The Tiger Warrior

Don't waste your money

The cover of this novel by David Gibbons has an unattributed quote which says "What do you get if you cross Indiana Jones with Dan Brown? Answer: David Gibbins."
This book is as intricate as Brown tries to be with even less success. It is convoluted and the main character is less Indiana Jones and more boring Jones.
This book is page turner escapism. The dialogue is so dull that you turn the page just to escape the excruciating monologues meant to provide the meat and back-ground.
The premise--a "what-if" Roman legionaires traveled across Asia 2000 years ago and encountered the various cultures along their quest to return to Rome--could be incredibly interesting. The writer tries to incorporate Rome, India, China, Afghanistan along with the Taliban. Except there is no flavor, just tedium. If I wanted an anthropoligical description of Asia 2000 years ago, I would be better off reading Conn Iggulden's series on Genghis Khan.
If I wanted a complex plot, with outstanding characterization followed by intense action I would far prefer to read something by Stephen Hunter.
All in all, this was a waste of $8. Too bad, because when I like a writer, I tend to buy and read all of his or her works.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A novel length History Lesson?

Having read David Gibbins first three novels, I thought that I would enjoy his fourth work as much. Was I mistaken! It was reminiscent of being back in a college auditorium listening to an ancient professor ramble on about ancient history, wondering when he would cut to the chase. This was the same thing that I was waiting for Mr. Gibbins to do. I resolved myself to finish the book, all 483 pages, hoping that the next chapter would keep me from falling asleep. No chance! The few morsels of action weren't enough to keep me plodding through his "diversions" into the history lessons and I too longed to be in Hawaii long before I read the last page.
Mr. Gibbins first three novels, Atlantis, Crusader Gold and The Lost Tomb, were page turning homeruns, which I recommend reading. The Tiger Warrior is not!

Great Reading!

The plot was strong and continous. No lapses or "slow" sections. The characters are memorable and work well within the story and with each other. Mr. Gibbins was able to tie in a historical angle to the plot that was rather fascinating. I look forward to reading other books by David Gibbins.

Tiger Warrior = Paper Tiger

Gibbins' attempt to inject a convoluted and complicated plot into a readable novel falls way short of the mark! Unless, of course, one is interested in some sort of historical vingette of that genre, then fine.
I found it very difficult in getting "into the book," much more than usual, maybe because I did not find the theme to my liking or because the author expends much to much energy trying to convey some sort of mythical/historical background. Sadly, I did not finish the bood because it just did not "grab me" like other novels have.

Great book... if you're willing to give it a chance

I'd have to agree with some of the others in that the book was slow-moving, especially toward the first 1/4 of the book. It was a bit formulaic and not nearly as well-put-together or fast-paced as Atlantis (IMHO, Gibbins' best work).

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone intrigued by historical archeology.

"The Tiger Warrior" by David Gibbins

Typical of Gibbin's books this is a history lesson wrapped up in a novel. I felt like sitting in front of my Mac while reading so I could research his references. Although the general plot is fascinating his endless wanderings through historical background makes for a tendency to skip over portions after a while. I have enjoyed reading several of his books, but not with the enthusiasm of Cussler or Saunders.

Just Did Not Like It

I was unable to finish the book, picked it up while on vacation, and just could not get into the story. The beginning of the book was interesting, but the rest was slow, and rather boring

Wake me up when it's over...

This is one of those books where one reads the jacket and gets taken in by the premise only to find out that it's dull as dirt! The first 100 pages are possibly the most tedious text that I've struggled through...

Clive Cussler is no Ernest Hemingway but Gibbens makes him seem comparable! A very shallow, transparent take off on Pitt and Giordano...

The "Giordano" character, Costas, serves as the dumb guy to whom every dull and tedious detail need be explained so the rest of us readers have a remote clue as to what the egg-heads are talking about!

Sorry, but I just could not grasp the significance of the "Roman-Silk Route-China" connection. In the first 100-150 pages, I must have exclaimed out loud "So what? Who cares?" literally 50 times. And the technique of having the main characters over-react to some arcane discovery that is purported to be of monumental significance to the history of mankind would be laughable if it wasn't so excruciatingly boring! "Jack reacted as if he'd been physically struck... The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea! It can't be!" Huh? Zzzzzzzzzz.....

Promising premise but weak plot

A weak imitation of Clive Cussler's plots. Character building could use some work, and the leaps in the plot need more substantiation.

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