Inner World/Hollow Earth similarities to a point seemed to retrading familiar ground from prior Indy novels. Anyway, I really liked the first 2/3s of the book, just didn't land the ending.
September 2, 2021
Very “Indy”. Keeps with the spirit and feels realistic to the Indians Jones character.
Downside…. I couldn’t remember the book. I’d pause and pick up the next day not remembering much of anything. Kinda like junk food, passes the time but not filling. It wasn’t bad but very un memorable and lacking depth. Good convos and adventure which is all I expected anyway.
Best part? The Afterward! Was super interesting to hear how so much of the book was based on historical truths. I’ll be rereading the afterward because it was fascinating and a great launching off point to study things further.
Downside…. I couldn’t remember the book. I’d pause and pick up the next day not remembering much of anything. Kinda like junk food, passes the time but not filling. It wasn’t bad but very un memorable and lacking depth. Good convos and adventure which is all I expected anyway.
Best part? The Afterward! Was super interesting to hear how so much of the book was based on historical truths. I’ll be rereading the afterward because it was fascinating and a great launching off point to study things further.
July 10, 2023
My inner child found this book endlessly delightful. Mid-read I remembered reading this book as a teenager in the year before Crystal Skull came out.
My only complaint with this book is it has a very dues ex machina ending, which is pat, but it's also an Indiana Jones book, so shouldn't have been expecting more.
Arctic expeditions, Apache gold, and the question of what lies beneath the earth. It's a rip roaring adventure novel and thoroughly satisfying if that's your expectation.
My only complaint with this book is it has a very dues ex machina ending, which is pat, but it's also an Indiana Jones book, so shouldn't have been expecting more.
Arctic expeditions, Apache gold, and the question of what lies beneath the earth. It's a rip roaring adventure novel and thoroughly satisfying if that's your expectation.
Read
December 3, 2025How? I found the book a few months ago when visiting my parents' community's clubhouse, which used to have a real weird selection of books to borrow. ("Used to", because apparently someone didn't like how it looked and they've drastically reduced the number of books on the bookshelves, which just means the shelves look bare now.)
And then I read it because... I don't know, I wanted something dumb to punish my brain, or something.
Reader, I sort of got what I wanted.
What? We open with Indiana Jones and a few friends stuck in dead-end tunnel with Nazis coming for them and then-- he wakes up.
We then rewind: Jones is packing for a trip to the Southwest when a noted older Arctic explorer comes to him to give Jones his diary and die of the lingering effects of an assassination attempt. (The author's note at the end is very interesting and notes that this was a real guy and he really did die after getting hit by a car.)
Nazis try to steal the diary on a train while Jones sleeps! This is exciting! Then Jones goes to drop off the dead man's body with his niece and learns something about his Arctic explorations and Nazis attack! Still exciting, yeah?
Then there's an attempted bank robbery with gangsters, which Indy gets involved in (only after the gangster tries to shoot a dog), and at that point, finally, the Nazis make off with the diary. (There's actually a cute moment that I can imagine in the movie, where a waitress -- excited by all the shooting or worried this might be her last moment? -- kisses Indy. Hmmm, come to think of it, I think the niece also makes a pass at Indy. And just to spoil the surprise, later another woman makes a pass at Indy, following the rule of threes, I guess.)
Oh well, says Jones, and goes off to do his Southwestern dig. There he has a little adventure getting lost underground but is able to find his way out thanks to explorer Ulla, who then agrees to go with him for some reason I can't remember. I think army intelligence wants his advice or guidance on some Nazi maneuvers around the Arctic, possibly because his ex-girlfriend is leading a Nazi expedition. There's also a thing about a lost artifact that maybe cursed Indy and said girlfriend, and to get it, Indy needs to make a deal with Belloq in New Orleans around Mardi Gras.
(And I'm going through this plot carefully now just to have some firm ground later when I complain about this book.)
Indy leads the expedition, finds his cursed artifact (a crystal skull), finds the Nazis, and ends up on an Arctic adventure to the center of the Earth (a few miles down) -- which is where the story meets up with the prologue. Indy and team open a portal to Agartha, who defeat the Nazis, then wipe their minds (consensually), and Indy is returned to the surface, having defeated the Nazis.
