What is everyones opinion of Sacred Stone. I really enjoyed it, very up to date with current affairs, great to read a Cussler story involving a large team. I did miss the antics of Dirk and Al though.

I thought it was kind of a strange story. I have to go back and read it again. I don't think I got everything I should have from it. I think I was in a turbulent time of my life and just didn't pay attention. :lol:

I thought it was great th:

I know some complained about it, but it was not a bad read. There are excellent elements, just some points in the writing style that could have been attended to. I don't think the editor did what he should have.

Well its my 19th back to back Cussler book, and I got to tell you I was not impressed with Golden Buddah and this impressed me even less.

I really miss the Drik Pitt adventures.

There are quite a few technical mistakes in these two books, too many characters. The style does not really reflect Clive Cusslers writings.

The thing I didn't like the most is how at the end of the most chapters and paragraphs the plot is given away, like the author knows you are getting bored and he is giving you something to look forward too. But it kind of tells you what is going to happen next.

Not like your usual books where you can't keep it down because you want to know what happens next, here they tell you in advance :)

One time read.

This one's been out awhile, I'm surprised to see only four reviews here. Is there another thread that I missed somewhere?

So anyway, having enjoyed Golden Buddha I was looking forward to Sacred Stone. I was settled in with the Corporation and liked their no-nonsense businesslike attitude. I was a little dissappointed with Sacred Stone.

As with Golden Buddha, the majority of the book is spent building up to a number of different events, but when the events actually take place it seems like they are glossed over. It reads sort of like this: Plan, plan, plan, plan, plan, plan, plan, plan, ok bam we win. Plan, plan, plan, plan, plan, plan, plan, ok bam we win. It just seemed like they always caught the bad guy or stopped the evil plot so quickly in real time after spending so much of the book figuring out how they were going to do so. I missed the 5-page long chase scenes and the brutal drag-em-out fights that we get with the Pitt books.

I'm not saying it's a bad book. I did enjoy it, although I found it confusing at times. I'm not familiar enough with Muslim history to get inside Hickman's head. The actual intended use for the meteorite was confusing and the whole buildup of the atmosphere-eating space bacteria still has me a little bewildered. It seemed like the writers were a little too far over the top at times, while being too far under it at others.

Also, the fact that they didn't get to use the fake voice routine and talk to Lababiti because Cabrillo waited too long to play the card and the terrorists had already committed to silence really bothered me. Maybe it was because the mistake seemed so out of character for the Corporation when everything else they do is so well calculated and efficient. It seemed like they waited all day outside the apartment and then "by the time they got around to making the call" it was too late. What the heck were they waiting for, anyway??

Ah well, I ramble on. Really looking forward to getting ahold of a copy of Dark Watch so I can see where Jack DeBrul takes this series. I've enjoyed it way more than the Numa Files, which I will address in a post over there.

You'll find Dark Watch a vast improvement Erik

Bueno. Thanks Rob! As reaphy said in the Golden Buddha thread you have given me hope. th:

I'm reading it right now actually, its good so far.

From an english point of view, quite frankly, what a load of rubbish. I've enjoyed CC's books for years, and this is the first Oregon book I've read. CC and CD have obviously never been to the UK, bought a train ticket, met a detective, visited the Isle of sheppey, an english pub or anything else. Americans may enjoy the stereotypical tweed wearing, pipe smoking, snuff sniffing, gawd blimey guvnor image of an english detective, but they don't exist. You may also like to know that 20 dollars will not buy a train ticket from sotland to london, I doubt it would even get you out of scotland, and thats even in the highly unlikely event that you could buy a ticket in dollars.

Well being new to this forum and Old to Cussler novels. Been reading them since 1979.

I find the Corporation refreshing and complicated. The story line is consistent with Cussler's other novels taking the past and tying it into the present. Having a team with Bond like gadgets is pretty cool and found this book riviting.

Now I have never been to England and am sure you are correct, but being a California boy I loved it and with my ignorance of far away contries it was believable.

I would recommend this to experienced readers. Although to introduce Cussler to new ones there are a few other books I would recommend like the Pacific Vortex for starters.

Just my two cents from a newbie!

