Sequel to the International Bestseller Fingerprints of the Gods

Very thought provoking. Enjoyed the homogenization of several areas of science and history and mythology into a cohesive story. Great follow up upon Fingerprints and other books in his series devoted to this topic.

Learned of Graham from the Joe Rogan podcast, and I loved this book. Tremendous message that people need to be open to hearing, and it's incredible to imagine the possible past that our world has faced, that Graham lays out in a very detailed, factual analysis.

Graham Hancock is an amazing intellect and well respected in many fields. I loved the book! My only complaint was the rope used to tie the his whole, loose hypothesis together had a bit much in the slack department.

My husband was entranced. This is his favorite study right now. He kept stopping in his reading to quote me things from the book. Full of great photos-not the usual fuzzy shots. Full of reasonable conjectures and backed by realistic research and respected individuals in the subject. This is not your ancient alien, sensationalist-type book.

Hancock expertly manages a balance between crackpot sensationalism and dogmatic pragmatism that lands squarely in the realm of broad-minded realism. An inspiring read and a gold mind of information for everyone of us skimming the vast annals of the Internet for those that brave the unknowable with a curious mind grounded with common sense. This is real journalism and absolutely stunning in all its implications.

Besides his more popular work Graham Hancock has been on the cutting edge of the point where real world reality meets main stream fiction. His book "Message of the Sphinx" stands with this new book as a must read for any thinking person.

I first got this book as an audio book, and as an audio book it is fantastic, however it has no accompanying PDF to view pictures of what Graham Hancock describes so well as the reader of the audio book. So I ordered the hard cover book that is filled with remarkable pictures.

Magicians of the Gods reviles secrets main stream refuses to acknowledge but it also dispels myths others came up with to enplane structures and cultures predating the history of mankind other books pretend are fact. So yes I consider this a text book written by one of the best thinkers of our time and full of science and facts that are easy to ignore, but hard to argue with, Odds are I will send this book as an Xmas gift.

Once again Mr. Hancock rips a big hole in orthodox archaeology's knowledge filter. The true past history of mankind begins to come into focus. What happened twelve thousand years ago will happen again at some point. And it seems there have been allot of near misses by asteroids lately. As a species we need to be ready.

Graham Hancock is an amazing person,a wonderful author and a favorite guest on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. After hearing him discuss his adventures and well thought opinions of ancient peoples I could not wait to read his popular book Fingerprints of the Gods and it is/was terrific. Magician of the gods stands on its own with an easy to read writing style,beautiful color pictures,and compelling arguments to what we have been taught of human history and the geological history of the Earth.

Loved the book, but gave 4 stars because not as good as finger prints, I liked it when Grahm was not so worried about people attacking him and really let it all out, he is much more concerned with presenting a strong case which is good and bad, finger prints was full of speculation that turns out to be right, I recommend reading this book

Graham Hancock has presented us with a work of extensive research and intelligent thought. It is time for us to awaken from our "castastrophobia" and remember who we are and why we are here. Thank you, Mr. Hancock for instigating a renewal of consciousness.

I loved Fingerprints of the Gods and looked forward to reading Graham Hancock's follow-up title. Sadly, I did not enjoy this title. It reads like a one trick pony that belabors its single theme over and over and over again - the search for evidence supporting a cataclysmic comet collision that ended the ice age about 13,000 years ago. Where Fingerprints cast a broad net across a variety of interrelated topics, Magicians focuses almost exclusively on this single theme. Hancock works hard to present the theme as a mystery, but it reads more like an over long journal article. I found the title boring.

Graham Hancock does not disappoint in his latest book. He takes us on a world-wide quest to discover the truth about an ancient, advanced, antediluvian civilization know as Atlantis, using geological evidence. As far as I'm concerned, the proof is out there!

The book starts off as interesting, until he gets to the part where he tries to convince you the Gobekli Tepe has a star chart on it, pointing to our present time. Even the graphics he gives to prove it, over our current constellations, show the feet of the vulture cut off in order to make it "work." Saying this is a slight error is an understatement. There is absolutely no proof it's constellations. After that the book falls apart, undermining any interesting points, which are mostly regarding reasons to believe man has been advanced far longer than modern archaeology wants to admit. I agree with him on that, but that's about it. Next time, fewer ramblings, more photos (since your wife is a photographer, there should have been many more) and don't end your book with such a non-sequitur as "choose love, not fear" (as supposedly ancients did?) after you have basically spent the whole book trying to make people afraid of a returning comet.

I only wish this epic book on cd had a supplementary cd of the photos Graham's wife Santha takes so that I could see that which his excellently describes for myself.

I love listening to this story, so well documented and mind opening.

Thank you.

I am glad to be in a state of mind where the ideas expressed in this book resonates powerfully with me! The author makes his case very clearly and very entertainingly. I also appreciated the large color photos of the sites referenced inside the book. I highly recommend MAGICIANS OF THE GODS to people who wonder about the where we came from!

I was hoping there would be proof of something, anything, in this book, but it's all a lot of wild speculation. Still, it's speculation that I can buy into to some degree (that being that human civilation is far older than we currently recognize) so that makes it a pretty fun read. Lots of pictures to supplement the text.

Graham Hancock is an incredibly thorough individual. He works hard and this book shows. But he over emphasizes his points. This book is extremely lengthy 400+ pages and could have been written in 200 if it weren't the author's redundant explanations on topics. It felt as though he was trying to fill pages with unimportant information. The author is an incredible person and I really admire the work he is doing, but his thoroughness is his downfall as far as this book goes, the first 30 pages are great, then the following 300 plus pages are filled with redundancies that distract the reader rather then educate them.

