THE SIX SACRED STONES

The Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly
Book 2 of the Jack West Jr. series

About This Book:

The End Of The World Is Here
Unlocking the secret of the 'Seven Ancient Wonders' was only the beginning. The world is in mortal danger.

SIX FABLED STONES
For Jack West Jr and his loyal team of heroes, the challenge now is to set six legendary diamonds known as 'the Pillars' in place at six ancient sites around the world before the deadline for global destruction arrives. The locations of these sites, however, can only be releaved by the fabled Six Sacred Stones.

AN EPIC MISSION
With only the riddles of ancient writers to guide them, and time rapidly running out, Jack and his team must fight their way past traps, labyrinths and a host of deadly enemies - knowing that this time they cannont, will not, must not fail.

Genre: fantasy modern action adventure

My Take On This Book:
My favourite "part" in the story is the depiction of Lao's "duality" theory and the notion of "balance". In everything good there is darkness. And in all evil, there is light. The duality of all things. Whether that is true or not, I would like to think that it is.

The story itself? 4.5 out of 5. It is obviously a fantasy by the mere fact that the story talks of a Tartarus power. Fantasy. But the way Reilly weaves fantasy with known archeological facts, makes the borderline between fiction and fact blur. Such that the fantasy Reilly weaves seems so real. "Suspension of disbelief"? 5 out of 5.

Openning salvo has the protagonist and team running for their very lives from a military invasion complete with assault helicopters, tanks and jet fighters! And then it's non-stop action from there. First chapter and the book had me feeling like I'm short of breath trying to catch-up with events. And that pace keep up until the very end. Story-telling quality? 4.5 out of 5. Cover art? I don't know which to consider really, since different countries have their own different cover arts... The copy I've read is a US cover. The symbolism is quite appropriate to the story but not very attractive to my fantasy buff eyes. 3 out of 5.

The story has a cliffhanger ending. Normally I hate cliffhanger endings with a passion. And this is the only reason this book is not a 5 cherries. But still the ending manages to close the dilemma presented in the story and thus climaxed the book well.

Overall, I would say that this book has an entertainment value of 4.5 out of 5. Definitely a recommended read! Though being Book 2 in the Jack West Jr. series, it is highly recommended that you read book 1 first for a reader to understand what is going on. My review of book 1, Seven Ancient Wonders, is here.

Cherry’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Acknowledgements:
This book was given to me for free by the publisher for review purposes.