Oh, geez, I forgot to mention: Indy meets his ex, now working for the Nazis, who explains that she had psychic visions of death and believed the best way to avoid total war was to let the Nazis win; Indy says something or other to convince her, and she takes off her uniform and is shot by a Nazi.
Yeah, so? A friend and I used to have a podcast where we covered the first page of any book, and since we often just pulled off the shelves and/or pulled books specific for guests, we had a lot of tie-in fiction. Tie-in fiction is interesting to me because the purposes and ... let's say, affordances, are different. That is, let's say one of the jobs of fiction -- one of the handles by which readers hold onto the story -- is through the creation of character.
Now on one side of the character creation spectrum, maybe, there's cliche, archetype, trope -- you don't need a lot of space to develop a picture of the strong-jawed pulp hero or the wise crone or the bumbling servant. At least, not after those characters have been around a while. And on the other side, there's the realist, say, Jamesian view of a singular person, built up over hundreds of pages. (Hmmm, if I were still in academia, I'd be tempted to pitch a course on American fiction, something like from "James to the CIA", given the backing of and political uses of realist, character-focused fiction mid-century. Luckily, I'm not in that world anymore!)
And maybe in the middle, we have tie-in fiction -- or any sort of fan-fiction or continuation of existing stories where the characters are not just given to the author beforehand, but in some ways, given to the reader. Like, when I read, let's say, a Buffy comic book, I don't need to invent a voice for the characters -- I know them from the TV show. So the job here of the author is less creating a character than keeping them true to the original depiction(s). (Maybe the author of long-running series also has this issue?)
Alternately, one of the specific possibilities of tie-in fiction is not merely to replay the character that we know, but perhaps to show more. This is specifically a possibility of tie-in novelizations, i.e., a novel can show us what Darth Vader was thinking in a moment where the movie could just show us what he did. But still, non-novelization tie-ins might also allow this, as they, say, show us some internal thought process that sheds light on what we've seen elsewhere.
(Here's one counter-example of a non-novelization: in the early Pirates of the Caribbean, we've seen Jack Sparrow stumble through all sorts of dangers and survive by pure luck, but in the third Pirates of the Caribbean (maybe), we see him plan one of his elaborate Rube Goldberg-esque escapes. It's very dumb, but maybe shows what I'm talking about: in narrative X, we see someone doing something that sheds light on narrative Y.)
The other thing a tie-in can do, of course, is play the hits, introduce all the fan-loved characters, lines, and events. Fan-service of this sort gets a bad reputation, largely because it's done poorly and has no internal logic. (Or, like the droids showing up in the prequels, really fucks the narrative.) But there's nothing inherently wrong in, say, watching Conan hew through another sorcerer.
OK, enough theory, how does this book stack up? Indy is largely fine, though I'm a little confused by Indy saying to the Nazis, "what you didn't count on is that love is eternal. [...] You don't know the power of love because all you have is hate, and that hate has turned your hearts to stone." That doesn't really sound like Indy, and it doesn't really shed light on the Indy we see in other stories. But he goes through a lot of the usual stuff -- shooting, using his whip, solving puzzles, assembling a team to help him (the pilot, the techie kid, the two-fisted adventuress).
Now, if you had Indy with that team beating Nazis to a hollow earth, that might be enough.
But why is this book plotted so oddly? Why does Indy meet Nazis, see that they're after this journal, and then continue with his Southwestern exploration? Why do we have anything about his ex-girlfriend and the search for the crystal skull artifact?
And the answer for that -- this dummy just realized -- is that this book isn't totally complete in the way that, say, the original movies can pretty much be taken one-by-one: the whole thing about the crystal skull and the psychic Alecia Dunstin are from the earlier book -- that this book is actually the third in something of a loose quadrilogy.
Which is an interesting choice for a tie-in novel. If I were the line editor, I would plan on each novel being randomly picked up by an Indy fan, rather than plan a series like some prestige TV, with a long story between the episodes. So that explains some of the odd plotting.
Not sure it explains Indy's speech about the power of love, though.
And it doesn't quite make the ending particularly satisfying. I enjoyed the author's note on the history of Hollow Earth theories, but nothing could really make the narrative work when it ends with the revelation in the last 20 pages about a secret world and the deus ex machina of that world saving Indy and then having them all forget it.