Hancock has been writing about an advanced civilization which disappeared before the last Ice Age for the past 20 years and this book combines all his studies with new material to create a cohesive whole. There is a great deal of repetition here but a few new ideas and some good shots from Hancock's photographer wife. All in all, a good overview for those who think the "ancient aliens" were actually "our ancestors" and from right here on earth.

As the headline says, an excellent overview of this information. Most of it was not new to me , and I mostly purchase the book to support the author and help get this information out further .

It's definitely worth reading. Hancock lists exhaustive sources, and plenty of further reading this topic is interesting to you .

The book starts off as interesting, until he gets to the part where he tries to convince you the Gobekli Tepe has a star chart on it, pointing to our present time. Even the graphics he gives to prove it, over our current constellations, show the feet of the vulture cut off in order to make it "work." Saying this is a slight error is an understatement. There is absolutely no proof it's constellations. After that the book falls apart, undermining any interesting points, which are mostly regarding reasons to believe man has been advanced far longer than modern archaeology wants to admit. I agree with him on that, but that's about it. Next time, fewer ramblings, more photos (since your wife is a photographer, there should have been many more) and don't end your book with such a non-sequitur as "choose love, not fear" (as supposedly ancients did?) after you have basically spent the whole book trying to make people afraid of a returning comet.

I only wish this epic book on cd had a supplementary cd of the photos Graham's wife Santha takes so that I could see that which his excellently describes for myself.

I love listening to this story, so well documented and mind opening.

Thank you.

I am glad to be in a state of mind where the ideas expressed in this book resonates powerfully with me! The author makes his case very clearly and very entertainingly. I also appreciated the large color photos of the sites referenced inside the book. I highly recommend MAGICIANS OF THE GODS to people who wonder about the where we came from!

I was hoping there would be proof of something, anything, in this book, but it's all a lot of wild speculation. Still, it's speculation that I can buy into to some degree (that being that human civilation is far older than we currently recognize) so that makes it a pretty fun read. Lots of pictures to supplement the text.

Graham Hancock is an incredibly thorough individual. He works hard and this book shows. But he over emphasizes his points. This book is extremely lengthy 400+ pages and could have been written in 200 if it weren't the author's redundant explanations on topics. It felt as though he was trying to fill pages with unimportant information. The author is an incredible person and I really admire the work he is doing, but his thoroughness is his downfall as far as this book goes, the first 30 pages are great, then the following 300 plus pages are filled with redundancies that distract the reader rather then educate them.

Hancock has been writing about an advanced civilization which disappeared before the last Ice Age for the past 20 years and this book combines all his studies with new material to create a cohesive whole. There is a great deal of repetition here but a few new ideas and some good shots from Hancock's photographer wife. All in all, a good overview for those who think the "ancient aliens" were actually "our ancestors" and from right here on earth.

As the headline says, an excellent overview of this information. Most of it was not new to me , and I mostly purchase the book to support the author and help get this information out further .

It's definitely worth reading. Hancock lists exhaustive sources, and plenty of further reading this topic is interesting to you .

I absolutely love that the empirical evidence Graham reports on is radically paradigm-shifting. The truth will rock your world. Sometimes Graham puts forth an inductive leap, but he does so rarely, modestly, and professedly. Read this book, change your mind, and change the world. And support this gentle force for good that is the work of Graham Hancock.

Although the book is full of information and intriguing ideas I had had to only give it three stars. There were just too many sections (although all necessary) that I felt I had to drag through to get to the next page turning portion. Still a brilliant piece of work.

He covers an interesting body of information, but the book is far too narrative. It reads like a novel, dedicating more ink to conversations than to discovery. It takes a lot of reading to get through this journalistic indulgence to raw information.

Graham Hancock is uncovering the truth about our origins, and his work should be taught at High Schools around the world. Intelligent, well researched and written in an engaging style with compelling photographs, Magicians of the Gods is Hancock's masterwork.

I like that someone has taken some figure in what the ground is composed of. I do not like how this Author thinks everybody's opinion argues with every body else's. For me if you are truly about creating your own norm, like one that people will attach to; start with something beneficial to them, like honesty, integrity, anything more than absolute laziness. I honestly believe this author has no position in life over anything.

There is some very interesting material in this book. Unfortunately the authors writing style gets in the way of fully enjoying his efforts. The constant referring to his previous books, and how he won't discuss some detail because it was in another one of his books. The repeated use of referring you back to previous chapters sometimes multiple times on the same page simply because he mentions a location again. This is as if the reader can't retain what was covered in earlier chapters. At times it reads like a travel diary as he rambles about the dinner he had. This book hasn't convinced me to read any of his others.

Little more than a poor rehash of author's previous works. Extremely boring padding and anecdotal filler written in the present tense like a travel book.Re-presentation of ice age, comets, floods,biblical accounts etc.One chapter includes Gobekli Tepe overview

I bought the book at B&N because it referred to the late Zechariah Sitchin and while it does not make a point of getting into the Anunnaki information, that is not a focal point, yet it does mention Ekki, Enlil and the Shining Ones (pp225 and 234) as the Shemsu Hor (and Shebtiw on p. 185 as the Builder Gods) -- and yet Hegland in his latest book, Anunnaki Legacy -- Dragon Wisdom covers that issue more completely in his chapter on Egypt. Serpent imagery is kept to a minimum hy Hancock (p. 179-183) and yet he doesn't convey the significance of the Serpent as does Hegland. (And it is not evil or creepy.)

