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A master at combining historical and scientific intrigue with cutting-edge adventure, the New York Times bestselling author of Map of Bones and Black Order, James Rollins, returns with his most relentless, high-octane thriller to date--a terrifying story of an ancient menace reborn to plague the modern world... and of an impossible hope that lies hidden in the most shocking place imaginable: within the language of angels. |
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Latest News
Thursday, May 15, 2008 Why I Love Libraries... ...or at least Library Journal! Here's another early review of THE LAST ORACLE, written by one of the best reviewers out there (then again I may be biased, as you'll see from reading the review below). Jeff Ayers - Library Journal The murder of what appears to be a homeless man propels the Sigma Force (The Judas Strain) into their most compelling and perilous adventure yet. The victim is a respected scientist, and the Sigma Force finds that his research leads to a rogue organization of scientists called the Jasons. This think tank of intellectual geniuses has developed a method to augment autistic children with special savant talents. The outcome, in the hands of several men bent on their own quest for control, threatens the entire world. Sigma Force must send their best men to India and other countries around the globe to track down the murdered scientist's research. But menace hides close to their base of operations. Rollins has outdone himself with this fabulous mix of history, science, and adventure that will easily increase his growing number of fans. For all fiction collections. Also Harriet Klausner, one of Amazon's top reviewers writes: "The story line starts fast, goes global, and accelerates taking the audience for an entertaining ride with twists and tilts as only James Rollins could do linking Ancient Greece, modern nuclear warfare, and genetics into a superb action filled tale." (Thanks, Harriet!!) And because I do get asked a lot about the order of the Sigma books, I thought I'd lay them out here once again. Now, of course, the books can be read in any order, but here is the official order of publication. SANDSTORM (this is a proverbial prequel to the Sigma series, where Painter Crowe is still out in the field) MAP OF BONES (Sigma Book #1) BLACK ORDER (Sigma Book #2) THE JUDAS STRAIN (Sigma Book #3) THE LAST ORACLE (Sigma Book #4) All the novels prior to Sandstorm are stand-alone thrillers. Next up (which I hope to put up in the next hour or so) is to dismiss a nagging rumor with solid, irrefutable proof! And since I haven't done this in ages: Best Book of the last month: Napoleon's Pyramid by William Dietrich (and its sequel is sitting on my shelf) Best Movie of the past month: "Ironman" (this movie rocked!)and an honorable mention to "Speed Racer" (I know this movie got trashed by the critics, but after some adjustment to the wild visuals, I had a great time...then again I do have a Speed Racer belt buckle from way back).
posted by James Rollins at 11:20 AM
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 Wednesday, May 14, 2008 A week until Indy hits the shelves! Just to celebrate the upcoming release, I thought I'd post this picture of me in an Indy get-up. Not that I normally do this sort of thing, but my publicist thought it would be a "fun" thing to do. Here is the end result. 
posted by James Rollins at 8:42 AM
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Monday, May 12, 2008 Early Review for THE LAST ORACLE  Here's a review of from Publisher's Weekly that just posted: The Last Oracle: A Sigma Force Novel At the start of bestseller Rollins's rousing fifth Sigma Force novel (after The Judas Strain), the group's leader, Cmdr. Gray Pierce, encounters a homeless man as he's crossing the Mall in Washington, D.C., near Sigma Force's secret lair far beneath the Smithsonian Castle. The man, who's really an MIT neurology professor, collapses in Pierce's arms and dies after passing him a strange coin, thus kicking off a far-flung adventure whose plot threads include the Oracle of Delphi, autistic savant children with strange implants behind their ears, Gypsies, power-mad Russians bent on unleashing enough radioactivity to poison the world, rogue American spy agencies and genetically enhanced wolves and tigers. Lots of absorbing scientific information and tantalizing sentences like *deleted to avoid a major spoiler* keep the pages flying by. * Sorry about deleting that "tantalizing sentence," but it gave away something significant, and I didn't want to ruin the surprise.
