I know I'm not the only one going Huh? and I won't be the last.

Channeling Mulder, I Want to Believe in this book with potential but so many unanswered questions including:

1. How the f**k did Caitlin O'Hara save herself and Jacob and return to their time?

2. What was the spirit of Caitlin O'Hara actually doing at the fall of Gaalderkhan?

3. How do the olivine tiles actually work? Are they the memory crystals Superman has at the Fortress of Solitude? (I'm talking Christopher Reeve-Superman, not all the remakes and reboots).

4. Where are the rest of the Priest and Technologists descendants? Surely, the ones who melted can't be the only ones.

5. Why was Caitlin chosen by the Gaalderkhan...and to do what? Preserve their race? Lead the remaining survivors to safety and start a new life? See how life was created?

I still don't know what happened!

Can we get an X-Files episode to explain this, please?ménage-a-trois sci-fi-mumbo-jumbo16 s Maria635 103

I remember having mentioned a certain turbulence when reviewing A Dream of Ice. I was referring to the process of getting back into the storyline after a rather long intermission. I am pleased to announce that nothing of the sort happened when starting The Sound of Seas. To be quite honest, it surprised me how quickly I fell back into it, as if we had never truly parted ways. For such a dense novel, in the sense of being incredibly rich in detail, I find that to be extraordinary.
“Either everything matters or nothing does.”
I am in awe of how Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin managed to tie such an immense amount of loose ends in less than three hundred pages. It does feel condensed, perhaps even slightly rushed, but I believe it wouldn’t work any other way. It’s as if all the information gathered becomes this one point of energy that then expands into everything.

Speaking of everything, there are at least three topics I believe were addressed in a rather particular and relevant way: the concept of balance, blending love and hate instead of sitting them on opposite chairs; the concept of language, the way we create and comprehend meaning; and the reference to the unknown, to the fear associated with it and its many, possibly catastrophic, consequences.
“Nothing is ever truly lost, so long as it is remembered.”
I must confess I was expecting a much more straightforward ending. However, I think that going with something on the verge of ethereal was a brave decision, one that has the boundaries fading, glowing into possibility beyond the last page.

It’s the kind of novel, the kind of saga, that has its characters carrying on with their conversations as it fades into black; the kind that ends with an extreme close-up shot that grows into extreme wide as the characters walk away and blend with the horizon; the kind that could be represented as a sunset.

If I had to choose just one word, I would describe The Earthend Saga as interesting. Cleverly written, engaging, intriguing, it succeeds at being incredible without touching the realm of ridiculousness. To be fair, it’s impressive how real, how possible and pertinent, it all seems. Thought-provoking.
9 s Billie930 93

So, having completed the trilogy, all I have to say is What. The. Fuck. I still don't know what the hell just happened or what the purpose of this story was or really much of anything. I have soooooo much to say, but it's 6:30 in the morning, so my thoughts are going to have to wait until my brain is more awake.6 s RickyAuthor 8 books179

I'm sorry to report that while the first two books in Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin's trilogy managed to deliver surprisingly good adventures, the finale caps things off in a slipshod, disjointed fashion. It splits its story too many ways to count, doesn't focus enough on the main plot with Anderson's obvious Author Avatar Caitlin O'Hara (I hear she narrates the audiobooks too, of course), and overall feels it's throwing up too much information to keep track of for its barely 300-page length.

Such a shame. Anderson and Rovin had a great idea, only for it to go off the rails in the home stretch. Don't quit your day job, Agent Scully.apocalyptic-or-post-apocalyptic fantasy freaky-supernatural-adventures ...more4 s Marlene81 2

More of a 2.53 s Claire63

que dire.... au moins j'ai entendu gillian anderson parler pendant 3×9heures3 s Chameleon Bay298 5

Not really my cup of tea, but I guess I d this more than the parts I and II of this saga.2 s Jessica1,070 220

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | (*3.5 stars)"I am constantly searching for places that rekindle my sense of wonder."

In the conclusion of Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin's highly entertaining The Earthend Saga it is apparent that the answers we so desired from the getgo are fast approaching. The Sound of Seas was the perfect final installment to the highly entertaining series and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Much its previous releases, The Sound of Seas follows a similar path of history, science fiction and intrigue--though it is vastly underwhelming compared to the second of the series, it was still a fun read that I don't regret picking up for an instant.

