Rating: 
Summary: the mark of a great book
Review: ...is to see how vacuous and vicious its negative critics are being. Who is threatened by the telling of a good story? Witness the litany of falsehoods and untruths about what's wrong with it, though notice how nobody will actually list what's wrong for fear of revealing their own short-comings. The history is shaky - it's about Atlantis for crying out loud, last time I checked it isn't real! In Raiders of the Lost Ark did anybody complain when Indiana Jones got excited about the Nazis discovering Tanis when in real life it had been dug up in the 1920s and any archaeologist who was any good would have known that? No. Next you'll be telling me bringing dinosaurs back to life was totally improbable in Jurassic Park. Or going back in time using nothing but a ceramic tile was far-fetched as in Timeline. Duh.... These stories, just like Decipher, are about having fun! Me? I loved this book! ($$$) well spent. It took me on a mesmerizing journey to Atlantis and back and made it appear believable. I went by the review in the Philly Inquirer that called it a 'spellbinding classic.' They were right. It sits on my shelf next to Journey to the Center of the Earth - which apparently is impossible too... Get a grip.
Rating: 
Summary: Good idea, poor execution
Review: After reading the cover notes, I was really excited about this book. It had the makings of a great techo/scientific thriller about a legendary society. It was able to deliver on some of my expectations, but there was far too much material about ancient languages, cultures and civilization. This may be interesting to people who specialize in those fields, but most of it was too arcane for me to begin to understand, and there was far more detail on the subjects than needed for a fiction novel. Some exposition is necessary in any novel to help set the plot and characterzations, but this was way too much. This is a fair story that could have been much better.
Rating: 
Summary: Amateurish First Novel
Review: Although the book attempts to raise some interesting "what ifs" based on the Atlantis myth and modern scientific discoveries, the story quickly becomes an overloaded mishmash of science and pseudoscience. The characters (and there are too many of them) are awkwardly developed, and have a shallow, two-dimensional quality. Overall, one gets the impression the author attempted to imitate the _style_ of the "hard science" novel, but was unable to manage the content.The book does raise a number of interesting topics, and the interested reader can pursue some of these with the aid of the bibliography included in the back.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun book to read if you like science and/or mythology
Review: As a reader with a bit of a science background coupled with an interest in linguistics, I found this book to be a very interesting read. I enjoy reading scientific "what if" scenarios, and I appreciated the bibliography at the back. This book strings together a multitude of theoretical science, attaches a lot of mysticism, and connects it all through a cryptographic puzzle which I found entertaining. There are several points where you have to suspend belief (it IS a work of fiction, after all), but overall I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sci-fi along the vein of Crichton. I would also recommend it to anyone who enjoys the idea that ancient mythology is really a puzzle to be figured out by modern man, along the lines of the Da Vinci Code. There were some weaknesses in the plot, and I never could figure out why they dragged the 19 year old college student all over the place with them, but overall it was a fun read. I look forward to his next book!
Rating:
Summary: Nano-swarms!!!
Review: Congratulations to Stel Pavlou for creating a fantastical world. A truly great adventure. Much has been made of the myths and the sheer amount of science in the book. But for me far and away the best part was the nano-technology that he put to use. Imagine that molecular sized robots can group together and swarm in biological synchronization (like flocks of birds) and become creatures that can then battle humans. Amazing! That aspect of the story intertwined with the myth of the Golem makes this book far and away ahead of its time. Why did we have to wait 2 years for it to come to America?
Rating:
Summary: A fun 'little' thriller
Review: Decipher is a fun 'little' thriller... pity it showed up in the US so late, it makes a great book to take to the beach. Decipher is a great little thrill ride through physics, linguistics, religion, big business, archeology, mythology, and the end of the world. Stel Pavlou has pulled many diverse fields together, wrapped them in a tight, fast paced plot which takes the reader around the globe, added some great characters (and humor!), and produced a fine novel which keeps the reader gripped til the last page. Its also nice to see scientists portrayed as real, if sometimes quirky, people as opposed to the stereotypical characters seen so often in the media. Hope to see his second book soon! ...
Rating:
Summary: Meaty techno-thriller
Review: Decipher more than makes up for the rather disappointing change over to the new millenium. The author deftly weaves a variety of plot strands on a multitude of topics; many of them being ones that I have read about in a variety of places (pre-history civilizations; C-60; numerology; Atlantis; the Antartic - a 'hot' topic of late...). Pavlou manages well to convince us of the interrelated nature of all of them, while not losing sight of the key elements of plot and people. Recommended to all whose minds are just a little bit open to the alternative, as well as to anyone just looking for a good, long read.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptionally good debut novel
Review: Decipher transcends the genre and offers as many thrills as it does keen insights into a myriad of different subjects that have been woven into a sumptuous tapestry. That this book isn't more popular is a damn shame. People are missing out on something very special. For now it's my little secret.
Rating:
Summary: Read like a movie script.
Review: Even if they hadn't advertised the fact that the author, Stel Pavlou, was a screenwriter, you could figure it out by reading just a chapter or so of this book. Like the books of Stephen J. Cannell, who I believe has some screenwriting background himself, this story reads very much like it's a movie or TV script. It has that fast, streamlined pace. You can almost picture the changing camera angles. Not to say that this fact makes the book a bad read. It actually flows quite nicely. I would liked to have known a little bit more about the main characters. I also would've liked to have found out more about the ancient civilization. Other than those two things, it's a good story and I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Both brilliant and flawed
Review: How can a book divide opinion so drastically? I guess the answer to that depends on what you are looking for. I've found myself agreeing with so many of positive and negative comments alike, and have found this novel almost impossible to rate.
There is no doubt that Stel Pavlou has created a fascinating and adventurous novel that straddles several genres - and yes, it really does seem like a big-screen blockbuster. Pavlou has a fine creative talent and the way he interweaves the many mythic tales into this rich tapestry is to be applauded.
Epic novels designed on this scale are supposed to climax with a resonating cruscendo, but I'm afraid 'Decipher' does the opposite. The creative set-up is first class and Pavlou's writing style is initially interesting and unique, but as the story unfolded, it became less credible and awe inspiring. The character development never rose above skin deep leaving me distinctly out-of-love with hero and villain alike, and the ending was way too generic for a novel of such lofty ambition.
What I loved in the first third of the novel - the plausibility of the technological, mythological and linguistic themes - eventually becomes more fantastic and improbable as the tale unwinds - which is a shame because Pavlou has clearly invested a vast amount of research in this book.
Perhaps more discriminating editing would have improved the overall feel; certainly a bigger emphasis on character development would have helped as would stricter adherence to scientific plausibility. I really felt as if many of these characters were there just to explain the science or language, and that reflected in the dialog. Too many characters sound like they were reciting from a physics textbook.
That said, 'Decipher' is still a rollicking good read and once started it was difficult to put down. Pavlou has an imagination to envy and this is a terrific debut novel and I look forward to the US release of his next novel, 'Gene'.
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