posted by James Rollins at 10:46 AM
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Friday, May 09, 2008 New Judas Strain Trailer With the upcoming release of THE JUDAS STRAIN in paperback, the wonderful folks at HarperCollins have put together a video trailer for the book. It's up on YouTube, but you can view it here. I think it's way cool. A big thanks to Brady Hall's film and production studio in Seattle. It's sort of strange to see characters from the book brought to life on video. What do you think? The book will be out May 27th.
posted by James Rollins at 12:35 PM
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Monday, May 05, 2008 Last Oracle Q&A The following is a question-and-answer concerning this summer's new Sigma novel: You very gently tread into an area that borders on the taboo: scientific experimentation with children. Are you afraid that you will awaken a firestorm in reaction? I don’t know about a firestorm, but I think it’s a topic well worth discussing openly. One of the best ways of evaluating a society is to judge how well they care for the weakest among us. Human experimentation has often been cloaked in the “greater good,” where the “ends justify the means.” All nations, including the United States, have participated in human experimentation, including involuntary experimentation. Are experiments going on today with children? In some corners of the world, I don’t doubt that they are. Especially with those children disenfranchised, like the poor, the mentally ill, or the disabled. Do other nations perhaps turn a blind eye to such experiments? I don’t doubt that, too, especially in today’s climate where the mantra seems to be growing that “the ends justify ANY means.” Tell us more about what sparked your fascination with autism, and the manipulation of savant talents? As you may know, I started my career as a veterinarian, and over the recent few years, I’ve been reading books by another veterinarian, named Dr. Temple Grandin. She also happens to be autistic. Her most famous book, titled Animals in Translation, deals with how she used her autism to better understand animal behavior. It was a fascinating treatise, which sent me delving into the topic of “autistic savants,” those rare individuals with extraordinary talent along a narrow focus. The generation of such Rainman-like talent still baffles scientists and has challenged our conception of human mental abilities. But what really set me on the course to write this book is one quote by Temple Grandin: “If by some magic, autism had been eradicated from the face of the earth, then men would still be socializing in front of a wood fire at the entrance to a cave.” It is her contention (one advocated by many historians and anthropologists) that pivotal advancements in human history have come about because of those rare individuals born with savant talents, whose unique way of looking at life have altered the course of mankind. So it made me wonder, what if someone gained control of that power? In THE LAST ORACLE, scientists around the globe are working to engineer the "next" Buddha, Jesus or Mohammed. Can a great prophet, a person whose touch and thought changes the world, be created by mere man? I believe we are not far off from this possibility (if we’re not already there). The new frontier of neurology is the exploration of the brain with more and more sophisticated electrodes, some so small that they can be inserted into individual neurons. Already neurologists have inserted silicon chips into the brains of quadriplegic patients that allow them to manipulate computers—to move a cursor, to surf the Internet—by their thoughts alone. So how long will it be until we learn to harness the brain’s full potential—and scarier, how long until we learn to control that in another person? Many of your concepts are pulled from the news, or from scientific journals -- what was the based-upon-fact genesis of THE LAST ORACLE? I spend the last few pages of every book separating fact from fiction in my novels. I talked about autism earlier, but here are a few of the interesting and factual tidbits that were incorporated into this novel: (1) Newest studies prove that men and women have the general ability to see three seconds into the future. How? We don’t know, but they’ve proven that we do! (2) Humans are “natural-born cyborgs.” (3) Einstein met an Indian woman who could solve a mathematical equation…even before he could finish asking the question. (4) There is a lake in Russia that is so radioactive that if you stand on the shore for an hour, you’ll be dead a week later. (5) And the prophecies of the Greek Oracle of Delphi did indeed change the course of human history. In your author's notes, you reference that the "Jasons," a global think tank of scientists, truly exist. How were you able to delve into the shuttered world of this secret organization? The Jasons formed during the Cold War to offer advice and counsel to the Department of Defense. They were initially a band that consisted of physicists, but today, their membership has expanded to almost every scientific discipline and into most branches of the military. Few Jasons would ever speak of their affiliation, and most of their projects to this day are shrouded behind the stamp of “top secret.” But slowly information has been leaking out. One journalist did an in-depth study and interviewed many members of the Jasons and wrote a book titled, The Jasons, the Secret History of Science’s Postwar Elite. This novel traces the Romani -- known as "Gypsies" from Delphi, into the Indian Continent and across the world. Do the members of this nomadic tribe truly hold the key to long-buried secrets? Considering the origin of the Romani people has only recently been determined by linguistics, I wager there are many secrets buried among a tribe of people who have been wandering across vast stretches of the world for so many centuries. A full descriptive history of these nomadic people has yet to be done. How many stories must be buried in the memories of those who have traveled continents and centuries? That knowledge alone is a vast treasure waiting to be tapped.
