Indiana Jones and the Interior World

Indiana Jones Universe

by Rob MacGregor

THE HIDDEN LAND BELOW

A strange mystery connects the whispering moai statues of Easter Island to the eerie ghost ship of Chiloe Island, leading Indiana Jones on a dangerous quest into a hidden interior world. Earlier Indy accidentally caused an imbalance between the two worlds when he disposed of a fabled but dangerous relic. Now, the leader of an unstoppable army uses this artifact to enter our world and form a deadly alliance with an even darker force...

For centuries man has told tales of a hollow earth, or an underworld, populated by a mysterious race and strange characters. Sometimes describing an underworld of death, sometimes another dimension, these stories tell of mermaids, ghost ships... and a cosmic balance that must be restored les the powers within march to conquer the outside world - and only Indiana Jones holds the key!

Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Action, Adult

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1992

About the author

Rob MacGregor is author of 19 novels, 14 non-fiction books, and has teamed with George Lucas and Peter Benchley. He is a winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award for mystery writing, and has been on the New York Times best-seller’s list. He writes both adult and young adult mysteries, adventure, and science fiction/fantasy. He’s best known for his seven Indiana Jones novels. He co-authored The Fog with Bruce Gernon, and with his wife, Trish, co-authored three books on synchronicity. His latest book is Aliens in the Backyard: UFO Encounters, Abductions, and Synchronicity. In his spare time, Rob teaches yoga and meditation.

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Indiana Jones and the Interior World might just be the worst book I have ever read. At the very least it is a strong contender.

To begin with, Rob MacGregor betrays the character of Indiana Jones. His Indiana is not just healthily skeptical, he’s idiotic. Imagine if Dana Scully had continued as a total unbeliever past the first season of X-Files. Well that is Indiana Jones in the Interior World. No matter how much evidence he is presented with, not matter how many mythical creatures he bumps into, no matter how much time and space he traverses, Indy believes in nothing until the last possible second. And when he does believe the new evidence is simply not strong enough for his total transformation.

But the book doesn’t just fail as an Indiana Jones novel, it fails as a work of fiction. It is a morass of cliché and silliness. It is an author trying to be clever and failing. It is an author wasting our time and his.

I had to finish so that I could write this review with a clear conscience, but I wish now that I had never read Indiana Jones and the Interior World. Do yourself a favour and stay away -- far, far away.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better in the series. As you can guess from the title, Indy journeys to the center of the Earth and encounters a magical race. My favorite part was the swamp, which was filled with many monsters. Overall, this series is very good.

[Keith W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought on a whim after finding it in a thrift store and realizing there are books about Indiana Jones discovering the hollow earth theory is real. Worth the 3 bucks and was an enjoyable enough read.

There’s definitely some things to like here if you enjoy pulp adventure and fantasy, though the fantasy stuff sometimes seems to push the boundaries of plausibility even further than anything in the movies which also push those boundaries pretty far.

Macgregor has some pretty fun ideas for the interior world, there’s a cult who seems to know about it, a tribal conflict taking place among its inhabitants with a pretty unexpected connection to our own surface world, and a sort of weird tales ghost ship that are all tied in with the mystery of the interior world in interesting ways.

It takes a while to get to it, but eventually the interior world is shown to have some of the strange creatures and monsters you’d expect from a story that takes you to the centre of the earth.

Not necessarily a must-read, but an enjoyable enough Indiana Jones story. I’ll probably try to find the other Hollow Earth one sometime down the road.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi, but this was just plain disappointing. The ending was especially weak. I mean, what kind of explanation was that? I will admit though that I couldn't help but think of Blade Runner when Indy dreams about those unicorns.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man. This book is all over the place. It's not hard to follow, narratively, but it's hard to follow in the whole "How does this make any sense?" kind of thing. All of the Indiana Jones movies have a supernatural angle to them, but this one takes it to a new level, and the explanation at the end is ... well, it's weak sauce.

