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Q&A related to the new novel The Last Oracle

You very gently tread into an area that borders on the taboo: scientific experimentation with children. Are you afraid that you will awaken a firestorm in reaction?

I don't know about a firestorm, but I think it's a topic well worth discussing openly. One of the best ways of evaluating a society is to judge how well they care for the weakest among us. Human experimentation has often been cloaked in the "greater good," where the "ends justify the means." All nations, including the United States, have participated in human experimentation, including involuntary experimentation. Are experiments going on today with children? In some corners of the world, I don't doubt that they are. Especially with those children disenfranchised, like the poor, the mentally ill, or the disabled. Do other nations perhaps turn a blind eye to such experiments? I don't doubt that, too, especially in today's climate where the mantra seems to be growing that "the ends justify ANY means."

Tell us more about what sparked your fascination with autism, and the manipulation of savant talents?

As you may know, I started my career as a veterinarian, and over the recent few years, I've been reading books by another veterinarian, named Temple Grandin. She also happens to be autistic. Her most famous book, titled Animals in Translation, deals with how she used her autism to better understand animal behavior. It was a fascinating treatise, which sent me delving into the topic of "autistic savants," those rare individuals with extraordinary talent along a narrow focus. The generation of such Rainman-like talent still baffles scientists and has challenged our conception of human mental abilities. But what really set me on the course to write this book is one quote by Temple Grandin: "If by some magic, autism had been eradicated from the face of the earth, then men would still be socializing in front of a wood fire at the entrance to a cave." It is her contention (one advocated by many historians and anthropologists) that pivotal advancements in human history have come about because of those rare individuals born with savant talents, whose unique way of looking at life have altered the course of mankind. So it made me wonder, what if someone gained control of that power?

In THE LAST ORACLE, scientists around the globe are working to engineer the "next" Buddha, Jesus or Mohammed. Can a great prophet, a person whose touch and thought changes the world, be created by man?

I believe we are not far off from this possibility (if we're not already there). The new frontier of neurology is the exploration of the brain with more and more sophisticated electrodes, some so small that they can be inserted into individual neurons. Already neurologists have inserted silicon chips into the brains of quadriplegic patients that allow them to manipulate computers—to move a cursor, to surf the Internet—by their thoughts alone. So how long will it be until we learn to harness the brain's full potential—and scarier, how long until we learn to control that in another person?

Many of your concepts are pulled from the news, or from scientific journals -- what was the based-upon-fact genesis of THE LAST ORACLE?

I spend the last few pages of every book separating fact from fiction in my novels. I talked about autism earlier, but here are a few of the interesting and factual tidbits that were incorporated into this novel:

1. Newest studies prove that men and women have the general ability to see three seconds into the future. How?We don't know, but they've proven that we do!
2. Humans are "natural-born cyborgs."
3. Einstein met an Indian woman who could solve a mathematical equation…even before he could finish asking the question.
4. There is a lake in Russia that is so radioactive that if you stand on the shore for an hour, you'll be dead a week later.
5. And the prophecies of the Greek Oracle of Delphi did indeed change the course of human history.

In your author's notes, you reference that the "Jasons," a global think tank of scientists, truly exist. How were you able to delve into the shuttered world of this secret organization?

The Jasons formed during the Cold War to offer advice and counsel to the Department of Justice. They were initially a band that consisted of physicists, but today, their membership has expanded to almost every scientific discipline and into most branches of the military. Few Jasons would ever speak of their affiliation, and most of their projects to this day are shrouded behind the stamp of "top secret." But slowly information has been leaking out. One journalist did an in-depth study and interviewed many members of the Jasons and wrote a book titled, The Jasons, the Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite.

This novel traces the Romani – known as "Gypsies" from Delphi, into the Indian Continent and across the world. Do the members of this nomadic tribe truly hold the key to long-buried secrets?

Considering the origin of the Romani people has only recently been determined by linguistics, I wager there are many secrets buried among a tribe of people who have been wandering across vast stretches of the world for so many centuries. A full descriptive history of these nomadic people has yet to be done. How many stories must be buried in the memories of those who have traveled continents and centuries? That knowledge alone is a vast treasure waiting to be tapped.

In perhaps the most terrifying plotline within THE LAST ORACLE, you reference the decaying radioactive tomb of Chernobyl, the new Sarcophagus being created to encase the wreckage, and lethally toxic lakes of nuclear waste scattered throughout Russia – some of which lie on top of geographic fault lines. You talk of the possibility of one earthquake tearing the land apart, unleashing a toxic tidal flow, which would flood the Artic Circle and poisoning the world – it's all true, isn't it?

As frightening as that all sounds, it's all true. The toxic legacy of the Cold War is still with us today–and it's a ticking time bomb. The former vet with a twisted sense of humor...your books tend to feature a spooky critter, whether it's a man-eating squid, toothy grendels, flesh-eating swarms of frogs (you name it!).

What killer creature (or exceptional animal) did you mastermind for THE LAST ORACLE?

In this book, a group of children are on the run from a menagerie of genetically enhanced beasts–but they have a companion at their side: Marta, an elderly chimpanzee who has a few secrets of her own.

Also this year, you published the movie novelization of George Lucas' Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Krystal Skull. Tell us more about your experiences on Skywalker Ranch, and working with the "Indy" team?

I had a blast working on that book. The team over at Lucasfilm could not have been a better group to work with. And as a fan of Indy since the opening frame of Raiders of the Lost Ark, I couldn't be more thrilled to be invited to participate. Still, it was somewhat intimidating to step into Indy's shoes, smash on that fedora, and grab that bullwhip. Especially with the level of secrecy involved in this project. Once I got going, I found myself leaping, running, and snapping that bullwhip like an old pro. The folks at Lucasfilm also allowed me the latitude to expand and add about a dozen scenes that aren't in the movie…which as a fan of Indiana Jones, was as cool as it gets for me!

And speaking of which, we like to call you the Indiana Jones of the fiction world – what amazing adventures did you undertake in researching/mapping the plot of THE LAST ORACLE?

I finally succumbed and accepted an invitation to go diving with sharks. Suffice it to say, I still have all my arms and legs. I've also done some traveling in Russia, including into some zones marked with radiation signs. And so far, I'm not glowing in the dark. At least not yet.

What's next for James Rollins...and fans of your SIGMA Force novels?

After writing Indiana Jones, I've learned how to keep my mouth shut. So all I can promise is more mayhem and thrills and one heck of a shocker to come!