Baryon Speculative Fiction Review
RISE OF THE ANCIENTS: ANNUNA, J.C. de la Torre, DLT Atlantis Publishing, $9.95, 281 pages, ISBN: 9780978527235, reviewed by Barry Hunter.It has been too long a time since ANCIENT RISING came out and told the story of Dan Ryan and his help in raising Atlantis and freeing the ancient gods. This volume (Book II) picks up immediately following that story with Dan and his friends escaping with Prometheus to regroup and fight the rest of the gods and prevent the annihilation of mankind.
Prometheus fills Dan in on the creation of Earth, Eden and the history of the gods as they nurtured mankind and then the jealous, petty battles that grew until Atlantis was destroyed and mankind left to their own devices as the gods were trapped and waiting for the one person that could free them.
Dan finds out his true lineage and the truth of his family’s demise as the catalyst to start him in his adventure of a lifetime. Book III has Dan going through Heaven and Hell as he seeks to obtain help from the Annuna to prevent humanity from being wiped out.
De la Torre has written an action packed, thought provoking novel of the gods of our past. He uses the entire pantheon from Roman, Greek and Jewish literature to present his picture of the creation of the world. As was the case with the previous novel, ANCIENT RISING, this novel has touches of Cussler and Brown and yet maintains an originality that belongs to De la Torre alone.
