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When last I updated you on my reading, I was in the midst of Dan Brown's new book in which the female protagonist is a scientist studying mind control....I have since finished it and moved on to James Rollins' latest, The Last Oracle.
Here's another one of those coincidences that just seem to be more than a coincidence. I checked this book out not knowing anything about its plot. I read the jacket; it made reference to a tie to the Oracle of Delphi; and since I love anything to do with the ancients, I thought I might like it.
For those who may not know, in ancient times, a prophetess, supposedly receiving inspiration from Apollo, would answer people's questions and predict the future.
Ancient Greeks, with their pantheon of gods, had a deep and abiding faith in the powers of prophecy. They revered those who could read the portents from the entrails of goats, who saw the future in the rising smoke of a sacrificial fire, who predicted events based on the auguries of tossed bones.Â
But one individual was held in the highest esteem: the mystical Oracle of Delphi. For almost two thousand years a succession of closely guarded women resided within the temple to Apollo on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. Â
Each generation, a single woman ascended to the seat of prophecy and took the name Pythia. While under a vapor-induced trance, she answered questions about the future--from the mundane to the profound.
Her admirers included figures of Greek and Roman history--Plato, Sophocles, Aristotle, Plutarch, Ovid. Even early Christians revered her.
Michelangelo painted her prominently on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, foretelling the coming of Christ.
But was she a charlatan, duping the masses with cryptic answers? No matter the truth, one fact is beyond dispute. Revered by kings and conquerors across the ancient world, Pythia's prophecies changed the course of history.
And while much about her remains shrouded in mystery and mythology, one truth has emerged. In 2001, archaeologists and geologists discovered a strange alignment of tectonic plates under Mount Parnassus that have been shown to emit hydrocarbon gases, including ethylene, which is capable of inducing a trancelike state of euphoria and hallucinations, the very vapors described in the historical record
So, while science has discovered one of Pythia's secrets, the ultimate truth remains unknown.
Did the Oracle truly foresee the future? Or was it divine madness?
But back to the book. It opens in the same setting as Dan Brown's novel...Washington D.C. A homeless man, shot by an assassin, stumbles across the mall, falling into the arms of Commander Gray Pierce.
In his hand he clutches a strange coin from the ancient temple of Apollo at Delphi. As the plot unfolds, it spans the globe from D.C. to India, to Europe, to the radioactive Ural Mountains where the Soviets mined their plutonium for their nuclear weapons program and on to Chernobyl.
Deep in the Ural Mountains the Russians are conducting experiments with children of gypsies, some of whom have an exceptional DNA, which tends to render them autistic with amazing savant powers.
They are inbreeding the most exceptional children to further enhance their intuitive powers. The plot revolves around one particularly talented little girl who is brought to the United States.Â
Gradually, the plot unfolds, leading the team back to the ancient site at Delphi.
If you like action, suspense, intrigue, good guys, and bad guys, you'll love this book. It's a page turner.