posted by James Rollins at 1:40 PM
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Sunday, April 27, 2008 Indiana Jones Interview Just wanted to pass on a heads-up that coming in the next few weeks there will be a revamped version of the website. It will debut some new features, including an online game and an exciting new trailer for THE JUDAS STRAIN. But until then, here's a copy of an interview that will appear on the International Thriller Writer's website concerning the novelization of the upcoming INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL. I thought I'd share it here too. Coming up in the next week, I'll also be posting a longer interview about THE LAST ORACLE. • So how were you chosen to write the novelization to Indy 4? Well, over the years, my books have been critically compared to Indiana Jones. I think mostly due to the historical or archaeological nature of the novels. In fact, one reviewer of my book, Map of Bones, described it as a cross between Indiana Jones and the The Da Vinci Code. To this day, I’m still not sure if that reviewer was insulting me or complimenting me. But I personally take any comparison to Indy as a compliment. And such reviews did eventually draw the attention of Random House who obtained the adaptation rights to the upcoming film. After that, my name got submitted, and I got the thumb’s up. • What does "Indiana Jones" mean to you? For me, Indiana Jones is the “every man” hero. He doesn’t have any super powers, nor does he have any cool gadgets like James Bond. He perseveres through both dogged willpower and the strength of his intelligence. He is scarred, weathered, and tempered by his experiences…not unlike the bullwhip he carries with him. Plus he doesn’t take himself too seriously, poking fun at himself with his wry humor as often as he does the world. Who wouldn’t want to be Indiana Jones…if only in their own imagination? • What was it like working on the book? It was an absolute blast! I first read the script back in the late spring of 2007. At that time, security was as tight as a bank vault, and to even read the script, it required a drive over to Lucasfilm studios in the Presidio of San Francisco. But over time, I was allowed access to the script at home and granted a key to a site where still shots from the movie were uploaded. So between reading the script, talking with the screenplay writer (the amazing David Koepp), and viewing the shots from the production department, I was able to begin working on the novel. • Did you have the right to change the story at all? The studio gave me a fairly free hand to adjust, re-frame, and even add several scenes. Also as screenplays mostly communicate via visual action and dialog, I was able to explore the “inner” Indiana Jones--his internal monologue, thoughts, and fears--which was a thrill. And by the time I was done the book, I had created about a dozen entirely new scenes that aren’t in the script or movie. • Are you authorized to say something about the story? Not at all. There’s an embargo on all story details until the movie’s release. For any questions about the plot, all I can say is “no comment.” • Last question, how do you feel about snakes? With a little ketchup, they aren’t bad.
posted by James Rollins at 10:51 AM
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Thursday, April 17, 2008 Touring Schedule in May Well, it's coming down to the wire on this summer's books. The novelization to Indiana Jones is slated for release May 20th. And the mass paperback release of The Judas Strain is set for May 27th.  I'll be doing a short tour at the end of May to support these books, and I hope to see as many of you there as possible! **Tuesday, May 27 – MINNEAPOLIS, MN Barnes & Noble 3225 W 69th Street Edina, MN 55435 Time: 7:30pm Reading, Talk & Signing **Wednesday, May 28 – ATLANTA, GA Wordsmiths Books 545 N McDonough Decatur, GA 30030 Time: 7:00pm Reading, Talk & Signing **Thursday, May 29 – PITTSBURGH, PA The Oaks Theater 310 Allegheny River Blvd Oakmont, PA 15130 Time: 6:30-7:00pm Movie introduction Books sold by: Mystery Lovers Bookshop
posted by James Rollins at 6:50 PM
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