I'm not just saying that as Gillian Anderson's #1 fan, either. The Earthend Saga has had its share of hits and misses but for the most part Marie Claire had it right: it's highly addicting. I love the bending of genres and the array of characters; the way the POV rotates without flaw. Most of all, I love the pacing and the mystery of it. It takes a special talent to mold our world with another and both Anderson and Rovin continue to prove that together they can create a compelling story.

Picking up almost immediately where A Dream of Ice left off we say hello and goodbye to a few familiar faces. I was a little put off by the lack of answers we received by the final pages--it felt not un an open door. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the novel or the series; that I didn't think it was well paced or thought out, I just felt a little underwhelmed by the lack of necessary plots being tied up. As far as conclusions go, this isn't the worst final chapter I've ever read but it doesn't change the fact that we don't get a lot of answers.

Perhaps this is the point. In life, we rarely seeing stories of ourselves or others tied up neatly in a bow. I think that's one of the reasons I'm so willing to forgive the ending. I am not going to hold it against the series as a whole because it was still engaging as heck and really captivating in more ways than one.

I felt the writing and plots slipped up here and there with a lack of coherence but it wasn't the sort of unbearable bump in the road, you know? I think that I just wanted more from it because it was very easy to get attached to the characters and I felt there could have been so much more to expand on; that the story Anderson and Rovin told was much bigger than a trilogy of books that only were around 300 pages in length.

At the end of the day, it was still a solid read that was perfect for a summer binge. I love a good science fiction release and this one hit a lot of stellar marks right on the head. I would gladly recommend this to fans and newcomers of the genre.

Also posted on BOOKEDJ.2 s Mel3,335 218

I have to admit I was quite disappointed with the conclusion of this trilogy. The first book showed such promise, and then it all kinda went downhill from there. This was a very odd conclusion to a trilogy as it felt very little was happening. There were some quite interesting things that happened in the old civilisation but it just didn't tie together very well. The "explanation" at the end was just rather baffling, trying to pull in string theory in a way that made no sense at all. And then a mystical calling that also made very little sense.

It's a shame that a series that started so well kinda fizzled so spectacularly. I'd really to blame the Ghost Writer and not GA. But so hard to say who was responsible for what.21st-century-fiction bought-2016 scifi2 s Rubie K.121 1 follower

babe ily but this shit was boring as hell owned1 Dani Kass634 34

This was the hardest book in the series to read, especially the first half. It felt the writing was rushed and editing was skipped over. I was lost most of the time, which was partially my own fault because I forgot a lot of the previous book. Still, they should have found a way to work in some background before chapter 12.

The ending, however, was satisfying and I surprisingly really enjoyed the more philosophical parts toward the end. I'm very excited to see this done as a TV show. dont-own romance to-buy1 yenni m344 23

'Third in the saga found by accident. THIS EXCITES ME.' (first review in 2019)

It found me twice by accident it seems. Both times mostly disappointing, bewildering even.

I think I gave up last time once the a*****p gets mentioned. Despite the last few chapters revealing so much more on top of the already over-the-top plentitude of ideas, there was still an odd sweetness to the bewilderment. A Gillian Anderson kind of sweetness. That's what got me started really do in that sense, full circle! 1 Michala Ann13 12

OK, so I cheated & went straight for the audio. Because Gillian Anderson could read a Flushing phone book to me and keep me enthralled... Sadly, I still don't have any idea what this book is about... 1 Lucile321 2

I've been listening to this series on Audible. Gillian reads it which I really enjoy. I suggest you read them in order. These books are not predictable which I really appreciate!20161 S499 13

This was not nearly as interesting as the first two books in the series. :/audiobook in-english1 The Queen of Toads46 7

It was a hard slog getting through this final book in the Earth End Saga. It tried so very hard to be clever. The writing was accessible, though repetitive. It isn't that the idea wasn't fun, it was. I was compelled to get to the end to see where it went, if it really was aliens or some other clever twist. It was just a lot of hard work to get there. A lot of the time I wished that the three books had been compressed into one bigger one, or even two.

Some of the problems, as I see them, from the beginning of the series are:

The characters made some impossible leaps of logic. From the beginning of book one the characters would make connections that were impossible. I'm not a linguist, but Ben seemed to be able to learn an entire language from a few words and a couple of google searches. That there is only the beginning. Some of the leaps were akin to going, 'oh, hey, there's a butterfly on that there rose, so that means walruses are the reason for global warming!'.

