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Indiana Jones Universe
Indiana Jones and the Interior World
THE HIDDEN LAND BELOW
A strange mystery connects the whispering moai statues of Easter Island to the eerie ghost ship of Chiloe Island, leading Indiana Jones on a dangerous quest into a hidden interior world. Earlier Indy accidentally caused an imbalance between the two worlds when he disposed of a fabled but dangerous relic. Now, the leader of an unstoppable army uses this artifact to enter our world and form a deadly alliance with an even darker force...
For centuries man has told tales of a hollow earth, or an underworld, populated by a mysterious race and strange characters. Sometimes describing an underworld of death, sometimes another dimension, these stories tell of mermaids, ghost ships... and a cosmic balance that must be restored les the powers within march to conquer the outside world - and only Indiana Jones holds the key!
A strange mystery connects the whispering moai statues of Easter Island to the eerie ghost ship of Chiloe Island, leading Indiana Jones on a dangerous quest into a hidden interior world. Earlier Indy accidentally caused an imbalance between the two worlds when he disposed of a fabled but dangerous relic. Now, the leader of an unstoppable army uses this artifact to enter our world and form a deadly alliance with an even darker force...
For centuries man has told tales of a hollow earth, or an underworld, populated by a mysterious race and strange characters. Sometimes describing an underworld of death, sometimes another dimension, these stories tell of mermaids, ghost ships... and a cosmic balance that must be restored les the powers within march to conquer the outside world - and only Indiana Jones holds the key!
272 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1992
About the author
Rob MacGregor
134 books106 followersRob MacGregor is author of 19 novels, 14 non-fiction books, and has teamed with George Lucas and Peter Benchley. He is a winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award for mystery writing, and has been on the New York Times best-seller’s list. He writes both adult and young adult mysteries, adventure, and science fiction/fantasy. He’s best known for his seven Indiana Jones novels. He co-authored The Fog with Bruce Gernon, and with his wife, Trish, co-authored three books on synchronicity. His latest book is Aliens in the Backyard: UFO Encounters, Abductions, and Synchronicity. In his spare time, Rob teaches yoga and meditation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
January 25, 2010
Indiana Jones and the Interior World might just be the worst book I have ever read. At the very least it is a strong contender.
To begin with, Rob MacGregor betrays the character of Indiana Jones. His Indiana is not just healthily skeptical, he’s idiotic. Imagine if Dana Scully had continued as a total unbeliever past the first season of X-Files. Well that is Indiana Jones in the Interior World. No matter how much evidence he is presented with, not matter how many mythical creatures he bumps into, no matter how much time and space he traverses, Indy believes in nothing until the last possible second. And when he does believe the new evidence is simply not strong enough for his total transformation.
But the book doesn’t just fail as an Indiana Jones novel, it fails as a work of fiction. It is a morass of cliché and silliness. It is an author trying to be clever and failing. It is an author wasting our time and his.
I had to finish so that I could write this review with a clear conscience, but I wish now that I had never read Indiana Jones and the Interior World. Do yourself a favour and stay away -- far, far away.
To begin with, Rob MacGregor betrays the character of Indiana Jones. His Indiana is not just healthily skeptical, he’s idiotic. Imagine if Dana Scully had continued as a total unbeliever past the first season of X-Files. Well that is Indiana Jones in the Interior World. No matter how much evidence he is presented with, not matter how many mythical creatures he bumps into, no matter how much time and space he traverses, Indy believes in nothing until the last possible second. And when he does believe the new evidence is simply not strong enough for his total transformation.
But the book doesn’t just fail as an Indiana Jones novel, it fails as a work of fiction. It is a morass of cliché and silliness. It is an author trying to be clever and failing. It is an author wasting our time and his.
I had to finish so that I could write this review with a clear conscience, but I wish now that I had never read Indiana Jones and the Interior World. Do yourself a favour and stay away -- far, far away.
