"Oh oh come take my hand. We're riding out tonight to case the promised land. Woah oh oh, thunderhead, oh thunderhead, oh thunderhead."Ok, not quite Bruce Springsteen, but it was in my head the whole time I read Thunderhead. This is really one of my favorite styles of books. Action/Adventure with a splash of mystery. In the style of books like Amazonia and to a lesser extent The Celestine Prophecy. If you've never heard of Douglas Preston before, he's written several books in this style (along with author Lincoln Child), including Relic which was made into a major motion picture back in 1997.But onto the book. Synopsis: An archaeologist receives a 16 year old letter from her long lost father, claiming that he's found a long lost Anasazi (Native American) city of gold. An adventurous exploration takes place. But some things were never meant to be discovered.Preston and Child know how to write. I'd be hard pressed to find a fault in the writing of Thunderhead, and even if I did it would just be-nitpicking. As for the plot, overall it was pretty great. I could have done with a bit more of the "Skip" side-story. He seemed to get a bit short-changed as far as character development goes.The characters in the main exploration party, while a little hollow at first, did seem to come into their own by the end. Unfortunately they all seemed to suffer from "book-dumbness" in which the characters make some really poor decisions that no one outside of a book would make. Nothing that really took me out of the story, but certainly some choices that could have saved a life or two. I also really wish the character names had been more diverse. I was often getting confused between Smithback and Black, Bonarotti and Beiyoodzin, Sloane and Swire, Aaron and Aragon.Overall though, I really enjoyed reading this book and looked forward to whatever free time I had to pick it up. And really, that's probably the best thing you can say about any book.
The adventure is marginally higher than the suspense in Preston and Child's sturdy new tale of scientific derring-do, concerning a search for Quivira, the legendary Anasazi Indian City of Gold. The authors know what buttons to push and levers to yank, perhaps too well. The novel has a clockwork feel, from its first tick, the spooky stalking of archaeologist Nora Kelly on an isolated New Mexican ranch, to its last tock. Playing it safe, Preston and Child take no missteps as Nora finds an old letter from her long-missing father with clues to Quivira's location; leads an expedition of central-casting types (a leathery old cowboy, a beautiful female photographer, the jokey journalist who figured in Relic and Reliquary, etc.); after much difficulty, discovers Quivira, which is revealed as a repository of ancient evil; and encounters death by way of the Native American witches who threatened her at the novel's start. It's all predictable but rarely dull. The authors display deep affection for the pulp they're recycling, talent for exciting set pieces, a hazardous ascent along a ridge toward Quivira and the flash-flooding of the canyon harboring the city are showcases of action writing and, always their ace, the ability to infuse every aspect of their story with authentic techno-scientific lore. This is a novel in which the archaeological niceties of ancient black-on-yellow micaceous pottery are as important to plot as the caliber of the gun the heroine wields. Fans of the authors' similarly inspired, and similarly metronomic, scientific textbooks-cum-thrillers should find this one much to their taste. (Amazon blurb)Standard thriller which takes place in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. Truthfully, I was not overly impressed with the story, but it was entertaining enough to while away a few hours.
What do You think about Thunderhead (2000)?
Los libros de este tipo me encantan, búsquedas de lugares perdidos o remotos, leyendas, misterios... En esta ocasión los personajes buscan una ciudad sagrada llamada Quivira y, como no , su expedición estará rodeada de peligros.A pesar de ser tan gordo el libro se lee en un suspiro, los acontecimientos se desarrollan pausadamente al principio pero hay algunas escenas intercaladas que ponen los pelos de punta. Me ha gustado el ambiente casi claustofóbico de la parte final y también algunos de los personajes. Aunque varios siguen un patrón muy repetido, es interesante ver cómo se van relacionando. Como detalles frikis, me gustó mucho la parte de los mapas del principio, más que nada porque yo he hecho cosas así y me hizo gracia verlo en un libro. Como casi siempre, esta pareja de autores ha conseguido emocionarme y aterrarme a partes iguales con su historia. Muy recomendable si os gustan las novelas de acción.
—Beleth
Nora Kelly es una arqueóloga que durante una visita al rancho abandonado de sus padres, sufre el ataque de unos misteriosos y agresivos seres. Estos estaban buscando una carta, que Nora encontrará por casualidad. Cuál será su sorpresa cuando descubra que dicha misiva fue escrita por su padre, también arqueólogo, hace dieciséis años, época en la que desapareció sin dejar rastro. En esta carta, el padre de Kelly habla del descubrimiento de la ciudad perdida de Quivira de los indios Anasazi, dando la información necesaria para hallarla. A partir de este momento, Nora no cejará en su empeño por encontrar el apoyo del instituto en el que trabaja para que subvencione una expedición en busca de Quivira. La aventura está servida.Como es habitual en las novelas de Douglas Preston y Lincoln Child, ‘La ciudad sagrada’ (Thunderhead, 1999) te atrapa desde las primeras páginas. La mezcla de arqueología, aventuras, magia negra y misterio, hacen de su lectura una experiencia interesante y entretenida. Quizás le sobren páginas y el final debería ser un tanto más precipitado. No es lo mejor de Preston y Child, pero es un buen bestseller.
—Oscar
I really like the books by Preston and Child! This one is our first introduction to Nora Kelly who makes a later appearance in the book,The Cabinet of Curiosities, while Smithback(from Relic) is back there's no sign of Pendergast. It's an interesting tale of Nora looking for Quivara, a Native American settlement that may have been the fabled City of Gold that Spanish explorer Coronado was looking for. I liked how Preston and Child link in a lot of Native American legend along with intersting facts about archaeology in this book. I definitely plan to read more by them.
—Jamie