Welcome Ruffino! Enjoy the forum and feel free to throw in your two cents anytime. w:

Just finished Sacred Stone and enjoyed it thoroughly!

The ending was a little disappointing to me but overall the book was great.

I wish Cussler would have enumerated upon the point of the Kaaba being swapped. Was the meteorite being used for a dirty bomb in Saudi Arabia? That was my guess. Doesn't take much to expound on that. Also a typo in the book towards the end was a little unusual to come across. ;)

I woudl again recommend this to someone who can follow a fairly complicated story line.

Inca Gold is next! :)

Ooh, you will love Inca Gold more than Sacred Stone I bet. Enjoy!

Well here goes.

This is my first posting as a newbie.

Bear with me a while.

In my opinion, there is no adventure hero like Pitt. He is a god amongst men. Kurt Austen i feel was created to fill his shoes, to the point where he is given a similar post at Numa, a college buddy sidekick and nine lives, but as enjoyable as the Numa Files books are, they fall short of the compelling knife edge adventures of Pitt, who, in the midst of all the action, you can relate to as a real human being, little rough round the edges, and doesn't win every fight, in fact, he and Giordino find themselves in some pretty desparate situations, ie Sahara and Shock Wave.

The thing i have enjoyed about the Oregon files, is the departure from a central character, and the development of this crack, no nonsence team of highly sophisticated individuals, who all get to play the part of the hero, given the job in hand.

In support of the learned opinions of those who have passed comment on Golden Buddha and Sacred Stone, i have to agree, that so much time is spent in the planning, the results seam to come to easily and without too much of a fight.
But a rivetting read none the less, maybe not as absorbing as the Pitt adventures, but most importantly, entertaining. For that is the reason after all, that we all read his books.

On the comment about the switching of the meteor, i am so glad someone else noticed that. It is so easy to lose track so you have to keep your eye on the ball/buddha/meteor/whatever. i suggest not too many tequilas the night you read the switching of the Buddhas, Clive and Craig shuffle the cups really well.

Oh, yeh, also i live not far away from Sheppey, which is the name of an island at the mouth of the Thames river, with Sheerness being the main town and port. until recently, the only access onto the island from the mainland, was by way of a lifting bridge, widely and rather unkindly suggested by most that it was put there to stop the people of sheppey getting out! Don't mention 'Deliverance'! On a personal note, i thoroughly enjoyed the book, especially as it brought one of Cusslers story lines to my own doorstep.

Welcome to the forum, Ed w: Always great to have more Brits around here th:

I enjoyed the book and thought it had a good flow to it.

However, at times the large amount of characters involved led to a bit of confusion.

And like some others I thought it ended quite abruptly after a sustained build up.

I have just finish listening to the audio book of Sacred Stone and enjoyed the book. I only put the tape on hold once. I also rewinded the tape once to understand the thought process of one of the characters. The writing was much better, the book flowed and I got more insight into the working of the Corporation. It was much better than the Golden Budhha. I am looking forward to the next book of the Oregon Files series.
I really liked this series. The concept is different. The Oregon is becoming an important part of the book as with the characters.

I just finished reading Sacred Stone. I enjoyed it more than Golden Buddha being more up todate. I enjoyed the story of the meterorite... The scene with the fox at the mill told me what was going to happen (they would all kiss the stone and die). I also liked the character development of Adams the pilot. that was good. I liked this book and I didn't like putting it down (but I did cos I do stuff) can't wait for the next one. I liked the style of plan pplan plan yay we win. I'd hate in a Pitt novel but the corporation is about planning and doing with a mininmum of fuss. some of the plans seem Pitt like but they didn't work as well as they did for Pitt.

Yay a good read racy yet anal rentive.

8/10 on the Jess scale

I am in the middle of Sacred Stone and though I am enjoying it I have a bit of a problem. When the driver slowed in front of Inverkeithing Station. That's difficult, then the bit where he stops beside a "porter with a luggage cart" that's impossible. First Scotrail that run the station could not find you a porter if their life depended on it because there are none and when self same porter puts the box on the train in the passenger's cabin. Sorry this smacked of 39 Steps and the 1930's. Otherwise the book is the usual good read.

