Saving the world from destruction (again) (The Six Sacred Stones - Matthew Reilly)

Member Name: dizzysummer03

Product:	The Six Sacred Stones - Matthew Reilly
Date:	14/08/09 (15 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast paced, engaging

Disadvantages: Fairly similar idea to his previous book

The Six Sacred Stones is the second book by Matthew Reilly featuring Jack West Jr. It follows on from his previous novel - Seven Ancient Wonders.

In the previous novel West, along with a trusted group of people fought to save the world from complete destruction, but now all they fought for has been destroyed as a group have managed to undo what the team had achieved.

Only four of the original group from the previous book survived to make this book and they are joined by representatives from other countries, all of whom have their own agendas. Their task is two find 6 diamonds which must be placed in certain places around the globe before an alignment of planets takes place or the world will be destroyed. Of course, they are not the only group looking, and of course not all the groups looking want to save the world, some are desperate to have it destroyed.

The main characters in the book are Jack West Jr, Zoe, Wizard, Pooh Bear and Lily.

Jack West in the main character, an ex Australian commando, he led the mission to save the world from destruction in Reilly's previous novel. He lost an arm over ten years ago saving Lily's life and has had it replaced with a titanium arm which contains many hidden and lethal weapons. He legally adopted Lily after the last novel. His call sign is Huntsmen.

Zoe, whose call sign is princess is an Irish Commando, Lily harbours hopes that Zoe and Jack will one day marry.

Wizard, or to give him his real name Professor Epper, is the research genius who uncovers the information and clues necessary to complete the missions.

Pooh Bear is the second son of a Saudi sheik and an integral part of the team.

Lily is only eleven years old, she is only one of two people in the world who are capable of reading a language called 'The Word of Thoth,' it is not a language that can be learned, but something that as a direct descendant of the priests of Thoth she instinctively can understand. Completely used to taking part in desperate and daring missions, Lily is completely unphased by anything that happens to her and comes across as much older than she really is.

The plot is completely fantastical; however Reilly writes the story to make it feel completely believable! It is an extremely fast paced story, and the way that paragraph and line spacing is used serves to increase the tension and emphasise the fast paced nature of the story. It's a writing technique that seems to be unique to Matthew Reilly and he uses if very effectively.

The ending was a real cliff hanger, I can only assume that there is another book to come otherwise I would have to rate this a lot lower than I am going to do.

I would recommend reading Seven Ancient Wonders before you read this book, because otherwise you may find yourself wondering what on earth is going on?

Summary: An enjoyable if fantastical novel