In fact, Hegland exposes Gobekli Tepe for what it was, and goes beyond what Hancock says. There was a Proto-Sanskrit that Hegland stumbled on and it shows what the "animals" on the T-posts stand for... the "ducks" on the T-posts correspond to Proto-Sanskrit characters.... no wonder the site was buried, to preserve and keep the site from vandals as Mt Nemrut in Turkey was vandalized. Both sites in Turkey show serpent imagery and it reflects kundalini 'serpents' in a process to enlighten Man... check it out.
As usual, as with all Mr. Hancock's books, the pictures are great and he seeks to explain as much as is known to mainstream archeology/anthropology. He doesn't often stick his neck out and tell you that Thoth (p.185, 222) was Ningishzidda (as does Sitchin) and he still incorrectly attributes the Baalbek Trilithons to the Romans (p. 266) , when they were built by the Anunnaki just as was the Foundation Stone in Mt Moriah (Jerusalem)... all explored in Hegland's Anunnaki Legacy.
Read Mr. Hancock's excellent introduction to these ancient issues and then see the more complete treatment in Hegland's Anunnaki Legacy.
There is more to Earth history than we have been told and it involves Serpent Wisdom, Sacred Trees, the Pleiades, The Flood, goddesses and the Divine Feminine.

Back in the 90s, Mr. Hancock posed a question in Fingerprints of the Gods; Who built some of Earth's mysterious mega-structures and when? This novel brings evidence forth that may help us explain where they went and how they were lost to us aeons ago. While it does help to have read the first, I think it by no means a requirement. I do suggest you have a map of the globe on hand. It's of great help in allowing you to see the scope of lives and landmasses affected by multiple cataclysmic events in our Earth's history. As is his from, Hancock brings a multi-disciplinary approach to answering persistent, age-old questions and lays a solid case for the conclusions to which years of research have led.

There are two downsides to this book. First, if you're a fan of Fingerprints, he repeats info you'll likely remember and have no need of a refresher course. Secondly, and again with an if, should you use Audibles, listening to Graham's voice--that English accent of his--can lull you into a calm and make you lose track of what he's saying. Those aside, this was a great listen I'd definitely do over again.

Sometimes the Truth is difficult to believe.
The one thing about Graham Hancock is he does his homework—to the point of sublime tedium. Magicians of the Gods is a sequel to Mr. Hancock’s Fingerprints of the Gods, his seminal investigation into the mysteries of earth’s ancient past and evidence of a long lost super civilization. I strongly recommend you read Fingerprints first, BEFORE reading Magicians so you can become grounded in Mr. Hancock’s controversial pre-history theories of earth’s lost ancient civilization. Tedious at times, Magicians of the Gods further expands on Mr. Hancock controversial theories. Whether you believe or not, Mr. Hancock presents his case for a lost race of Super Beings in a solid cogent manner that will excite your imagination. Could it possibly be there was a Super Race of Beings here before recorded history? Where is the Proof? Mr. Hancock delves into all this with a plethora of History’s Mysteries all emanating from our obscure and misty past in an attempt to answer nagging questions of how this all came about. History is not always objective, empirical or factual and the further into the past one goes the more subjective it becomes. Written records are lost, physical evidence turns to dust, and human experience is forgotten: Yet myths, legends, and rumors persist through the eons of time. Could it be true? You will be the judge of that.
A few things to keep in mind when reading anything concerning ancient History’s Mysteries:
1. The 3 C’s: Coincidence, Conspiracy, Circumstantial. Personally I do not believe in Coincidences. Secondly, I steer clear of Conspiracies. Thirdly, use Circumstantial evidence only if it is based on very strong inference. Direct evidence is always the best but when dealing with ancient history that is usually not available.
2. When confronted with conflicting theories, phenomena, solutions, or explanations use the Occam’s Razor principle of parsimony to determine which is the most likely.
3. Keep in mind people rarely, freely give up inculcated beliefs or learned knowledge(?) through academia or field experiences. The longer someone accepts, writes about or teaches a certain accepted/proven(?) belief the harder it is to accept a new reality or paradigm. How the mysterious Giza Pyramids were built and why is the classic example. To change an accepted belief system is extremely difficult, especially due to the “My mind is made up do NOT confuse me with Facts” academic syndrome: Or has Mr. Hancock cogently says, “The dead hand of orthodox archeology.”
I have read most of Mr. Hancock’s books and enjoy his tedious anal retentiveness in regards to factual suppositions. In his long investigation of ancient pre-history there is little direct hard evidence and lots of indirect deductive and inductive reasoning. This can easily lead to conclusions based on sophistry if great care is not taken to preclude unsound reasoning or arguments. Today’s world of academia is replete with scores of supposed facts and assumptions based on faulty logic or erroneous assumptions. I caution the reader to be very weary of long standing truths(?) and to keep an open mind when reading the works of Graham Hancock. He works very hard to present alternate historical possibilities to the great mysteries of the ancient past, and it is for the future to justify his enlightening efforts. Once again, Well Done Mr. Hancock, WELL DONE. Looking forward to your next work.
*Note, a few things to think about: To quote Hamlet in Shakespeare, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio. And to paraphrase Churchill, Truth many times is….. `a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'. And so it goes

100+ pages on geology. Should be called Geologists of the Gods. Once I got through the first section on Geology, I started to like the book. For me the Geology section was overkill and almost broaching a political diatribe against academic bias. Fortunately I stayed the course.

