Review: The Lost Stones by Paul Rimmasch

The Lost Stones by Paul Rimmasch

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Synopsis from Goodreads
1600s Mexico- The Aztec Prince Ixtililxochitl writes that the first people to inhabit his land came from the Tower of Babel at the dividing of tongues…Scholars dismiss his writings as myth.
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1800s Mid Western United States- Settlers dig into ancient burial mounds and discover thousands of slate tablets covered with a strange hieroglyphic writing and drawings depicting Jesus Christ…these artifacts are denounced as a hoax.
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1909 Arizona-a newspaper runs a story describing how a cave containing metal artifacts and Egyptian-type hieroglyphics was discovered in the Grand Canyon by a group of Scientists from the Smithsonian Institute…the Smithsonian categorically denies the account.
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These and other amazing facts make up the world of forbidden Book of Mormon Archaeology. It is a world BYU student and Iraqi War veteran Ammon Rogers never knew existed. He is thrust headlong into this world when he asks the enigmatic adventurer John Byrd a simple question. When John is kidnapped in Mexico, Ammon joins forces with John’s beautiful daughter in a desperate attempt to not only save John, but to find his answer…an answer that will change the world…an answer one sinister foe will do anything to suppress.

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6.5/10

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 You know how long it took me to read this book? A very long time! Is it because it was bad? NO. The topic was simply so fascinating I kept spending a lot of time online researching it :D

That's the strong part of this book - it's unique topic, because let's face it: how often a blogger like me will read an archaeological conspiracy involving lost civilisations and their ancient technologies, The Book of Mormon and evil corporations covering up the research into alternative sources of energies? Not very often.



Although the theme of covering up the vital energy research and deliberate slowing down of progress is not new. Zeitgeist and The Age of Stupid certainly talked a lot about this topic.

Despite the great ideas, the book suffers from a lot of info dumps and weak characterisation, and unfortunately I could not connect with the main characters and believe in their attraction to each other. A lot of my questions about the characters themselves like John Byrd, for example, were not answered. Ammon was unevenly paced, making silly mistakes one moment and reaching insightful conclusions another moment. Sariah left me pretty puzzled as well.

Perhaps more time should have been given to the characters' backgrounds to make them feel more alive. There is more potential for a good movie akin to National Treasure in this book, than for an actual in debt novel. I'm sorry to say that I did not like it so much as I highly praised it for its very valuable footnotes. Does it make any sense?

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Тематика сама по себе очень интригующая и мне практически неизвестная, из за того книга читалась очень медленно, так как я постоянно кидалась в интернет, чтобы найти о чём говорится в Потерянных Камнях.

Пол Риммаш пишет об археологических тайнах и мифах, затрагивающих Книгу Мормонов, потерянные цивилизации с их технологиями и заговоры среди научного мира, отрицающие любые находки за пределами канонов.

Он также затрагивает альтернативные источники энергии и то, как любые учёные, совершающие прорыв в их изучении почему-то погибают в большом количестве "несчастных случаев". Эта тема не нова среди конспиратологов, и только добавляет огня к моему убеждению, что они правы. Почему в последние 50 лет со взлётом корпораций наш прогресс таинственным образом замедлился? Потому что в тех самых технологиях, особенно если они ничего не будут стоить, дохода равного нефти и газу никогда не будет...

В общем, как пища для размышления, книга - неоценимая находка, как литературное произведение, она херова. Слишком много забитых информацией диалогов, слабая характеризация главных героев, отсутствие работы над их прошлым... Как фильм наподобие Национальных Ценностей, Потерянные Камни были бы очень хороши, как книга - они стоят меньше, чем неоценимые сброски на их страницах.