And then I read it because... I don't know, I wanted something dumb to punish my brain, or something.
Reader, I sort of got what I wanted.
What? We open with Indiana Jones and a few friends stuck in dead-end tunnel with Nazis coming for them and then-- he wakes up.
We then rewind: Jones is packing for a trip to the Southwest when a noted older Arctic explorer comes to him to give Jones his diary and die of the lingering effects of an assassination attempt. (The author's note at the end is very interesting and notes that this was a real guy and he really did die after getting hit by a car.)
Nazis try to steal the diary on a train while Jones sleeps! This is exciting! Then Jones goes to drop off the dead man's body with his niece and learns something about his Arctic explorations and Nazis attack! Still exciting, yeah?
Then there's an attempted bank robbery with gangsters, which Indy gets involved in (only after the gangster tries to shoot a dog), and at that point, finally, the Nazis make off with the diary. (There's actually a cute moment that I can imagine in the movie, where a waitress -- excited by all the shooting or worried this might be her last moment? -- kisses Indy. Hmmm, come to think of it, I think the niece also makes a pass at Indy. And just to spoil the surprise, later another woman makes a pass at Indy, following the rule of threes, I guess.)
Oh well, says Jones, and goes off to do his Southwestern dig. There he has a little adventure getting lost underground but is able to find his way out thanks to explorer Ulla, who then agrees to go with him for some reason I can't remember. I think army intelligence wants his advice or guidance on some Nazi maneuvers around the Arctic, possibly because his ex-girlfriend is leading a Nazi expedition. There's also a thing about a lost artifact that maybe cursed Indy and said girlfriend, and to get it, Indy needs to make a deal with Belloq in New Orleans around Mardi Gras.
(And I'm going through this plot carefully now just to have some firm ground later when I complain about this book.)
Indy leads the expedition, finds his cursed artifact (a crystal skull), finds the Nazis, and ends up on an Arctic adventure to the center of the Earth (a few miles down) -- which is where the story meets up with the prologue. Indy and team open a portal to Agartha, who defeat the Nazis, then wipe their minds (consensually), and Indy is returned to the surface, having defeated the Nazis.
Oh, geez, I forgot to mention: Indy meets his ex, now working for the Nazis, who explains that she had psychic visions of death and believed the best way to avoid total war was to let the Nazis win; Indy says something or other to convince her, and she takes off her uniform and is shot by a Nazi.
Yeah, so? A friend and I used to have a podcast where we covered the first page of any book, and since we often just pulled off the shelves and/or pulled books specific for guests, we had a lot of tie-in fiction. Tie-in fiction is interesting to me because the purposes and ... let's say, affordances, are different. That is, let's say one of the jobs of fiction -- one of the handles by which readers hold onto the story -- is through the creation of character.
Now on one side of the character creation spectrum, maybe, there's cliche, archetype, trope -- you don't need a lot of space to develop a picture of the strong-jawed pulp hero or the wise crone or the bumbling servant. At least, not after those characters have been around a while. And on the other side, there's the realist, say, Jamesian view of a singular person, built up over hundreds of pages. (Hmmm, if I were still in academia, I'd be tempted to pitch a course on American fiction, something like from "James to the CIA", given the backing of and political uses of realist, character-focused fiction mid-century. Luckily, I'm not in that world anymore!)
And maybe in the middle, we have tie-in fiction -- or any sort of fan-fiction or continuation of existing stories where the characters are not just given to the author beforehand, but in some ways, given to the reader. Like, when I read, let's say, a Buffy comic book, I don't need to invent a voice for the characters -- I know them from the TV show. So the job here of the author is less creating a character than keeping them true to the original depiction(s). (Maybe the author of long-running series also has this issue?)
Alternately, one of the specific possibilities of tie-in fiction is not merely to replay the character that we know, but perhaps to show more. This is specifically a possibility of tie-in novelizations, i.e., a novel can show us what Darth Vader was thinking in a moment where the movie could just show us what he did. But still, non-novelization tie-ins might also allow this, as they, say, show us some internal thought process that sheds light on what we've seen elsewhere.