December 1, 2022
One of the better in the series. As you can guess from the title, Indy journeys to the center of the Earth and encounters a magical race. My favorite part was the swamp, which was filled with many monsters. Overall, this series is very good.
April 15, 2024
Bought on a whim after finding it in a thrift store and realizing there are books about Indiana Jones discovering the hollow earth theory is real. Worth the 3 bucks and was an enjoyable enough read.
There’s definitely some things to like here if you enjoy pulp adventure and fantasy, though the fantasy stuff sometimes seems to push the boundaries of plausibility even further than anything in the movies which also push those boundaries pretty far.
Macgregor has some pretty fun ideas for the interior world, there’s a cult who seems to know about it, a tribal conflict taking place among its inhabitants with a pretty unexpected connection to our own surface world, and a sort of weird tales ghost ship that are all tied in with the mystery of the interior world in interesting ways.
It takes a while to get to it, but eventually the interior world is shown to have some of the strange creatures and monsters you’d expect from a story that takes you to the centre of the earth.
Not necessarily a must-read, but an enjoyable enough Indiana Jones story. I’ll probably try to find the other Hollow Earth one sometime down the road.
There’s definitely some things to like here if you enjoy pulp adventure and fantasy, though the fantasy stuff sometimes seems to push the boundaries of plausibility even further than anything in the movies which also push those boundaries pretty far.
Macgregor has some pretty fun ideas for the interior world, there’s a cult who seems to know about it, a tribal conflict taking place among its inhabitants with a pretty unexpected connection to our own surface world, and a sort of weird tales ghost ship that are all tied in with the mystery of the interior world in interesting ways.
It takes a while to get to it, but eventually the interior world is shown to have some of the strange creatures and monsters you’d expect from a story that takes you to the centre of the earth.
Not necessarily a must-read, but an enjoyable enough Indiana Jones story. I’ll probably try to find the other Hollow Earth one sometime down the road.
February 4, 2022
I really liked Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi, but this was just plain disappointing. The ending was especially weak. I mean, what kind of explanation was that? I will admit though that I couldn't help but think of Blade Runner when Indy dreams about those unicorns.
November 18, 2020
Man. This book is all over the place. It's not hard to follow, narratively, but it's hard to follow in the whole "How does this make any sense?" kind of thing. All of the Indiana Jones movies have a supernatural angle to them, but this one takes it to a new level, and the explanation at the end is ... well, it's weak sauce.
To his credit, MacGregor kinda-sorta ties in the previous five books to make them one larger story, but only in the simplest terms. It's not like we have puzzle pieces that all fit together at the end of the story; instead, we see that there was a significance to all the other locations in the previous books that are important to this story. It's not ground-breaking, and it doesn't suggest that this was MacGregor's plan from the start (it feels like anything could have been retconned to fit that part of the story), but it's something.
This was MacGregor's last book in this series. I'm interested in seeing what another author can do with this license.
To his credit, MacGregor kinda-sorta ties in the previous five books to make them one larger story, but only in the simplest terms. It's not like we have puzzle pieces that all fit together at the end of the story; instead, we see that there was a significance to all the other locations in the previous books that are important to this story. It's not ground-breaking, and it doesn't suggest that this was MacGregor's plan from the start (it feels like anything could have been retconned to fit that part of the story), but it's something.
This was MacGregor's last book in this series. I'm interested in seeing what another author can do with this license.
December 5, 2014
In this sixth Indiana Jones prequel series novel, Indy travels to Easter Island with Marcus Brody where a mystery connects the whispering moai statues there to the eerie ghost ship of Chiloé Island. This leads Indy to a secret interior world, rumored for centuries in the concept of a hollow Earth and leads to just the sort of adventure one would want from an Indiana Jones novel. In the previous novel, Unicorn horn, Indy had accidentally caused an imbalance between the two worlds when he disposed of a dangerous relic.