Very glad I checked this out from library instead of purchasing. I cannot slog through it. It seems to be rambling and jumbled. Possibly, I should have started with his earlier book. The writing style of this one makes it inaccessible. Are there other authors presenting comparable ideas that I could turn to?

A beautifully woven expansion and elaboration on his previous book Fingerprints of the Gods, Magicians will be one of the utmost useful tools for thwarting or hopefully even reversing our collective amnesia of the true origins of our species.

I don't get it. Why was this book written? You get a summary of the authors exploits at various sites over the years. Summaries of ancient texts and some interpretation of them. If you compare this to any of his earlier books, you are retreading familiar ground. Again, why was this written? As others have said, none of this is new ground. I'm struggling to understand that this book is anything more than an extemporaneous and vicarious travel log with some historical facts sprinkled in. This is more like David Hatcher Childress' books over at Adventures Unlimited. I mean, sure, it's fine to hear about a wide variety of info, or should I say speculation. But what do you do with this? And does do anything more for you than fiction?

To the point, the author claims this book is the 'forgotten wisdom' of the earth's lost civilizations. The problem is, he can only point at stuff and say 'yep, those people must have been smart', but he never codifies that wisdom. That's like saying you are about to hit a hole in one and talking about how nice your clubs are and never taking the swing. You can just look on the authors website for these facts and keep the price of the book in your pocket.

After reading this fascinating book I suddenly thought of the Denver Airport murals. The coded information throughout the Airport notably the reference to Au Ag and other symbolism like the dove and fire from the sky seemed to me comet related, like a tail of fire fanning the earth just like the description of the comet in Magicians of the Gods.
The dove (a comet?) and coded information to those in the know (not Joe Six Pack and Jane) could very well point to a celestial event soon to hit earth and when the signs are read signal the elite to converge to the Denver airport and vanish inside.
I like to link dots. This book linked a lot of dots about events going on right now right under our noses.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and i believe it makes an excellent sequel to "Fingerprints of the Gods". I found a lot of the evidence presented to be very compelling, particularly the evidence pointing to an asteroid impact which set off the beginning of the Younger Dryas. I loved reading about how this catastrophic event was recorded by cultures all around the world and am amazed that the story of our ancestor's destruction (and survival) has been able to survive through myth and lore.

I was not sold on everything that Hancock presented. I think some of the evidence was a little shaky, particularly his analysis of pillar #43 at Gobekli Tepe, when he suggests that it depicts an 80-year astronomical window in the present day, as all i see in the pillar is a bunch of animal figures, not a star map. That being said, i don't expect the author to be able to answer all these questions by himself. Hancock is doing excellent work by questioning the mainstream narrative and as long as he gets people interested in this sort of thing, then i would argue that he doesn't need to be 100% right about everything; in fact, it is virtually impossible to have a book so massive in scope and have 100% accuracy in one's theories. That being said, even the staunchest skeptic would have a difficult time arguing some of his points.

In any case, the book is highly entertaining, so i would recommend it to any armchair intellectual looking for something to read.

Another beautifully written and unique Graham Hancock exploration of unresolved mysteries as to truly ancient civilizations yet unknown and unexplored. Nobody beats Hancock on this topic. He's an archaeological explorer, an intuitive quester. For me, he is the top poet reporter from the front lines of the latest research on lost worlds. Recommending, along with all Hancock's many fascinating books.

This is a really remarkable work that combines an immense amount of field research by the author, and exceptional analysis of the information available to clearly see how our world, and the advance civilization that lived on this planet, was obliterated by a run-in with a comet, and attempted to teach their legacy to those few who survived.

Kudos to Mr. Hancock!

This is an extremely well researched book about earth's pre-history. The research, references, and clear and concise writing are second to none.

I have given it a 4 star instead of 5 because it is extremely dense. It may even be overwritten in some parts, but that is not really a criticism - the author is extremely meticulous and obviously very thorough and passionate with researching and writing.

I bought the audio book and listened to it as I painted - I don't know how I would have gone getting through reading it owing to the aforementioned density.

The author presents a myriad of wide ranging support for his theory that is entertaining and thought provoking. I loved the historical explanations and the honest discussions he exposes of his critics as well as his own perspective's. I really liked this book and would recommend to anyone looking for a historically informative scientific journey

The best part of the book was the portions dealing with Younger Dryas comet impact theory. Otherwise much of book a rambling travelogue. Would have been better if focused on one global region, eastern Med, and offered more proof of pre-deluge civilization and what the magicians did to boost rise of Sumer & ancient Egypt. I felt disappointed and let down when reached end. Could and should have been much better.

I bought the book at B&N because it referred to the late Zechariah Sitchin and while it does not make a point of getting into the Anunnaki information, that is not a focal point, yet it does mention Ekki, Enlil and the Shining Ones (pp225 and 234) as the Shemsu Hor (and Shebtiw on p. 185 as the Builder Gods) -- and yet Hegland in his latest book, Anunnaki Legacy -- Dragon Wisdom covers that issue more completely in his chapter on Egypt. Serpent imagery is kept to a minimum hy Hancock (p. 179-183) and yet he doesn't convey the significance of the Serpent as does Hegland. (And it is not evil or creepy.)