Caitlin. Caitlin is a b***h. She's arrogant, rude, and entitled. There are moments when Ben, the guy she has dragged along behind her a sad puppy for years, tries to speak to her, and she flat out ignores him. He could say 'hello' and she'd look at him he was an idiot. She would run away on humanitarian missions at the drop of the hat and expect her parents to just be there for her (honey, you've got the money, get a nanny). And yet when her mother is there for her at the end she dismisses her troublesome child. She never listens to anyone else. Oh, and then to make her an (almost) deity? Ugh, she needs the ego boost.

They all believed too readily. The only moment of self doubt Caitlin had was right towards the end, and by that point it didn't make any sense. She'd been to another time, learned a strange language, performed magicky stuff... Much of this witnessed by other people. But when her shrink says during the last quarter of the book that she might be nuts, she has five minutes of self doubt. Had it taken place in book one or two, then perhaps it would have made sense. Not then, not at the end.

That ending. Without going into spoilers, the end was telegraphed from the beginning. There were no surprises about Gaalderkhan, not even who put the tiles there. That wouldn't be a problem, except for the sudden new-agey, oh my goodness how did string theory come into this, climax...

Using others words as though they're original thought. I get that a part of this was that life is cyclical, but when you say that a poet from a gazillion years ago wrote that 'nothing is ever truly lost, so long as it is remembered' as though it is an original thought, that's just frustrating. There are numerous examples of this.

That kiss. Talk about pointless. I mean, really? Are we supposed to assume from this ridiculous insta-love scenario that Caitlin has finally realised that she has no interest in Ben? Or that it was destiny to convince the pilot to leave the continent and save the race? It was utterly unnecessary and completely galling.

It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it was pretty frustrating. 2 1/2 stars. Gavin Felgate632 3



This is the third and final book in Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin's Earthend Saga.

Spoilers below for the previous titles:

As established at the end of the first book, A Vision of Fire, the series deals with an ancient civilisation, the Galderkhaan, who perished several millennia ago. The second book, A Dream of Ice had them communicating with people in the present day through special tiles.

I was a bit confused about the ending of the second book, which I thought at first involved history being rewritten; it is made clearer in this one.

Right at the start, the souls of the central character, Caitlin O'Hara, and her son Jacob have been transported back to the time of the Galderkhaan tribe, where they are inhabiting the bodies of tribespeople. I could tell quite fast that this was gradually leading up to the natural disaster that wiped out the entire tribe.

The sequences that took place in the Galderkhaani empire were the most enjoyable for me; they are said to be a people who are able to fly airships, and who have a complex political system where their priests are at odds with their technologists (who seem to be the novel's main antagonists), which will eventually lead to their doom. For some reason, they put me in mind of the Beklan Empire from Richard Adams' book Shardik.

As well as introducing the idea that souls can travel in time, the book has a subplot involving a pillar of fire that erupted from underneath the ice in the arctic, and an investigation by the character Dr. Mikel Yasso to find out what caused it, and inevitably it is connected to the events from the previous installments in the series.

I didn't enjoy the second or third book as much as the first book in the series; I thought they provided a good overall story, but some of the book's fantasy elements felt a bit too complex, and I was occasionally having to re-read chapters, mostly trying to grasp the idea that ancient tiles were being used as a means for souls to communicate.

I found it best not to get too worked up trying to understand everything, including the conspiracy elements that came into play in this book and enjoy the main plot, which did end with a couple of satisfying twists.

Overall, I was glad that the series ended up just having three books (I thought it would run to about seven), as the writers were probably running out of ideas. I was glad I stuck with this until the end, although it didn't quite meet the expectations that the first book left me with.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review modifiedmommabearreads 82

(2.5 stars)

After reading this entire series, and falling in love with the action, the thrills/suspense, the love that Dr. O'Hara has for her son, Jacob. The chemistry/love that was built between Ben and Caitlin, the overall conflict between the Priests and Technologists, I am so disappointed in the ending. A few chapters prior to finishing "The Sound Of Seas" I was left confused, because ultimately for me the story took a more philosophical, religious, political and scientific approach which honestly left me confused upon reaching the ending. It was a vague one, and it is unfortunate that the story had to end here BUT overall I feel "A Vision Of Fire" could've been turned into a standalone. I did appreciate the refresher in terms of the reintroduction of the older characters, and introduction of the new ones. The imagery, plot development, character development, background information were good but not necessarily needed for the third book because there was a good amount of information in "The Dream Of Ice". All in all I was left intrigued book after book, and chapter by chapter. Overall Series Rating: 4 stars
Series Ending Rating: 1 star Ashleigh Read49 1 follower

Worth finishing the saga, but not completely satisfying.

