Sleeping Giants (Themis Files 1) by Sylvain Neuvel
Sleeping Giants (Themis Files Book 1) by Sylvain Neuvel
I randomly found out about this book and read such good reviews that I just had to see what it was about. I then won a giveaway for the second book, Waking Gods, so I immediately picked this one up to see what it was all about and I am so glad I did.
This sci-fi novel is somewhat dark and frightening with how everything unfolds. A group of scientists, soldiers, politicians are all included in this research project, trying to understand where these giant metal body parts came from and what they are meant for. Is it a religious symbol, a weapon, meant to protect us? And then, protect us from whom? Is someone waiting for us? And whoever it was seems to be significantly more advanced than us. As the story continues, you see the group of people involved in this project lose themselves and sometimes find themselves again with this incredible pressure on their shoulders and an exciting project no one else knows about. A once in a lifetime event that may cause people to become obsessive...
Neuvel also wrote this story in a unique manner. Rather than a main character's point of view, this entire book was told through interviews and a few personal journal entries or news reports. I found it amazing at how well these characters were developed through just dialogue and a few paragraphs from their perspective. Each character is unique and complex and helps create the magic and darkness behind this concept of something other, something more than our little Earth.
The ending was haunting and so unexpected and I'm so glad I was able to pick up the second book right away so I could find out what happened next.
Synopsis: A girl named Rose is riding her bike when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square-shaped hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to help her, see something stranger, a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand. Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved, but Rose is determined to find the answers with a new team of experts. Once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result be an instrument of peace or weapon of mass destruction?