Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life {novel}

Let me just say that I've already watched the actual movie this is based on several times and that I would only really rate that one a 2. Maybe a 3 at most. How's about we compromise it to 2.5? That sounds good. It's not a horrible film or storyline by any means, it just isn't one of the better movies made and the story could've definitely been better. Its good, but I feel like it really lacks something important. When I figure out what, I'll let you know.

So lets skim through a few characters really quick:
Lara Croft- Tomb Raider/Photographer; main character (obviously, her name is part of the title)
Bryce- Lara's techie, one of her closer friends
Hillary- Another of Lara's friends, works at Croft Manor to keep things ship shape
Kosa- An show more African of the Mombasa tribe, friend to Lara who has been on some travels with her in the past
All of the characters mentioned above, I'm totally okay with.

Now let's pick a couple more:
Terry Sheridan- Has history with Lara, which is more explained than in the movie (thankfully), but who I still can't quite figure out. I definitely don't like him and I would've liked to know a bit more about why he's the way he is.
Dr. Jonathan Reiss- the villain guy! The one we need to hate, and yes I don't much like him. There are parts where he's completely understandable, but then others where I'm just shaking my head thinking: "What are you even thinking? What are you doing? Are you really all that smart?"
I think that'll do it.

Moving on.

Here's the basic story: Dr. Jonathan Reiss is a well known and respected guy who won a Nobel Prize. He is also, secretly, the biggest bioweapons dealer known. He sells to everybody who is willing to pay his price. Lara Croft finds the Luna Temple (Alexander the Great's hidden temple, the location of which was never recorded and the contents of which are not specific). Lara finds an orb inside and ends up meeting up with some goons. After much talking and research, we finally discover what the whole movie is about. To make it short, Reiss wants Pandora's box. That scary old myth about the box unleashing bad stuff? Yeah, that one. The orb is the key to finding out where Pandora is (The Cradle of Life). Reiss and Croft are in a race against time to find the box before the other, one wants to keep it safe and the other wants to use it to wipe out the weaker members of the human race with an intense disease type deal.

It's not a bad story at all. It seems pretty intriguing actually. The execution though. Lara has to team up with Sheridan, who turns out to be kind of an opportunist. Their relationship is never too developed in my opinion. The book, unlike the novelization for the first Tomb Raider movie, doesn't do too much extra. It doesn't provide a lot of background insight, or at least not as much. It does have a little, but not as much as it could've used to be a really good story.

Going in, I knew that Cradle of Life wouldn't be as good as the first Tomb Raider was (stereotypical sequel), but I was really expecting more than I got. Its nice that we got to know more about Reiss and his habits, his thoughts on some things, but then other moments just....didn't deliver. I'd also like to add in that the shark segment just felt like total bogus. I've read about sharks and the shark could've easily been left out, as it didn't add a whole lot. Just give her a way to fix one of the underwater vehicles instead. Much more impressive in the long run.

Overall, Cradle of Life is a satisfactory book that is a pretty good time, but its not going to be one of the greatest movie novelizations ever. Come for a good time, but one read through will be enough. show less

This book is about a very adventuras woman. Lara is her name . She never ever gives up. If you like adventures and mysteries this is the perfect book for you. Also it includes a little bite of history or information.