A simple archaeological trip soon turns into a quest for survival for Benny and her team as they unearth the secrets
of the Gods of the Underworld...
The story opens with Brax and Benny discussing the discovery of the Argian Temple of the Gods of the Underworld on Venedel. However, there are two problems. One, Venedal is being blockaded by the Earthlink Federation, and Two, a rival archaeological team is already on the planet excavating the site. So what does Benny do? Run the blockade of course!
The story is well paced, with no section very drawn out or rushed through, with each chapter ending on cliffhanger, making it very frustrating if you have to stop reading. The plot twists are well thought out, and at one point I found myself wondering whether Cole was going to pull the biggest trick of all in revealing everything in the novel is a lie.
Each location is well described, be it the Thane's Thrown Room, the Temple, the pits or the forest - whenever a new section starts it can easily be worked out where it is taking place, no guess work is needed.
Characters are well defined - Benny is her usual self; Boor, the villain, is from the same mold as Sil, but oozier and more evil; Benny's team, Arko and Forno are a great pair - I hope we see them in another book, Shell, who although ends up unconscious for much of the book livens up the scenes she's in; the people of Venedal are all unique and have names and definite characters - I was never confused about which character was which. If any character was a cardboard cut out, they were cut out of very thick board.
The prose style is very easy to read and flowing, sections don't have to be reread several times to work out what was going on, this is the best prose I've read in a Cole book so far, and have high hopes for Vanishing Point and The Shadow in the Glass.
Despite the fact that all the elements of the novel are excellent and tie together, it feels to me like there is something missing from the novel. It acts, reads and feels on the surface like an excellent novel, but some element I can't put my finger on isn't present, so I won't be able to give this book a 10 or a 9. Despite this The Gods of the Underworld is highly recommended.
8/10
Next time: Benny sees life from the male perspective...