Sorry Gooner, just read your post and I concur over the $20, this would not get you on the train. The people at the ticket office have a bad enough time giving you a ticket normally without trying to convert the currency and what £10 to get to London, get real. Otherwise I think Clive Cussler has a fondness for my country, he just want's to get out more.

Okay, I’m not out to ruffle any feathers and I won’t be surprised if I get a little heat from the Cussler faithful. I just finished The Sacred Stone and must say it was one of the worst books I've ever read in my life. Before I go into detail I have to state that I am a huge Clive Cussler fan, and have read about 15 of his Dirk Pitt books and 2 Kurt Austin books. The guy is as true a master storyteller as you're likely to find out there. Usually I plough through one of his books in 2-3 days, and consider him to be a spellbinding storyteller. I’m always a little leery of co-authors, but after being thoroughly impressed with Cussler’s collaboration with Paul Kemprecos I thought I’d give The Oregon Files by Cussler/Dirgo a try.

I was so shocked at how poorly it was written, and I have to admit I’m a little mystified that no one on this forum has really gone after this book. It was AWFUL! The writing style was so completely different from anything else I've read by Cussler that I am absolutely convinced that this book could not have been written by him. This is a Craig Dirgo book, plain and simple. Maybe Cussler had some input in the initial concepts, but the actual writing was a hundred times below anything else I’ve read by him. The storyline and plot twists were not “fast paced”, they were completely out of control. Maybe Dirgo was going for a more real life atmosphere, like an episode of ‘24’, but it felt like the action sequences were no longer than one paragraph in length before the reader was sent careening off into another direction.

I understand the desire to make a book more about a team than one individual hero, and I love the idea of the Corporation. But even in a team environment you need to know a little bit more about the people. There was almost zero character development at all. Of course it’s easier with a smaller cast of players, but if you look back at any other Cussler book you’ll notice that he spends an immense amount of time allowing the reader to truly get to know the key list of characters. Their physical attributes, their history, their quirky mannerisms, and then you watch them go through their routine in a clearly paced manner. They feel authentic and real. In The Sacred Stone everyone was distilled down to a one sentence overview, maybe they’d get one whole paragraph if they were key players. I’m sorry, but that just makes everyone seem interchangeable and ultimately forgettable. I had to keep going back to the Cast of Characters page to keep straight who was who, and in the end I didn’t even care anymore.

I’m not trying to be some book snob, but c’mon, the dialogue in this book was usually passable but sometimes dreadful. I was literally cringing at times, and that’s never happened in any other book I’ve read by Clive Cussler. The book was littered with unforgivable chapter endings that pretty much gave away what was going to happen next. Everything was like, "He went to bed that night not knowing that he would be dead by about 2:00 the following afternoon." Are you kidding me? Did this book even have an editor?

So go ahead, lash away at my opinion, but in the end I was left feeling angry and a little sad. It looks to me like Clive Cussler has decided to simply cash in on his fame, and let his buddy do the actual writing of the book and put CLIVE CUSSLER as big and bold as life on the cover. What's really sad, though, is that he chose to just write a blank check on the content. It seems that I’m alone on this line of thought at this forum, but I think that to just throw his name on the book and plaster his face on the back as a selling tool is a real slap in the face to his legions of fans. As hard as you may find it to believe, I still consider myself to be one of those fans.

The moderators of this forum know more about Clive Cussler than I do, so maybe they can shed some light on what happened with these books “co-authored” with Craig Dirgo. I know Dirgo wrote some non-fiction books with Cussler, so maybe letting his buddy write the Oregon Files series was his way of saying thanks. I remember when the movie Sahara came out Clive Cussler put up a real stink about not having enough creative input into the final cut, and I recall there were even lawsuits involved. It just seems strange that the guy would go out of his way to keep the film true to the book, but he has no qualms about putting his name and image on a horribly written book like The Sacred Stone.

In my lone defense of myself, I recommend anyone who says I am completely alone in my opinion to check out the Amazon.com reviews of this book. When I finished it I wondered if I was the only person who both loved Clive Cussler books, but at the same time hated The Sacred Stone on just about every level. There are about 40 reviews at Amazon for The Sacred Stone, most of which are by people who, like me, loved every Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin adventure they’d read. The average review was 2 out of 5 stars, and even some of the 3 star reviews really ripped into this book.

