Sigma Force Series
Author: James Rollins
I have been reading the Sigma Force series by James Rollins.
It is a series of 10 books so far and I am almost finished with the second to
last one. I read them slightly out of order, which would normally drive me absolutely
nuts but I didn’t know when I purchased the newest one that it was preceded by
nine other books. So all of these have been part of my summer reading.
They are pretty interesting for the most part. This series follows a government enforced group
called Sigma Force throughout their various adventures to save the world- which
they always manage to do at just the last second. Sigma Force is described in
the book as “scientists with guns”. They basically track down potential
biological weapons and prevent the Guild from getting a hold of them first. The
Guild is basically a group who wants to rule the world and or destroy it.
The books are full of suspense. I think that the subject matter as
a whole was pretty intriguing because Rollins does use actual weapons and or
ideas that are currently in use or will be. I would imagine the government has an actual group of scientists tracking down biological threats. With the very real threat of bio-terrorism
today, this whole series remains relevant to the threats we must be aware of. It’s kind of scary
to read about when you realize that terrorists really do want to use bio-terrorism
to control governments. A lot of what happens in these books ties in with
fantasy (which he coincidentally writes under a different name, but more about
that later.)
The first book, Sandstorm introduces us to the formation of
the Sigma Force and the characters you come to know and like throughout
the series. This book explores ancient history and a mythical group of women who guard the desert. Rollins does a great job tying the historical into the present day. Sigma gets involved in order to prevent the Guild from obtaining the secret these women guard.
I hate to really write a thorough summary of the book because I don’t want to
spoil it for you if you decide to read this series. This book has several
stories going on at once, as do most of his books. He keeps it interesting and
often times, I found myself surprised at how the stories turned out.
Map of Bones, the second book in the series, brings us to the
Vatican
and the Holy Relics that reside there. The Vatican is present throughout this
entire series and at first this whole series really reminded me of Dan Brown’s
book The DaVinci Code. Fortunately as the series progressed, it became its own story
and less like Mr. Brown’s. I am not suggesting that Rollins used Brown as a
jumping off point for his stories but it just reminded me of him.Once again, I
don’t want to give away too much but I will say that things are not what they
seem to be in this book.
One of my favorite ones, Black Order, was based upon World
War II and all of the Nazis’ research.
The German scientists did come up with some pretty amazing inventions in
reality but this book focuses on an invention that has been discussed but no
one really knows what it was or it’s purpose. The Bell has been the focus of much debate and
superstition. I have heard it was an alien invention (the aliens were in
cahoots with the Nazis). I have also heard it was a time travel machine that
the Germans developed. Actual evidence has been found that they created
something, but it was one of the inventions that was destroyed so we may never
know what it was. Back to the book itself, in Black Order, The Bell was a
device the Nazis created that was tied into quantum physics. It could meld
together the will of a person and the physical DNA of a person. As an example,
inside the bell, you could either be healed or it could kill you. I am not
proficient in explaining quantum physics but it really was quite fascinating.
You really would have to just read the book in order to really grasp the whole
scientific idea behind it. He can explain it way better than I can.
The fourth book, The Judas Strain, I think was the scariest
for me in terms of what could actually happen. Not the whole book, once again,
Rollins’ experience in fantasy becomes evident in parts of this book. This book
is based upon a sickness that is seemingly unstoppable and can spread around
the world very quickly. To me, this is probably the most realistic book he has
written so far because it is a fear that most people have. This book goes way
beyond the Swine Flu or the Bird Flu. The Judas strain is more serious and much more difficult to stop than the flu. While reading, you seriously wonder
how Rollins is going to get rid of this epidemic. I do really like this book
because it ties history in with the novel. Many of his books do use history at
the beginning but to me, this one is my favorite beginning. I will just say
that Marco Polo’s journey is very important to this book.
The Last Oracle is also a great book. This particular novel
explores psychics- not in a creepy “come and let me tell you your fortune”
manner but in a more realistic story. It starts out with The Oracle at Delphi and basically traces the descendents of that clan.
It is said in the book that these people have great mental powers. It is
difficult to get bored while reading this book. I don’t want to give away the
plot of the story but I will say he does a great job stitching the theoretical
ideas together with actual science. He
always tells you either in the preface or at the end of the book which
scientific ideas are actually being put into practice and some of it is really
shocking.
The Doomsday Key is actually about a book called the
Domesday Book. Which is a record of properties that the king wanted drawn up.
Once again, we come across a mysterious biological killer that must be
thwarted. I have not completed this book so I can’t ruin it for you- but I will
say it is pretty good so far.
The last one, the most recent one- actually I believe it
just came out is Devil Colony. This was the book that got me interested in the
whole series. This book takes place in the US and really makes you think. I
could easily give away this book, it was fantastic and I think if I got started
on this story, I would just keep writing. It centers on Native American legend.
It tells us about the graves of a mysterious group of people who were in North America before the Native Americans. This was an
awesome book and I am curious to see where he will go after this. It may take a
lot to top it.
I would recommend reading the series in order because the
stories of the characters’ lives follow throughout the series sequentially.
Each mission is completed in one book. Personally, I like this fact because I
do not like cliffhangers and if I would have had to wait until the next book in
the series came out it would have bugged the living daylights out of me.
Patience is not something I have a lot of, especially when I get into a good
book series! If you should decide to read this series, and I highly recommend
the whole series. Here is a list of the books in order: Sandstorm, Map of Bones, Black Order, The Judas Strain, The Last Oracle,
The Doomsday Key, and Devil Colony. I am hoping that he writes another
book to this series because I do really enjoy them. I had mentioned earlier how
he uses history to tie in to his books and he does this very well. I really
like that he does this because it introduces the reader into how this death
threat came into existence in the first place. He ties history to science,
which I don’t think happens enough.
James Rollins also has written many other books and writes
under another pen name as well. He writes fantasy books under the name James
Clemens. His actual name is Jim Czajkowski. I have not read any of his other books so far but I think I will have to read a few others, maybe even some of the fantasy books.
If you plan on reading this series, you should do it soon
because I just read on the internet that producers have purchased the rights to
make the Sigma Series into a movie. I am very excited although I am not sure
how they will portray certain parts of these books. Nevertheless I am excited.
If you would like more information about these books, just let me know. Here is a link to James Rollins' website as well www.jamesrollins.com.
