I've been an avid reader of fantasy and sci-fi books since I can remember - reading C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and the book that really dragged me into it all - Terry Brooks's Elfstones of Shannara, which I read when I was 14. I still read a lot, and I've taken to posting reviews of the books here. Enjoy.

Decipher, by Stel Pavlou

Decipher
Mankind has had 12,000 years to decipher the message. We have one week left. There is a signal emanating from deep within the ice of Antarctica. Atlantis has awoken. Ancient monuments all over the worlds from the Pyramids of Giza, to Mexico to the ancient sites of China are reacting...to a brewing crisis not of this earth, but somewhere out in the solar system. Connecting to each other through the oceans. Using low frequency sound waves to create an ancient network. The earth is thrown into panic stations. For it seems that the signals emanating from Atlantis are a prelude to something much greater. Could it be that the entire city is in fact one giant ancient machine? And to what end? For what purpose? It is the year 2012, the same year Mayan belief prophesised the end of the world. Two armies, American and Chinese stand on the brink of war for the control of the most potent force ever known to man. The secrets of Atlantis. Secrets which are encoded in crystal shards retrieved from the sunken city. Secrets which Mankind has had twelve thousand years to decipher...but which will now destroy it within one week.

Decipher was a good book, but I got the feeling early on that although the author was well-researched, and had a very good story idea with very many interesting elements, that he wasn't the best writer I've ever read.

Mr. Pavlou is quite obviously very well-researched in his work, and he undoubtedly has some fascinating ideas involved in his plot, but the book has just a tad too much Hollywood in its pages for me. The characters spout one-liners, (which I must admit made me laugh) the narrative at times reads like expensive special effects, and the characters weren't well enough defined for me to get a clear feel for who was who. I get the feel that Mr. Pavlou was going for a Michael Crichton feel to his book, and he achieved that to a good degree, but Decipher, while good, doesn't stand up to stories like Prey or Timeline.

All in all, I'd still recommend Decipher to someone looking for a good read, especially if (like my wife) you enjoy destruction-of-civilization tales.

Altered Carbon, by Richard Morgan
Amber Spyglass, The, by Philip Pullman
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
Anguished Dawn, The, by James P. Hogan
Batman: No Man's Land, by Greg Rucka
Battle Circle, by Piers Anthony
Battlefield Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard
Beasts of Barakai, The, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Black Monday, by Scott Reiss
Broken Angels, by Richard K. Morgan
Catch Me If You Can, by Frank Abagnale
Caught in Crystal, by Patricia C. Wrede
Cell, by Stephen King
Clash of Kings, by George R. R. Martin
Contact, by Carl Sagan
Cradle of Saturn, by James P. Hogan
Daughter of the Sun, by Lonnie Ezell
Deception Point, by Dan Brown
Decipher, by Stel Pavlou
Digital Fortress, by Dan Brown
Dragon and the George, The, by Gordon Dickson
Dune, by Frank Herbert
Eldest, by Christopher Paolini
Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
Eye of the World, The, by Robert Jordan
Feast For Crows, by George R.R. Martin
Fight Club, by Chunk Palahntuk.
Flightless Falcon, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher
Footfall, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Forensic Files of Batman, by Doug Moench
Frankenstein, Book One: Prodigal Son, by Dean Koontz
Frankenstein, Book Two: City of Night, by Dean Koontz
Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin
Godslayer, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Golden Compass, The, by Philip Pullman
Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher
Great Train Robbery, by Michael Crichton
High Druid of Shannara Series, by Terry Brooks
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
In God We Trust, by Jean Shepherd
Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
Kingdom Come, by Elliot S. Maggin, Mark Waid, Alex Ross
Last of the Renshai, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Legend of Nightfall, The, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Legend That Was Earth, The, by James P. Hogan
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow
Master of the Five Magics, by Lyndon Hardy
Next, by Michael Crichton
Nor Crystal Tears, by Alan Dean Foster
Phylogenesis, by Alan Dean Foster
Prey, by Michael Crichton
Return of Nightfall, by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Runelords, by David Farland
Seventh Son, by Orson Scott Card
Sleeping Dragon, The, by Joel Rosenberg
Stand, The, by Stephen King
Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
State of Fear, by Michael Crichton
Storm Front, by Jim Butcher
Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin
Subtle Knife, The, by Philip Pullman
Summer Knight, by Jim Butcher
Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks
Swords Against Deviltry, by Fritz Leiber
The Flash: Stop Motion, by Mark Schultz
The Invaders Plan, by L. Ron Hubbard
The Postman, by David Brin
Time Travelers Wife, The, by Audrey Niffenegger
Timescape, by Gregory Benford
Twilight Eyes, by Dean Koontz
Two Faces of Tomorrow, The, by James Hogan
Wild Cards, by George R.R. Martin
Wizard's First Rule, by Terry Goodkind
Woken Furies, by Richard K. Morgan
World War Z, by Max Brooks