Sorry to be the lone detractor here, but I just had to get that off my chest.[/SIZE]

Obviously Clive felt Craig could follow through on his vision and create something credible. I enjoyed the book and agree that it was not edited by Cussler himself. And many times the publishing house editors don't pay too much attention. When the books go to press many unedited flaws and printing typos add up to a mish mash that if not watched closely will create unsatisfied reactions by the readers. Despite a slow start for the Oregon Files series it has gotten better with each book. Yet some characters in the Corporation are still fuzzy and need more characterization. Thank you truefan for being honest and humble enough to not be brash about your opinion on the subject. As a Cussler fan who has read all the books, I know quite a bit on the man and his creations and love this forum and love the exchange of honest opinions without rancor involved. w:

Clive has said that he works with his co-authors to create the concepts for each book, but that the co-authors do all of the actual writing. I don't know what specific reasons were given for why Jack DuBrul took over the Oregon Files series, but I can tell you that the series is way better for it. I came to enjoy Craig Dirgo's style and was comfortable associating it with a new overall concept for the Oregon Files. However, I do like Jack's vision more.

My advice on the characters: Don't worry too much about specifics for each of them. At most, you can focus on their individual strengths/skills (e.g. Tiny Gunderson is a pilot, one of them is special ops coordinator, Huxley is the doctor, etc). Other than that, I just try to keep track of whether they're in the corporation or if they're on the villian's team.

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=1]Thanks so much for going easy on me on my first post at this forum. I felt a little guilty when I posted it and was kind of expecting a reaction along the lines of, “Shut up and get lost, you ignorant jerk.” You guys are way above that and I really appreciate the replies I got. In regards to The Sacred Stone, obviously all writers have a style all their own, and I totally feel that each reader is entitled to his own opinion. While I might like an author that other people don’t, so it seems that Craig Dirgo is simply not my cup of tea. Having said that, I would never go to a Craig Dirgo-only fan site and start spouting off against the guy, like some drunk party crasher ruining everyone else’s good time. I guess what really set me off about The Sacred Stone is that I bought it because it clearly claims to be written by Clive Cussler along with Craig Dirgo. And while it has become apparent that I’m not a fan of Dirgo’s writing style, I’m a HUGE fan of Clive Cussler. Again, for those who truly enjoy Craig Dirgo, I say that’s totally cool, more power to ya. But there’s just something not right about putting out a book that is not written by whom it claims to be.

Now Clive Cussler is not the first successful author to use his name to help sell other books, or to allow other authors to use themes and characters he had created. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that at all, so long as it’s done honestly. If fans of an author are clamoring for more, and the original author can only write so much in a given time, then there’s nothing wrong with giving a new writer the opportunity to both give the fans what they want while adding a slightly different flavoring to the storytelling. The best example I can think of is Tom Clancy. He’s got a whole series of books called ‘Tom Clancy’s Op-Center’ and ‘Tom Clancy’s NetForce’, all written by other people. Sure, he’s using his name to help sell the book, but anyone who buys it knows full well that they are getting ideas and concepts based on Clancy’s, but a writing style that is purely that of the listed author. I mean, Robert Ludlum died in 2001, but they’ve been coming out with new books based on his ideas for years. I saw an interview with Matt Damon on The Daily Show where he said the next movie should be called “The Borne Redundancy”, but I digress.

I guess what I’m saying is that I would have had a lot less frustration, and probably wouldn’t have even posted my earlier diatribe, if this book had on the cover “Clive Cussler’s The Sacred Stone written by Craig Dirgo”. To some it may seem like nit picking, but it’s really not. Taking a chance on reading a new writer is a completely different experience than reading a book by a trusted author that you know, flat out, is guaranteed to blow you out of the water. If anything, this has taught me NOT to buy a Clive Cussler novel co-written with someone else based on the sole fact that I love Cussler’s style. Next time I’ll read some reviews of it first (both here and at Amazon) before making any impulse buy.