To his credit, MacGregor kinda-sorta ties in the previous five books to make them one larger story, but only in the simplest terms. It's not like we have puzzle pieces that all fit together at the end of the story; instead, we see that there was a significance to all the other locations in the previous books that are important to this story. It's not ground-breaking, and it doesn't suggest that this was MacGregor's plan from the start (it feels like anything could have been retconned to fit that part of the story), but it's something.

This was MacGregor's last book in this series. I'm interested in seeing what another author can do with this license.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this sixth Indiana Jones prequel series novel, Indy travels to Easter Island with Marcus Brody where a mystery connects the whispering moai statues there to the eerie ghost ship of Chiloé Island. This leads Indy to a secret interior world, rumored for centuries in the concept of a hollow Earth and leads to just the sort of adventure one would want from an Indiana Jones novel. In the previous novel, Unicorn horn, Indy had accidentally caused an imbalance between the two worlds when he disposed of a dangerous relic.

While this series continues for another seven books, this is the last one to be authored by Rob MacGregor. I am a long time Indy fan and quite liked the first several books that MacGregor wrote for this series. I enjoyed how he developed the younger Henry Jones, Jr. character, a new professor in London, and how he embarked on several adventures that tied together in a continuing series. I especially liked how the adventures, even though slightly over-the-top, were rooted in historical places or events. But the last couple of novels have been less about interaction with the real world and more about fantastical events and this one continues that trend.

This particular novel is a direct sequel to the preceding volume, Indiana Jones and the Unicorn's Legacy with several of those events very important to this one as well. The story here seemed convoluted, with several confusing dream sequences where neither Indy nor the reader can tell what is real and what isn’t. Fantasy elements abound, like dragons, giants, and a disjointed timeline (meaning time passes differently in the interior world than in the exterior one). How much of what Indy experiences is real and how much can be explained away based on hallucinations he was experiencing? I like a good fantasy story as much as the next guy but I prefer Indy’s adventures to be more historically based than fantasy based.

I will be interested to see how the next author to tackle this series, Martin Caidin, approaches it.

[Rob Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sense I get when reading Indiana Jones and the Interior World is that Rob MacGregor had a grand sense of wrapping up his time on the Indy novels. Bits of former stories – like the alicorn of the previous novel, to a race of people who can mask themselves with different faces, a la what was happening in Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils – come together in a way that I feel might have been really satisfying to MacGregor but, in practice, I don’t think really work together. As an Indiana Jones novel, at least.

And it’s such a shame because this novel starts off strong. Indy is on Easter Island with other archaeologists but is singled out by the local museum curator, to meet with the Matuans – a secret society dedicated to maintaining the traditions of the island. They want Indy to view ancient Rongo-rongo tablets so he can decipher the Rongo-rongo language. This is great! This is really promising! Easter Island is a cool location… we have a secret society… what will happen next? Uh, not much, as it turns out. Marcus Brody wants Indy to come with him to the island of Chiloé to find his missing friend Hans Beitelheimer. OK, so we’ve parked the story that was set up, and we’re now leaving Easter Island.

On Chiloé we kick-start a new tale. A local restaurant owner tells Indy and Brody that Beitelheimer had formerly been there, under the name Juan Barrios. He had painted several weird-looking paintings, then had disappeared on the ghost ship Caleuche. Neat! Let’s go with this! And as a bonus, we also learn there are two people getting around who looked like Beitelheimer. What’s all that about? Mystery abounds! Indy and Brody go looking for the ghost ship. Maybe we can resolve that, then get Indy back to Easter Island? Uh… no. These two false starts are just there to get Indy into the main storyline.

And the frustrating thing about the main storyline is that while the building blocks of these first two storylines we were introduced to seemed quite grounded, the main storyline – dealing with the concept of a hollow earth with a race of people living inside it – flies off into super magical territory very fast.

