Similarly, the plot regarding a lake of antimatter buried beneath the desert, along with a subterranean lost city and its self-perpetuating army of guardians, seemed a bit too much no matter how much scientific gloss Rollins rubbed on it. There is a measure of the comic book to Sandstorm, and he manages to both keep the reader engrossed and push the action along at all times with an urgent symphony of perils, each building upon the one before it and soon spiraling into danger of potentially cataclysmic proportions. The challenge of Sandstorm is that while parts of it are entertaining and the set pieces are fun, it also feels like Rollins was simply going through the motions rather than actually telling an original or truly engaging tale. In cinematic terms, it is the difference between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Tomb Raider, between Star Wars or The Matrix and something like The Chronicles of Riddick. Sandstorm is replete with interesting ideas, but there is just something lacking in the execution, something that fails to lift it from pretender to contender.