While this series continues for another seven books, this is the last one to be authored by Rob MacGregor. I am a long time Indy fan and quite liked the first several books that MacGregor wrote for this series. I enjoyed how he developed the younger Henry Jones, Jr. character, a new professor in London, and how he embarked on several adventures that tied together in a continuing series. I especially liked how the adventures, even though slightly over-the-top, were rooted in historical places or events. But the last couple of novels have been less about interaction with the real world and more about fantastical events and this one continues that trend.
This particular novel is a direct sequel to the preceding volume, Indiana Jones and the Unicorn's Legacy with several of those events very important to this one as well. The story here seemed convoluted, with several confusing dream sequences where neither Indy nor the reader can tell what is real and what isn’t. Fantasy elements abound, like dragons, giants, and a disjointed timeline (meaning time passes differently in the interior world than in the exterior one). How much of what Indy experiences is real and how much can be explained away based on hallucinations he was experiencing? I like a good fantasy story as much as the next guy but I prefer Indy’s adventures to be more historically based than fantasy based.
I will be interested to see how the next author to tackle this series, Martin Caidin, approaches it.
While this series continues for another seven books, this is the last one to be authored by Rob MacGregor. I am a long time Indy fan and quite liked the first several books that MacGregor wrote for this series. I enjoyed how he developed the younger Henry Jones, Jr. character, a new professor in London, and how he embarked on several adventures that tied together in a continuing series. I especially liked how the adventures, even though slightly over-the-top, were rooted in historical places or events. But the last couple of novels have been less about interaction with the real world and more about fantastical events and this one continues that trend.
This particular novel is a direct sequel to the preceding volume, Indiana Jones and the Unicorn's Legacy with several of those events very important to this one as well. The story here seemed convoluted, with several confusing dream sequences where neither Indy nor the reader can tell what is real and what isn’t. Fantasy elements abound, like dragons, giants, and a disjointed timeline (meaning time passes differently in the interior world than in the exterior one). How much of what Indy experiences is real and how much can be explained away based on hallucinations he was experiencing? I like a good fantasy story as much as the next guy but I prefer Indy’s adventures to be more historically based than fantasy based.
I will be interested to see how the next author to tackle this series, Martin Caidin, approaches it.
January 11, 2023
I cannot stress this enough when I day Rob MacGregor's books all connect, so please read them in order.
The final book in Rob MacGregor's Indiana Jones run (not including Indy and the Last Crusade, his first time penning Indy). It was a bit of a mixed bag. The first three books in the Indy prequel series were really good character studies and bridge the gap between Young Indiana Jones and the Indiana Jones we know today. The last three (including this one) could have been improved.
The humor was very minimal, but I don't expect a joke every five pages. That doesn't seem in character for Indy, but nonetheless, a few more jokes would have helped improve the book.
MacGregor is really good at character interactions between old friends. I read his six books all back-to-back, so I don't remember if Indy's old roommate, Jack Shannon, appeared in this one, but anytime he and Indy interact, it's gold. Not in terms of comedy, but writing style. The museum guy Indy often sends his relics to, Marcus Brody, is also well-written into the story, whenever he and Indy interact.
I would definitely recommend MacGregor's take on the character. There's a perfect blend of archeology and adventure, unlike the latest Indy prequel, Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead. I'll probably reread this series eventually, but until then, I've got a ton of other novels in my "to be read" pile.
The final book in Rob MacGregor's Indiana Jones run (not including Indy and the Last Crusade, his first time penning Indy). It was a bit of a mixed bag. The first three books in the Indy prequel series were really good character studies and bridge the gap between Young Indiana Jones and the Indiana Jones we know today. The last three (including this one) could have been improved.
The humor was very minimal, but I don't expect a joke every five pages. That doesn't seem in character for Indy, but nonetheless, a few more jokes would have helped improve the book.
