The Last Oracle: A Sigma Force Novel
by James Rollins
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Book Reviews of The Last Oracle: A Sigma Force Novel
Book Review: An Exciting Ride through Mythology, Secret Govt. Organizations, and the World of the Autistic Savant
Summary: 5 Stars
Exploiting savant talents for military purposes is a fascinating yet horrifying prospect, which makes for a novel story. Kick up the intensity by making it exploiting the talents of autistic savant children who have been biologically altered to heighten their abilities, and you get Rollins' The Last Oracle. This fresh topic appealed to me from the very beginning and kept me turning pages quickly to see how things would turn out.
As you would expect with a Sigma novel, there is ample government secret agency involvement, espionage, and double crossing. The involvement of The Jasons was very intriguing. There is also a threat of radiation poisoning on a global scale. The reasoning behind the threat is even more interesting than the threat itself.
While The Last Oracle is a book in the Sigma Force series, you won't need any knowledge of the preceding books to enjoy and understand all that's going on. Rollins does an excellent job of giving the reader all he/she needs to follow the characters and the story without ever getting bogged down. A perfect example of this is a character named Monk, who was in an accident and presumed to be dead in a previous novel, appears in this book. The mystery surrounding his accident is integral to this plot, but you need no prior info to follow it.
The story offers much more complexity than having a single villain or even all the villains on one side or even in the same country. Fanaticism beyond reason is displayed on many sides. I enjoyed the varying levels of "bad" in the opposition in this book. While the story moves rapidly from one front to another (Washington D.C., India, Greece, Chernobyl), we do get to see the background and motivation that turns someone from being an ambitiously well-meaning patriot into a dangerous zealot, the road to believing that the ends justify the means. And, people do die, including some characters that you might not expect.
WARNING spoilers ahead. Linking the mythology of The Oracle of Delphi in Greece through the "untouchables" at the bottom of the caste system in India to the fabled mystic abilities of the Roma (Gypsies) made for some interesting reading. The way the story is presented also provides genetic reasons for the special abilities; one needs not believe in any mysticism to buy into the story. This next part won't make any sense unless you've read the book, but I also thought it was a nice touch that the epsilon was included in the mythology of the Oracle which provided a link to Sigma itself.
The ending is satisfying with just the right amount of closure and mystery that will continue into the next book.
Some of my favorite lines and descriptions are:
"...Nicholas had seen piles of discarded gas masks, lying in limp heaps like the scalped faces of the dead."
"Roots tangled out of the sandstone walls, like the gnarled faces of old men..."
"...windows shattered into broken fangs..."
Lewis Aleman, Author of The Anti-Vampire Tale, Faces in Time: A Time Travel Thriller, and Cold Streak
Book Review: Great action
Summary: 5 Stars
I was hooked from the very beginning with the incident with the homeless man. From that very early point all the way through the last page, I was glued to the book, turning pages as fast as I could. I've read Rollins' work before and have enjoyed it, but this one is my favorite so far.
I thought the concepts of manipulating people with savant talents for military purposes was both scary and interesting. It's kind of like if you used Rain Man to crack codes for you, but Rollins' savants have a bit more ability than that. They step into the paranormal realm with their powers, and this may or may not be a turnoff for you, but it worked just fine for me. It wasn't too far into the paranormal for me to lose my suspension of disbelief.
This book takes place all over the world which is something I like in a good action adventure story. I like feeling like I've been to exotic locations and learned some things about other cultures in the process. I feel an adventure should be something like a vacation getaway, so this one was a winner in that regard too.
Rollins writes action novels with a lot of scientific content. That's his niche and that's what he does best. But he does write very well, which is sometimes hard to find in an action novel. I'm not trying to say this is a literary/action fusion book, but it does have its moments of poignant lines. I'm not saying compare The Last Oracle to The Brothers Karamazov. It was never meant to be the same thing. But I think if you compare Rollins' work, especially The Last Oracle, to other contemporary action writers that you'll be very pleasantly surprised.
Book Review: fiction with a point in a thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
The underlying current of this thriller is that autism may not be such a disaster....that in fact...it can be a gift.
Rollins uses some touches of science in The Last Oracle to add a bit more "authenticity" to his work. I for one appreciate it. I learned plenty on this roller coaster ride.
The story is typical Rollins. Races against the clock in various part of the globe. Paper thin characters that don't need to be any more than paper thin get into and out of death defying situations both plausibly and implausibly.
Most appreciated by this reader is that I don't want to put the book down.
The Last Oracle is ideal airplane reading. It doesn't require a dictionary or contemplative thought as you turn hundreds of pages.
The story is unique. Children who may become the future messiah(s) of the world. An interesting enough premise but it goes further. They have been plausibly prophesyed. And this I liked.
Rooted in the Oracle at Delphi with touches of secret society, psychosurgery, and quite an interesting history about possible geographic origins of autism....well this is all material I wouldn't have ever come across....this book keeps you moving along and it works.
Most of Rollins work is completely satisfying. If you want "War and Peace" then this is the wrong book. If you want to have a great ride it does the trick.
Fun, excinting, Indiana Jones/Star Wars. A great time with some simian companionship thrown in as a cool bonus...you'll like it!
Kevin Hogan
Author of Covert Persuasion
Book Review: Big typo, but great book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a huge fan of James Rollins, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Dan Brown, and writers of that ilk, so I always have high expectations anytime I get to sit down with one of their novels. While I was mildly disappointed with Brown's "The Lost Symbol", I am extremely enthusiastic about "The Last Oracle". The Sigma novels never really grabbed me in the same way that Preston/Child's Pendergast series did, but this book may have converted me over into super fan-dom!
This book was everything you could ask for...action, mystery, drama, humor, and most of all, emotion. I admit getting a little too emotional after learning the fate of one of the novel's core heroes. I won't get too long-winded here, so I just wanted to express how well-done this novel was written and conceived. As far as Sigma novels go, I would place Judas Strain slightly ahead of this one, but this is definitely a must-read!
As an amusing sidenote, on this publication there is a MASSIVE typo on page 451. "The woman stared at the child, back to him. Her entire form shook as TEATS spilled in shining streaks of joy..."
Book Review: Pinky and the Brain
Summary: 4 Stars
As I read this book I kept thinking about the cartoon Pinky and the Brain. Two laboratory enhanced rats, one the Brain has a Napoleon complex and always scheming to take over the world but fails repeatedly, the other is Pinky his inept sidekick. In The Last Oracle the brain is General-Major Savina Martov head of a Russian Intelligence Program involving the use of autistic Gypsy children's savant talents she is manipulating to help her son rule the new world order she is trying to create, And Pinky would be her son Nicolas a Russian politician that sees himself as the next Czars if they can poison the entire world by releasing nuclear waste. I must say I chuckled once their plan was revealed and at times this book was a page turner. What I found most interesting was the way the author traced the Gypsy's origins to the Oracle of Delphi and suggested the possibility that some of the most creative people in history displayed some level of autistic tendencies. Add to this cocktail of suspense Sigma Force in a race against time to stop Savina and Nicolas you get an entertaining read.