I’ve read a lot of bad reviews about this book, but it’s become one of my favorites. This book definitely requires a technical mind and a love for science, so if 500 pages of science and cultural history sound boring to you, I doubt you’d enjoy this as much as I did.

In 2012, the best scientists across the globe have been assembled to solve a mystery. The earth is going through a traumatic time with many earthquakes, floods and odd weather. The lost city of Atlantis may have been found and could either be causing these problems, or could be a cure for them.

All over the world, usually under an ancient pyramid of some sort, an interesting material, Carbon 60, is found inscribed with an unknown language. This material is man-made and is something we can’t create in any significant quantity, so its discovery is puzzling. Not only is the material inscribed, but it is digitally encoded.

The set of great minds come together to try to figure out how this material and the writings on them tie into the puzzle.

Let’s face it, I’m no good at summarizing. I thought this book was not only educational, but exciting. I found many of the scientific and historical facts discussed in the book are real, as I researched points that interested me. It really makes you think and evaluate everything you’ve always assumed to be true.

If you like Stargate, you’ll notice many similar themes.

This book is perfect for those who don’t have a lot of time to read every day as it’s broken into many “stopping points” between chapters, so it’s easy to read for 10 minutes and then put the book down at a break. The last 50 pages or so are truly boring, but I felt the ride was definitely worth it!

This is basically the Da Vinci Code, if Dan Brown had plagiarised Graham Hancock rather than Henry Lincoln. If Brown appeals to you, you might enjoy this too. I couldn’t stomach either of them.

Big-screen stuff! I’ve now made up my mind as to whether this is a novel or a compendium of extraordinary notions you only thought you knew about.