Pyramid Power

Pyramid #2

by Eric Flint, Dave Freer

Alien Ragnarok!

A mysterious pyramid appears in Chicago, oozing fantastic creatures and sucking humans into our own mythological past. It's an alien invasion from within!

When a special forces team sent to capture an AWOL official gets into deep trouble with a certain one-eyed Norse god, redoubtable comparative mythologist Jerry Lukacs must rescue them, strike a deal with the droll and dangerous Loki, and risk bringing on Ragnarok itself to once again save human myth from alien domination.

The rollicking sequel to New York Times best-seller Eric Flint and David Freers's action-packed romp through everything humankind holds sacred begun in the groundbreaking Pyramid Scheme.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Mythology, Humor, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy

384 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Eric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.

Reviews

[Debrac2014 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this version of the Norse myths! Good read!

[Leelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sequel to "Pyramid Scheme" and very well done. Just as the first book made mythological characters better and more relatable, this one did too. It does not change any of the old Norse myths, but it gives them color and depth by giving the characters reasons for what they did. And these reasons make sense! Why did Loki do what he did? Why did he arange Balder's death? Why did Balder have to die? Well, put simply, he deserved it. Think of any spoiled rich kid you have ever heard of and the horrible things they get away with? Now imagine that spoiled kid as a god? Yeah. I think old Snorri left that out of his version of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed these two books. I wish there was a third. But "Pyramid Power" came out in 2007. I think if there was going to be a third book it would have come out in seven years.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for q quick, light read. It's jovial and without hard themes or concepts. Much like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. So if you expect serious take on situation, forget it. This is a standard fiction of it's time, filled with tropes you would expect.

On the other hand treating main characters with kid glows and any non-american, non-christian culture with condescension greatly grates on my nerves. Humor is also not nearly as funny as author thinks. so 3/5.

[Vickie Garner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my kind of story line. I just couldn't get into the plot nor characters. They all seemed a bit weakly established

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Product Description

  The Pyramid is baacckk! Well, actually, it never went away—but it had seemed to be inactive, still sitting in the middle of Chicago but no longer growing and wiping out buildings as it grew. The Krin device would have been thwarted, if things had been left as they were—but a V.I.P., who knows too many state secrets to be allowed to be missing, was left behind in the world of Greek mythology. So a power-mad Washington bureaucrat has press-ganged several of the survivors of the first excursion into the pyramid’s worlds and sent them, along with a team trained in “surgical strikes,” to either bring back the V.I.P. or, if that’s impossible, terminate him with extreme prejudice.

     Unfortunately, instead of returning to mythological Greece, they find themselves in the world of the Norse gods. Even if they manage to survive the enmity of Odin and his warriors, can manage to free Loki (a potential ally) and can keep the hard-drinking thunder-god Thor off the sauce long enough to help them, Ragnarok is coming, with the end of the world. And even a hard-headed maintenance man with his trusty toolkit may have trouble fixing that problem!

About the Author

Eric Flint is a popular star of SF and fantasy. His 1632, which launched the New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series, sold out in hardcover almost immediately, followed by multiple printings in paperback. His first novel for Baen, Mother of Demons, was picked by SF Chronicle as a best novel of the year. He currently resides in northwest Indiana with his wife Lucille.

Dave Freer, author of The Forlorn and the critically acclaimed A Mankind Witch and of many articles in  scientific journals, is an expert on sharks and an accomplished rock climber, a wine-taster, a chef  and was an unwilling conscript in the “undeclared” South African-Angolan War. With Eric Flint he has co-authored Rats, Bats & Vats, The Rats, the Bats & the Ugly, and the prequel to Pyramid Power, Pyramid Scheme.  He has also collaborated with Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint in a sweeping alternate history-fantasy set in the Renaissance. The first two books in the series, The Shadow of the Lion and This Rough Magic have been enthusiastically received by critics and readers. The trio have also produced a sequel to James H Schmitz’s classic The Witches of Karres, The Wizard of Karres. Freer lives in KwaZulu, with his wife Barbara, two sons, and far too many dogs and cats.

[Andreas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sequel to Pyramid Scheme takes place shortly after the first book. Our heroes are adapting to life on Earth, or back on Earth as the case may be, when agents from the newly constituted Pyramid Security Agency (PSA) decide to start operations in the mythworlds. Needless to say, things quickly go awry. The PSA embodies all the worst about hastily created government agencies, and is a clear reference to the Homeland Security Agency as a kneejerk reaction to 9/11. Our heroes find themselves not back in mythical Greece or Egypt, but in the Norse world of myth, populated by such classics as Thor, Odin and Loki.

Just like the previous book, this one is written with tongue quite firmly in cheek. Awful puns and funny situations are de rigueur. Sadly the story itself is somewhat muddled, and I had a hard time following the twists and turns, many of which took place off-screen and were then presented as faits accomplis.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1684

[Kevin Lanahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second book in the series is less fun than the first.

First, it involves Norse mythology. I'm not as familiar with this as I am with Greek/Roman mythology, so, once they got past Odin, Thor and Loki, the names just jumbled together. The authors crammed too many characters into the book, and too many of the pantheon of gods sound so similar as to make it difficult to keep them separate.

Second, the subplot seems a heavy-handed criticism of Homeland Security, an overzealous government reaction to the pyramid. That part of the plot went nowhere, and slowed down the story considerably.

There's a little too much "happily ever after" when they wrap up the story.

On the plus side, the authors do a fine job of explaining the twisty way of the Krim and how they subvert mythology. They are clever in the way they portray the gods, doing the same sort of wrinkle where the gods we think of as the good guys aren't necessarily so and the bad guys got a bad rap.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A power-mad bureaucrat manages to send a team into the Krim pyramid to rescue a lost official. The problems escalate when they try to get survivors of the first adventure to return to Myth-Greece with them. The wrong survivors accompanied the partial team, but they landed in Norse mythland rather than Greece. No our intrepid band of punsters have to figure out how to survive Ragnarok, defeat Odin, get Thor to stop drinking, reform Loki, and get home. Plenty of adventure, strong characters, and interesting plot makes Pyramid Power a fun read.

[Lisa Crossman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didnt finish this book. I got this from library to discover a new author. I hadnt realised this was book two in a series so found it difficult to determine some characters and some storyline. It was enjoyable in parts but their was lots of mythology references which made it hard to follow. It wasnt until I was half way through I realised there was a glossary but id lost heart at that point to keep reading.

[Rachael Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this one. The only problem I had was I picked it up at random, and didn't realize it was the second book. It took a bit of getting used to because in the beginning I was frustratingly out of the loop, but I really enjoyed it anyway and would definitely pursue the series. Somewhere between a fluff book and a meaty one, I feel like I stumbled on a gem.

[colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read 12.08.07
Pyramid series book 2. Americans take on the Norse mythworld.

[Paul Kemner · Rating 4 out of 5]

More mythological fun, this time with Norse gods, continuing Pyramid Scheme.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

silly fun

[Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed out loud a lot while reading this book. It's silly, fun, and hilarious.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Not nearly as good as the first book. Too many Norse god-sized plot holes. Story: 2 stars. Appendix explaining who all the Norse mythological character were: 4 stars.

[Tjhei · Rating 4 out of 5]

zweiter Teil, diesmal geht die Reise nordische Sagen (Thor, Loki, Odin, ..). Sehr gut.