Rating: 
Summary: Aims High & Stumbles
Review: As a fan of Crichton, Jeff Long, as well as Preston and Childs, I really wanted this book to work. Alten takes on the doomsday prophecy of the Mayan calendar, and weaves an apocalyptic tale that is large in scope and rich in details. His strongest suits are plot development and the impressive array of technical information. The writing is solid and reasonably fluid, albeit unmemorable. In spite of its accomplishments, however, I found this book ultimately unsatisfying and stopped reading after about 300 pages. While Alten works hard to individualize his characters, I found the two central characters to be less than true and compelling - perhaps because Alten keeps us at arm's length from their inner worlds. (Interestingly, some of the minor characters seemed far more interesting and realistic to me.) Since the protagonists do not seem flesh-and-blood, their love relationship rings hollow. Another significant flaw is that rather late in the story Alten introduces a plotline (nuclear warfare) that detracts from the major thrust of the story. In light of its weighty scope and intended impact, this plotline seems almost like an afterthought. The reader senses that in attempting to achieve his ambitious aims, Alten threw in everything but the kitchen sink. Perhaps I would have enjoyed "Domain" more had I been less familiar with some of the speculative theories regarding the ancient archaelogical sites, e.g., Giza and Mayan pyramids. As it was, much of the archaelogical material seemed dry and repetitive to me. Much more fascinating accounts have presented in non-fiction format by such authors as Graham Hancock. In spite of my own reservations, I suspect that this book will appeal to many readers, especially those who easily can suspend disbelief and value plot over character.
Rating: 
Summary: A Travelogue and the Kitchen Sink TOO!
Review: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in this book we have a travelogue of all they mysterious, kooky and otherwise freaky places of the world.
The story is simple enough : The big baddies are coming to wipe out the world, only our tragic heroine and her byronic hero can save the world by swiftly decoding the Mayan Prophecy.
From flap to flap, we are treated with nearly every cataclysmic vision and piece of forbidden archeology. I do believe the author would have used the Yonaguni Pyramid and the Noonian Pole Flip if he could just squeeze it in, between the unending, boring and repetitive travelogues of the wonders of limestone pyramids, structurs walls and carvings.
Unfortunately, in all the morass of catastrophilism, there is entirely too much and too many: Too many theories, too many stories, too much death. And there is also too little: too little character building, too little tension and too little focus.
There are so many other end of the world of the books, avoid this one unless you want to know the density and use of limestone across the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent science/techno-thriller
Review: Steve Alten, the author of "Meg" and it's sequel "The Trench", has written an excellent science/techno-thriller. This one is in the same vein as the books of Matt Reilly ("Ice Station", "Temple") and those of James Rollins ("Excavation", "Subterranean"), but the depth of the story and its presentation are much better in "Domain". This book hits the ground running and never lets up. The book can be read as a standalone novel, even though it is the first part of a proposed trilogy. "Domain" centers around the mysterious date specified on the Mayan calendar as the day the world is to end -- December 21, 2012. The son of an adventurer who devoted a large part of his life studying the mysteries surrounding the date is one of the central figures in the story. The other is an intern who has been assigned his case as he has been in confinement for over 10 years. The son, Mick, soon convinces the intern, Dominique, that his father's studies are relevant and that the end of the world is near. Along the way, a discovery is made in the Gulf of Mexico. Soon afterward, a number of drones are found throughout the world which portend the end is near. Various areas are soon destroyed which leads warring countries to point fingers at one another. Not only is the world at risk due to the prophesied day of reckoning, but the superpowers are at war with each other. The fate of the world rests in the hands of the two who have learned and understand the truth. Overall, fans of techno-thriller and/or science fiction will really enjoy this novel. There are some ideas that are farfetched (the thirty mile wide dish to be built on the dark side of the moon, as mentioned by another reviewer), but most of them are realistic or could be with just a bit of imagination. The only parts of the book which I did not enjoy completely were the "journal" entries by Mick's father. They sometimes seemed out of place and not relevant to the story. Other than that, this vision of the future is an exciting tale that should not be missed.
Rating:
Summary: In the Year 2012.....???
Review: What would you do if you knew the exact date that humanity would cease to exist on this planet? Oh, the date, by the way, is December 21, 2012, so we all have some time to ponder the answer. Not so for Mick Gabriel and Dominque Vazquez, the heroes of this apocalyptic novel that reads like Indiana Jones meets the X-Files. Mick is the son of two noted archaeologists, who having stumbled onto a Mayan prophecy predicting the end of the world on this date, have left it to him to do something about it. Dominque is his psychiatric intern, for you see, ol' Mick is a resident of the South Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center. Get the picture? The seed for this theory lies in Mayan mythology having to do with a caucasian "God-man" called Kukulcan. The story is intermixed with pages ( and pages! ) of Julius Gabriel's journal. He is Mick's deceased father. In the first quarter of the book, you'll be exposed to so many Mayan deities, characters, hieroglyphics, etc., that they will be coming out the yin-yang. Unfortunately, the connection that Julius sees as proof - a connection linking Chichen Itza with Nazca, Stonehenge, Angkor, Giza, and Chicxulub ( the impact crater for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction of the dinosaurs ) simply isn't there. Julius points out that Chichen Itza is in a direct line with Chicxulub. So what? So is New York City. Julius points out that the pyramids at Giza are in a line like the stars in Orion's belt - again, with the lines! - and, you see, those stars are the home base for whatever lies in Chicxulub. Don't get me wrong, as a geologist I can say that the science isn't all bad. The discussion on karst topography, for example, is decent. But, on the other hand, Alten's picture of a velociraptor, living in what will become present day Louisiana ( they didn't, by the way ), being wiped out instantaneously by the meteoritic impact at Chicxulub simply isn't true. For that impact resulted in changes in temperature, sea level, ecology, that lead to a mass extinction, but didn't wipe out 65% of the life on earth in an instant as is depicted here. The characters also lack a lot. The only one who I remotely cared about was Ennis Chaney, who becomes the first - and maybe last? - African American Vice President. He is the one who asks all of the right questions and thinks in a rationale manner. The so-called villian, Borgia, eye-patch and all, is a cartoon at best. When Mick comes up from the underwater depths of Chicxulub and reports on seeing a creature down there, the resident government scientist blindly believes him by spewing out "You mean there's a life form down there?" This, mind you, takes place AFTER he finds out that Mick has just escaped from a mental institution. Still, Alten should be given an A for effort. The premise is interesting and, if he can polish up the science and the format a little bit, I would be interested in seeing future novels by him. It's just carrying so many names from Julius' journal and flipping back and forth to the main story isn't a great way to read a book. That being said, now, who was the feathered serpent god of the Olmecs?
