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Kronos Rising #2
Kraken: Volume One
"People's Choice Award - 2016 Book of the Year" -Geek Ireland
30 years have passed since the destruction of Paradise Cove. Since then, pliosaurs the size of whales have wreaked havoc on the world's oceans. Despite tragic losses, Garm Braddock and his brother Dirk wage a bloody war of attrition against the voracious marine reptiles: Garm from the helm of the anti-biologic submarine Gryphon and his brother from the top-secret military research facility known as Tartarus.
In spite of ongoing attempts to destroy them, the prehistoric predators that rose from the ashes of Diablo Caldera continue to multiply. They are bringers of death, and via more than just their deadly jaws. Their blood contains a primeval pathogen so virulent that, left unchecked, could spell the end of mammalian life.
Meanwhile, in the icy darkness of the deep, an evil as ancient as the dinosaurs stirs in response to the changes in Earth's oceans. Rising hungrily to the surface, it brings with it an intellect as cold as the abyss and an irrepressible need to destroy and devour.
And conquer.
30 years have passed since the destruction of Paradise Cove. Since then, pliosaurs the size of whales have wreaked havoc on the world's oceans. Despite tragic losses, Garm Braddock and his brother Dirk wage a bloody war of attrition against the voracious marine reptiles: Garm from the helm of the anti-biologic submarine Gryphon and his brother from the top-secret military research facility known as Tartarus.
In spite of ongoing attempts to destroy them, the prehistoric predators that rose from the ashes of Diablo Caldera continue to multiply. They are bringers of death, and via more than just their deadly jaws. Their blood contains a primeval pathogen so virulent that, left unchecked, could spell the end of mammalian life.
Meanwhile, in the icy darkness of the deep, an evil as ancient as the dinosaurs stirs in response to the changes in Earth's oceans. Rising hungrily to the surface, it brings with it an intellect as cold as the abyss and an irrepressible need to destroy and devour.
And conquer.
554 pages, Hardcover
First published April 24, 2016
223 people are currently reading
355 people want to read
About the author
Max Hawthorne
15 books86 followersMax Hawthorne is an American author. He grew up in Philadelphia, where he graduated with a BA from Central High School and a BFA from the University of the Arts. He is the author of Memoirs of a Gym Rat, an outrageous exposé of the health club industry, as well as the award-winning Kronos Rising novel series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
September 11, 2021
3.5 Stars
This was a very long drawn out book that still managed to end without getting to the point. Throughout the book sure there’s development and the like but as far as the point of this one I can’t tell. It’s been years since the opening of the Caldera and the release of countless dangers including the Pliosaur. Shockingly though this book introduces two more predators: Kraken aka an unimaginably large breeding pair of octopi and at least one Megalodon. There are a myriad of brutal fights between the creatures and many other ocean animals such as whales. Like in most sci-fi books it felt rather brutal especially the constant death but that’s the food chain for you!
Another thing to note is it’s been a few months since I’d read book one and damn am I glad I had some time away. This is because the book features two brother who are the children of the two MCs from book one. Only both are gone and dead, having suffered pretty horrible ends. I’m not gonna lie it took me by surprise to hear about their deaths especially them being so brutal. The book was long and just a whole lot of buildup it seems for the next book which is disappointing cause I really wanted to see how things played out and which creature would prevail in the ocean. The Pliosaurs have bred openly for the past 30 years and both the Meg and Kraken females laid their broods so things are only going to get more dangerous. Why people still even go near the ocean at this point astounds me but I am finding this crazy insane new world full of monsters to be grossly addicting!
This was a very long drawn out book that still managed to end without getting to the point. Throughout the book sure there’s development and the like but as far as the point of this one I can’t tell. It’s been years since the opening of the Caldera and the release of countless dangers including the Pliosaur. Shockingly though this book introduces two more predators: Kraken aka an unimaginably large breeding pair of octopi and at least one Megalodon. There are a myriad of brutal fights between the creatures and many other ocean animals such as whales. Like in most sci-fi books it felt rather brutal especially the constant death but that’s the food chain for you!
Another thing to note is it’s been a few months since I’d read book one and damn am I glad I had some time away. This is because the book features two brother who are the children of the two MCs from book one. Only both are gone and dead, having suffered pretty horrible ends. I’m not gonna lie it took me by surprise to hear about their deaths especially them being so brutal. The book was long and just a whole lot of buildup it seems for the next book which is disappointing cause I really wanted to see how things played out and which creature would prevail in the ocean. The Pliosaurs have bred openly for the past 30 years and both the Meg and Kraken females laid their broods so things are only going to get more dangerous. Why people still even go near the ocean at this point astounds me but I am finding this crazy insane new world full of monsters to be grossly addicting!