In fact, Hegland exposes Gobekli Tepe for what it was, and goes beyond what Hancock says. There was a Proto-Sanskrit that Hegland stumbled on and it shows what the "animals" on the T-posts stand for... the "ducks" on the T-posts correspond to Proto-Sanskrit characters.... no wonder the site was buried, to preserve and keep the site from vandals as Mt Nemrut in Turkey was vandalized. Both sites in Turkey show serpent imagery and it reflects kundalini 'serpents' in a process to enlighten Man... check it out.
As usual, as with all Mr. Hancock's books, the pictures are great and he seeks to explain as much as is known to mainstream archeology/anthropology. He doesn't often stick his neck out and tell you that Thoth (p.185, 222) was Ningishzidda (as does Sitchin) and he still incorrectly attributes the Baalbek Trilithons to the Romans (p. 266) , when they were built by the Anunnaki just as was the Foundation Stone in Mt Moriah (Jerusalem)... all explored in Hegland's Anunnaki Legacy.
Read Mr. Hancock's excellent introduction to these ancient issues and then see the more complete treatment in Hegland's Anunnaki Legacy.
There is more to Earth history than we have been told and it involves Serpent Wisdom, Sacred Trees, the Pleiades, The Flood, goddesses and the Divine Feminine.

Back in the 90s, Mr. Hancock posed a question in Fingerprints of the Gods; Who built some of Earth's mysterious mega-structures and when? This novel brings evidence forth that may help us explain where they went and how they were lost to us aeons ago. While it does help to have read the first, I think it by no means a requirement. I do suggest you have a map of the globe on hand. It's of great help in allowing you to see the scope of lives and landmasses affected by multiple cataclysmic events in our Earth's history. As is his from, Hancock brings a multi-disciplinary approach to answering persistent, age-old questions and lays a solid case for the conclusions to which years of research have led.

There are two downsides to this book. First, if you're a fan of Fingerprints, he repeats info you'll likely remember and have no need of a refresher course. Secondly, and again with an if, should you use Audibles, listening to Graham's voice--that English accent of his--can lull you into a calm and make you lose track of what he's saying. Those aside, this was a great listen I'd definitely do over again.

Sometimes the Truth is difficult to believe.
The one thing about Graham Hancock is he does his homework—to the point of sublime tedium. Magicians of the Gods is a sequel to Mr. Hancock’s Fingerprints of the Gods, his seminal investigation into the mysteries of earth’s ancient past and evidence of a long lost super civilization. I strongly recommend you read Fingerprints first, BEFORE reading Magicians so you can become grounded in Mr. Hancock’s controversial pre-history theories of earth’s lost ancient civilization. Tedious at times, Magicians of the Gods further expands on Mr. Hancock controversial theories. Whether you believe or not, Mr. Hancock presents his case for a lost race of Super Beings in a solid cogent manner that will excite your imagination. Could it possibly be there was a Super Race of Beings here before recorded history? Where is the Proof? Mr. Hancock delves into all this with a plethora of History’s Mysteries all emanating from our obscure and misty past in an attempt to answer nagging questions of how this all came about. History is not always objective, empirical or factual and the further into the past one goes the more subjective it becomes. Written records are lost, physical evidence turns to dust, and human experience is forgotten: Yet myths, legends, and rumors persist through the eons of time. Could it be true? You will be the judge of that.
A few things to keep in mind when reading anything concerning ancient History’s Mysteries:
1. The 3 C’s: Coincidence, Conspiracy, Circumstantial. Personally I do not believe in Coincidences. Secondly, I steer clear of Conspiracies. Thirdly, use Circumstantial evidence only if it is based on very strong inference. Direct evidence is always the best but when dealing with ancient history that is usually not available.
2. When confronted with conflicting theories, phenomena, solutions, or explanations use the Occam’s Razor principle of parsimony to determine which is the most likely.
3. Keep in mind people rarely, freely give up inculcated beliefs or learned knowledge(?) through academia or field experiences. The longer someone accepts, writes about or teaches a certain accepted/proven(?) belief the harder it is to accept a new reality or paradigm. How the mysterious Giza Pyramids were built and why is the classic example. To change an accepted belief system is extremely difficult, especially due to the “My mind is made up do NOT confuse me with Facts” academic syndrome: Or has Mr. Hancock cogently says, “The dead hand of orthodox archeology.”
I have read most of Mr. Hancock’s books and enjoy his tedious anal retentiveness in regards to factual suppositions. In his long investigation of ancient pre-history there is little direct hard evidence and lots of indirect deductive and inductive reasoning. This can easily lead to conclusions based on sophistry if great care is not taken to preclude unsound reasoning or arguments. Today’s world of academia is replete with scores of supposed facts and assumptions based on faulty logic or erroneous assumptions. I caution the reader to be very weary of long standing truths(?) and to keep an open mind when reading the works of Graham Hancock. He works very hard to present alternate historical possibilities to the great mysteries of the ancient past, and it is for the future to justify his enlightening efforts. Once again, Well Done Mr. Hancock, WELL DONE. Looking forward to your next work.
*Note, a few things to think about: To quote Hamlet in Shakespeare, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio. And to paraphrase Churchill, Truth many times is….. `a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'. And so it goes

100+ pages on geology. Should be called Geologists of the Gods. Once I got through the first section on Geology, I started to like the book. For me the Geology section was overkill and almost broaching a political diatribe against academic bias. Fortunately I stayed the course.

Very glad I checked this out from library instead of purchasing. I cannot slog through it. It seems to be rambling and jumbled. Possibly, I should have started with his earlier book. The writing style of this one makes it inaccessible. Are there other authors presenting comparable ideas that I could turn to?

A beautifully woven expansion and elaboration on his previous book Fingerprints of the Gods, Magicians will be one of the utmost useful tools for thwarting or hopefully even reversing our collective amnesia of the true origins of our species.