Supernatural goings on were a hallmark of all MacGregor’s novels and I’m sympathetic to the idea that there’s a supernatural element in the Indiana Jones movies, so one should follow the other, right? Well… kinda. I can watch Raiders of the Lost Ark and marvel at the power of the Ark as it zaps all the Nazis and think it’s pretty cool. But in this novel, we have page after page after page of shape-shifting people who live beyond portals that you have to drink basically a magical potion to enter or exit… and that’s before we get to Indiana Jones and the dragon. Yep, not a typo. And Indiana Jones and the giant. Also not a typo. And Indiana Jones and the dinosaur. This novel’s got it all. And not in a good way, dear reader. Our beloved archaeologist is put in a variety of situations where it’s not so much you want to call BS on the whole thing as an imaginative concept, but as an Indiana Jones story, it just doesn’t feel right at all.

Which makes this a very hard novel to rate. MacGregor has put thought into this… his ideas are certainly Big Ones which an author should always strive for… and he’s tying together real world stuff – like the moai statues on Easter Island which you can go and visit – with utter pseudoscience nonsense that was debunked as far back as the 18th century, ie: the concept of a hollow earth with people in it.

This is also one of those novels where you’re literally 10 pages off finishing and the plot doesn’t seem to be anywhere near resolving, guaranteeing the resolution is going to be rushed. And it is. There’s a fight scene to dispatch the baddie of the piece, and then Marcus Brody gives Indy (who is gung-ho to tell a journalist that the hollow earth is real; does that sound at all like Indiana Jones?), a bunch of reasons why he might have thought he was in the hollow earth with a bunch of shape-shifting people, kings, dragons, dinosaurs, etc, but none of that was real and Indy was just too drugged up to notice the reality of his situation over the past few months. It’s neat to have a counterpoint, but it’s pretty unsatisfying.

So what do I do? It’s almost impossible to balance the story as both an imaginative piece of fiction and an Indiana Jones novel, as the former can do whatever it wants and not be “wrong” while the latter needs to feel right. And feel is a very subjective thing, I know. It’s why some people like the, “space between spaces” and the interdimensional beings in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, while others think that’s total cack. So, your mileage might vary on this one too.

[Brooks Langford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Without a doubt the worst of the Indy novels so far. With Indiana Jones you have to be very careful. He needs just a dash of sci-fi or a dash of fantasy to his archeological hunts. This novel was way way way too heavy on the pour of sci-fi and fantasy to the point where it didn’t feel like Indy at all.

The interior world was never engaging as a hunt for Indy. It was way too mystical. When he was there it sounded ridiculous and quite literally otherworldly. While I appreciated the attempt to tie back to some of the past novels with the Unicorn horn and the lost city and his expedition with Fawcett, it was too outlandish to enjoy as a Indy story.

I didn’t really like anything about this book. As I’m reading all the books I thought I owed it to the character to finish this one. This is the first of the novels that I can firmly say has no elements that belong in the Indiana Jones series. The side characters were bland, the villain sucked, the Interior World, ghost ships, dinosaurs, “nalca,” and the actual appearance of unicorns were ridiculous.

This was a hard read that is easily the worst of the Indy novels to this point.

To make things even worse, the last pages try and convince you that the whole book was a giant gaslighting and Indy was possibly drugged the whole time. To add insult to injury Indy even asks the question “so what was all of this for?” Indy, I share those sentiments.

[Benji's Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot stress this enough when I day Rob MacGregor's books all connect, so please read them in order.

The final book in Rob MacGregor's Indiana Jones run (not including Indy and the Last Crusade, his first time penning Indy). It was a bit of a mixed bag. The first three books in the Indy prequel series were really good character studies and bridge the gap between Young Indiana Jones and the Indiana Jones we know today. The last three (including this one) could have been improved.

The humor was very minimal, but I don't expect a joke every five pages. That doesn't seem in character for Indy, but nonetheless, a few more jokes would have helped improve the book.

MacGregor is really good at character interactions between old friends. I read his six books all back-to-back, so I don't remember if Indy's old roommate, Jack Shannon, appeared in this one, but anytime he and Indy interact, it's gold. Not in terms of comedy, but writing style. The museum guy Indy often sends his relics to, Marcus Brody, is also well-written into the story, whenever he and Indy interact.