(Here's one counter-example of a non-novelization: in the early Pirates of the Caribbean, we've seen Jack Sparrow stumble through all sorts of dangers and survive by pure luck, but in the third Pirates of the Caribbean (maybe), we see him plan one of his elaborate Rube Goldberg-esque escapes. It's very dumb, but maybe shows what I'm talking about: in narrative X, we see someone doing something that sheds light on narrative Y.)
The other thing a tie-in can do, of course, is play the hits, introduce all the fan-loved characters, lines, and events. Fan-service of this sort gets a bad reputation, largely because it's done poorly and has no internal logic. (Or, like the droids showing up in the prequels, really fucks the narrative.) But there's nothing inherently wrong in, say, watching Conan hew through another sorcerer.
OK, enough theory, how does this book stack up? Indy is largely fine, though I'm a little confused by Indy saying to the Nazis, "what you didn't count on is that love is eternal. [...] You don't know the power of love because all you have is hate, and that hate has turned your hearts to stone." That doesn't really sound like Indy, and it doesn't really shed light on the Indy we see in other stories. But he goes through a lot of the usual stuff -- shooting, using his whip, solving puzzles, assembling a team to help him (the pilot, the techie kid, the two-fisted adventuress).
Now, if you had Indy with that team beating Nazis to a hollow earth, that might be enough.
But why is this book plotted so oddly? Why does Indy meet Nazis, see that they're after this journal, and then continue with his Southwestern exploration? Why do we have anything about his ex-girlfriend and the search for the crystal skull artifact?
And the answer for that -- this dummy just realized -- is that this book isn't totally complete in the way that, say, the original movies can pretty much be taken one-by-one: the whole thing about the crystal skull and the psychic Alecia Dunstin are from the earlier book -- that this book is actually the third in something of a loose quadrilogy.
Which is an interesting choice for a tie-in novel. If I were the line editor, I would plan on each novel being randomly picked up by an Indy fan, rather than plan a series like some prestige TV, with a long story between the episodes. So that explains some of the odd plotting.
Not sure it explains Indy's speech about the power of love, though.
And it doesn't quite make the ending particularly satisfying. I enjoyed the author's note on the history of Hollow Earth theories, but nothing could really make the narrative work when it ends with the revelation in the last 20 pages about a secret world and the deus ex machina of that world saving Indy and then having them all forget it.
July 19, 2014
It has to be difficult taking on a character created by someone else and getting everything right.
It is obviously a little difficult for Max McCoy.
There was just something off about Jones' characterization in Hollow Earth. I can't quite put my finger on it. There were moments when it felt like Dr. Jones, and others where it felt like someone trying his hardest to be Indy and not quite hitting the mark.
Then there is the story itself, which feels more like three stories mashed into one globe-hopping extravaganza (the crystal skull storyline especially felt forced and extremely out of place in the rest of the adventure). It's almost like McCoy wasn't sure what story he really wanted to tell, so he told them all. The cameo by Belloq was a nice touch, though.
Now don't get me wrong, this is certainly an enjoyable read full of Indiana Jones style action and adventure, but it feels more like Rick O'Connell or other later Jones-like characters instead of Dr. Jones himself.
Also, several of the crystal skull elements of the story rang a little familiar to Indy 4, and considering this book was written at least ten years before it, I'm left with some rather perplexing questions about the origins of George Lucas' concept.
It is obviously a little difficult for Max McCoy.
There was just something off about Jones' characterization in Hollow Earth. I can't quite put my finger on it. There were moments when it felt like Dr. Jones, and others where it felt like someone trying his hardest to be Indy and not quite hitting the mark.
Then there is the story itself, which feels more like three stories mashed into one globe-hopping extravaganza (the crystal skull storyline especially felt forced and extremely out of place in the rest of the adventure). It's almost like McCoy wasn't sure what story he really wanted to tell, so he told them all. The cameo by Belloq was a nice touch, though.
Now don't get me wrong, this is certainly an enjoyable read full of Indiana Jones style action and adventure, but it feels more like Rick O'Connell or other later Jones-like characters instead of Dr. Jones himself.
Also, several of the crystal skull elements of the story rang a little familiar to Indy 4, and considering this book was written at least ten years before it, I'm left with some rather perplexing questions about the origins of George Lucas' concept.