June 30, 2016
Well Max, here's my long overdue review of the sequel to one of the best works of paleo-fiction in many years. The book begins some 30 years after the events of the first book, where a lone female Kronosaurus imperator wreaked havoc on the coastal Florida town of Paradise Cove and caused all manner of death and destruction in her wake before she was slain by Jake Braddock and Amara Takagi. Flashforward three decades later, their sons Garm and Dirk continue the battle against the ravenous predators on two different fronts: Garm commanding an anti-biologic submarine the Gryphon and battling the creatures on the high seas, and Dirk from the confines of the Tartarus military research facility, where he works to try and better understand the pliosaurs, and one with the use of high-tech cybernetic neural implants on the captive pliosaurs held there, to also hopefully use them against their wild bretheren. The action does not let up from the beginning of the book to the end which sets up the second half of the story in Volume 2. The book overall feels a lot like Starship Troopers, Aliens, or similar movies which deal with the military or groups of people battling hordes of monsters. There are a variety of terrifying prehistoric beasties in this book, starting off with the returning Kronosaurs of which quite a few of them are given names and have individual personalities for both the captive ones at Tartarus and the Ancient Typhon whom is the oldest living pliosaur in the series.The dreaded Xiphactinus make a few small appearances throughout the book, and even another iconic big-sea predator shows up towards the end, also setting up for future books. The titular Krakens however, stole the show for the sporadic appearances they had, sinking ships and killing people, or just going about trying to survive in a world that's changed from when they were the apex ocean predators. You also get to see parts of the story from the Kraken's POV and it is very fascinating to try and get in the mind of a creature that has intelligence capable of plotting and scheming in a non-human animal. The human characters definitely are once again among the strong suits of this story, with both Garm and Dirk given plenty of substance and depth along some some nuance. Garm the former heavyweight prize fighter in boxing and capable warrior/captain taking up after Jake and Dirk being the more intellectual brother and taking up after Amara. The other characters in the story also have nuance and depth to them, and are not stereotypes or cliches that you might see in other books. From Captian Natalya Dragunova, and so forth, every human character serves some purpose to this overarching story and no character is just used as "filler" or a throwaway to get eaten by one of the many monsters of the book. Be warned though, Max has put in a couple of sex scenes which do borderline on the porno side, but with that aside, this book is definitely a must buy for all fans of sea monster/prehistoric fiction stories. This book gets a full 5 out of 5 stars and I for one cannot wait to see where this story ends in Kraken Volume 2.
November 27, 2017
Not bad, but I wouldn't call it ''THE ULTIMATE CREATURE STORY!'' as so many others would put it. I definitely think it's leagues better than Alten's The Loch sequel Vostok (which I despised) and Meg: Nightstalkers (which I didn't even bother to finish). My biggest problem with this book is the pacing and the sex scenes. I'll get back to those in a bit. The Pacing problem is a bit of an awkward one to tackle because while thinking critically about this book, I kept remembering that I'm only dealing with HALF a story, it is called Volume 1. You spend A LOT of time in the Tartarus facility, and not enough on the ocean. Then there are the sex scenes. Look, I'm not saying sex doesn't belong in books, or that I'm against them. But DID THEY HAVE TO BE THIS LONG? There's sex scenes that feel like they go on for pages and pages. Pages that could've been used to further develop the plot, and they have such cringeworthy moments as, Russian Captain Natalya Dragunova (probably the most Soviet name I ever read) is having sex with Garm another Sub Captain, and then says ''Why do women only have two breasts? Dogs have about 8'' and bits of pretentious terminology in the text in the sex scenes as describing the male characters penises as ''Their manhood''. My absolute biggest problem with the sex scenes is that they happen for literally ANY reason. There's this bit where two characters have sex so that they don't agitate one of the Pliosaurs. And later one a character who'd been established as a lesbian literally like 3 pages later says the her male nerdy scientist pal ''I've decided I'm going to fuck you''. It's as if this was written by a 12 year old looking for ANY excuse for his characters to get naked.