I would definitely recommend MacGregor's take on the character. There's a perfect blend of archeology and adventure, unlike the latest Indy prequel, Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead. I'll probably reread this series eventually, but until then, I've got a ton of other novels in my "to be read" pile.

[Tim Ristow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but flawed and rather confusing Indiana Jones novel. Containing minor shades of Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, this was MacGregor’s last novel for the IJ series and it’s his weakest entry by far. It begins with some promise with a storyline beginning on Easter Island but then quickly veers off into a confusing plot filled with lucid dreams, random characters, and pages of exposition that essentially end up meaning nothing. There are brief moments throughout that felt like it could regain its footing, gather some steam and become a good adventure yarn. But that never really happens. You know the scenes in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” where Indy is forced to drink the blood of Kali and falls under the spell? That part of the movie feels a bit different for an Indy movie. He’s not himself. Imagine spending a whole Indy adventure within that kind of tone and storyline. It grows tiresome after awhile. I admire MacGregor for at least attempting something different with Indy, but it just doesn’t work very well here.

[Philly Kash · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this "official" fan fic immensely for the pulp factor.

But as an Indiana Jones story, it's absolute bilge.

In this book, Jones literally goes through teleportation portals, confronts a dragon, outruns a T-Rex, fights giants, journeys through purgatory, rides a unicorn, meets shapeshifters and an animagus-- it really feels more like Rick Riordan than Indiana Jones.

And as usual in these prequel books, Brody posits that he was drugged and it was all in his head, which is so much worse.

Imagine all three classic Jones movies ending with his most trusted confidant saying "...Yeah, none of that happened. You were just high AF."

That's what these are.

......Alright...... well, onto the next one.

[Kiril Valchev · Rating 3 out of 5]

През 1929г. Индиана Джоунс, Маркъс Броуди и компания са командировани на Великденските о-ви, за да изследват прочутите каменни статуи- моаи. По молба на Броуди, Инди е принуден да се откъсне за малко от културата на Рапа Нуи и да придружи приятеля си до архипелага Чилое. Там бързо е въвлечен в поредната интрига, когато попада в ръцете на "пирати" и тайнствената Саландра. Тя твърди, че нашият герой е единственият, който може да спре мегаломаниака Малейуа- човек с пощенски код от другата страна на земната кора, търсещ съюзник в лицето на бързо набиращия популярност в Германия невротик с мустаци тип "четка за зъби".

[Alex1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This boom was ok, but it has some flaws. My favorite chapter in this book has to be chapter six” Mariners.” In this chapter, there is many untold stories about the ghost ship and Beitelheimer. This mysterious man walk toward Indy and Brody when he heard them talk about the Ghost ship, to their surprise they found out that there is a person who knows and witnessed the ghost ship. He went on and on about his childhood and the pirates who came to his house, to him seeing it out of his window. He and Indy agreed to meet somewhere, so he can show Indy that there are really ghost like pirates in his childhood house. The lack of action and profoundness is why I give this book a 4 star rating.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

1929 - years before Dr. Jones falls from the sky into India to help a starving village recover a sacred rock, he's on Easter Island with Marcus Brody helping unravel the mystery of the unreadable native Rongo-Rongo tablets. The local legend of a phantom pirate ship, though, quickly derails Indiana's professional endeavors and sends him off on an adventure deep into the heart of the earth, and the world that lies within.

Quite enjoyed this quick read. Love how Rob MacGregor ties this in with his other books in the series so far. The setting was quite good, although the last action/finalé was a bit over the top in its location (no spoilers).

[Travis Pool · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been making my way through the Indiana Jones novels and, up to this one, thoroughly enjoyed them. I actually had a hard time finishing this one. The concept of the story wasn't bad, but I don't like it as an Indiana Jones story. It felt to obscure. I also got the vibe that the novel was thrown together quickly. Really enjoyed the authors other Indiana Jones books, because I felt he really captured the feeling of everyone's favorite adventurer, but this one seemed completely out of character for Indy.