March 3, 2015
This novel takes you into the fun action world of Indiana Jones. If you liked the movies you should give this book a read. It has many intense action scenes. Indiana Jones has to solve the adventure in order to accomplish his goal. Marcus Brody I think is in the book, in fact I believe he's the only other character from the movies that was allowed in the books.
The adventure includes Jones taking out an expedition. Like any good Indiana Jones story there are plenty of obstacles for Indy to overcome. So if you like Jones give this a read!
The adventure includes Jones taking out an expedition. Like any good Indiana Jones story there are plenty of obstacles for Indy to overcome. So if you like Jones give this a read!
May 12, 2008
Fun! Mediocre writing, mediocre pacing, decent story + Indiana Jones = Win in my book.
March 18, 2018
Great Story... loved it... second time reading it!
March 27, 2013
first part, treasure hunting, boring and long. Second part, leading to the cold, better. Final part, the best but unfortunately the shortest.
Want to read
April 13, 2013This will be my guilty (not really though) pleasure reading when I can get my hands on a copy. Tee hee!
June 9, 2025
If the title of this novel makes you think, hang on, haven’t we done this topic before? We have. I've previously reviewed Indiana Jones and the Interior World, where we had the concept of a hollow earth with a race of people living inside it. Page after page of shape-shifting people who live beyond portals that you have to drink a magical potion to enter or exit… and a dragon… and a giant… and a dinosaur. Yeah.
That book ended with Indy completely gung-ho to tell a journalist all about the hollow earth, so when he encounters the idea again in this book, the silence from the character is deafening. And reminds me of a more general comment I made when reviewing, Indiana Jones and the Philosopher’s Stone that there seemed to be a real lack of care in the editorial process for these books. Which extended, it seems, to the range editors not even pulling up the author and saying, hey mate, we’ve done that topic already.
Now, all of that said, is Max McCoy a better Indiana Jones author than Martin ‘I love planes!’ Caidin or even Rob MacGregor? For mine, yes, he is. And is McCoy’s conceptualisation of ‘the hollow earth’ much better in this novel than the one in Interior World? Yes, it is. So I don’t want this review to get off on the wrong foot by saying any of this stuff upfront. This is a good book, with an imaginative theme, and it’s really well done. It’s just a shame the theme had already been done just five novels ago in the range.
Plot-wise, this is a winner. McCoy manages to pull out a different piece to both Philosopher’s Stone (fascists, Italy), and Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs (warlords, China), and delivers Nazis on US soil, a wonderfully scenery-chewing Rene Belloq sequence in New Orleans, and some adventuring in the arctic circle. Readers still suffering PTSD from Martin Caidin’s obsession with adding as much aviation as possible to Indiana Jones novels may get some cold shakes when the story heads to the arctic – and not because of the weather. Joking aside, McCoy continues to prove why he’s the best Indy author.
A real stand out character in this novel is Ulla Tornaes – a Danish explorer who rescues Indy in the Guadalupe Mountains on the New Mexico-Texas border. She then accompanies him to the Arctic – via meeting Belloq in New Orleans – in his ongoing quest in the McCoy novels to recover the Crystal Skull of Cozan. As a tough, resourceful female adventurer (with no interest in men, it should be added), she provides a new kind of female companion for Indy, and the book’s all the more refreshing for it.
When I mentioned Interior World earlier, I also touched on its sheer weirdness in many places. It gets so outlandish that, near the end, Marcus Brody has to give Indy a list of possible explanations for the things he’s seen – shape-shifters, kings, dragons, dinosaurs – only to conclude that Indy was mostly just on drugs. By contrast, Hollow Earth ventures into the mystical once Indy and his team reach the hollow earth, but it never gets that bizarre. I appreciated the restraint. We expect some wild, supernatural elements in an Indiana Jones story – and we do get them here, make no mistake – but it cannot be overstated how, in contrast, Interior World seriously over-egged the pudding on the same topic.
The biggest takeaway here is if you want to read one Indy novel about our hero adventuring into a world beneath our own, read Hollow Earth over Interior World.