I’ll kind of branch off a little bit and rope in the other co-authors I’ve read so far. I’ve read Black Wind and Treasure of Khan, both co-written by Dirk Cussler, and was as impressed as I’ve been with any other Dirk Pitt books. Either Clive Cussler had a lot of input into the writing of those books, or his son Dirk has inherited his father’s genius to a tee. I also read Serpent and Lost City, co-written by Paul Kemprecos, and thought they were outstanding. The writing style was strikingly similar to Cussler’s solo work, but the subtle differences worked well with a new set of characters. If Kemprecos had written a Dirt Pitt adventure I may have noticed the style differences more and taken on a more purist attitude, as I’m used to reading about our favorite hero as depicted only by the master himself. But with Kurt Austin you almost expected something a little new, and I found it refreshing.

This is more of a publishing question, and it may have been answered in another forum topic. How are the co-authors chosen? I know I’ve been pretty rough on Craig Dirgo, but I’m not being sarcastic here. Really. Does Cussler approach them after reading other books they’ve written? Does the publisher recommend them? I found at Wikipedia that Paul Kemprecos had written six books in his Aristotle Sacarides series, that last of which came out in 1997, followed soon after by his first NUMA Files book in 1999. I also found at Wiki that Craig Dirgo had written three non-fiction books and one novel prior to his Oregon Files work. Jack DuBrul wrote seven Phillip Mercer books before jumping into The Oregon Files. So who approaches who when collaborations are made? Just curious.

You didn't get that reaction from us because you clearly came to the forum to have an actual discussion about books and authors, with logical opinions and arguments presented while acknowledging and accepting differing viewpoints. Also, you weren't making personal attacks on the authors, whom many of us consider to be our friends. Frankly, I find your thoughts and posts completely refreshing in the blogosphere world of the internet, and really appreciate you posting them.

The Bourne Redundancy... that's great!

I've thought for some time know that it's not really fair that the co-authors are doing all (or most) of the work, yet Clive ends up getting all of the credit. I like your idea about titling them something like "Clive Cussler's Sacred Stone, written by Craig Dirgo." It'd be a bit more fair.

The same could be true about so-called autobiographies these days. Sooo many of them are ghostwritten, yet the cover clearly tries to get you to think that the subject person was really the author. My first exposure to a ghost-written autobiography was for the wrestler The Rock. In itty bitty letters off to the side of the cover it says "With (insert name here)." I didn't really know what that meant until I had the opportunity to hear Mick Foley (the wrestler Mankind, Dude Love, etc) talk about his autobiography "Have a Nice day." Mick Foley actually hand wrote his entire 500+ page book in pencil on yellow legal pads. I had just read the Rock's book, and during the Q&A I asked a question comparing Mick's book to the one "The Rock wrote." His response was something like "First of all, I can't recall any book actually written by The Rock." The WWE has since released a few other (auto)biographies that are ghost written as well. One story Mick told that epitomizes the worst of the ghostwriting industry, is when one writer met with his subject (a football player I think) for all of 30 minutes, and then wrote a 200 page book about his life. 30 minutes. Sheesh.

Have you read Shawn Micheals book yet Erik? Great read...
Micks first book has to be the holy grail of wrestling books...The Rocks is just very sad,Hogans is good as is Stone Colds..don't bother with Bret Harts,it's just pages of him whinning about how he was screwed by Vince

Ok, so i recently slated "Golden Buddah", but i'm almost impressed by "Sacred Stone", it was much better. i found a few spelling mistakes, and some poor grammar, but hey.. i'll let them slide..

the one thing that REALLY annoyed me about this one, were the last lines of many of the paragraphs or chapters such as "but what he didnt know, was that he would never live to see it.", or "however the chooper would never actually make it to its destination". i have re worded them slightly to prevent spoilers.

but things like that annoyed me alot.. "he would never live to see it"... great, now i know he's gonna die, next chapter is useless to me now.. it kinda spoiled the suspense for me.

oh well, i guess i'll have to try the next one, unless i can find a DP or KA novel that i havn't read yet..

Ah ha, but you don't know HOW he dies so you have to read the chapters to find out! det:

You'll enjoy the rest of the series way more, and just so you know there aren't any more end of chapter "spoilers".

p*