My review of "Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth"

Posted by ROB T. from 162.10.138.28 on August 22, 1999 at 21:27:36:

I finished reading "IJ and the Hollow Earth" by Max McCoy a few days ago and I wanted to let you all know what I thought. There are spoilers in this post so if you haven't read the book and don't want to know the end, please stop reading.

On the whole this wasn't a bad book. It had some interesting things about it but I wasn't completely enthralled.
The villain, Reingold, was cool but he just disappears half-way through the book and doesn't come back til near the end. His death was a little too contrived; having the soldiers come out of the rock and kill all the Nazis and only the Nazis seemed a little too convenient for me. Although I thought it was great that Reingold ended up begging for death.
I was glad to see Belloq again but I thought his appearence was only used as a lark. He didn't come off as true to character and I didn't like the way he cheated in the duel. I don't think Belloq would have done that. It's not that I think he has too much honor but I think he would've believed that he could beat Indy without cheating.
I liked the woman, Ulla, except for the part where she refused to believe that Indy was Indiana Jones. That went on too long.
I really liked Sparks. He was my favorite character in the book, except for Indy, of course.
I also liked the sailor who joined in late in the book (I can't remember his name) but I didn't like the way the character was introduced. I don't like when writers put the heroes in grave danger and then save them at the last minute by adding a new character we've never seen before. Indy should have killed the polar bear himself and then met the sailor later.
The whole search for the Hollow Earth was interesting but it took too long to get to it. They should have cut out the whole side trip to New Mexico.
I'm glad I read the book and it was an enjoyable adventure but I think it could have been better. All in all, I'd give it a respectable C grade.
It could have been much improved by having Reingold make a larger contribution to the story. He should have been a thorn in Indy's side all the way through. By letting Reingold disappear thinking that Indy is dead, McCoy takes away much of the element of danger. Reingold makes a good Indy villain and I would like to have seen more of him.

Follow Ups:

Re: "Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth"-it shoulda taken place in a tropical area with vibrant costumes, and exotic birds, and mystical temples, and...I loved it!! (nm) Ulla 08:52:50 8/23/99 (0)
Tough customer Nick Kismet 22:27:29 8/22/99 (0)

Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

: I finished reading "IJ and the Hollow Earth" by Max McCoy a few days ago and I wanted to let you all know what I thought. There are spoilers in this post so if you haven't read the book and don't want to know the end, please stop reading.

: On the whole this wasn't a bad book. It had some interesting things about it but I wasn't completely enthralled.
: The villain, Reingold, was cool but he just disappears half-way through the book and doesn't come back til near the end. His death was a little too contrived; having the soldiers come out of the rock and kill all the Nazis and only the Nazis seemed a little too convenient for me. Although I thought it was great that Reingold ended up begging for death.
: I was glad to see Belloq again but I thought his appearence was only used as a lark. He didn't come off as true to character and I didn't like the way he cheated in the duel. I don't think Belloq would have done that. It's not that I think he has too much honor but I think he would've believed that he could beat Indy without cheating.
: I liked the woman, Ulla, except for the part where she refused to believe that Indy was Indiana Jones. That went on too long.
: I really liked Sparks. He was my favorite character in the book, except for Indy, of course.
: I also liked the sailor who joined in late in the book (I can't remember his name) but I didn't like the way the character was introduced. I don't like when writers put the heroes in grave danger and then save them at the last minute by adding a new character we've never seen before. Indy should have killed the polar bear himself and then met the sailor later.
: The whole search for the Hollow Earth was interesting but it took too long to get to it. They should have cut out the whole side trip to New Mexico.
: I'm glad I read the book and it was an enjoyable adventure but I think it could have been better. All in all, I'd give it a respectable C grade.
: It could have been much improved by having Reingold make a larger contribution to the story. He should have been a thorn in Indy's side all the way through. By letting Reingold disappear thinking that Indy is dead, McCoy takes away much of the element of danger. Reingold makes a good Indy villain and I would like to have seen more of him.

Optional:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Indyfan Forum ] [ FAQ ]