Sleeping giants by 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"--

Entertaining and imaginative premise, but it lacked the kind of depth I was looking for. I thought World War Z and The Martian were much better overall.

For some reason I appreciate the matter of fact interview style of the book. It reminds me of world war z. I immediately borrowed the second book in the series!

“Am I ready to accept all that may come out of this if it works? It might give us the cure for everything. It might also have the power to kill millions. Do I want that on my conscience?”

This book was just a ton of fun. Mysterious artifacts, government conspiracies, fringe science, international political intrigue, an stone-cold “mastermind”...this book was like a science-fiction version of Indiana Jones, if Indy had ever stuck around after getting back from his treasure hunting. It was solidly science fiction while still being grounded in enough real life to make it feel relatable. That's not to say the science was sound (interspecies breeding when it comes to humans is an old trope but still firmly in the realm of fiction) but it was at least recognizable, to some extent.

The story is told through journal entries and interviews, with a handful of radio transcripts and news reports thrown in as well. It's been done (and perhaps overdone) but it worked really well here. The interviewer becomes a character in and of himself and you come to realize that he knows a bit more than he originally lets on. I got a total Smoking Man vibe from him and loved every bit of it. Interestingly, you eventually realize that the “files” you're reading are numbered and that they are incomplete - numbers are skipped with no explanation - and I immediately wondered if this was a part of the mystery. Are they implying that there's information we're not being given? Will we see it later? As mysteries are solved more arise, teasing the reader all the way to the end.

All in all this book was a complete win for me. It was exciting, action-packed, plot-driven, and had just enough of a cliff-hanger to make me wish I didn't have to wait a year for the sequel.