Rating:
Summary: How do I get on the "A" list?
Review: When I read the reviews here, it always seems as if there are two versions of the books out there - the cruddy ones I (and a few other reviewers) get, and the excellent, fantastic ones most of the other readers get. How do I get the good versions?? I found Domain to be somewhat interesting in concept and story, but the many faults spoiled it for me. I choked when the "scientists" talked about building a huge radio dish on the moon to communicate with the aliens - why not, it's only 15,000 light years away... too bad it would take 30,000 years to get an answer. And you thought the time delay on CNN was annoying! Mick and Dominique were inconsistent, Borgia was a joke. Do you really think a rational person could be kept in a psych unit for 11 years... and if they were, how normal would they be? Do you relly think that an alien race, even granting that it might be "evil", would design a flying bomb that looked like a pterodactyl/devil-dragon, with tentacles and claws? Do you really think that aliens would have such almost identical DNA to humans that they could interbreed? Do you relly think that people address interns as "intern"? If you fly from the Yucatan to Peru, do you cross the Atlantic? The list goes on and on.
Rating: 
Summary: another TOR bomb
Review: I've just got through Domain and what a piece of trash - in fact, I've just noticed that the last three books I've read were TOR-published books and they were all terrible. Is anybody going to put us out of our misery? Domain is poorly written, poorly thought thru (all present tense) and the characters were like cardboard. Oh, excuse, me ARE like cardboard (maybe I should underline it). I'm going to start boycotting TOR books, they're not only ridiculous and unbelievable, they're written by amateurs.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Fantastic!
You won't be able to put the book down.
Keeps you on the edge. Makes you want to turn on the Discovery channel or read more on the Mayans and pyramids in general. Fast read.
Rating: 
Summary: Clancy Does Zelazney Does Indiana Jones
Review: In 2012, mental patient Mick Gabriel convinces new medical intern Dominique Vazquez that he is not the dangerous paranoid schizophrenic his doctor has labeled him as, but a genuine doomsday prophet with the key to saving the planet before rapidly developing cataclysmic events culminate in the world's end on the winter solstice. Mick's deceased archaeologist father found the solution, and left a map for him to recover pertinent items before the crucial date. Dominique wouldn't believe Mick, if not for the unapproachable whirlpool vortex in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico that just opened and claimed her stepfather's life - as Mick predicted. But now that she's helped him escape, she's become a target of the U.S. Secretary of State, Pierre Borgia, who had Mick illegally incarcerated and wants the both of them dead before they might damage his political career. And Mick has to work fast - tensions between the U.S., Russia and China are at fever pitch, since bizarre thermonuclear devices originating from the Gulf of Mexico vortex have been detonating across the globe. All sides blame their political opposites, none seeming to realize that the detonations are the work of a third party - an automated alien vessel whose crash was responsible for the death of the dinosaurs, and if Mayan prophecy holds true, for present day humanity as well... This book is not without flaws, which is to be expected for the breadth of the canvas on which Alten is painting his story, but those flaws are negligible. His prodigious research makes Domain a more than usually credible read, even if its well-crafted sci-fi does degenerate into more over-the-top fantasy before story's end. The conclusion is incomplete, since Alten is setting up a sequel, and some of the character actions and transitions are questionable during the course of the plot. But it's a terrific read, no matter how you look at it, strangely enhanced by the author's choice to write the narrative in present tense throughout, which gives the nail-biting action an added illusion of immediacy. The suspense is gripping, and Alten's apparent knowledge of military systems and weapons nomenclature adds greatly to the believability. Screams to be made into a movie. But read it, instead. It's a real kick.
Rating:
Summary: Damn fine read
Review: Domain is an excellent book. I picked it up a week before leaving for vacation so I'd have something to read on the beach. I finished it 2 days after getting it. I couldn't stop reading. The way Alten meshes real myths, real facts, politics, psychology, and fiction is seamless. He's obviously an author who does his homework.
Rating:
Summary: Domain, a novel of deep dumbness
Review: Domain, a novel of deep dumbness.
It took a month to read, but it seemed like years!
I want my [$$] back! This book is one of the worse I've read.
All the characters take turns at being dummies. The lead girl is
made to look almost retarded for most of the book.
The main guy seems smart for a while and then gets real dumb
for most of the segments near the end. The last 300 pages of the 'original' book were obviously compressed into
about 20 pages to shortened the book. It makes the ending so
convoluted, you can't make heads or tails of it.
As I got near the end, I was so happy that I would soon be able to launch this... book into the trash can.
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