Almost a Great

I would've given this one 5 stars except for the plot fumble about three quarters of the way through, where someone felt the need for more action. Once you get past the awkward crash scenes and other unnecessary struggles to arrive at the Mars site, the rest is back on track for a good finish ( )

This book oscillates between an interesting vision of a world, and extremely juvenile dialogue. I am very close to giving it an even lower grade due to the cheesy, annoying and prepubescent exchanges between characters (who by the way are almost all young with movie star looks), but since I find that I still want to read the next book in the series I will leave it at three stars.

The story is that we find 65 million old, dead, creatures in the solar system that might be aliens intermixed with dinosaurs. Have fun with that. ( )

Ok, it's fluff - space opera. But it is _excellent_ space opera. I'd tried before and quit, but this time I was utterly hooked - every time I had a minute I'd go back to reading. There are major holes in the science I understand (paleontology), and I suspect equally major holes in the ones I don't (physics, engineering, astronomy...) - but while the holes bother me they don't slow down the story noticeably. Coincidence plays a _major_ part - only two years between the finding of the fossil and the greater discovery? And three of those present at the first are also present at the latter? Yeah, right. But keeping space opera in mind - this is a fun read, with _great_ characters - each has a quirk, and each is much deeper than just that quirk. And a good bit of romance, with only a bit of "I am not worthy" as obstacles. I _like_ these people, and am delighted I had the next books as well. Worth reading, and I suspect one I'll reread frequently. ( )

Who would think that archaeology and space exploration would mix so well! Thoroughly enjoyable read with lots of action. Looking forward to the rest of the series. ( )

Very good space adventure. The dinosaurs aren't real, but the exploration rings true. Good characters, good story development. ( )