Seven Ancient Wonders - Matthew Reilly

...remarkable 535 paged book, titled Seven Ancient Wonders written by Matthew Reilly. I left this story feeling excited and very exhausted, because you get the feeling that you are part of the story, it grabs you by the collar and pulls you along with it like a rush of adrenalin.

The Story.

In ancient times there was a magnificent 9 foot high, Capstone that stood at the peak of the great pyramid at Giza, The Egyptians called ...
...stone was made up of seven pieces of gold, with a thin bore-hole that ran down the centre, embedded in each hole was a crystal, when placed in sequence these crystals acted like the lens of a magnifying glass that served to concentrate the sun's rays when it passed directly overhead.

The Tartarus is a strong sunspot that last occurred 2570BC and the next one is due to occur on March 20th 2006. On the day that this happens it is said ... more

I have just returned from an adventure of a lifetime... Well not exactly an adventure but that's how it felt after reading the last page of a remarkable 535 paged book, titled Seven Ancient Wonders written by Matthew Reilly. I left this story feeling excited and very exhausted, because you get the feeling that you are part of the story, it grabs you by the collar and pulls you along with it like a rush of adrenalin.

The Story.

In ancient times there was a magnificent 9 foot high, Capstone that stood at the peak of the great pyramid at Giza, The Egyptians called it Benben. Shaped like a pyramid it featured the eye of Horus and also had mysterious carvings in an unknown language. The stone was made up of seven pieces of gold, with a thin bore-hole that ran down the centre, embedded in each hole was a crystal, when placed in sequence these crystals acted like the lens of a magnifying glass that served to concentrate the sun's rays when it passed directly overhead.

The Tartarus is a strong sunspot that last occurred 2570BC and the next one is due to occur on March 20th 2006. On the day that this happens it is said that when the sun hits the capstone, whoever is looking through the eye of Horus and reads out loud the message of the carvings on it will gain great power over the world. However shortly after the last Tartarus, the Capstone vanished never to be seen again. It seems that the seven pieces were taken, separated and each piece was hidden somewhere in each of the seven wonders of the Ancient world by Alexander the Great.

Now our story unfolds…

America and Europe (France, Italy and Germany only) both want power over the world and each send out an army, with a somewhat ambitious and cruel leader to search for this treasure. It is a race against time, as there is only a short time left before the oncoming Tartarus and the country that finds all seven pieces and performs the ritual will either rule the world and hold at its beckoning or bring peace for 1000 years.

9 years before Tartarus, in a small farm house, somewhere in Ireland, a meeting of six delegates from smaller Nations takes place. Jack West an ex Australian SAS archaeologist, alone represents Australia and with the help of Canadian Professor Maximilian .T .Epper, West explains the history of how the stone came about and the importance of finding it before the other two countries do. In the past, Jack and Max have shared history with either of two of the two leaders of the American and European armies and know exactly what they are capable of doing should they gain power and would not be for the purpose of their country but for the gains they could get from it for themselves.

These two men for the last year had been the guardians and protectors of Lily. The previous year West and Epper saved Lily's life moments after her birth when her mother was murdered. Lily is a special little girl, she is the Oracle of Siwa. Born within her, Lily has the ability to read and decipher the Word of Thoth the ancient and mysterious language. Each Capstone piece has an inscription in this language which when read and deciphered, details the location of the next piece and the ability to read the next inscription.

The six delegations talk amongst themselves and at length each nation presents it's selected guardian to join the team to help raise and protect Lily.

United Arab Emirates….Captain Aziz al Anzar al Abbas 1st Commando Squadron, Call-sign: Saladin.
Spain….Lieutenant Enrique Velacruz, Spanish Marines underwater destruction and demolition. Call-sign; Matador.
Jamaica… Sergeant V.J.Weatherly… call-sign; Witch Doctor.
New Zealand… NZAF pilot nicknamed Sky Monster.
Ireland. Offered two representatives. Sergeant Zoe Kissane, Irish Commando Unit, Hostage rescue, advanced medical, call-sign; Bloody Mary. And her brother Corporal Liam Kissane, bomb disposal, heavy arms, Call-sign; Gunman.

Along with West and Epper this made up the eight small Nations representatives, a ninth member would soon join them… Stretch from Israel, Lieutenant Benjamin Cohen, previous call-sign Archer. He was from the Sayaret Matkal now Mossad. He would not be a member of their choosing as Israel was not one of the small countries initially as you will find out when you read the book.

However for this mission they had acquired new call-sign.
Woodsman (this is West, call-sign Huntsman, but for some reason Huntsman's call-sign sticks with him throughout the book), Fuzzy, Stretch, Princess Zoe, Pooh Bear, Noddy and Big Ears.
These revised call-signs were the result of 10th member of the team, the now ten year old Lily.

The book doesn't go into detail about the characters only providing minimal details of their past where it effect the story. However my impressions of them are as follows.

Jack West: Huntsman. He is a leader, strong willed, likable and although he is a soldier he is an historian and archaeologist who takes his work seriously. His main objective through the story is the safety of his team while on missions and the mission itself. He is a character whom I would if I was a member of his team feel safe with and would follow with trust.

Max Epper: Wizard. (His call-sign came from his ability to invent and create much like that role of Q in James Bond) He is the father figure of the team, everyone at sometime seeks his advice. He is a historian and all-round font of information. He is a very likeable character not the nutty professor type, an intellect and my daughter Christine says he reminds her of Henry Jones (Indiana Jones's father) crossed with Gandalf.

Aziz al Anzar: Pooh Bear. Cuddly and lovable. The second son of his country's ruler he knows what is at stake and his loyalty is absolute . Dependable and often wherever West goes he is but a step behind. He is one of the most favoured characters in the book, he is the tolerant one of the two bickering 'siblings' characters.

