Aaron

That's it. I'm done. I tried. I really tried. [b:Divergent 13335037 Divergent (Divergent, #1) Veronica Roth https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328559506s/13335037.jpg 13155899] held my attention long enough to make me think there was hope for this series. Then this sucker came along and I discovered that I didn't really care about anyone or anything Ms. Roth was feeding me. Zero caring.I wanted this series to fill the gap that had been left since [b:Mockingjay 7260188 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) Suzanne Collins https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358275419s/7260188.jpg 8812783] ended. No such luck. :(

At first, the one distinct thought this book gave me was, “What the...?” The topic of this book - an adolescent alien hunter searching for his parents' extraterrestrial killer - is somewhat of a departure from Patterson's usual mystery works.

However, as I progressed through this book, I started to really enjoy it. Patterson's lending of a sassy demeanor to his main character produces an excellent sense of adventure (not to mention that the kid's powers of creation are pretty darn cool).

While the story progresses nicely, Patterson leaves some very loose ends. The Prayer - the beastly thing that murders Daniel's parents in the opening chapter - isn't seen again through the rest of the book (the great majority of the story revolves around Daniel's hunt of alien #6, Seth). This may mean Patterson intends to continue this story elsewhere, but it didn't seem terribly clear.

Overall, Patterson's writing style (including his trademark 1-2 page chapters) and his craft of an intriguing story make this an excellent read.

So disappointing. Gone is the interwoven magic of The Da Vinci Code, replaced by an unbelievable miasma of current-event headlines (Uber! Self-driving cars! AI!), fall-flat “shockers” that aren't shocking at all, and an utterly formulaic approach to suspense and mystery.

When you learn the plot device 90% in and it doesn't invite critical thought at all, you know you have a problem.

Farewell, Mr. Langdon; I'm moving on to greener pastures.

There are two ways to look at the quality of this book: standing on its own and as part of a larger whole. Far beyond whether you enjoy the books that the publishers liken it to – World War Z, the Martian, etc. – I think that the perspective you choose will ultimately decide whether you enjoy Sleeping Giants or not.

On its own, Sleeping Giants is a 3 or 3.5 star book. It's premise is fascinating, but the surface is barely scratched. Its interview-style format is engaging, but doesn't quite carry the backward-facing, “what was it all for?” gravitas and confusion that World War Z employed so beautifully (while using the same style). It's dialogue and characters are interesting and feel real (for the most part), but they don't carry the blend of intelligence, wit, and sarcasm that made The Martian's Mark Watney so appealing. Viewed in this light, Sleeping Giants is creative enough to be noticed and fresh enough to avoid feeling derivative, but ultimately comes across like a “half effort” that never quite finds its footing.

However, when viewed as part of a larger whole (read: when understood that it is intended to be part of a series), Sleeping Giants is easier to swallow. The idea that this book serves as a premise to a larger story is intriguing enough to continue on.

This book definitely delivers on the promise of “a hair-raising experience.” Crichton is a master of creating suspense and holding secrets until a good way into the book.

That said, this was not one of my favorites. While the book started favorably enough, it lost its suspense about 200 pages in. While I thoroughly enjoyed the segues into biological studies, they tended to detract from the main story - so much so that once I was 5/6 through the book, I began to think, “He's running out of room to create a really smash-up ending.” The unfortunate result is that I hardly felt any suspense during what should have been a climactic ending.

A good (and fast read), but definitely not the late Crichton's best work.