During the portions of the book where the characters are in Galderkhaan, there are WAAAAAAAY too many new words, names, animals, occupations, religions, etc. introduced. They’re not important to the story, they just make it almost impossible to follow for a few pages because you’re so busy trying to remember what each Galderkhaani word means. It takes a lot of work to follow the story because too many of the words are in a made-up language.

The end with the two characters who had been most connected to the tiles was interesting, but the ending between Caitlin and Ben was utterly unsatisfying. He was such an important character, and he was essentially left out of the denouement. As was her son Jacob. It just didn’t feel finished. It felt there was a publishing deadline, and it could have been more polished with more time.

Worth reading, but not stellar. Katie Whitman89 9

2.5 Stars

This series had a lot of promise. The pacing of this final installment was off. To me it dragged on forever and the ending was kind of vague. I felt it just ended abruptly and even though there was an epilogue it didn't add any in depth explanation to how the story "resolved."

That being said the whole time I was reading each book in the series I thought this whole concept would have almost worked better a script for a movie or miniseries. I think the vagueness of the ending would weirdly translate better to film because at least there would be a visual aspect to act as explanation.

Bobby Luke237 4

The pace certainly picked up from the second book, which was very much needed. I was pretty intrigued and enjoying the ride the entire time, instead of being bogged down constantly what happened in the last book. Unfortunately, although the book was fast paced and hard to put down, the payoff wasn't quite what it needed to be. It closed up the story threads, and explained a few things - but it all seemed to work out too easily, some of it was hard to follow, and we are left with more questions than answers. Does this mean that there is going to be another book? I am not drooling over these books, but I will definitely read another one. Odyssey86 1 follower

A decent finale to the trilogy, but unfortunately nothing spectacular happened to change my opinion of the series.
First book had a disappointing ending, second book was quite a bit better and third maintained the quality but that was about it.

Without revealing too much of the story, the book goes back and forth between now and the past and introduces some new characters.
For my tastes the book has too much of a spiritual/metaphysical leaning and suffers for that.

All the books in the trilogy were entertaining but would not be in my "to re-read" list. Cassie240

I wish I could say this final instillation completely won me over, stole my heart, and spit me out. Sadly, I have to say that while with the other books there were some really great ideas and characters it suffered from the same ills--awkward pacing and follow through issues. It truly pains me to say this as I really loved so much of the concept and the world(s) we were just getting to really know. I adored the international aspects and how the connections were weaved together. But it just didn't stick the landing which was almost abrupt. 2023 Brian McConnell11

I will admit I didn't expect a lot going into this book given the first two books of the series were average to acceptable. I'm happy to say this final book was a joy to read and did a great job of wrapping up the series. Anderson and Rovin even manage to roll a little theology into this third book, which I enjoyed. Overall I'm glad I gave them a chance, and can say that I would recommend them to any sci-fi fan. Pam351 1 follower

So ends the whole trilogy. I found the story arc to be very creative. Gillian Anderson's Audible narration was excellent. She did voices and believable accents. I found my attention wandering quite a bit, but I don't blame the story. Life being what it is right now, it is easy to become preoccupied. I am glad I have finished the series and would be willing to give anything else by the authors a chance.audio-books science-fiction Nikki488 11

A disappointing conclusion to the trilogy, but has a lot of potential for a possible movie adaptation, where many of the problems I had with the story could be resolved with some visual storytelling. As it stands, I still don't really understand how the tiles work, or really any of the science, and felt this book got bogged down by logistics and the plot suffered because of it.madam-librarian-in-a-public-school Lana397 15

I read this one close on the heels of the second, so I didn't have any trouble keeping up with things.

Ghalderkhaan is a rich, but not perfect, society and Caitlin's connection to it holds both positive and negative ramifications, for her and for people connected to her.

The ending of the trilogy give the term Big Bang a whole new context, and Caitlin's final experience with respect to Ghalderkhaan was chock full of food for thought.-the-author -the-subject-or-genre public-library ...more Debby Stassek226 4

I was really looking forward to the conclusion of this trilogy, but I have to say, it left me a little flat. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't feel there were any major new concepts or philosophies introduced and the story played out just the way I thought it would. The idea of an ancient civilization in Antarctica is a fascinating one, however. Good characters. Enjoyable series overall.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review Marinello60 5

In a nutshell, I thoroughly enjoyed the series but this ending felt kind of abrupt. As if there was a nasty deadline and they needed to wrap everything up really quickly, no questions asked. Still a page-turner. Emily574

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