Rating: 
Summary: Attains New Levels of Mediocrity
Review: Well, first off, there's no danger of this ever being remotely confused with literature. Cussler paints in brushstrokes so broad, he must be using a broom. The palette he uses for his characters consists of blacks and whites, but shades of grey appear to be completely unknown to him. As for color, you'll find more in a 1950s soap opera on a black and white television. I suppose the author could charitably be called technically competent, but then you'd run the risk of exhausting your charity.Cussler excels in the abuse of superlatives, at one point using the word "incredible" three times in the span of six pages, followed shortly by "miracle/miraculous" three times in the span of two pages. Apparently, he failed to learn in his high school English class (if indeed, he advanced that far) that overuse of "incredible" only serves to make one's prose "uncredible." I'm of the opinion that a writer ought to have a damn good reason for introducing a character with his own name. Merely parading your alter-ego around as having the fanciest yacht that ever sailed the seven seas does not suffice, and is rather indicative of ego-maniacal tendencies. The plot was no doubt fashioned by some crude "write by the numbers" formula. The book is structured so that in one situation after the next, the main character, Dirk Pitt, can come and rescue people, whether a dozen or 2,000. The utter predictability of it robs the book of any sense of suspense as one sees everything coming from 30 pages off. The few surprises that do surface border on the ludicrous. The book cries out for a parody in which the protagonist would be given the name, Dirt Prick. My only pleasure in reading this "novel" (if anything so utterly un-novel could be termed thus) came from sharing little anecdotes of the lows with friends and family. One long action sequence seemed to be written expressly to culminate in a line made famous by Charles Schultz's Snoopy, an effect so profoundly banal and mind-numbingly trite, that my wife laughed non-stop for a full minute upon hearing it. It almost makes the book worth reading, but only if you are possessed of Godly patience or a keen literary insensibility.
Rating:
Summary: Rehashes the formula once too often!
Review: I've been a long time fan of the series, but this time the standard Dirk Pitt formula grated on me. When the young beautiful heroine was introduced I was like, "Geez, Pitt is going to boink with her, or at least try to." I bailed out of the book after that so I don't know if I was right or not, but I don't really care. Time to retire, Dirk!
Rating: 
Summary: The best of Dirk Pitt
Review: I have read about 6 other Dirk Pitt novels but this so far has to be my favorite. Personally, i loved the plot and all its action sequences. I definity would recommend, and I hope you enjoy it as much as me and not like some of those 1 star people who read. A good book
Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER GREAT PITT NOVEL
Review: Certainly the warmest and most touching of all the Dirk Pitt novels I have read.....There is nothing bad, ever about these books.....I have read 10 of them and cannot wait to read the rest.....The fun and adventure continues......
Rating:
Summary: Fast paced story, but the plot blows!
Review: Clive Cussler generally writes a good fast paced adventure story. A fun read. But the plot of Valhalla Rising strains and breaks credibility. Particularly I didn't care for the author writing himself into the story as a hero at a particularly tight plot point in the story. Sort of a saved by the Gods cameo. If you must read Cussler,read Fire and Ice.
Rating: 
Summary: Pitt is the shi*#.
Review: Once again the hero of the day. Even on vacation this guy is on his toes. Faster than the FBI, more powerful than a CIA agent, able to leap tall... yes you guessed it. Dirk Pitt. If he gets any better I might hate him.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best of the series, but still great
Review: All the elements of the Dirk Pitt series are here. The action, the tension, the old characters, they are all here, like they have been over the years. Like a good friend, the Dirk Pitt series can be counted on almost every year. The plot line in this one might be a bit far-fetched, but then again, most of these novels can be accused of the same thing. It is part of what makes them what they are: escapes from reality. I've heard accusations that Cussler didn't write this one. Anything is possible, but I just don't see it. The worst criticism that can be leveled against this novel is that it is more of the same. Some may like that, some not. If you've liked the Dirk Pitt series, by all means, pick this one up. If you like some action and suspense in the old-school form, again, you cannot go wrong here.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: The only good thing about this book is that I got through it somehow. A weak commercial clone of previously entertaining Dirk Pitt books. There were many technical inconsistencies and a slow forgettable plot. I disliked this book so much, I tried to contact Cussler to find out why he did this.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This last book by Cussler - who used to be one of my favorite authors for this kind of books - is unfortunately a mere shadow of Dirk Pitt's earlier adventures. Nothing new, and all too much following the usual formula...
Rating: 
Summary: Not as bad as Flood Tide
Review: After re-reading the entire Dirk Pitt series (it's been a few years) and reading this book for the first time, I'd say this is adequate by Cussler standards. It's nowhere near as good as most of the pre-Dragon books, but still much better than the awful Flood Tide. Cussler writes a good adventure story, though his characters still speak unrealistically. Valhalla Rising has an interesting plot with a less menacing villain than we've seen in recent books. As escapist reading goes, it was fairly decent. I've always thought The Mysterious Island is one of Verne's best novels, and I enjoyed seeing it plugged here. And for all Pitt's reluctance to settle down, he seems to be avoiding involvement with anyone but Loren these days. Giordino's engagement in Atlantis Found was a welcome bit of character development that shouldn't have been thrown out in this book. Then there was the ending. It was awfully nice for Pitt, but totally incredible -- even for a Cussler novel. I scanned my '83 printing of Pacific Vortex again after finishing this and can't figure out when Pitt had the opportunity to lay the groundwork, if you'll pardon the expression. Unless Summer waited a bit before calling Delphi when Pitt showed up on Kanoli and subsequently passed out. And I'm not sure it would have been possible even then. Apart from the dialogue, these little (and sometimes big) inconsistencies are the most irritating features of the Pitt novels. Dirk Pitt was promoted to lieutenant colonel, but in this book, he's inexplicably demoted back to major. In Valhalla Rising, someone comments on how the Titanic broke in half as she sank. True -- in the real world. Even though Raise the Titanic was written before Ballard found the wreck, are we supposed to pretend that Pitt didn't raise it after all? And in some of the later books, there's a lot of obsessing about whether pre-Columbian contact with the Americas occurred. Have they forgotten that Romans buried items from the Alexandria Library in Texas and that Pitt famously found them in Treasure? And so on. Of course, some of these are welcome, like the return to English measurement after the conversion to metrics in Inca Gold. But even with these complaints and the annoying author cameos, there's a reason I own this and every other Pitt novel, and why I'm willing to spend time re-reading them. They're good entertainment. True, Valhalla Rising isn't anywhere near Cussler's best, but it's not one of his worst, either.
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