That book ended with Indy completely gung-ho to tell a journalist all about the hollow earth, so when he encounters the idea again in this book, the silence from the character is deafening. And reminds me of a more general comment I made when reviewing, Indiana Jones and the Philosopher’s Stone that there seemed to be a real lack of care in the editorial process for these books. Which extended, it seems, to the range editors not even pulling up the author and saying, hey mate, we’ve done that topic already.
Now, all of that said, is Max McCoy a better Indiana Jones author than Martin ‘I love planes!’ Caidin or even Rob MacGregor? For mine, yes, he is. And is McCoy’s conceptualisation of ‘the hollow earth’ much better in this novel than the one in Interior World? Yes, it is. So I don’t want this review to get off on the wrong foot by saying any of this stuff upfront. This is a good book, with an imaginative theme, and it’s really well done. It’s just a shame the theme had already been done just five novels ago in the range.
Plot-wise, this is a winner. McCoy manages to pull out a different piece to both Philosopher’s Stone (fascists, Italy), and Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs (warlords, China), and delivers Nazis on US soil, a wonderfully scenery-chewing Rene Belloq sequence in New Orleans, and some adventuring in the arctic circle. Readers still suffering PTSD from Martin Caidin’s obsession with adding as much aviation as possible to Indiana Jones novels may get some cold shakes when the story heads to the arctic – and not because of the weather. Joking aside, McCoy continues to prove why he’s the best Indy author.
A real stand out character in this novel is Ulla Tornaes – a Danish explorer who rescues Indy in the Guadalupe Mountains on the New Mexico-Texas border. She then accompanies him to the Arctic – via meeting Belloq in New Orleans – in his ongoing quest in the McCoy novels to recover the Crystal Skull of Cozan. As a tough, resourceful female adventurer (with no interest in men, it should be added), she provides a new kind of female companion for Indy, and the book’s all the more refreshing for it.
When I mentioned Interior World earlier, I also touched on its sheer weirdness in many places. It gets so outlandish that, near the end, Marcus Brody has to give Indy a list of possible explanations for the things he’s seen – shape-shifters, kings, dragons, dinosaurs – only to conclude that Indy was mostly just on drugs. By contrast, Hollow Earth ventures into the mystical once Indy and his team reach the hollow earth, but it never gets that bizarre. I appreciated the restraint. We expect some wild, supernatural elements in an Indiana Jones story – and we do get them here, make no mistake – but it cannot be overstated how, in contrast, Interior World seriously over-egged the pudding on the same topic.
The biggest takeaway here is if you want to read one Indy novel about our hero adventuring into a world beneath our own, read Hollow Earth over Interior World.
January 24, 2017
Indiana Jones' trip to New Mexico did not start well. A noted arctic explorer died in his living room. A team of Nazis, who killed the explorer, are now trying to kill him in order to obtain a mysterious box the old man had given him. New Mexico didn't go too poorly, outside of muggings, snakes, and near-drowning. Now teamed with a Danish scientist, a backwater pilot, and a handful of American military men, Indy's life gets a lot harder and a lot colder as they venture to the frozen north to find a place of power before the Nazis.
I've never read an Indiana Jones book before. Young Indy? Oh my, yes. I had, like, twelve of them when I was a kid. Sadly, they were donated. And then they died in a flood. I miss them. You might imagine that's why I picked this book up. It's only part of the reason, actually. A small part. "Indiana Jones" caught my eye, but "Hollow Earth" sold me, because of John & Carole Barrowman's Hollow Earth trilogy. A weak link, perhaps, but still. It got me to read it, right?
Right.
Now, I'll be honest. This is kind of a terrible book. It's pure supernatural, action-adventure nonsense, featuring one of my favorite perpetrators of the genre. A slice of pure beach-reading fluff pie, I did enjoy this book. It's fun, pretty fast-paced, and has some entertaining and likable [though heavily trope-ish] characters. I particularly enjoyed Pavel Chekov [circa new Trek] showing up as Sparks, the youthful radio savant who joined the military to help support his single mother. I even got to see my series-favorite, Marcus Brody, however briefly.
If you're reading this, you probably have an idea of what you're getting into. Fun. Action. Indy getting the tar beaten out of him by some Nazis, and then returning the favor with gusto.