MacGregor is really good at character interactions between old friends. I read his six books all back-to-back, so I don't remember if Indy's old roommate, Jack Shannon, appeared in this one, but anytime he and Indy interact, it's gold. Not in terms of comedy, but writing style. The museum guy Indy often sends his relics to, Marcus Brody, is also well-written into the story, whenever he and Indy interact.
I would definitely recommend MacGregor's take on the character. There's a perfect blend of archeology and adventure, unlike the latest Indy prequel, Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead. I'll probably reread this series eventually, but until then, I've got a ton of other novels in my "to be read" pile.
June 28, 2021
Interesting, but flawed and rather confusing Indiana Jones novel. Containing minor shades of Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, this was MacGregor’s last novel for the IJ series and it’s his weakest entry by far. It begins with some promise with a storyline beginning on Easter Island but then quickly veers off into a confusing plot filled with lucid dreams, random characters, and pages of exposition that essentially end up meaning nothing. There are brief moments throughout that felt like it could regain its footing, gather some steam and become a good adventure yarn. But that never really happens. You know the scenes in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” where Indy is forced to drink the blood of Kali and falls under the spell? That part of the movie feels a bit different for an Indy movie. He’s not himself. Imagine spending a whole Indy adventure within that kind of tone and storyline. It grows tiresome after awhile. I admire MacGregor for at least attempting something different with Indy, but it just doesn’t work very well here.
January 4, 2018
През 1929г. Индиана Джоунс, Маркъс Броуди и компания са командировани на Великденските о-ви, за да изследват прочутите каменни статуи- моаи. По молба на Броуди, Инди е принуден да се откъсне за малко от културата на Рапа Нуи и да придружи приятеля си до архипелага Чилое. Там бързо е въвлечен в поредната интрига, когато попада в ръцете на "пирати" и тайнствената Саландра. Тя твърди, че нашият герой е единственият, който може да спре мегаломаниака Малейуа- човек с пощенски код от другата страна на земната кора, търсещ съюзник в лицето на бързо набиращия популярност в Германия невротик с мустаци тип "четка за зъби".
October 27, 2019
This boom was ok, but it has some flaws. My favorite chapter in this book has to be chapter six” Mariners.” In this chapter, there is many untold stories about the ghost ship and Beitelheimer. This mysterious man walk toward Indy and Brody when he heard them talk about the Ghost ship, to their surprise they found out that there is a person who knows and witnessed the ghost ship. He went on and on about his childhood and the pirates who came to his house, to him seeing it out of his window. He and Indy agreed to meet somewhere, so he can show Indy that there are really ghost like pirates in his childhood house. The lack of action and profoundness is why I give this book a 4 star rating.
April 2, 2024
1929 - years before Dr. Jones falls from the sky into India to help a starving village recover a sacred rock, he's on Easter Island with Marcus Brody helping unravel the mystery of the unreadable native Rongo-Rongo tablets. The local legend of a phantom pirate ship, though, quickly derails Indiana's professional endeavors and sends him off on an adventure deep into the heart of the earth, and the world that lies within.
Quite enjoyed this quick read. Love how Rob MacGregor ties this in with his other books in the series so far. The setting was quite good, although the last action/finalé was a bit over the top in its location (no spoilers).
Quite enjoyed this quick read. Love how Rob MacGregor ties this in with his other books in the series so far. The setting was quite good, although the last action/finalé was a bit over the top in its location (no spoilers).
April 10, 2019
I have been making my way through the Indiana Jones novels and, up to this one, thoroughly enjoyed them. I actually had a hard time finishing this one. The concept of the story wasn't bad, but I don't like it as an Indiana Jones story. It felt to obscure. I also got the vibe that the novel was thrown together quickly. Really enjoyed the authors other Indiana Jones books, because I felt he really captured the feeling of everyone's favorite adventurer, but this one seemed completely out of character for Indy.
