Rating: 
Summary: Another Interesting Dirk Pitt Adventure!!
Review: When you read fictitious adventure stories about heroes who survive hopeless situations, you have to occasionally suspend the realities as you know them. This is one of those books where it is necessary to just that. I have enjoyed listening to this book on tape several times and believe it is an above average effort in the Dirk Pitt series. The story does require some imagination to believe the events happened or could happen, but they are plausible for adventure fiction. The story of the Viking explorers was a very interesting aspect to the story, even if you don't believe in them as factual. The Nemo aspect of the story was also interesting and integral to the whole story. There was a lot of background to cover all of the story elements and that took some time to develop the plot, more time than many reviewers are willing to accept. The 'bad guys' were the least believable and least entertaining aspect of the book to me. The tying together of the various storylines was good, but not perfect. The end of the story made me want to find out what was in store for Dirk Pitt and his children next, and that ended up being a long wait. I would happily recommend this book to all fans of Clive Cussler and other adventure writers, as an entertaining read.
Rating: 
Summary: Oatmeal Spoon!
Review: My best friend and co-worker is a Paramedic. He reads alot of books. Or rather that is he did before reading Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler. Wisely, my friend would fill his idle hours with reading books of varying quality. It usually took him three days to finish a decent sized novel. Often based on his assessment I would decide whether a novel was worth my time or not. Not so with Valhalla Rising, on day one of him reading this book. He became quiet and withdrawn. Many times I would see him finish a chapter only to see him stare off into space, pale with an expression on his face like he'd just been slapped. On day two the mumbling began. Walking past him I would catch snatches of phrases "Nemo's sub", "teleporting briefcase" ect. His eating habits became irregular. Oddly, I also noticed he began to carry around a long handled wooden kitchen spoon in his duffel bag. On day three and completion of the novel he stood up and screamed "How can the author (Clive Cussler) write himself into a piece of his own fiction as a character?!?" "How dare he!" Just then he hurled Valhalla Rising into the garbage can. Ran to his duffel bag and retrieved the long handled wooden spoon. Right then and there he sat cross-legged on the floor and began rocking back and forth hitting himself in the head with the wooden spoon over and over shouting "Oatmeal Spoon!" Is there a link between the Oatmeal Spoon and Mr. Cussler's poorly written piece of fiction? I cannot say. However, I know in my heart it is Valhalla Rising that destroyed my friends higher brain functions just as surely as I know the sun shall rise tomorrow. In other words, avoid this book!
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Summary: What the heck do Vikings have to do with this book?
Review: This is the second Cussler novel I"ve gone through (Atlantis Found before this), and I do like the cheesiness of his writing - I do hope it's meant to be that way. The big problem is that the story just plain stinks. You've got the evil corporate CEO trying to get a monopoly on the oil industry by sinking or sabotaging rival imports. You've got a dead scientist with a secret formula for a super-oil that'll destroy the oil industry. Oh yeah, the oil can "warp" itself into an empty breifcase through quantum foam. You've got an account of how Vikings colonized New York (1st Prologue). Finally, you've got a historic account how a Nineteenth Century Warhip is sunk by the real-life Captain Nemo and his Nautillus. Now you might want to read because of its sheer ridiculousness, but understand that the only two themes that are part of the "plot" and not just in the book are the evil oil company and the secret formula for super oil. For the life of me, I could not find the connection between the plot and the viking thing at all. Wait a sec, the Captain Nemo thing didn't relate to the story either. It was just kinda in there. I guess I just don't read at the level that is required to understand the intricacies of Cussler's writing. I'll have to go back to the Bible. That's at least easier to understand.
Rating:
Summary: Vallhalla Rising
Review: This is the first book I have ever read by Cliver Cussler and probably the last! What potential this book could have had, I was sorely disappointed. I don't often throw away a book when I finish it, but I didn't want this one falling into the hands of a friend. I would just feel so guilty for wasting their time. The best part about this book was the end, not the ending itself, but the fact that it ended. I can't in good conscience recommend this book to anyone. Vallhalla Rising should do itself a favor and sink into the abyss of poorly written books and be forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: Worst book ever?
Review: I read a great deal of fiction, and 'Valhalla Rising' is possibly the worst book that I have ever read. Believe me, this isn't something that I say lightly. It was actually so bad that it was almost enjoyable to read, simply for the shock value of how terrible it is. It's almost impossible to explain how bad this book was and it would probably take hours to actually list everything that went wrong with it. I'll just try to hit the highlights. The story is completely nonsensical. Plot events and the actions of characters are devoid of any logical connections. There's no point in trying to figure out what's going on in the story because the plot has absolutely no internal consistency. The overall plot seems to be little more than an excuse for dragging our hero from one action sequence to the next with no regard for whether or not the story actually makes sense. The dialog is spectacularly terrible. Most of the writing is stylistically terrible, filled with clichés and hilariously ridiculous metaphors. At one point the author actually writes himself into the story (as the savior). I can't recommend this book to anyone, except perhaps as a gag gift or for use in a writing class as an example of what not to do in a novel. I'm not just being a literary snob here; I normally enjoy pretty much any action/techno-thriller book. It really is that bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but slow
Review: Interesting book. A lot of interesting information. Well researched. I have not read any other book by this author so I can't compare it.
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the Worst Book I've Ever Read
Review: Suffice it to say that this book was such a disappointment that I made a specific web visit to Amazon to see if other readers hated it as much as I did. Seriously. I've NEVER left a review here before. The book is so wretched that I simply had to review it. The problem is, Cussler is GREAT at thinking up fun, clever, technocentric plots, so I keep buying his books. The dialogue in this one sounds like it was written by a high school freshman assigned to use a requisite number of similes and metaphors per page. Hackneyed phrases and cliches pepper each page. And why is it that Pitt and Giordino are always "Pitt" and "Giordino," while a U.S. Congresswoman is always "Loren," and we always have to be told what shade of taupe she is wearing, how her make-up perfectly complements it, and what a great, womanly figure she has? Every woman is referred to only by first name. (I'm a guy, and this jumps out at me.) Moreover, as one of the earlier reviewers noted, why is the bad guy so one-dimensional? He has no personality at all, beyond "evil." There is no explanation for his demonic drive to control the world. Nor do any of the other bad guys have any personality -- they are just hellbent on destroying everything that stands in their way. Finally, I have to agree with earlier reviewers regarding the tenuous tie-in of Captain Nemo and ancient Norse explorers. Both were utterly superfluous to the plot of this book -- it seems that Cussler just is in the habit of putting in a historic connection, and this one seemed as good as any. Please -- do yourself a favor and don't read this (or buy it for anyone else as a gift). Well -- you could buy it to give away to English classes as an example of terrible writing....
Rating: 
Summary: A drop in Cussler quality
Review: In this book Dirk Pitt isn't the normal Dirk Pitt, yes he does solve the mystery but he doesn't do it in the regular way, he does have parts where he is the hero but it is not the typical style that I was used to. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't that good
Rating:
Summary: Getting old
Review: Karen Lynn said it much better than I could - "some of the sections in here (actually much) made me wince". I've listened to most of Cussler's novels on tape - and this is by far the least satisfying. In fact, it was so embarassing, I didn't even finish it. It's like someone else wrote it (maybe a computer). It sounded like the narrator couldn't believe what he was reading (and I couldn't believe what I was hearing). Like his hero, Cussler is getting old. There is so much good literature out there, don't waste your time with "Valhalla Rising".
Rating:
Summary: Nothing new here
Review: I listened to this book on CD on a road trip to New England. It was good enough to keep me awake and fairly entertained. I've never read Cussler before but I do enjoy the genre. Valhalla Rising follows the action thriller formula too perfectly. There's nothing fresh. Furthermore, Cussler eludes to historic events and fictional tales and how they may tie in with the main storyline. I spent most of the time wondering how he would tie them in. I won't spoil it for you, but there really wasn't much a tie-in at all. That was disappointing. Furthermore after the climax, the book keeps going. I don't know why. I was beginning to think there was going to be more action, but no. Just a long ending. I have heard that Cussler's other books are quite good, so I will suggest not starting with this one.
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