James Rollins

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James Rollins

Born 7 December 1961(1961-12-07)
Occupation Journalist, Novelist
Genres fantasy
adventure
action-thriller
mystery fiction
Influences
Official website

James Rollins is the pen-name of American veterinarian Jim Czajkowski (born 1961), author of bestselling fantasy and action-packed adventure-thrillers such as Subterranean (1999), Excavation (2000), Deep Fathom (2001), Amazonia (2002), Ice Hunt (2003), Sandstorm (2004), Map of Bones (2005), Black Order (2006), and The Judas Strain (2007). He sold his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California, to concentrate full-time on writing.

Rollins is an amateur spelunker and a certified scuba diver. These pastimes provide much fodder for his novels, which are often set in underground or underwater locales.

Among those who have inspired him, Rollins cites the authors of the Doc Savage series. As a youth, Rollins had acquired an extensive collection of Doc Savage novels, but, he says, he remained oblivious to their influence on him as a novelist until one of his fans brought this matter to his attention.

Under the pen name James Clemens, Rollins also writes fantasy novels including Wit'ch Fire, Wit'ch Storm, Wit'ch War, Wit'ch Gate, Wit'ch Star, Shadowfall (2005), and Hinterland (2006) .

In 2007, he was hired by Lucasarts to write the novelization of the script for the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Contents

[edit] Biographical sketch

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Rollins graduated from the University of Missouri in 1985 with a doctorate (D.V.M) in veterinary medicine. His undergraduate work focused on evolutionary biology. Thereafter, he moved to Sacramento, CA, where he established his veterinary practice.

[edit] Influences

As a boy, Rollins was fascinated by stories of the exploits of Howard Carter and his discovery of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, King Tutankhamun (King Tut). This true-life tale later inspired Rollins' novel, Excavation, in which the main character, archaeologist Henry Conklin, and his nephew Sam discover a lost Inca city in the mountains of the Andean jungle that contains a treasure--and a curse.

As a youth, Rollins also enjoyed Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels, L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. In general, Rollins was also inspired by such authors as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, whose works he used as a springboard for creating similar contemporary novels filled with what he refers to as "the three M's of fiction: magic, mayhem, and monsters."

[edit] First novel

Rollins sold his first novel, Witch Fire (1999), through Terry Brooks' publisher. Brooks had been one of the judges of the Maui Writers Conference's contest, in which Rollins had entered a manuscript he'd recently completed.

[edit] Action-adventure novels

Subterranean recounts an expedition's exploration of a lost underground civilization that is inhabited by a strange race of what might be called subterrestrials. Rollins mentions that he'd failed to find an agent to represent this book the first 49 times he tried, but, persistence paid off, he says: within two months of finding an agent, two publishers bid for the rights to the manuscript and "film rights sold to NBC in another couple months."

In Excavation, another team of explorers visits the jungles of the Andean mountains in search of an unusual treasure of sorts.

In Deep Fathom, Jack Kirkland, a former Navy SEAL, returns from a submarine dive to discover that Air Force One apparently has been shot down, the world is on the brink of nuclear war, and he may have a chance to redeem himself from a past misdeed by helping a team of scientists and adventurers save the world from imminent doom.

Amazonia, like Rollins' other action-adventure novels, takes place in an exotic setting and involves military and paramilitary forces, natural marvels, scientific secrets, and a race against time, with the world's fate hanging in the balance. When a fatal disease appears, a team of scientists pin the world's hope on the discovery of a miraculous plant derivative that, among other things, has caused a soldier to regenerate a lost limb. However, others are also seeking the amazing plant, and they will stop at nothing to claim it--if they can get past the guardians of the ancient jungle compound in which the plant grows.

In Ice Hunt, an American submarine discovers an abandoned scientific experiment that the Russians once conducted at the polar ice cap. Now, the Russians intend to keep the secret experiment secret, regardless of the death and destruction that may follow as a result.

Sandstorm starts with a bang, as a private museum is destroyed, leading its owners to seek answers as to what motivated the attack. Their quest takes them into the Arabian desert, through a nightmarish world of mysticism and legend, to a long-buried threat that may bring about the world's last night. Introduces Sigma Force and their opposing group The Guild, which appear in his following novels.

The magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Christ child; their bones may bring destruction to the world, if they are allowed to remain in the hands of the thieves who stole them, for these bones may not be bones at all. They may be something much more terrible and deadly, as Map of Bones suggests.

In Black Order, which came out in June 2006, Sigma Force team members risk their lives to get to the heart of one of humankind's greatest mysteries: the origins of life itself.

James Rollins' next novel is The Judas Strain, which came out in July 2007. It again stars Sigma Force, seeking to prevent an outbreak that could threaten the entire planet.

James' upcoming novel that is scheduled for a July 2008 release will be called The Last Oracle. It will again feature Sigma Force.

[edit] Fantasy Novels

[edit] The Banned and the Banished

Main article: The Banned and the Banished

The Banned and the Banished series is about a girl named Elena "who ripens into the heritage of lost power". She goes on a journey to defeat the Dark Lord and to find herself.

[edit] Godslayer

The Godslayer series is James Clemens' newest series. The first book foretells of many adventures in this new land.

  • Book One- Shadowfall
(Book Description)From national bestselling author James Clemens, whose Wit'ch novels have been compared to the fantasies of Guy Gavriel Kay and George R. R. Martin, comes the first novel in a new series-about a world where mysterious gods hold powerful secrets, knights walk in the shadows, and demons claw up from the darkness, as one man struggles to prove he didn't kill a god.
  • Book Two- Hinterland
(Synopsis)Failed Shadowknight Tylar witnessed the death of a god, whose blood healed his deformities but branded him a Godslayer and a hunted criminal. In this second volume, Tylar's struggle for the truth is vindicated when he is officially reinstated as a Shadowknight. Yet this is a trap, revealed as Sithryn forces flow from the Ice Eyrie to wage a deadly siege, trapping Tylar and his friends. But even Tylar's skill and magic cannot save the Citadel of Tashijan, ancient Shadowknight headquarters, for something foul lies at the heart of their Order. The Cabal has infiltrated the inner council and Tylar and his allies must flee for now there can be no refuge from evil.


[edit] Bibliography

  • Subterranean (1999)
  • Excavation (2000)
  • Deep Fathom (2001)
  • Amazonia (2002)
  • Ice Hunt (2003)

[edit] Sigma Force Series

  • Sandstorm (2004)
  • Map of Bones (2005)
  • Black Order (2006)
  • Judas Strain (2007)
  • The Last Oracle (TBP 2008)

[edit] External links