I've never read an Indiana Jones book before. Young Indy? Oh my, yes. I had, like, twelve of them when I was a kid. Sadly, they were donated. And then they died in a flood. I miss them. You might imagine that's why I picked this book up. It's only part of the reason, actually. A small part. "Indiana Jones" caught my eye, but "Hollow Earth" sold me, because of John & Carole Barrowman's Hollow Earth trilogy. A weak link, perhaps, but still. It got me to read it, right?
Right.
Now, I'll be honest. This is kind of a terrible book. It's pure supernatural, action-adventure nonsense, featuring one of my favorite perpetrators of the genre. A slice of pure beach-reading fluff pie, I did enjoy this book. It's fun, pretty fast-paced, and has some entertaining and likable [though heavily trope-ish] characters. I particularly enjoyed Pavel Chekov [circa new Trek] showing up as Sparks, the youthful radio savant who joined the military to help support his single mother. I even got to see my series-favorite, Marcus Brody, however briefly.
If you're reading this, you probably have an idea of what you're getting into. Fun. Action. Indy getting the tar beaten out of him by some Nazis, and then returning the favor with gusto.
April 29, 2022
I remember loving this book when I read it back in my 20s. But rereading it now, it isn't quite what I remembered. The action and flow are great, but I'm not as quite excited about the way Indy was portrayed. He's a bit too well known (he kept being called famous) and a bit too straight-laced. A character even referred to him as being scared of sex, which is so not how he was portrayed in the movies. Also, the book could have used an extra run-through by an editor. There are odd little inconsistencies (though not as bad as the next book in the whole series where a whole time travel plot was excised from the novel yet there are still little pieces of it hanging around, I was so confused the first time I read that one until I understood what was going on). Also, like a good Indy movie, the action never stops, and we move from one setpiece to another, sometimes I would have liked to give a bit more space to get my bearings before everything blows up. Maybe I've grown out of these novels a bit, or maybe I'm just more more aware of what makes good writing. Nevertheless, it was a fun adventure romp that I very much enjoyed in my 20s and somewhat enjoyed in my 40s.
June 15, 2023
If you’re looking for a fun Indiana Jones adventure, this is a pretty good book. There’s a lot of action and Indy feels like Indy. You also get to see him defeat the Nazis yet again, and let’s face it, it’s always fun when Indy to beat the bad guys. The problem with the book is the title. It leads the reader to think that the story will take place in the Hollow Earth—a place most writers depict as being composed of huge caverns with luscious plant life and animals that is often left over from the Jurassic period or similar long-ago ages. That is not what McCoy presents. His hollow earth is a series of caves that span the globe and while there is a secret to be discovered in one of these caves, it isn’t a Hollow Earth style secret. As if all of that isn’t bad enough (and it was very disappointing), Indy doesn’t even get to McCoy’s underground cave network until very late in the story. So, in summation, this is a fun adventure that is terribly named.
March 18, 2023
A fun, but forgettable adventure. Probably my favorite of the McCoy books so far,although that could be the recently read bias kicking in.
If you want well-written, more grounded novels focusing on Indy, Rob MacGregor's books are for you. They're perfect for bridging the gap between Young Indiana Jones and the films. However, if you want stories that are a bit closer to the films, full of macguffins and cheesy fight scenes, these are the books for you. Both are great in their own way and I'll be sharing my final thoughts on them after reading the last Max McCoy Indy novel.
I've got one left of his books before diving into the two mutually agreed worst books in the Indy prequel series: Sky Pirates and the White Witch by Martin Caidin. Those were released before the Max McCoy books, but I wanted to save em for last.
If you want well-written, more grounded novels focusing on Indy, Rob MacGregor's books are for you. They're perfect for bridging the gap between Young Indiana Jones and the films. However, if you want stories that are a bit closer to the films, full of macguffins and cheesy fight scenes, these are the books for you. Both are great in their own way and I'll be sharing my final thoughts on them after reading the last Max McCoy Indy novel.
I've got one left of his books before diving into the two mutually agreed worst books in the Indy prequel series: Sky Pirates and the White Witch by Martin Caidin. Those were released before the Max McCoy books, but I wanted to save em for last.