Enrique Velacruz: Noddy. His call-sign was chosen because he is a good friend of Big Ears. There is very little mentioned in the book so you don't really get a chance to analyse his character however he is said, quoting from the book "looking like Ricky Martin, only tougher".

V J Wetherly: Fuzzy. His dreadlocks gave the big, strong Jamaican his call-sign, again a character with little detail in the book about him although he is an active member.

Sky Monster. His real name is not given in the book. Lily chose to keep his original call-sign because he flew a big black plane that looked like a flying monster. Sky Monster gave Lily her call-sign from their mutual love of Lord of the Rings. Again there is not a great deal about this character in the book but you get the impression is is not just a pilot but an engineer who knows every wire, screw, nut and bolt and helped convert the big black, 747, Halicarnassus into a flying fortress.

Liam Kissane: Big Ears. Good friend of Noddy. Big Ears is lovable, endearing, dependable and totally bewitched of Lily and was often found playing silly and sometime mischievous games with her. Quoting from the book he is "not too smart, but a great commando", that is really an understatement of his character. He has a quiet manner and a childlike quality and an unswerving loyalty to the team . He is big, cuddy and has big ears hence his call-sign. He is a character you cant help liking.

Zoe kissane: Princess Zoe. Tough, smart the only female soldier in the team. She is an intellect and the sister figure to each member and inspiration to Lily who doted on her. I got the impression that Zoe cared for West romantically.

Benjamin Cohen: Stretch. The tall and thin Stretch, at first he was not trusted by the team arriving 3 years after the team formed. However he proves to be a valuable member of the team although there are a few reservations to where his true loyalties lay. He is judgemental and suspicious of Pooh Bear at first as he is a Jew and does not trust a Muslim, but his relationship with Pooh Bear becomes like that of a bickering sibling continually throwing jibes about him being an Arab. He is an expert sniper which he proves often in the story.

Lily: Eowyn. Lily is more like a child prodigy, quick and eager to learn anything and everything. Watchful and attentive but underneath it all is just a normal 10 year old little girl without pretensions despite her being the Oracle. The team is the only family she has ever known and is the main reason for why the team is like a big happy family. She looks upon West as her father.

This was now the team that would work together to find these seven capstones pieces and take them back to the Great Pyramid and they only had seven days to do it in. They are the last hope of the small group of nations they represent in gaining world peace.

Wonder One
Colossus of Rhodes was the greatest statue in history, built in the image of Helios the Sun God it straddled the Harbour of Rhodes.

Wonder Two
The Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria. Pharos lighthouse stood in the harbour of Alexandria.

Wonder Three
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The tomb for Mausolus built at Halicarnassus.

Wonder Four
The forty foot Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

Wonder Five
Temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis at Ephesus.

Wonder Six
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon built by King Nebuchadrezzar II

Wonder Seven
The Great Pyrimids of Giza.

To find these wonders our heroes had to race through crocodile infested swamps on foot, hidden traps, pits of crocodiles, snakes, large rolling boulders, boiling oil, twisting chasms, whirlpools, boiling volcanic mud, fire and quicksand.

Their team of 9 carrying only what they needed in backpacks, with their only transport being a black Boeing 747 that West stole from Saddam Hussain during the Gulf War, and they are out numbered by hundreds soldiers who have dredging barges, gun-boats, communication boats, engineers, cranes, heavy weapons and other vital equipment. But soon the heroes discovered a large force on its way even nastier than those already there with even better equipment.

I have not given much details as to actually what happened in their quests for the wonders, as there are too many to write about and you would not get the same impact from the story that I got as I read about them. You will have to read the book to find out who survived, who found the pieces, and who gained the power to rule the world.

This book to me was one big adventure from page one to page 535, very much like a modern day Indiana Jones adventure but more intense and exhilarating, I couldn't wait to turn the page to see what happened next and how they got out of the very sticky situations they landed in. This little team treated each other and cared for each other like a family.

The book was cleverly written with believable locations of the lost wonders it also gave a little history into how these wonders came about also the comparisons between various item, symbols and buildings that are used even now days. Like the pyramids are used on the dollar bill, the Chrysler Building is similar design to the Pharos Lighthouse, The Statue of Liberty and Collossus of Rhodes both positioned at the mouth of a river and the Statue of Zeus sat on a throne like the Lincoln Memorial.

Matthew Reilly, is an Australian action thriller writer born in 1974 and by the age of 20 had already written 'Contest' his first book, self-publish 1,000 copies using money borrowed from his family because the publishing houses of Sydney refused to take him on. He says his main influences include Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas which you can clearly see from his style of writing. The adventure, the intense thriller and the likeable main characters. Contest was eventually republished in 1996. His other books include, Ice Station, Temple, Area 7, Scarecrow, Hover Car Racer and Hell Island. He has planned, a sequel to Seven Wonders which I have already been told by my daughter is on her to buy list for next year as she read and recommended Seven Wonders to me. Matthew has his own website at www.matthewreilly.com.

When Christine first recommended this book to me I was unsure thinking it was just another historical novel but when she described it was an adventurous treasure hunt story with an Indiana Jones like archaeological theme I decided to give it a go. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to anyone. I couldn't put the book down and soon had it read in less than two days. I imagine it is more of a book men would enjoy but that depends on how much some women enjoy a good adventure story, like me.

Christine picked the book up at ASDA for £3.73 but the recommended retail price is £6.99 although you could probably get it cheaper in place like The Works, the local supermarket and Amazon or Ebay.

What more can I put? Only I hope if you do read it you enjoy it as much as I did.
Thank you for reading

Motherjoan © 2006

 

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