I don't get it. Why was this book written? You get a summary of the authors exploits at various sites over the years. Summaries of ancient texts and some interpretation of them. If you compare this to any of his earlier books, you are retreading familiar ground. Again, why was this written? As others have said, none of this is new ground. I'm struggling to understand that this book is anything more than an extemporaneous and vicarious travel log with some historical facts sprinkled in. This is more like David Hatcher Childress' books over at Adventures Unlimited. I mean, sure, it's fine to hear about a wide variety of info, or should I say speculation. But what do you do with this? And does do anything more for you than fiction?

To the point, the author claims this book is the 'forgotten wisdom' of the earth's lost civilizations. The problem is, he can only point at stuff and say 'yep, those people must have been smart', but he never codifies that wisdom. That's like saying you are about to hit a hole in one and talking about how nice your clubs are and never taking the swing. You can just look on the authors website for these facts and keep the price of the book in your pocket.

After reading this fascinating book I suddenly thought of the Denver Airport murals. The coded information throughout the Airport notably the reference to Au Ag and other symbolism like the dove and fire from the sky seemed to me comet related, like a tail of fire fanning the earth just like the description of the comet in Magicians of the Gods.
The dove (a comet?) and coded information to those in the know (not Joe Six Pack and Jane) could very well point to a celestial event soon to hit earth and when the signs are read signal the elite to converge to the Denver airport and vanish inside.
I like to link dots. This book linked a lot of dots about events going on right now right under our noses.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and i believe it makes an excellent sequel to "Fingerprints of the Gods". I found a lot of the evidence presented to be very compelling, particularly the evidence pointing to an asteroid impact which set off the beginning of the Younger Dryas. I loved reading about how this catastrophic event was recorded by cultures all around the world and am amazed that the story of our ancestor's destruction (and survival) has been able to survive through myth and lore.

I was not sold on everything that Hancock presented. I think some of the evidence was a little shaky, particularly his analysis of pillar #43 at Gobekli Tepe, when he suggests that it depicts an 80-year astronomical window in the present day, as all i see in the pillar is a bunch of animal figures, not a star map. That being said, i don't expect the author to be able to answer all these questions by himself. Hancock is doing excellent work by questioning the mainstream narrative and as long as he gets people interested in this sort of thing, then i would argue that he doesn't need to be 100% right about everything; in fact, it is virtually impossible to have a book so massive in scope and have 100% accuracy in one's theories. That being said, even the staunchest skeptic would have a difficult time arguing some of his points.

In any case, the book is highly entertaining, so i would recommend it to any armchair intellectual looking for something to read.

Another beautifully written and unique Graham Hancock exploration of unresolved mysteries as to truly ancient civilizations yet unknown and unexplored. Nobody beats Hancock on this topic. He's an archaeological explorer, an intuitive quester. For me, he is the top poet reporter from the front lines of the latest research on lost worlds. Recommending, along with all Hancock's many fascinating books.

This is a really remarkable work that combines an immense amount of field research by the author, and exceptional analysis of the information available to clearly see how our world, and the advance civilization that lived on this planet, was obliterated by a run-in with a comet, and attempted to teach their legacy to those few who survived.

Kudos to Mr. Hancock!

This is an extremely well researched book about earth's pre-history. The research, references, and clear and concise writing are second to none.

I have given it a 4 star instead of 5 because it is extremely dense. It may even be overwritten in some parts, but that is not really a criticism - the author is extremely meticulous and obviously very thorough and passionate with researching and writing.

I bought the audio book and listened to it as I painted - I don't know how I would have gone getting through reading it owing to the aforementioned density.

The author presents a myriad of wide ranging support for his theory that is entertaining and thought provoking. I loved the historical explanations and the honest discussions he exposes of his critics as well as his own perspective's. I really liked this book and would recommend to anyone looking for a historically informative scientific journey

The best part of the book was the portions dealing with Younger Dryas comet impact theory. Otherwise much of book a rambling travelogue. Would have been better if focused on one global region, eastern Med, and offered more proof of pre-deluge civilization and what the magicians did to boost rise of Sumer & ancient Egypt. I felt disappointed and let down when reached end. Could and should have been much better.

Do yourself a favor and buy this book. Then, Google the living daylights out of all this info, the locations, the people, and the history. Next, prepare to change the way you view the ancient history of North America. Finally, and most importantly, change yourself, let others know about this new evidence, and consider what this means for our future and world view. Another great book from Graham!

I've been waiting for this amazing book for a long time. I have read several of his books in the past and this might be his best yet. I really can't praise it enough. The premise for the book is very credible and really makes a lot of sense. His proofs are sound and given in a way that would convince anyone with a decerning mind. This book is even better than I'd hoped.bravo!

The potential 5 star rating was affected by some research I was compelled to do concerning the validity of some information presented in this book.