Beyond that, though, it's mostly nitpicking. I do feel bad for the Pliosaurs in this book, but that's just a ME thing. I can't help it I love reptiles. Besides, that may have been intentional. Also, bit of a warning if you do pick this up be ready for a lot of technical jargon and paragraphs describing bits of machinery. I wasn't to bothered by these being a huge fan of Crichton's work, but some readers may not have the patience to sit through them. I was also bothered by such scientific innacuracies such as Pliosaurs having to lay eggs when in reality they gave birth like modern whales do. But, hey, it's fiction. Do I recommend this one? If you're like me who HATED Alten's latest cracks at Marine Terror, then, yes. This should help scratch that itch. If I could I'd give this one a 3.5 out of 5. But be warned, that this book is mostly buildup. And The Titular Kraken does not get discovered by the characters, but what you get of them is good enough. For now.
Beyond that, though, it's mostly nitpicking. I do feel bad for the Pliosaurs in this book, but that's just a ME thing. I can't help it I love reptiles. Besides, that may have been intentional. Also, bit of a warning if you do pick this up be ready for a lot of technical jargon and paragraphs describing bits of machinery. I wasn't to bothered by these being a huge fan of Crichton's work, but some readers may not have the patience to sit through them. I was also bothered by such scientific innacuracies such as Pliosaurs having to lay eggs when in reality they gave birth like modern whales do. But, hey, it's fiction. Do I recommend this one? If you're like me who HATED Alten's latest cracks at Marine Terror, then, yes. This should help scratch that itch. If I could I'd give this one a 3.5 out of 5. But be warned, that this book is mostly buildup. And The Titular Kraken does not get discovered by the characters, but what you get of them is good enough. For now.
May 16, 2019
This is the equivalent of a trashy romance novel or a moped, you know you shouldn't, but you do it anyway.
November 2, 2017
Where do I start? Whereas the first Kronos Rising book chilled my blood, Kraken made me hot. No, I’m not referring to the steamy love scenes, although I will admit they were so torrid I had to keep putting the book down to attack my poor husband! (Needless to say, he’s now a huge fan of the series) The story in Kraken was epic. There were terrifying marine beasts, some unexpected and tragic deaths, one of which shook me to my core, and the non-stop action and suspense that Hawthorne is famous for. Lots of new nasty things to worry about, too, and not just the Kraken itself. The pliosaur tape worm is hands down, the vilest, most disgusting creation ever, and I literally shuddered while reading that scene. Love the advanced tech, which was quite believable, and the exciting cast of characters really rounded things out nicely. Of course, this is just the first half of an epic adventure, and I’m getting impatient for Hawthorne to release the second half so I can find out what happens next. Come on, man, but don’t do this to me! Bring on Kronos Rising Kraken part 2!
August 26, 2016
Holy crap! The sequel to Kronos Rising by Max Hawthorne was like riding the roller coasters on the Jersey Shore. Non stop up and down action and a lot of screaming. The monsters were scary as hell, the characters like something from a Bond flick, and the battles big and bloody. There were some pretty hardcore sex scenes I didn't expect and they turned out to be a distraction. Not because they weren't good, they were too good! Great job. And now it's on to Kronos Rising Diablo!
May 27, 2016
This book is an awesome, unexpectedly different sequel to the amazing Kronos Rising. I ate it up. It's definitely not for kids or anyone squeamish (there's also some rather explicit sex scenes). I loved it, myself, and eagerly await the sequel! First pick up Kronos Rising, then after you've decimated that one, pick up Kronos Rising: Kraken (volume 1)!
June 22, 2016
I loved it
June 15, 2019
So I've been loving this series and I do like the writing a lot, but this one dragged a bit for me. I know we will get more answers in the next, which I've started already, but there was a lot of just touching on Amara's death that was a tad frustrating. I don't need to know exactly how and why she died up front, but the peeks at her death rather than getting to it took away from the story a bit.
Also we are introduced to megalodon and kraken in this book...but just that. I realize we are going to get a lot of human story in this, but I would've preferred a tad less and a bit more monster. I feel like this book got too human compared to the shorts and original story. More interactions would've been nice.
Also we are introduced to megalodon and kraken in this book...but just that. I realize we are going to get a lot of human story in this, but I would've preferred a tad less and a bit more monster. I feel like this book got too human compared to the shorts and original story. More interactions would've been nice.
June 7, 2017
Kronos Rising: Kraken, the follow up to Kronos Rising, was in a word AMAZING. After reading both novels Max Hawthorne makes me never, ever want to go near ANY BODY OF WATER, EVER!!! The way Mr. Hawthrone has us interacting with the monsters, I'm not sure I will be able to sleep at night. The fights were so real (monsters/and with one another) that I could see it all playing out in my head and what a fabulous movie it was, and some of the scenes, (well I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it) well got a little X -rated, but OMG. Max Hawthorne again I applaud you and look forward to the next. Now on to Diablo and Plague. Anxiously awaiting your next great story.
