Despite its title, “The Lost Inca Gold: AI Meets Space Archaeology,” is a love letter to Maine at its core. Dr. William Wood, the author, is not only from Rockland but attended The University of Maine for his undergraduate degree. The heart of his book lies in its characters. The protagonists walk the same halls of this university, eat our local pizza and trace the steps of our distinctive Orono experience. The main protagonists and love interests, Tom and Jenny, begin their techno-thriller right in the seats of the Memorial Union, leading them and an archaeology professor deep into the mountains of Ecuador with a dangerous arms dealer. This exhilarating multi-genre, multi-topic journey is a testament to the refuge readers find in familial fiction.
Wood’s journey, before creating Tom and Jenny, led him back to Bangor to pick up writing after a life as a physician. The mosaic of memories from this book can be connected to another Mainer, Sarah Parcak, who inspired the space archaeological outputs in “The Lost Inca Gold.” Parcak used satellite images and surface surveys to find archaeological sites, which ultimately led her to founding the Laboratory for Global Observation and winning a $1 million TED Prize for her work. The pieces of scenery in the book and the integral search for real life Inca gold are stitched together with the interests of Wood. While the characters remain fully fictional, they are representative of a rich life Wood lived and the fascinating real-life characters he met right here in Maine.
Part of the allure of this book is not in its techno-thriller theme or its in-depth historical attributes. It lies in the depths of its central figures. While Wood approached the creation of the book as an output for his specified interests, he found something more powerful in the development of the characters. The plot became secondary in his writing process as he took into account the motives of his heroes. This is where the reviews come in. The appraisal of this book emphasizes familiarity. Readers, even those not from Maine, can feel a sense of home. The characters are adored and the imagery of the community creates a well rounded book that entices readers, regardless of preferred genre.
“The Lost Inca Gold” techno-thriller takes direction from writers such as Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park, who turned heaps of research to create a nuanced and credible science fiction classic. Similarly, Wood poured educational information into this book, making it a thrilling guide to computer science and AI as well as the niche of space archaeology. The book is cultivated to appeal to those thirsty for knowledge along with their dose of heartening fun.
While perhaps not as dramatic and stirring as the world building in the book, the mind behind the story talks of an engaging creative process. New to writing within the last few years, this passion project was a rewarding challenge for Wood.
“The toughest part was that that book was about 100,000 words longer. When you write, you just write and get it out. By the time I finished I had a really long book that no one would ever want to read. I had to go through it and I had to cut a 3rd of the book. That is one of the things they teach you when you are learning, ‘don’t fall in love with your words,” Wood said.
The statement, “don’t fall in love with your words,” appears disheartening. The writer pours pieces of themselves into their creations, whether it be the next great American novel or an airplane thriller. This sacrifice of writing, however, often does not reap its benefits until it has been edited down to be made easily digestible. In Wood’s case, his book indulged the excitement of knowledge before it became its now purchasable rendition. To not fall in love with the words is to gain a higher respect and admiration for the process itself. It is to write, to research and embrace the true reward of writing — to create, not to monetize.
