Eruption

So much tension and excitement. This was a great story and I loved learning so much about volcanoes.

There feells like a noticeable shift in the writing at the beginning and at the end - with one author's prose feeling very elementary with weak/lazy dialogue and the other's seeming to have a little more depth and weight to it. Thankfully, the latter seems to have written the bulk of the book and while the plot is very cookie-cutter and mostly predictable, the quality is slightly elevated once the inevitable eruption raises the stakes and dire nature of the situation.

Hardcore fans of MC will notice the science feels a bit light (MC might have drilled down more and closed a few odd loops). Nonetheless, the story is original and fascinating. I am guessing that JP looked at this somewhat like ancient Rome considered unfinished Michelangelo statues. Obviously, JP did some of his own “carving,” but where the science is concerned, he may have thought it best just to leave it. If so, it is to his credit.

Hard to say if MC would have written that ending - I did like that JP hinted at a few alternative resolutions allowing the reader to ponder a couple of speculative outcomes had MC been able to complete. This gives the reader the joy of wonder (a hallmark of MC).

Doesn't read like a Crichton book at all, instead it mostly reads like a cash grab. So many plot holes I thought I skipped pages on accident on a number of occasions.