I enjoyed this book very much.
I am a huge fan of Jules Verne,20'000 Leagues under the sea is one of my fav books of all time.And everyone likes the Vikings right?
The fact that Clive has Zale about to blow up the WTC is scary considering what happened later in the year.Clive also gives a nod to the Hunley as Pitt destroys the Mongol Invader.It was nice to see the Tri-motor back in action.And the ending always brings a tear to my eye.
The only drawback I have with the book was the credibility of the whole teleportation bit.

All in all it was a fun read.
8/10 for me

The world Trade Center shook me up to Robb. I put the book down for a few days before I could read it again. The story was a good story thought. I think it would be harder today to mess with transportation than it was when the book was written. Or least I hope so. The book is a 10. th: w:

I agree with you 100% th:

Again another great book 9/10.

My jaw practically hit the floor when I read the WTC part, since I only read it this year yike:

Pretty freaky huh? :blink:

Yes it sure was.

Of course a good thing about this book is our introduction to the young Pitt's however short it was, although I don't recall any tears on my part ;)

The Best of the Best!!!!...Since I read it just after 9/11 I found it was prescient of Clive to come up with something like that. And in the previous book there was a hint of the kids when dirk was thinking about summer on the plane. And like Rob I just love the disney movie and the jules verne connection and because of my love of submarines and the ocean!!!! b: A perfect 10!!!!

I was thoroughly underwhelmed and actually dissappointed by the teleportation revelation. After the oil was hyped throughout the whole book I thought teleportation was about as unimaginitive and hokey as CC could have gotten. The discovery of the cave and Dirk's analysis felt somewhat forced, too.

I also don't really know that much about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea so most of that plot was confusing to me.

I'm really glad, too, that I was able to start reading Trojan Odyssey immediately following the conclusion of VR because I really hate when a story leaves me hanging like the sudden emergence of Dirk's children would have done. (And like the show LOST does every week, sheesh).

My Favorite Pitt book. I have four copies of it. One first edition/first print hardcover, one first edition softcover, one first edition mass market paperback, and one of the Cahill signed and numbered 'slipcase' marbled editions. I'm now trying to find an ARC but it's prooving tougher than I thought!

vallhala rising has one of my favorite opening chapters in all the books...i could not put it down after that ....i think the reality of vikings being in upstate NY is not that far fetched... <_<

Valhalla Rising was a disappointment to me. I was astonished about Clive's prescience in the attack on the WTC towers (I thought about the book when I saw the towers burning on TV) but the book went straight downhill from there and stayed there.

Highs: I liked seeing Admiral Amos Dover - he got promoted from Lieutenant Commander! (What happened to Lee Koski, the original commander of the Catawaba?) I liked seeing the Ford Trimotor after all of these books. I also got the joke about Jimmy Flett and the Arvor III.

Lows: The idiotic teleportation gimmick, stolen straight out of Star Trek. Also, I didn't care for the whole Jules Verne subplot - it was totally unnecessary and made it even more unbelievable than just the teleportation would have been. The villian in this book was poorly defined (Curtis something odd or other?) and seemed like a cheap one-dimensional character. The only villian that I can remember being cheesier was Specter (from the following book).

Overall, I would rate this book higher than any Kurt Austin/Oregon Files books, but it's one step above the bottom (the only other book being lower IMHO was Trojan Odyssey).

This was the first book of Clive's I ever read ... the Vikings drew me in! :) I loved it soooo much, I'm currently trying to read all of the rest of his novels. Dirk and Kurt are awesome characters!
~Michelle

:blink: It was a really great book to read, but I didn`t really like the end-Dirk`s
kids and so...

Aside from the freakiness of that part, I would give the book a 7.8 out of 10. It wasn't one of my super favorites :unsure:

6.5/10

After reading this after Atlantis Found, I was let down greatly. There was not enough action at all in this book, and when there was it didn't find it too interesting. Also, Pitt and Giordino's jokes together really were non-existent in the book.

The ending was good though, and the goal of Zale's was interesting as well. I also liked the slight plot twist in the last 100 pages or so.

The Viking part also didn't interest me as much, the end seemed to drag on. I'd recommened picking this book up later in the series.

Haha 7.8 :lol:

"Haha 7.8 :lol: " ta16uva

I like being precise j: j:

I´ve already read the book and I have a dude about Pitt´s kids.... In the Pacific Vortex there is no mention about any 'special moment' between Dirk & Summer, theyonly met in three times: On the beach, when she rescue him and in Kanoli... So... When did they made the twins???? :unsure: :wub:

((Sorry... my english isn´t very good... :blink: ))

Ahhh the famous question of the twins creation, if you go to this forum you'll see that a book has even been written that touches a little on this subject (and many plotlines from Clive's novels, including Pacific Vortex.)

The 'creation' actually never took place according to Cussler himself..he goofed!

Welcome to the forum w:

My goodness, I am going to have to go and have another read of this book. Am currently rereading Atlantis Found and had a few non-CC books lined up after that but might have to go back and reread VR. I don't remember any of the things discussed above except the vikings and Dirk's kids. Oh and that I stayed up til 4 am to read the whole thing virtually in one sitting!
*sigh* so many books, so little time. :)

A Danish Valhalla Rising

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

A Spanish version

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...MEAFB%3AIT&rd=1

Wow, what a quick read it was! Where to begin? Ok. Jules Verne? Great fan! Vikings? I love vikings. Kanai? Interesting character. Did i ride a Duesenberg before? Well...

Valhalla Rising is one of the best books in Pitt series. A good read, a good adventure mixed up with good fantasy and reality. And of course with two ''little (?!)'' surprises.

Wait, teleportation? I might pass on this one. That's a little farfetched, even for these books.

Don't pass on the whole book just because of the teleportation idea, but I agree with you on how farfetched it was. I was very dissappointed when the solution was revealed. What a cop-out. The rest of the book was pretty good, though.

Just finished it. Got to say it was a very good book. Most of the reviews of I have seen were fairly negative - so this was a pleasant surprise to have enjoyed the book.

I think people were turned off to this book for two reasons and those are my only complaints on the book.

1. Teleportation - while the concept is farfetched I believe it is something that could be used in books of fiction. The problem is they teleported oil into a briefcase for no reason........huh?

I can handle the not being able to teleport living humans because they would come out as a blank slate and teleportation revolutionizing industrial transportation. Those I can swallow. Teleporting oil into a briefcase that survived being plunged into the ocean.

2. The kids at the end - this is a problem because it really broke the continuity line from Pacific Vortex. Dirk and Summer never shaked and baked so how can their be any kids???? You got to admit that it was being set up the whole book. The memories and feelings of Summer back then were foreshadowing the arrival of either her or the kids. I believe Summer coming back would be more plausible and open up more storylines than having the kids.

Who knows - maybe Dirk having kids with Summer may reinvigorate the whole toilet bowl seat myths that are out there.

Overall a very good book.

I just finished this book and really liked it. But I do wish that the intro of Dirk's kids was done a bit different, it felt completely different than the rest of the story and seemed a little out of place. Other than that I was great and fun to sea the 2,000 leages under the sea twist. cop: