James Rollins (pen name of veterinarian Jim Czajkowski) is an author I got into while reading Clive Cussler.
He was first dismissed as a sort of “grade B” Cussler. I had to agree as I felt his earlier works were a little rough, but think he has gotten better. His first works were all stand-alone and made use of cutting-edge (or maybe bleeding-edge) science concepts. Later on, he created an interesting group, called Sigma Force, though he still does an occasional stand-alone work and has a new series with another author, the Order of the Sanguines series which I have not gotten into.
Rollins has also tied a couple of his stand-alone novels to Sigma Force by having some characters in them reappear in that series, and has created a new spin-off series from it as well.
In his more recent works, he has been adding a section at the end of the works that give the real science behind some of the ideas in his books. He has admitted to reading Doc Savage stories, and that they inspired him.
His stand-alone works include:
- “Subterranean” (1999)
- “Excavation” (2000)
- “Deep Fathom” (2001)
- “Amazonia” (2002)
- “Ice Hunt” (2003)
- “Altar of Eden” (2010)
“Subterranean” is set in an underground world of life forms that could spell doom for the world. “Excavation” is set in Peru and deals with ancient, and perhaps extraterrestrial, nanotech. A bit different, “Deep Fathom” is a sort of time-travel/alternate Earth story as the main hero tries to fix the world, with a crazed ex-brother-in-law out for blood. “Amazonia” deals with bizarre life forms in the deep Amazon jungles. “Ice Hunt” is set in a lost Russian ice-base in the Arctic and the dangerous life forms there. “Altar of Eden” deals with genetic engineering of life forms, as well as tying in with some current work in this area.
His Sigma Force works include:
- “Sandstorm” (2004)
- “Map of Bones” (2005)
- “Black Order” (2006)
- “The Judas Strain” (2007)
- “The Last Oracle” (2008)
- “The Doomsday Key” (2009)
- “The Devil Colony” (2011) (plus “The Skeleton Key” (2011) in paperback edition)
- “Bloodline” (2012) (plus “Tracker” (2012) in paperback edition)
- “The Eye of God” (2013)
- “The Sixth Extinction” (2014)
- “The Bone Labyrinth” (TBP 2015)
Sigma Force is a secret (and fictional) division of DARPA, a special team of soldier-scientists which investigates matters that threaten the U.S. In most of the series, their main foe is a group called The Guild, which is later found to be a part of an ancient and world-wide conspiracy. They first appeared to be a kind of THRUSH-like group, but as the series progressed, Sigma “peeled back the onion” of the group, finally revealing the real leaders behind it.
The main Sigma Force team is lead by Commander Painter Crow, who soon becomes the head of Sigma Force when its director is killed. His role is taken up by Gray Pierce. In the fourth novel, a character from “Ice Hunt” joins the team, and in a later book the main character from “Deep Fathom” appears. Another interesting character is assassin Seichen, who starts out as a foe of Sigma and overtime becomes an ally in their fight against The Guild (as well as a love interest for one of the characters). She is actually the star of the short story “The Skeleton Key” and the first post-Guild novel, “The Eye of God” she plays a major part.
“Bloodline” closes out the Guild storyline, as the real leaders of the conspiracy are revealed and eliminated. “Bloodline” also introduced two new characters, Tucker Wayne and his military working dog Kane, who now have their own spin-off series. They were the stars of the short story, “Tracker”. I’ll cover them a future posting.
I have really enjoyed the Sigma Force series. I look forward to the new, post-Guild stories. I’ve read “The Eye of God” and enjoyed it. Will be interesting to see how Rollins handles things without a continuing villain in the background, plus how Seichen will be handled.
I haven’t read the first Tucker Wayne novel yet, but look forward to it, as well his other new series.
If you enjoyed Clive Cussler’s works, but are maybe looking for something with a bit wilder science, check out Rollins.
Agreed. I think that those who dismiss Rollins as a Clive Cussler knock-off are missing out. Rollins writes the prose equivalent of summer action movies. His books are entertaining time wasters that do their job: they entertain.
But a difference with Rollins (and only a very few other action/tech thriller authors) is he does base his scientific ideas on real science, no matter how far out, and in the recent books has given info on the back of the books more info on this.
Rollins is a lot easier for me to stomach than Cussler. I grab any of his books that show up at the library and generally enjoy them. Sure, they’re a little over-the-top, but I can live with this for a good read. The characters are generally likeable and seem to have some flaws, which makes them a little more acceptable.
Cussler has always seemed a “Grade-B” to me. I really don’t like his writing very much. Dirk Pitt and the other characters are just a little too perfect for my tastes. Pitt is sort of like a modern-day Doc Savage. I always find myself wondering if he goes to the beach at dawn to listen to his tuning forks.
ALL action/techno thrillers have an element of “over the top” to them. That’s part of their appeal, at least for me.
And actually the Doc Savage-esque of Pitt is part of what attracted me to the character, as I think I noted in my Cussler review. I saw a bit of Monk in Al.
I have to admit to just not understanding when readers say that action adventures such as the ones written by Rollings and Cussler are “over the top” They’re supposed to be over the top. That’s the whole appeal of reading their books