Sylvain Neuvel

"17 years ago: A girl in South Dakota falls through the earth, then wakes up dozens of feet below ground on the palm of what seems to be a giant metal hand. Today: She is a top-level physicist leading a team of people to understand exactly what that hand is, where it came from, and what it portends for humanity. A swift and spellbinding tale told almost exclusively through transcriptions of interviews conducted by a mysterious and unnamed character, this is a unique debut that describes a hunt for truth, power, and giant body parts"--

Sleeping Giants

Themis Files 1

High Fidelity

I tried to find out what Oppenheimer’s thoughts were while it was all happening. He had this to say in 1945: “But when you come right down to it the reason that we did this job isbecause it was an organic necessity. If you are a scientist you cannot stop such a thing. If you are a scientist you believe that it is good to find out how the world works; that it is good to find out what the realities are; that it is good to turn over to mankind at large the greatest possible power to control the world and to deal with it according to its lights and its values.”

-What’s a seven-letter word for “full of it”?

It does not matter. You train your soldiers to kill using video games. They blow enough people up on their computer and it becomes easier for them to kill with a real weapon. 

Why do you think your government funds so many war and terrorism movies? Hollywood does your dirty work for you.

Had 9/11 happened twenty years earlier, the country would have been in chaos, but people have seen enough bad things on their television screen to prepare them for just about anything. We do not really need to talk about government conspiracies.

Imagine that Clark Kent walks into your office one day and offers his services to fight for America. You are given the opportunity to recruit a nearindestructible soldier with superhuman strength who can fly faster than a supersonic jet fighter. Would you say no because Mr….

-Because Mr. Kent might someday fall ill?

But the kiss is the only part where I felt she was really with me. I don’t think I mattered after that. It was cold, angry sex, you know. It felt like she was getting back at someone. This is gonna sound stupid, but I was jealous of whoever she was thinking of. He obviously meant more to her than I did at the time.

If you can look up at the sky, it’s safe to say you’ll eventually try to find a way to get up there, and space-faring species might at least be open to the idea of not being alone in the universe.

I wanted to like this, but it was if the author was wilfully holding me at arms length. The report style of the book reduced the protagonists to players, and I felt little empathy for any of them, bar one. Maybe it’s my fault for spending the last two decades reading scientific journals, but there was something dry and lacking, for me. I have the follow on, but it might go back to the charity shop from whence these came…

Jan Jackson

Sunny

I listened to this on audio book because I'd heard a lot of people talking about how it was like listening to a movie. I definitely think the audio book is amazing, the book is written in a series of transcribed interviews, and so was definitely suited to audio book form. I also feel like this book has opened my eyes to other audio books for me, as they have a complete cast of voice actors, which is SO SO GOOD and I totally didn't appreciate how much I would enjoy that! Now when I listen to other audio books, I can't help but appreciate when a single VA puts on voices for each character (even when they are a bit funny sometimes).

Another thing I really appreciate is that the science and chemistry aspect of the book was easy for me to follow. This is important for me especially as I usually listen to audio books when I'm driving or working, it's important to me that I can follow what's going on and being told without over analysing and trying to figure out what's going on. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the opening to the story, the character introductions were so well done and I loved how the interview style intro really let you know the characters and what they're like and who they are. The story was good, it peaked and dipped throughout in terms of amount of action, and there were some parts that flew in out of bloody no where which kept me hooked and on my toes. There were even areas that had me SHOOK (I'm a professional reviewer don't @ me) in which the audio book definitely added to the atmosphere and feel and intensity of the story. Though I did find that there were some times in the book where nothing seemed to happen and nothing really came of it. I suppose that just made the characters seem more human and fleshed out their relationships with one another?

3.5 stars

A page-turning debut in the tradition of Michael Crichton, World War Z, and The Martian, Sleeping Giants is a thriller fueled by an earthshaking mystery and a fight to control a gargantuan power. A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand. Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected. But some can never stop searching for answers. Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history s most perplexing discovery and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction? Praise for Sleeping Giants Reminiscent of The Martian and World War Z, Sleeping Giants is a luminous conspiracy yarn that shoots for (and lands among) the stars. Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising As high-concept as it is, Sleeping Giants is a thriller through and through. . . . Not only is Sleeping Giants one of the most promising series kickoffs in recent memory, it s a smart demonstration of how science fiction can honor its traditions and reverse-engineer them at the same time. NPR Neuvelweaves a complex tapestry with ancient machinery buried in the Earth, shadow governments, and geopolitical conflicts. Butthe most surprising thing about the book may just be how compelling the central characters are in the midst of these larger-than-life concepts. . . . I can t stop thinking about it. Chicago Review of Books First-time novelist Sylvain Neuvel does a bold, splashy cannonball off the high dive with Sleeping Giants. It bursts at the seams with big ideas and the questions they spawn How much human life is worth sacrificing in the pursuit of scientific progress? Can humanity be trusted with weapons of ultimate destruction? And the biggest: Are we alone? But all that really matters is that this book is a sheer blast from start to finish. I haven t had this much fun reading in ages. Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy A remarkable debut . . . Reminiscent of Max Brooks s World War Z, the story s format effectively builds suspense. Library Journal (debut of the month) This stellar debut novel . . . masterfully blends together elements of sci-fi, political thriller and apocalyptic fiction. . . . A page-turner of the highest order. Kirkus Reviews (starred review) [A] fascinating first novel . . . This intriguing tale is entirely worthy of an adult audience. Publishers Weekly From the Hardcover edition."

Ryan 

Written using multi media content (files, interviews, broadcast) had a very interesting concept of what would happen if Earth found pieces of a Giant buried around the world. but fell really flat halfway through

Hyde F

This book is written in a multi-media format. Transcriptions of interviews, journal entries, and audio recordings. Interesting choice for a story that has a fair bit of action, especially as things escalate in the second half. That said, it worked for me, especially because the audiobook is full cast and it feels like a radio play. I do think the audio production added to my enjoyment. This is a story about discovering a giant robot that is clearly of extra terrestrial origin. The pieces are burried all over the globe. A top secret team, assembled by a mysterious man who never reveals his name and has a tremendous amount of power and authority, searches, studies and starts assembling the robot. They try to see if it can be piloted by humans. The excitement of discovery and grapling with knowing that we are not alone in the universe is exciting. Also trying to keep this sensitive information secret and prevent international wars from breaking out due to the political fallout of the search and retrieval process. Let's just say it gets messy and lots of things happen. The character development is not amazing, but it is pretty good and works for this story.

Cheryl Hedlund

Wynter

I am torn about this one. When I read the first few pages I was immediately hooked. The promise of an advanced technology dated thousands of years, the search for missing parts, and the discovery of how it operates were all fantastic. Then events became kind of melodramatic when a love triangle was introduced. Then I was outright bored by all the political gameplay and the shallow characters. The only character I really enjoyed was the unnamed interviewer, who was surprisingly multilayered. I was again pleasantly surprised by the epilogue that got my heart skip a beat once more. So my experience with Sleeping Giants was quite uneven.

I think the format chosen to tell the story just didn't work for me. Not once had I felt like I got inside the narrative. Instead I got occasional snippets of action, like a person standing next to someone chatting on the phone, where all you get is only a half of the conversation. This is especially bad during action scenes in DMZ by the North Korean border and the final storming of the base. Honestly, the entire thing was telling, without showing - a big no-no for me. I think if the author chose the more traditional approach, even if that means more work, I would be involved much more. Great concept, but shallow characters and clunky execution due to the format in which the book is written. Sleeping Giants would make for a great movie script though.

**A must-read thriller for lovers of The Passage, World War Z, The Martian or Interstellar** What happens when you make a discovery that changes everything? Deadwood, USA. A girl sneaks out just before dark to ride her new bike. Suddenly, the ground disappears beneath her. Waking up at the bottom of a deep pit, she sees an emergency rescue team above her. The people looking down see something far stranger... "We always look forward. We never look back." That girl grows up to be Dr. Rose Franklyn, a brilliant scientist and the leading world expert on what she discovered. An enormous, ornate hand made of an exceptionally rare metal, which predates all human civilisation on the continent. "But this thing ... it's different. It challenges us. It rewrites history." An object whose origins and purpose are perhaps the greatest mystery humanity has ever faced. Solving the secret of where it came from - and how many more parts may be out there - could change life as we know it. "It dares us to question what we know about ourselves." But what if we were meant to find it? And what happens when this vast, global puzzle is complete...? "About everything." * * * 'Bursts at the seams with big ideas. A sheer blast from start to finish. I haven't had this much fun reading in ages' Blake Crouch, author of the Wayward Pines trilogy 'A stellar debut which masterfully blends sci-fi, political thriller and apocalyptic fiction. So much more than the sum of its parts - a page-turner of the highest order' Kirkus Reviews 'Reminiscent of The Martian and World War Z, this is a luminous conspiracy yarn that shoots for (and lands among) the stars' Pierce Brown, author of Red Rising

Themis Files

Colleen

3 Stars
 
Sleeping Giants is hard to describe. There are a lot of common elements mixed together in a creative way. It is a SciFi story that is mostly hard science. The whole thing is told in an epistolary fashion in the form of a dossier concerning pieces of a giant robot that were unearthed. The report follows from time the first piece was discovered on to present day as well as examining the people involved in the top-secret project to study this mysterious (possibly extraterrestrial) artifact.
 
This book won’t appeal to everyone. Between the epistolary format and the amount of scientific terminology, I think some people might lose interest. But I don’t mind epistolary stories, and the science is broken down well in layman’s terms without sounding condescending. And I was engrossed enough in the characters and plot to keep turning the pages.
 
Surprisingly, Sleeping Giants is largely about political intrigue and conspiracy, and so it was quite different from what I was expecting when I first heard “giant robot SciFi." The amount of manipulation happening to and by the characters was frustrating. It was certainly convincingly written, because it got my blood pressure up. I understand that is an effect of political machinations, but boy was it frustrating to read sometimes. Between the scheming manipulations and dark undertone, the story left me feeling a bit helpless. It isn’t a happy story, that’s for sure. But it concerns the sort of things that governments really do as well as questions surrounding great good versus individual rights. The plot is fast-paced and easy to read though.
 
The characters were intriguing. They all seemed to be varying shades of morally grey. Some of them simply flawed and others were much more conniving and manipulative. I was engaged in what was happening to them even if I didn’t like all of the characters on a personal level. And admittedly, there were times when the limited scope of the dossier storytelling made it harder to bond with the characters.
 
So Sleeping Giants had many intriguing aspects, but some frustrating elements as well. Sadly, the ending lacked the satisfying punch needed to bump up my rating. There was too much built up for the sequel, so I ended up with more questions than answers. I wanted at least a little satisfaction about where things I’m sure I’ll read the sequel, but I’ll probably wait a little while.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

Amanda Faith

Shiveen Pandita

I gave up quarter of the way through. I don’t mind the interview format but the buildup of the story was too slow and the characters try too hard imo.

Rohan Uddin

An interesting book written an an equally interesting style. The story is quite straight forward, but the themes are interesting, and the book was difficult to put down. I always admire stories about archaeology especially one dealing with alien artifacts, and the writer withholds enough mysteries for a sequel. I liked the whole mecha aspect, and also the "reverse-knee" aspect was well written, it gave me shudders just to think about it. 4/5 stars.

If you loved The Passage, World War Z, The Martian or Interstellar: this is a must-read thriller for you. * * * Deadwood, USA. A girl sneaks out just before dark to ride her new bike. Suddenly, the ground disappears beneath her. Waking up at the bottom of a deep pit, she sees an emergency rescue team above her. The people looking down see something far stranger... "We always look forward. We never look back." That girl grows up to be Dr. Rose Franklyn, a brilliant scientist and the leading world expert on what she discovered. An enormous, ornate hand made of an exceptionally rare metal, which predates all human civilisation on the continent. "But this thing ... it's different. It challenges us. It rewrites history." An object whose origins and purpose are perhaps the greatest mystery humanity has ever faced. Solving the secret of where it came from - and how many more parts may be out there - could change life as we know it. "It dares us to question what we know about ourselves." But what if we were meant to find it? And what happens when this vast, global puzzle is complete...' "About everything." * * * 'Bursts at the seams with big ideas. A sheer blast from start to finish. I haven't had this much fun reading in ages' Blake Crouch, author of the Wayward Pines trilogy 'A stellar debut which masterfully blends sci-fi, political thriller and apocalyptic fiction. So much more than the sum of its parts - a page-turner of the highest order' Kirkus Reviews 'Reminiscent of The Martian and World War Z, this is a luminous conspiracy yarn that shoots for (and lands among) the stars' Pierce Brown, author of Red Rising

Addie 🌻

Damnnnnnnnnn. This was unbelievably good!! The plot, the characters and the writing are all worthy of a chef’s kiss 🤌🏻. I got so hooked on this story and found myself reading huge chunks in one go without realising how much time had passed. AND THAT ENDING!!!! I GASPED SO LOUDLY OH MY GOD!! I beg you to read this was it immaculate.

Midori Kobayashi

first contact with aliens? sci-fi? seems right up my alley. But no. Maybe because of the writing style (it is in interview style) and well i was trying to get through this as an audiobook or ebook. Neither worked for me.

Plus the premise was so interesting, I was really hoping it would turn into some thing bigger and more interesting. It was well, a let down to say the least. 

Sylvain Neuvel books are anyway a hit or a miss. This was a definitely miss.

Jasmine

4.25 Stars
Overall, this was incredibly good!! Sci-fi has never been my go to read, in fact, I can count on one hand how many I've read in the last three years. Sleeping Giants, however, was so well thought out and intriguing it had my heart racing just as much as any thriller. The tone of the interviewer made the entire story for me, there was something almost sinister behind every interview conducted. I loved the dark feel this book had, getting a glimpse into the lengths each character was willing to go in the name of science and pride. I felt both a quiet excitement and uneasiness as more parts were being discovered as we were getting closer to uncovering the mystery. All I have to say is wow! That ending has opened up a whole new set of possibilities and I'm very curious what this leading to. I need to find a way to get book two in my hands as soon as possible before I die of curiosity!!

Jay Harris

This is such a fun, fast-paced scifi story. I thought I'd struggle with the format—the whole book is made up of interview transcripts—but it turned out to be more engaging than I expected. A quick, light read.

Jason Hippe

Fantastic 

This book has a unique narration style and the concept is incredible. The author opens up a lot of questions.

Siya S

Suspenseful story of a giant robot hidden under the surface of the earth for thousands of years told through interviews and records from the witnesses and people involved (imagine The Martian but not really). Very inreresting format (I thought I'd hate it but Neuvel was very smart with his 'Interviewer' character so I finished the whole book in a day) 

Full of plot twists and holy-f-you-must-be-kidding-me moments. This is like Evangelion/ Pacific Rim with a flair of (international) politics drama and a possibility of an epic space war/invasion. Highly recommend for a sci-fi fantasy fan.

Janice Hopper

** spoiler alert **
           I heard a couple of folks whose opinions I admire talking about liking this book. So when I saw it had come available in audio on Scribd, I jumped at the chance to listen. 

My reaction? Meh.

TBH, this might have been one of the books where the audio version experience is inferior to the eye-reading experience. I really disliked the way the actor who narrated the Nameless Man (my term for the sneaky guy who's doing a lot of the moving and shaking in the story) handled the role. I hated it every time it was his turn to speak. The other male narrators weren't much better. OTOH, the female narrators did a pretty good job. The whole thing was more like a full-cast recording than a book. There's nothing wrong with full-cast recordings. I just don't really care for them personally.

I agree with some of the other reviewers that the political intrigue and the relationship stuff were both annoying. I came to this book for giant robots, not for a KISSING. Lol.

At the point in the plot where the romantic triangle caused one of the characters to damage another character in a WAY THAT TOTALLY FIXED A PROBLEM WITH THE ROBOT almost caused me to sprain my eye muscles due to severe eye rolls. I actually had to put the book down for a bit because the plot manipulation was so obvious. The only thing that surprised me was that they didn't give him robot legs. And in spite of being told that the injured character would be in agony for the rest of his life, we don't see that. We hear that he's hurting for a little while, and then...nothing. I guess they got him some good drugs.

And when we got to the point where the original giant robots and their alien operators turned out to be the Titans of the old world, I just had to sigh and say "Oh yes, of course they were." And roll my eyes. Again.

I also hate stories of shadowy conspiracies between governments and corporations. Since a lot of the plot falls into that category, it lost me there too.

Also, what the hell happened at the North Korea border?? Jeezopete.

So: I am not the target audience for this book. Too much conspiracy and relationship stuff, not enough giant robots. I am disappointed.

Leonor Ribeiro 

Ewan

I tried, i really really tried.

I lasted about halfway.

The story seemed interesting, i sort of want to know what happens, but i started finding myself skipping pages, which is unlike me. 

The main problems were...
All the voices were exactly the same. There was no linguistic differences at all, just had different names. Not a single one of them sounded like a real human being. (they just all sounded the same)

There were also all idiots, making ridiculous decisions for plot advancement

Nothing was left unsaid, the "interviewer" motif treats us like idiots, and essentially the whole book is a pile of exposition, 

Seriously "AAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH..."?

I'm in the minority, i know. But i really just hated this

Nelson Zagalo

Que desilusão. Vendido como sendo um novo "The Martian", fica muito longe em termos de construção de mundo, detalhe técnico-científico, assim como toda a inverosimilidade das situações criadas. Vendido ainda como um thriller comparável a "Dark Matter", fica imensamente aquém na gestão do suspense e controlo da velocidade da ação. 

Ia dizer que a ideia era interessante, mas mesmo aí, tempos pouco de original. Devia ser vendido como Ficção Científica para Jovens Adultos.

