Sleeping Giants Literary Elements

Science Fiction / Mystery

The prologue is set in Deadwood, South Dakota when Rose is eleven years old. The rest of the interviews are set in multiple locations in the modern-day world.

First-person narration in the form of interviews and journals from multiple perspectives. The prologue is in first person from Rose’s point of view.

Witty, Suspenseful, Angry, Claustrophobic

The protagonist is Rose Franklin and the antagonist is the geopolitical conflicts and the potential weapon of mass destruction.

In her childhood, Rose encounters an alien technology that becomes a mystery for years to come. As an adult, she is part of the team tasked with testing and learning about the alien machinery. This opens their world to ancient history and an alien race that anticipated this discovery for the sake of human advancement.

The climax takes place when Vincent and Kara as alien descendants operate the device but an accident destroys the airport and kills many.

“I don’t need to go through the events a thousand times to remember. I was there. I’ll remember how it went down for the rest of my life… Dr. Franklin understands that. I’m grateful for that. I’m not sure I could go through this if it weren’t for her.”

This foreshadows Dr. Franklin losing her memories and not working on the project together with Kara.

“This is gonna sound incredibly selfish, but I’d get bored to death unless someone started World War III or something. Who could go from this to carrying crates from base to base?”

“Jules Verne is one way to go. To get this type of metal in massive quantities, you’d either have to extract it thousands of miles deep or be able to mine in space. With all due respect to Mr. Verne, we haven’t come close to mining deep enough.”

“It measures 22.6 feet in length from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger. It seems to be solid, made of the same metallic material as the wall panels, but it’s at least two thousand years older. It is dark gray, with some bronze overtones, and it has subtle iridescent properties. The hand is open, fingers close together, slightly bent, as if holding something very precious, or a handful of sand, trying not to spill it. There are grooves where human skin would normally fold, others that seem purely decorative. All are glowing the same bright turquoise, which brings out the iridescence in the metal.”

N/A

Through the interviews, the unnamed interrogator gathers the same information from multiple participants but from their points of view.

“You’d be surprised how many things will strike a chord with her.”

“Then the ground disappeared from under my feet.”