January 3, 2021
Seriously Good Series
Why have you been hiding from me? The first book in this series was a stand alone hit. Easily "Jaws 2.0." I can't figure out why it's not in theaters yet. Book two was a tiny little set-up for this one. Now we see how the long game is going to play out and this story is getting massive! What a wonderfully, wickedly twisted mind Mr Hawthorne has for plot formation. I absolutely love it. Between the Krakens, pliosaurs, megalodons and the rest, the oceans are getting too small for all of God's creatures to survive in and somebody's gonna have to go. I can't wait to find out who it is.
Why have you been hiding from me? The first book in this series was a stand alone hit. Easily "Jaws 2.0." I can't figure out why it's not in theaters yet. Book two was a tiny little set-up for this one. Now we see how the long game is going to play out and this story is getting massive! What a wonderfully, wickedly twisted mind Mr Hawthorne has for plot formation. I absolutely love it. Between the Krakens, pliosaurs, megalodons and the rest, the oceans are getting too small for all of God's creatures to survive in and somebody's gonna have to go. I can't wait to find out who it is.
August 9, 2025
A very good read.
Having read the previous 2 books, this is as good as book 1. (I didn't get book 2 at all !!)
This is about Jake and Amaras ' sons, and is set 30 years later on. It introduces 2 different sea monsters, and is absolutely brilliant. I really enjoyed reading this and am looking forward to the next book in the series.
Having read the previous 2 books, this is as good as book 1. (I didn't get book 2 at all !!)
This is about Jake and Amaras ' sons, and is set 30 years later on. It introduces 2 different sea monsters, and is absolutely brilliant. I really enjoyed reading this and am looking forward to the next book in the series.
Read
January 27, 2020Ok, but a bit of a disappointment as a sequel. I could see the plot coming right from the start, so the foreshadowing was a little clumsy. Or I'm very cynical, take your pick.
July 18, 2020
Takes of off 30 years after paradise cove
Good story, nice charactor development. Many graphic sex scenes turned me off. Interesting what a world would be like in 2045 with giant sea life making a mess of things.
Good story, nice charactor development. Many graphic sex scenes turned me off. Interesting what a world would be like in 2045 with giant sea life making a mess of things.
February 14, 2021
The women in this book are unreal. Like, oversexed and perfect. And the masculinity thing. Wow. His editors need to have a chat with him. All that aside, the science is cool and the monsters are cool. And the hunting and fight scenes are easy to imagine. So, good job.
April 15, 2022
Fantastic Story
This series is fantastic! I have read 3 books now and the story is fascinating and compelling. Man is destroying the oceans and then the Kronosaurs come in and kill off most of the whales. Characters are well written and believable.
This series is fantastic! I have read 3 books now and the story is fascinating and compelling. Man is destroying the oceans and then the Kronosaurs come in and kill off most of the whales. Characters are well written and believable.
March 3, 2018
Loved It ! had lots of action and adventure and had some scary creatures! love Max's writing style and enjoyed the length of the book
July 3, 2018
Fantastic book! Great series by a super talented writer. This series really is a must reaf foR anyone who enjoys marine terror.
August 17, 2018
Good escapist fare.
January 9, 2019
Worthy read
February 5, 2019
If you want enjoy a good thriller and want to get to know terrifying giant toothsome people-eating creatures, strap in and get ready to have a blast with reading time. You won't regret it.
September 29, 2019
I will have to write a review of this later.
May 23, 2020
Steven Altenji, aap thode side ho jaiye. There s a new king of masaaledaar sea monster books in town
Read
September 11, 2020loved it and can't wait to start volume 2!!!
March 20, 2021
It was good but I lost interest just more of book 1’
May 8, 2021
Very good book
A great addition to the series. Exciting and well written. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
A great addition to the series. Exciting and well written. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
May 12, 2021
Great read
Loved this book, Max once again keeps you turning pages and begging for more when you reach the end, can't wait to continue the story!
Loved this book, Max once again keeps you turning pages and begging for more when you reach the end, can't wait to continue the story!
Read
June 19, 2021I really hated this. I loved the Meg book series and found this to be so similar it’s borderline plagiarism
October 17, 2021
Great Monster Story
I enjoy mosterr stories and when they could be real just makes it better . I will be waiting on pins and needles for the next one
I enjoy mosterr stories and when they could be real just makes it better . I will be waiting on pins and needles for the next one
May 30, 2022
Wonderful
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews