 |
An earthquake in Venezuela causes the Churum River to disappear into a newly formed canyon, practically eliminating one of Venezuela's wonders of the world: Angel Falls. While governments and international scientific communities try to figure out a resolution, one group of spelunkers from Austin, Texas, sees this as the perfect opportunity to explore the new cave and discover its origins. Led by Ted Baldridge, a geology professor and caving hobbyist, a group of eight or so people is soon on its way to Caracas, Venezuela, to start the new expedition. The spelunkers' journey takes an unexpected turn after some competition arises with the Russians to explore the secrets of the cave first. As Ted and his crew advance in their cave exploration, they encounter something unimaginable that will take their journey farther than they've imagined.
Grounded in the author's own professional experiences and hobbies, and mixed with a dash of sci-fi, this story is an exciting adventure. The novel makes up for its slow start with its attention to detail and realism. The majority of the technology used and mentioned throughout the book is grounded in actual physics and science, and elevates the feeling of the spelunkers' adventure in the cave under the Churum River to more of a secret mission as opposed to a group of friends trying to claim first dibs on uncharted territory. There are quite a handful of characters within the story, but the author does a great job of fleshing them out and avoiding any of them being redundant in their roles. In Ted's crew, for example, almost all the members are hobbyist climbers, but they have other identifiable skills that set them apart from each other and make them useful. The result is a balanced adventure story that might appeal to armchair explorers.