The first English translation of the book of Enoch was done in 1821 by Richard Laurence, almost 100 years before the authors claim. The word "Watcher" does in fact appear in the deluxe edition of this translation (1883) more than the two times the author states. More on the level of ten to twelve times. The author states that, "But they (The Watchers) were human nonetheless and I see no good reason to conclude otherwise."
This is of course his opinion, but there really is no objective reason to conclude this especially when considering what is written about these "Holy Ones," from which these Watchers came. Chapter XIV #23 from the book of Enoch - "No angel was capable of penetrating to view the face of Him...Nor could any mortal behold Him." Chap. XVII. Sect. IV #1 "...and when they pleased they assumed the likeness of men." XXXVIII #4 "Neither shall they be capable of beholding the countenances of the Holy." XXXIX #7 "All the holy and the elect sung before Him, in appearance like a blaze of fire." #12 "Then my countenance became changed, until I was incapable of seeing." XLVI #1 "There I beheld the Ancient of Days, whose head was like white wool, and with him another, whose countenance resembled that of man." LXX #1 "I beheld the sons of the holy angels treading on flaming fire....whose countenances were transparent as crystal." LXXXVIII #3 "I have begotten a son, unlike to other children. He is not human; but resembling the offspring of the angels of heaven, is of a different nature from ours, being altogether unlike to us." #10 ...and whose nature is not like the nature of man." There are also other sections in Enoch referring to cows and sheep transforming into humans, as well as the excerpt in Magicians itself about Isis turning into a sparrow. Isn't the Egyptian belief is that "Gods can take on any form they choose"?

The author then goes onto state that the word "watcher" does not even appear in the Bible. Not only does it appear, but in the exact context that should be expected. Da. 4:13 "..a watcher and a holy one came down." Da. 4:17 "..matter is by the decree of the watcher." Jer. 4;16 "..that watchers come from a far country." Also, in Job 7:20, "watcher" refers to a "preserver", in J'g 1:24, "watchers" are referred to as "spies," and in M't 28:4 "watchers" are referred to as "keepers."

Good read if you like fast paced story-line of past alleged earth catastrophes, but some material is sketchy at best and not very well tied together. And the conspiratorial stance against mainstream science and archaeology is most annoying. Way too much New'Age psycho babble here too. Hard to swallow main idea of an ancient site being built specifically for "our time" as author postulates. All in all too much pseudoscience present for ideas to be considered seriously.

I've recently re-read Velikovsky. I am aware of the discrediting he received in the 60's, but Hancock seems to be revisiting his theory. Wondering why there is no mention of him in this book.

Still, an excellent read.

He's done it again. Graham has penned a pivotal sequel with coaberting, convincing photos snapped at the hands of Santha his long time companion and artistic muse. The brilliance of Magicians of the Gods is in its stealth, courageous, and articulate presentation of historical facts along with their curious correlations to other obscure and ignored facts world's away which at best have never been presented in quite this manner or at worst, intentionally obscured from public purview. I live in Washington State and have often driven through The Scablands. I've always had a gnawing subconscious anxiety about this place. Reading Hancock's account of the the 1,200 foot wall of water that ripped through this landscape literally left me breathless. I had no clue of this history. I finally understand the anxiety swelling up in me every time I drive through eastern Washington. And to have this ravaged landcape in my backyard tied to Gobekli Tepi, Turkey as well as the monoliths of Cuzco, Peru well it's all a bit unnerving, revelatory, captivating, and pivotal. Well done Mr. Hancock. I continue to be a devoted fan. Santha, your photos paint images that dance in tandem with Graham's words. Having devoured Magicians of the Gods, I find myself laying on my deck at night staring up into the stars and contemplating a Universal existence which is dynamic, chaotic, circular, hostile, but also harshly beautiful and ancient beyond my wildest imagination. I am compelled to now fully face our common history as I am to face our common future, with full disclosure and shoulder to shoulder. It's the only way for us to survive as a species recovering from amnesia as Graham so clearly states in his closing remarks.

I was at a book launch event in New York last night and managed to get a signed copy. Graham presented his theory over a two hour presentation.
One of his theories is that monolite structures around the world are incorrectly aged to 4-5 thousand years while they are from around 12 thousand years. A lot of this is based on finding monolite structures under water which dates them to 12 thousand.

I know a bulgarian researcher who found a village under water a few miles into the Black Sea and brought back a plate which has ingravings pre-dating the rune alphabet. This supports a theory of a massive flooding which pushed people inlands very quickly and supports Graham's theory. His findings about Gobekli Tepe are also very interesting.

The book is well written, you will have a great ride.

Written in the prevailing format of story telling, rather than a succinct presentation of pertinent information. It is loaded with extraneous and often irrelevant exposition, verbose and repetitive in nearly every chapter. With judicious editing, it would have been a nice 250 page sequel to Fingerprints, rather than the 444 pages of morsels mixed with fluff. For an experienced journalist, I am disappointed to find this book is sorely in need of a good editor. Such individuals are hard to find in this era of self-publishing. Had it been written in the style of Allan & Delair's Cataclysm! I would not have felt I spent too much of my time for what useful information was presented.

The focus is largely on megalithic construction, reviewing in a grand tour around the world, a sampling of various sites which contain architectural and cultural similarities. Anyone who has followed the archaeological revelations since his Fingerprints was published will be abreast of at least 2/3 of the material included in this book. Personally, I only found 3-4 major items I had yet to learn about, while on the flip side very surprised important information was not included. There was not a single mention of Dr Thomas Brophy's The Origin Map, which not only was a refinement of Bauval's estimated pyramid dating, but a detailed exploration of the Nabta Playa "kilo-lithic" site revealing evidence of very ancient astronomical knowledge on a galactic scale. Brophy's dating procedure is consistent with many of the dates Hancock proffers, which would have made an excellent supportive piece to his thesis.

Consistent with the argument for an ancient civilization would be the investigation of artifacts on a comparative "micro-lithic" scale. Klaus Dona has done an excellent work in compiling and presenting such stonework from around the world. But Graham did not touch upon any of these. Much could have been revealed about the context, culture, and history of these small stone artifacts as evidence of an antediluvian civilization. Instead, his world tour reviewed sites he has often visited, and his report is largely impressionistic rather than factually revelatory. Contextual information of these too would have been an excellent dataset to strengthen his destroyed civilization thesis.