A page-turning debut in the tradition of Michael Crichton, World War Z, and The Martian, Sleeping Giants is a thriller fueled by an earthshaking mystery—and a fight to control a gargantuan power. A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand. Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected. But some can never stop searching for answers. Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction? Praise for Sleeping Giants “As high-concept as it is, Sleeping Giants is a thriller through and through. . . . One of the most promising series kickoffs in recent memory, [and] a smart demonstration of how science fiction can honor its traditions and reverse-engineer them at the same time.”—NPR “Neuvel weaves a complex tapestry with ancient machinery buried in the Earth, shadow governments, and geopolitical conflicts. But the most surprising thing about the book may just be how compelling the central characters are in the midst of these larger-than-life concepts. . . . I can’t stop thinking about it.”—Chicago Review of Books “A remarkable debut . . . Reminiscent of Max Brooks’s World War Z, the story’s format effectively builds suspense.”—Library Journal (debut of the month) “This stellar debut novel . . . masterfully blends together elements of sci-fi, political thriller and apocalyptic fiction. . . . A page-turner of the highest order.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Don’t miss any of The Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel: SLEEPING GIANTS | WAKING GODS | ONLY HUMAN

Alfredo santos

Sleeping Giants. 

First of all, I would buy pre-sale tickets to see the movie, specially if it's by Guillermo Del Toro. I like the book.

I am a big fan of Sci-Fi Thrillers so my review is a bit biased. 

It is definitely a page turner, I finished it in two settings. Regarding the overall writing style, it's interesting that the whole book is "interview based" style. It is new to me, the same way the "found footage" genre was new to thriller-horror movies. Takes a time to digest but the artistic appreciation grows on you. 

The story is interesting as a plot. It has some twists and a lot of imagination. Regarding the characters, if falls short on truly engaging with you. They seem nice but their individuality is a bit non-existant and you can only understand who is talking by looking at the title of the chapter. The prose is, well, very standard but at the same time very easy to follow. This book will be easily translated. 

If you like the Sci-Fi genre, want to have a quick-easy book to read in your spare time or are stuck on a plane, this is a great choice. 

A "recommend" on my side. I gave it 4 stars because I like the genre, it's entertaining, descriptive and inventive, but I can see non-sci fi die hard fans giving it a 3 stars rating.

Dee B. 

( www.ithinkihaveaproblem.webs.com ) 
How on God's green earth is That the way this ends?! And there isn't another one until next year??? Nooooooo

Sonja H

Dieses Buch ist der Debütroman von Sylvain Neuvel, Linguist, Übersetzer und Softwareentwickler in Kanada, und meiner Meinung nach ein echtes Kunstwerk!

Begonnen hatte ich den Roman als Hörbuch, aber der sehr besondere Aufbau funktionierte für mich beim Hören nicht, also kaufte ich das eBook. 
Erzählt wird die Geschichte der Wissenschaftler, Armee- und Politikvertreter, die einen Giganten aus Metall finden, über Aufzeichnungen, Interviews, Artikel und Tagebucheinträge. Es werden viele Personen nach und nach vorgestellt, ein paar bleiben namenlos, haben aber eine Schlüsselfunktion. Alle Figuren sind jedoch sehr gut geformt und haben beim Lesen einen eindeutigen Wiedererkenungswert (was natürlich in der Hörbuchversion noch eindeutiger zum Ausdruck kam). 

Die Story selbst erschließt sich langsam, manchmal fiel es mir allerdings schwer, Ereignisse zeitlich und örtlich einzuordnen. Es gibt viele technische Hinweise, die ich nicht unbedingt alle verstanden habe, aber wesentlich für die aufgebaute Atmosphäre sind. Da verwundert es auch nicht, dass es nur wenige Emotionen zwischen den Charakteren gibt - in einem wissenschaftlichen und hochsensiblem Projekt ist wenig Platz für Zwischenmenschliches, was für mich absolut nachvollziehbar war.

"Sleeping Giants" ist ein sehr ungewöhnliches Buch. Ich denke, man liebt es oder man findet keinen Zugang. Ich liebe es und freue mich schon auf Band 2, der am 4. April 2017 erscheinen soll und hoffentlich ein wenig mehr die Hintergründe beleuchtet.

Nicole Salcedo

Whether you like sci-fi or not this is definitely a book that everyone should read. It gives you an insight into things that could possibly really be happening in our world right now. (Government conspiracies & life outside our own world) It probes your mind and leaves you questioning things.

I went into this barely knowing what it was about and I was very glad I did. This book was so good, I was completely hooked. I needed more answers with every interview. A lot of things happened that I didn’t see coming which made how unpredictable it was even better. I am not a big Sci-fi reader but the way science was described in this book had me nerding out to the fullest. I can not wait to read book 2! So many questions I need answers to.

Sleeping Giants

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