April 14, 2018
САЩ, 1934г. (една година преди събитията в "Храма на обречените"). Индиана Джоунс е напът да се захване с истинска археологическа дейност (Сефте!) и да си даде почивка от окровените грабежи, a.k.a. "It belongs in a museum." Провидението обаче отново е решило да кали характера и тялото му: от пещите на Ню Мексико и Луизиана, в ледовете на северния Атлантик и Исландия. В ръцете му попада мистериозен камък, който осигурява достъп до вътрешността на Земята и, както говорят легендите, расата от свръхчовеци, които я обитават. Оттук всичко тръгва по познатия ни сценарий. Инди се впуска в поредната си авантюра, а по петите му са дружките на Хитлер от окултното общество на Туле (все образци на рационалната мисъл).
П.П. Научаваме и съдбата на Амундсен.
П.П.2 Има и млада гиздава датчанка.
П.П. Научаваме и съдбата на Амундсен.
П.П.2 Има и млада гиздава датчанка.
December 23, 2020
For all the title will lead you to believe this adventure will be in the hollow Earth, don't hold your breath. Only about 5% of it is set there, and even then, you won't know it for much of the time. It's still an adventure story, though, so the journey there is interesting, and as we're getting closer to the time of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Nazis are making more of an appearance. So things are kinda-sorta coming together.
I'll say this, though: Loving Indiana Jones is a perilous thing. So far, all of his love interests have wound up dead.
I'll say this, though: Loving Indiana Jones is a perilous thing. So far, all of his love interests have wound up dead.
June 12, 2023
Indiana's search for a certain treasure (apparently found and lost in a previous book) takes him from Navajo gold to Ultima Thule and the polar entrance to an underground world. The story is a mash-up of fiction, myth/legend, and history. (A 10-page afterword untangles which parts are which.) There is a duel episode which is entirely gratuitous and seems out of character for Indiana Jones, but aside from that, the story and characters are satisfying. Don't expect more from the story than straight adventure mixed with a little humor (perhaps too little), and you should be well pleased.
June 28, 2018
Highly enjoyable if not overtaxing. This episode of the "Indy" prequels deals with the hollow earth theory. What do you end up with , a worthy edition to the universe. Which eventually leads Indy to the north pole, in pursuit of Nazi`s and a certain crystal skull. Good charcterisation and level of prose. Shame their not on kindle but who knows after the next film,as there are some very good quotes.
March 7, 2019
This must be one of the prequels nearing the time of the main books made into movies. Indy faces off against some rather nasty Nazi characters and an appearance by the scummy Rene Belliq.
With adventures from the northeast USA to New Mexico and New Orleans to the North Pole, Indy along with the sarcastic Ulla (a Norwegian caver) seeks to rescue his red-haired girlfriend from the clutches of the sadistic SS in search of Vril, a legendary power for the Thule Society.
With adventures from the northeast USA to New Mexico and New Orleans to the North Pole, Indy along with the sarcastic Ulla (a Norwegian caver) seeks to rescue his red-haired girlfriend from the clutches of the sadistic SS in search of Vril, a legendary power for the Thule Society.
August 15, 2024
Unlike all the other Indiana Jones books I've added on Goodreads, which I've only read for the 1st time either this year or the last, I have read Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth before. This copy that I have now recently came in the mail. But I used to have one that was given to me by my high school principal when I was a teenager. And I read it back then, which was over 15 years ago. I remember loving it at that time. And I still loved it now!
November 9, 2021
A fun novel, and McCoy gets close to the spirit of the films. It helps if you have read Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, to see the similarities.
*spoilers*
The memory wipe is a hackneyed cliche.
*spoilers*
The memory wipe is a hackneyed cliche.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2023
3.5 Stars
Another good adventure!
However, there is an odd subplot with Indy and his rival, Belloq, that felt tacked on. I also didn't care for one major happening that I won't get into here, but I wasn't happy with how it turned out. Overall, though, another fun novel.
Another good adventure!
However, there is an odd subplot with Indy and his rival, Belloq, that felt tacked on. I also didn't care for one major happening that I won't get into here, but I wasn't happy with how it turned out. Overall, though, another fun novel.
May 2, 2023
I usually enjoy The Indiana Jones series; this one didn't seem like Indy. I quit reading at pg 271, I just didn't care anymore. Too much info about airplanes and their workings. Who cares? Also, the laborious trek thru the caves was soooo tedious. Blah...
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