[Kendal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think that the six books of MacGregor's series could have better been done as a separate franchise. It's great that they are interlocked, and sequential, but they didn't quite have the feel of the movies—humor most was missing.

[Spoiler]

This last one was a rewrite or derivative of H. Rider Haggard's “She.” It's fun, and the confusing, irrational aspects of the narration were intentional—it all get explained at the last chapter. This helped, since I was wondering how we go from this hexology, to the skeptical/agnostic Jones in “Temple of Doom.”

So … I'm not sure what to say.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years ago when I first read these Indiana Jones books I remember that I did not like this story at all. The others I did. Now, however, I find that I enjoyed this one very much while the others are just meh.

Granted I did find some of the interior world stuff confusing and Indy's disbelief a bit annoying as it went on and on but overall it was a fairly fast read and I enjoyed this one for the quick armchair adventure.

[Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed most of Rob MacGregor's Indiana Jones books but this one doesn't conform with what I know to be the Indiana Jones universe. Supernatural things happen to Indiana Jones, but alternate dimensions, giants, dragons, and dinosaurs? This is just a science fiction novel. And the ending tries to explain away all the ridiculous stuff in about 4 pages, which is equally frustrating. This just doesn't measure up to the other books in the series.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the weakest one I have read since Dance of the Giants which is too bad as MacGregor has done a good job with this series. This one started strong and then just tapered off. I think it asked the reader to go too far in beleivability and combined with Indy going unconscious or falling asleep all too often. It just got boring... it had a great start though and some fun moments but he's done better.

[Les Hopper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoy these prequels, not least of all because my young son buys me one each year for Christmas or my birthday. However this is probably best kept for those, like me, reading the whole series in sequence. Avoiding spoilers, basically the premise felt weaker than the others and far more magical than plausible. Still pretty fun though and a decent light read.

[Graeme O'Brien · Rating 2 out of 5]

By far the weakest of the Indiana Jones prequels thus far, with the silliest premise of the MacGregor run that makes it almost incompatible with the wider canon. Combined with a frustrating characterisation of Jones himself and a lack of Shannon to add comic relief, this is the first dud of the series.

[Sir Nicho · Rating 1 out of 5]

This did not feel like an Indiana Jones book at all. The plot is contrived and stupid and the female lead is beyond insufferable. It was a chore to finish. Jones didn't act like the Indiana we know from the movies. I don't know who he is suppose to be, but he's not Indiana Jones. On top of that the ending is abrupt and stupid. Avoid this book, unless you're just an Indiana Jones completist.

[Taylor - Muse Ignited Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 probably my favorite of these so far. Of course I like the whole lost/missing ancient civilizations shtick so it was a great entertaining setting for me...along with the paranormal/supernatural undertones.

[Maggie Haberman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another weird hollow earth book. Spoilers: it is very dumb. Random facts about Indy are dropped with 0 explanation. The upshot is the whole thing is basically “it was all a dream” which is for once better than the alternative.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, perhaps more so than any other Indiana Jones book, feels like it could have been written by Jules Verne. It has a feeling similar to that of Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was interesting, but confusing at times. All in all, though, I really liked it.

[Craig Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't enjoyed the overall arc of the interior world as much as I hoped. This was a great ending though. I hope we get to see Indy in some other adventures. The start if the book on Easter Island was a missed opportunity. I'd hoped the whole book was about that.

[Sequoyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have zero clue where I got this or how long I’ve had it, but it’s been sitting on my shelves randomly for several years. It felt like an X-Files episode, and I think that’s why I actually liked it. A bit too far-fetched for an Indiana Jones story, but still pretty enjoyable schlock.

[Paolo Calabrò · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too weird for me.

[Emerson (Ariel) · Rating 1 out of 5]

What does Easter Island, a pirate ghost shop, native Americans, unicorns, and the hollow earth have in common? The author tried to cram them all into this book. Ouch.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s a reason this took three months to finish: it’s, well, not good.