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A review by kelseyjobrien
Chariots of The Gods by Erich von Däniken
3.0
I had watched the first season of Ancient Aliens, and the way the show shed light on ancient civilizations really interested me, so I wanted to read the book that started it all.
This book was a very interesting read, and when I was 17, I thought it was the coolest thing ever and the key to the universe. Now that I've grown up a little, I can see how some of the things Daniken put forth are absolutely ludicrous (and even a little bit racist, like the fact that he really thinks the Mayan and Aztecs cultures weren't smart enough to build their own society, and needed extraterrestrial help), but some of his claims actually make a point. Not a, "this is fact!" point, but more of a, "oh, it is really interesting that there seems to be spacecraft in the Egyptian hieroglyphics. I wonder why," kind of point.
The key to reading this book is reading it as though it were a piece of AU fan fiction. We all know aliens didn't start our modern civilization. We know that they didn't use obelisks for energy for their spacecraft, and that they didn't breed with early humanoids. Is there other life in the universe? I'm sure there is. Did they visit Earth, build the pyramids, and mine our planet for gold? Nah.
So why did I give this 3 stars? Entertainment value. The fact that a man can look at ancient art and language and say to himself, "hm..it was aliens" is certainly entertaining. Would I recommend this book? Probably not, unless someone wanted a laugh.
This book was a very interesting read, and when I was 17, I thought it was the coolest thing ever and the key to the universe. Now that I've grown up a little, I can see how some of the things Daniken put forth are absolutely ludicrous (and even a little bit racist, like the fact that he really thinks the Mayan and Aztecs cultures weren't smart enough to build their own society, and needed extraterrestrial help), but some of his claims actually make a point. Not a, "this is fact!" point, but more of a, "oh, it is really interesting that there seems to be spacecraft in the Egyptian hieroglyphics. I wonder why," kind of point.
The key to reading this book is reading it as though it were a piece of AU fan fiction. We all know aliens didn't start our modern civilization. We know that they didn't use obelisks for energy for their spacecraft, and that they didn't breed with early humanoids. Is there other life in the universe? I'm sure there is. Did they visit Earth, build the pyramids, and mine our planet for gold? Nah.
So why did I give this 3 stars? Entertainment value. The fact that a man can look at ancient art and language and say to himself, "hm..it was aliens" is certainly entertaining. Would I recommend this book? Probably not, unless someone wanted a laugh.