A disastrous time is approaching. In mere days the Tartarus sunspot will be in alignment with the earth, and if the ancient golden capstone is not in place on top of a pyramid the earth’s climate will suffer horribly. To complicate things, the capstone is in seven pieces, each piece located with one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. According to mysterious texts, the nation in control of the capstone at the time of its placement will be undefeated in battle for 1,000 years. Three factions are searching for the pieces: the Europeans, the Americans, and finally our heroes, a small potpourri of adventurers representing a number of less powerful countries who have teamed together in order to prevent the other two from succeeding. In their eyes, the calamity the earth would suffer if the assembly of the capstone is prevented is less than what would befall its citizens should one nation rule the earth for an entire millennium.

Our ragtag team of protagonists embarks on an amazing adventure, searching ancient ruins around the world for lost artifacts by deciphering riddles in ancient texts and disarming hundreds of booby traps along the way, Indiana Jones-style. There many, many holes in the storyline as the adventure progresses, not the least of which is the premise for the plot itself. The suspension of disbelief required on the part of the reader is far too great for a book not labeled fantasy. You’ll constantly roll your eyes and mutter, “Yeah right, give me a break.” Also, where was the editor? The overuse of italics and exclamation points alone is painful to endure.

“I’d pick up a Matthew Reilly before I picked up this one…”

referring to a Thomas Greanias book (Raising Atlantis).

Well. I may have to amend that statement. Because, so far, this book is okay… it just… well, it feels like a picture book. There are a lot of diagrams and pictures drawn out in this book so far. And not in the crude, sort of amusing Vonnegut-style.