If the argument for an ancient civilization is to be made, it will be strengthened by a comprehensive investigation of culture (art, tools, government, language, technology, etc.) of which there is very little covered here. Additionally, the title is misleading, for it suggests that a body of Wisdom was had among select individuals of a long forgotten people. What that "wisdom" is, the reader never really ascertains, only very brief highlights are mentioned suggestive of present-day attainment. Not much new about these "Magicians" is presented beyond what was previously covered in Fingerprints.

Graham briefly covers the cometary impact thesis by examining the Glacial Lake region. What he doesn't cover in detail is the huge volcanic flow in the same region. While attempting to break with the archaeological establishment in his thesis, Graham swallows whole the idea of an ice cap covering the northern hemisphere during the last Ice Age. This is establishment supposition, well examined by Allan & Delair, which exposes the fact that no one has yet to produce by actual experiment if a comet could indeed reduce an ice cap to large flows of water. What we do know is that ice subjected to intense temperatures causes the ice to bypass the liquid state and transform to superheated steam. To generate large flows of water out of ice requires sustained exposure to a heat source that does not produce mainly steam. The idea that a comet impacting a 2 mile thick ice cap and transforming it into a precipitous avalanche of water is not well thought out from a physics standpoint. Understandably, geologists miss this very important detail because their curriculum is grossly deficient in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. There isn't much interdisciplinary study in undergraduate geology coursework. It is more likely that the sustained heat necessary for generating inland tsunamis came from volcanic eruption as the gravitational influence of the main comet body distorted the earth's mantle. This is outlined also in Cataclysm! and presents a viable explanation for the global geologic upheavals and subsidences causing the disappearance of megalithic sites. It is not just the rise of sea level that caused their disappearance, but the underlying geologic foundation that was impacted. Graham's coverage of this important datum in his argument is only briefly referenced.

As a comprehensive presentation of arguments for an ancient civilization it is spotty and erratic. As a volume exploring ancient wisdom there is very little, and what is presented is a review of older publications. The same is true about the identities of the persons who presumably possessed arcane knowledge traveling about the world to warn of impending disaster, and recovery of a decimated advanced civilization.

If you are a fan of Hancock's writing you'll likely be entertained by his musings and literary mumblings. It is written in a style intended to service the lusts of his fandumb. Enjoy.

In this book, Graham Hancock yet again repeats the my that the Native Americans had white, bearded gods. Professional historians have noted that the Conquistadores made up the myth that the Triple Alliance (Aztec) god Quetzacoatl was a bearded white man to assuage their guilt at having just slaughtered people like they were cattle. Graham also drags out the ever popular idea that Atlantis existed. The Columbian Exchange, chronicled in Charles C. Mann's book "1493", is the biggest piece of evidence to destroy this claim. Graham Hancock claims that the Atlant ransom were, "deeply, deeply spiritual people". How Hancock knows that people who he admits had to have lived 12,000 years ago, abd left no writtwn records, were "deeply, deeply spiritual" is anyone's guess. Fact is, real history is much more exciting than this trash. Graham Hancock frequently appears on the History Channel show Ancient Aliens. Save you time by skipping this book and watching that show.

This terrorist lover twists history to suit an anti-semitic agenda.
Plenty of other sources that explore mysterious ancient sites with an open mind from real scientists. Sorry I got suckered into this purchase and close to the end of the book before realizing the sick effort to erase Jewish history.

After purchasing this book, it pains me to find out that Graham Hancock (along with most of his contemporaries in the alt history world) is full of s*** on this subject. This is a hard pill to swallow after being a long term fan of his writing (I still enjoy Supernatural though).

Have a look for yourself:

[...]

Graham Hancock is one of the 'New Breed' of researches who have the resolve and expertise to blow a
mighty wind of change through the dusty mind set corridors of accepted 'acadmia'. His multiple works
are thought provoking and a joy to read.

This is a very interesting book by Graham Hancock, much in the style of his previous books. i enjoyed reading it as it provided many interesting ideas about how the various civilizations started. Why couldn't it happen as Mr Hancock writes. Many early civilzations were helped along by what these people considered as gods. His bookls are written in such a way that he presents his ideas and shows how the facts fit in, but doesn't pressure the reader to believe his theories. Either you accept them or you don't. he leaves it up to the reader. i hope that he continues to write these books.

I like what Graham Hancock writes because it makes the reader aware of updates in the world of discovery, and opens our eyes to possibilities beyond our comfort zone. There have been many recent archeological discoveries that have presented the world with many questions, which he provides possible answers to. That is not to say that his answers are unquestionable, but the fact that he presents the data to the reader along with pictures allows us, the reader, to see that old answers do not fit with this new data.

I have always been curious about similarities or holes in our lack of knowledge about the history of our so called civilisation. Graham does a good job of clarifying some of the holes and proposing solutions. Some of Graham's information agree, to a degree, with the Edgar Cayce ‘readings’ on Atlantis. For a more complete understanding of what went on at the time of the Younger Dryras and perhaps why it occurred I suggest that you read The Book of the Hopi, by Frank Waters, The Book of Truth by Thomas O. Mills and Edgar Cayce on Atlantis by Edgar Evans Cayce. Now tie this information to Graham's book and let your mind wander. If you have a closed mind, forget it. Happy reading and investigating.