May 30, 2021
I think that the six books of MacGregor's series could have better been done as a separate franchise. It's great that they are interlocked, and sequential, but they didn't quite have the feel of the movies—humor most was missing.
[Spoiler]
This last one was a rewrite or derivative of H. Rider Haggard's “She.” It's fun, and the confusing, irrational aspects of the narration were intentional—it all get explained at the last chapter. This helped, since I was wondering how we go from this hexology, to the skeptical/agnostic Jones in “Temple of Doom.”
So … I'm not sure what to say.
[Spoiler]
This last one was a rewrite or derivative of H. Rider Haggard's “She.” It's fun, and the confusing, irrational aspects of the narration were intentional—it all get explained at the last chapter. This helped, since I was wondering how we go from this hexology, to the skeptical/agnostic Jones in “Temple of Doom.”
So … I'm not sure what to say.
May 31, 2021
Years ago when I first read these Indiana Jones books I remember that I did not like this story at all. The others I did. Now, however, I find that I enjoyed this one very much while the others are just meh.
Granted I did find some of the interior world stuff confusing and Indy's disbelief a bit annoying as it went on and on but overall it was a fairly fast read and I enjoyed this one for the quick armchair adventure.
Granted I did find some of the interior world stuff confusing and Indy's disbelief a bit annoying as it went on and on but overall it was a fairly fast read and I enjoyed this one for the quick armchair adventure.
May 31, 2024
I've enjoyed most of Rob MacGregor's Indiana Jones books but this one doesn't conform with what I know to be the Indiana Jones universe. Supernatural things happen to Indiana Jones, but alternate dimensions, giants, dragons, and dinosaurs? This is just a science fiction novel. And the ending tries to explain away all the ridiculous stuff in about 4 pages, which is equally frustrating. This just doesn't measure up to the other books in the series.
January 4, 2019
I thoroughly enjoy these prequels, not least of all because my young son buys me one each year for Christmas or my birthday. However this is probably best kept for those, like me, reading the whole series in sequence. Avoiding spoilers, basically the premise felt weaker than the others and far more magical than plausible. Still pretty fun though and a decent light read.
May 14, 2018
3.5 probably my favorite of these so far. Of course I like the whole lost/missing ancient civilizations shtick so it was a great entertaining setting for me...along with the paranormal/supernatural undertones.
January 21, 2020
Another weird hollow earth book. Spoilers: it is very dumb. Random facts about Indy are dropped with 0 explanation. The upshot is the whole thing is basically “it was all a dream” which is for once better than the alternative.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2024
This book, perhaps more so than any other Indiana Jones book, feels like it could have been written by Jules Verne. It has a feeling similar to that of Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was interesting, but confusing at times. All in all, though, I really liked it.
June 30, 2017
Too weird for me.
September 27, 2017
What does Easter Island, a pirate ghost shop, native Americans, unicorns, and the hollow earth have in common? The author tried to cram them all into this book. Ouch.
March 9, 2018
There’s a reason this took three months to finish: it’s, well, not good.
January 7, 2019
3.5 stars. A decent Indy thriller but a little too much "Temple of Doom" in this one.
April 24, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was brilliantly written and captivating. Very interesting to see what other adventures a 30-year-old Indiana gets into.
Four stars. Brilliant.
Four stars. Brilliant.
June 1, 2021
What a weird story I happened to be reading about Easter Island and coincidentally this book starts there but then goes deep mythical. I didn’t like the characters all that much either
July 19, 2022
Nonsensical, poorly structured, and amateurishly written, this book is about as vague as a JJ Abrams mystery box with about as many contrivances to boot.
November 15, 2022
Read 10-20 years ago. Just updating my Goodreads.
January 11, 2023
Wow. That was a crazy ride. Would have been a 3 star if not for the epilogue.
May 22, 2019
Not a fan. Indy felt more like a passenger in this low stakes adventure.
I dig a little deeper in this episode of the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...
I dig a little deeper in this episode of the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews