A mysterious artifact is accidentally located by a young girl named Rose Franklin. Seventeen years later, Rose finds herself heading up a secretive team to unlock the mysteries of this artifact- a giant hand. The team, consisting of pilots Kara Resnick and Ryan Mitchell, linguist Vincent Couture, and geneticist Alyssa Papantoniou, is charged with exploring every angle, from the scientific to the more obscure. As additional pieces, and subsequently further questions, arise, the team begins to wonder what exactly the purpose is behind this seemingly alien artifact. Will their revelations be used for peaceful purposes or is a world war looming?

SLEEPING GIANTS is the first book in the Themis Files series and wow, what a phenomenal way to kick off a series! SLEEPING GIANTS had me hooked from the very first interview. Between Kara's defiant attitude and the clever but humorous interrogator, I read until my eyes wouldn't stay open any longer. The characters are well developed, keeping the reader engaged in their actions, both heroic and horrific.

The situation becomes quickly entangled in politics, both global and of a more personal nature. I like that Sylvain Neuvel explores the potential abuse of such technology and the impact the working conditions have on the various characters. The underlying conspiracies remind me a bit of the X-Files (and the mysterious smoking cigarette man) and I can't wait to see what we discover in future books in the Themis Files.

Told entirely through interviews conducted by a shadowy figure, SLEEPING GIANTS is absolutely brilliant! I'm a huge fan of the epistolary writing format and Sylvain Neuvel uses it to full effect, creating a science fiction masterpiece that asks just as many questions as it answers. Sylvain Neuvel creates distinct voices for each character, ensuring the reader is never confused about the details during the interviews. I love all the characters, but I must admit that the enigmatic interviewer captured my attention even more so than the brash, but oh so vulnerable, Kara Resnick. SLEEPING GIANTS is one of my best reads so far this year and I highly recommend it to any science fiction fan!

Book Summary

An inventive debut in the tradition of World War Z and The Martian, told in the cutting-edge cadences of interviews, journal entries, transcripts, and news articles, Sleeping Giants is a literary thriller fueled by a quest for truth—and by a struggle for control of earthshaking power.

A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square-shaped hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—the object’s origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top-secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the relic they seek. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and finally figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

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