Valhalla Rising (A Dirk Pitt Novel)

Pitt and his trusty pal Al Giordino track the sinking to the boardroom door of a multinational conglomerate called Cerberus, whose evil CEO has designs on the world's oil supply. He'll do anything to keep Egan's advanced engines and secret formula for frictionless oil off the market--even sabotage another vessel, this time a luxury passenger submarine. By the time our heroes have foiled the mastermind's nefarious plots, they've also uncovered the existence of a working submarine nearly a century before one actually existed--irrefutable proof of a Viking landing on the Hudson River--and the remains of the British sailor who inspired Jules Verne's Captain Nemo. A solid page-turner that even features a cameo appearance by the author himself, Valhalla Rising snaps, crackles, and pops with Cussler's usual brio. --Jane Adams, Amazon.com

Reader Reviews:

A Whale of a Tale or Two . . . . (2/3 people found this helpful)

Ever since there have been ships, the ocean has inspired tall tales about sea serpents, mysterious dangers, lost adventurers, pirates, disaffected geniuses, and exotic locales. Clive Cussler's remarkable series about his heroes, Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino, continues that marvelous tradition in particularly fine form in Valhalla Rising. So suspend belief, pull up a chair, prepare your favorite beverage, and get ready for a whale of a tale or two!

The book's structure follows the usual Cussler outline. You open with a historical mystery that will be tied back to the modern story line near the book's end. In this case, there are two historical mysteries. One relates to Vikings traveling to North America who disappeared, and the other describes ships being rammed by mysterious ironclad vessels.

Set in 2003, the modern story begins aboard the world's newest, most luxurious, and technologically advanced cruise ship, the Emerald Dolphin. Soon things go terribly wrong, and you will feel like you are on board. From that moment forward, the action rarely pauses and takes on some of the most thrilling possible variations on rescues and chases that you can ever hope to read. I found one that occurred in the air to be especially surprising and fascinating. If the rest of the book were as good as the rescues and chases, this would be a more than five star book. So focus on enjoying those aspects of the story!

No one will ever read a Cussler novel for its deep development of characters, so don't look for that in this novel either. The marvelous flavor of the stories turns off-key, however, with the evil mastermind behind the various events and his plot. This nemesis just doesn't seem credible or very interesting, and dilutes the plot from some great adventure writing involving some pretty nasty and interesting bad guys.

The book's other weakness (a smaller one) is a plot line built around a high potential technology. Although very imaginative in its features, the described technology comes much closer to being science fantasy than science fiction. Mr. Cussler would have strengthened the book without hurting the story if he had stuck a lot closer to reality here.

Mr. Cussler is fully able to laugh at himself, and includes several jokes in the story that the reader will enjoy.

One of the best features of the story is that the plot takes many unexpected turns and twists. You get many more action episodes than you have any right to expect in one novel. It's almost like getting two novels in one, because Mr. Cussler has been so generous in the material he has shared with us about the sea and old aircraft.

If you are like me, you will also be attracted to Mr. Cussler's interesting speculations about historical events, possible new ways that the oceans will be used in the future, and opportunities to use the oceans in more constructive ways in the near future.

I started reading this book in the late afternoon, and couldn't put it down. My heart was racing through many hundreds of pages, as I loved every minute of the many action scenes!

Where does variety play a role in providing entertainment? Obviously, even the most pleasant experiences pale if they are repeated in unsurprising detail, day-in and day-out. How fortunate we are that writers like Mr. Cussler have virtually unlimited imaginations to expand our horizons. Be open to enjoying a rewarding surprise at the end of Valhalla Rising, for example, that you may not see coming. Mr. Cussler reminds me of Siegfried and Roy, by always adding new ways to top his last act.

Dreadful, but I finished it (3/3 people found this helpful)

It gets two stars because I didn't give up on it before the end, and because the Norsemen in North America bit was well-written and interesting.

But when it got to the present day there were so many unbelievable coincidences, so many times when characters didn't make the obvious connection, so many times when characters (the bad guys) made stupid mistakes or made life so unnecessarilly difficult for themselves, so many times when characters (the good guys)triumphed over insurmountable odds, ... that I wondered whether this was really written by the same Clive Cussler whose books I enjoyed when I last read them several years ago.

Almost every strand to the plot was shot full of holes - I won't detail them because it might spoil the story for some but examples that strained my willingness to suspend disbelief included the all-knowing NUMA computer, the incompetent Air National Guard, 'Baron von Richthofen' reincarnated, teleportation of frictionless oil, and a twist at the end that threatens to keep the series running for ever.

The writing style was also dreadful - I've never before read a book where dialogue is used bring the reader up to date with bits of the story, I've seen it used in TV or films where the writer can't work out how to tell the story otherwise, but never in a book.

The unnecessary descriptive detail showing how much research was done interferes with the flow of the story - I really didn't need to know exactly how many seats are in the Washington Redskins stadium, or how many rivets were used in American Civil War ironclads (I don't think the latter was in the book, but it could easily have been).

I'm glad I didn't pay good money to buy the book myself, I certainly won't be buying any of the other recent Clive Cussler books.

A seafaring yarn, not an adventure thriller (0/0 people found this helpful)

The story begins strongly enough with a mix of Viking legend and mysterious submarine encounters but quickly descends into a rather bland tale set on the high seas.

Moving along at only an average pace and failing to invoke any real empathy, the story centres on an evil organisation's pursuit of a high-tech oil that will see them become infinitely wealthy. But it's boring!

The characters are passable but the action scenes are minimal in both quantity and quality. And that's the problem - there's a lack of anything truly interesting going on and there's barely a hint of suspense. And whilst the ending makes it full circle, it does so without energy. In fact, the ending beyond the ending (those that have read the book will know what I mean), seems to signal a new era in Pitt's life - possibly one where he'll only be required to save the world a couple more times.

It's not a bad book, it just seems rushed. Not one of his best but it certainly won't put me off reading other Cussler books.

Oh No - Not Again! (0/1 people found this helpful)

I think the author should ask himself why people read his novels. I read them for pure escapist pleasure. This book (and all his previous works) would easily merit 5 Stars on that criteria save for the fact that Mr Cussler has, for several books now, insisted on popping up in a cameo role himself, and it really jars. It's got to the point that you're waiting for him to appear to reveal that one piece of vital info to put our heroes on the right track. Spoils the books - stop it at once!

Was this written by a child? (4/5 people found this helpful)

This is my first Clive Cussler book which I bought on recommendation from my girlfriend. I am half way through and have already decided it will be my last Cussler. It is so ridiculously far-fetched it actually made me laugh out loud.

'Dirk Pitt' can do no wrong, is an expert in just about everything, isn't a great fighter but kills everyone he happens to stumble into a fight with by speed and dexterity alone, is showing his age but turns women's heads whenever he walks into a room with his 'tanned skin and craggy features' and 'opaline green eyes' but is so modest as to shun the praise endlessly heaped upon him.

The coincidences are ridiculous. Such as being stranded with no hope of rescue until Clive Cussler himself (in his somewhat bigheaded regular cameo appearance) happens across him by chance or the love interest who in passing mentions that she's been let down by a vintage airplane pilot for a handicapped childrens event but luckily Dirk has a vintage airplane and can save the day.

Basically, I don't know the outcome but from the first 100 pages you know that no matter what certain death situation the hero and friends arrive in, some MIRACLE will occur to save the day. What's the point?

Valhalla Rising (A Dirk Pitt Novel)

Clive Cussler

Editorial Review: