Reading group reviews: The 13th Tablet
14 August 2012 / 3 Comments
We gave away reading group sets of The 13th Tablet by Alex Mitchell. If your reading group or book club has read the book, please do use this page to post your reviews and see what other reading group members think of it.
About the book
Iraq, 2004. Lawlessness is spreading throughout the country and looters have plundered the museums and historical sites. Mina Osman, a young American archaeologist of Iraqi descent, is fighting to preserve the country's antiquities. When she stumbles upon an ancient cuneiform tablet, it proves to be of unimaginable significance - its cryptic language holds a secret that will play a part in a series of earth-shattering events. Aided by ex-US Army Major Jack Hillcliff, Mina travels across the world to unlock the secrets of the 13th Tablet but at each step she is pursued by deadly enemies who will stop at nothing to obtain the tablet and its power for themselves.
About the author
Alex Mitchell is an archaeologist and researcher. He studied at Strasbourg in France for his B.A. and Masters and at Oxford University for his doctorate. Alex has many passions besides archaeology: traveling the world and its great wonders - you might often find him day-dreaming under a tree whilst chomping on a sharp and crisp apple, but you will never find Alex without a notebook (...even stranded in a Middle-Eastern desert). He is currently an Honorary Associated Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford, and a collaborateur scientifique externe at the Faculty of Letters of Fribourg University (Switzerland).
Find out more about Alex, including bonus materials about the book and blogs about myth and history, at his website.
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3 Comments
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Geraldine Wilson 10:50, 17 October 2012
Reading group in Blackburn Our group thought this was a very readable thriller, written by an author who is obviously quite learned in his field. It involves the discovery of an ancient tablet and a race to decipher its meaning. So far so cliched - 'good' couple hunted across the world by evil billionaire in a race against time. In spite of this it managed to educate us a little about the similarities between the Gilgamesh story, biblical Noah and deluge myths from other cultures. As a character, Jack Hillcliff is always in the right place at the right time with whatever skills are needed for each particular situation and Mina is, of course, beautiful as well as clever and resourceful, but the story moves along at a smart pace with quite a few thrills along the way. The shadowy cabbalistic society that protects the tablets is never really explained properly, although they are conveniently able to bypass the most sophisticated security systems and other elements were also glossed over; the epilogue felt like a hasty summing up to provide the opportunity for Jack and Mina to have further adventures rather than a satisfactory closure to the story. If you like action and are not too bothered about depth or nuance of character, you will enjoy this book
Ailsa Mosquera 09:14, 31 October 2012
St Johns Reading and Cultural group just completed reading The 13th Tablet by Alex Mitchell. We agreed that it was a quick and easy read and that the writing appeared naïve and immature. The writing in direct speech was quite irritating. We felt that it was unfortunate that there was a lack of development of Mina and Jack as characters, as we felt that they both could have been built up with much more depth. The ending was very obvious from early in the book which spoilt any surprise or suspense. The archaeological information was interesting, and the author would appear to be very knowledgeable on the history and archaeology surrounding the story. We felt that he should stick to archaeological writing, as combining fact and fiction in this case appeared unsophisticated and unconvincing. None of us would recommend this novel and will give the rest of the trilogy a miss.
Aurora Mackintosh 05:37, 12 November 2012
"The 13th Tablet" is about the events surrounding the discovery of a mysterious ‘tablet’ by the main character Mina Osman. Once I started reading this book the pages just kept on turning - I needed to discover what was going to happen next. The historical background is fascinating and adds credibility to the characters and the unfolding drama. A great read for anyone who enjoys action and history in the same story.