What a page turner! I wasn't sure what to expect since this sort of 'fictionalized biography' is not what I came to expect from years of off and on reading of Crichton's work. But within a few short chapters I was so intensely absorbed that I read to the end in just two sittings. Wonderfully written, with taut and believable settings and actions. An excellent blend of known personalities (Wyatt Earp among them) and cleverly concocted but entirely credible invented ones. Well done, Michael Crichton! You are missed. . .
Dragon Teeth was published after Crichton's death and is based on actual events of the late nineteenth century "Bone Wars" (see Wikipedia) in archaeology and paleontology in the US West.
It apparently was an early manuscript the author did not publish and, if so, it is understandable. The writing never stirs the interest or excitement that is common with his more popular books. If read as historical fiction it is a serviceable look at the birth of awareness of dinosaurs in North America. But there is no mystery, no tension, no crisis to resolve; just a plodding story of a young man's adventure in the Wild West. You will be informed, if not entertained by this book.
It apparently was an early manuscript the author did not publish and, if so, it is understandable. The writing never stirs the interest or excitement that is common with his more popular books. If read as historical fiction it is a serviceable look at the birth of awareness of dinosaurs in North America. But there is no mystery, no tension, no crisis to resolve; just a plodding story of a young man's adventure in the Wild West. You will be informed, if not entertained by this book.
Several years ago, I read Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything which I thought was a great introduction to science and the history of the earth. Included in this book was a section on the quibbling and antagonism between Professors Edward Cope and Othniel Marsh over the discovery and credit for discovering various species of dinosaurs. Well, this posthumous novel of Crichton's gives a fictional account of one summer's expedition in the badlands of Montana in search of dinosaur fossils by the two scientists. It is told from the perspective of a fictional Yale student, William Johnson, who loses a bet and has to travel with Marsh on one of his summer expeditions. He signs on as a photographer for Marsh but Marsh soon suspects he is a spy for Cope who is also in Montana looking for fossils. Marsh abandons him and luckily he is able to join Cope's party. Thus ensues a great competition for the bones amidst the wilds of Montana with danger all around including attacks from the Sioux Indians who had just recently defeated Custer at Little Big Horn as well as from outlaws and Marsh's party. Johnson, at one point, is left for dead with several boxes of fossils and is able to make his way to Deadwood in the Black Hills where he meets Wyatt Earp among others.. Along the way Johnson evolves from an Eastern greenhorn into a Wild West gunslinger! I really enjoyed this novel that was part science, part historical, and part western. Based on the postscript, this was actually written prior to Jurassic Park and was probably what seeded Crichton's idea for that blockbuster. Overall very enjoyable.
This is a terrifically entertaining book. It's the story of a young man's adventures in the *really* wild west of 1876 Montana, as part of a party of scientists looking for fossils (still a new idea) in the wilderness and his adventures getting his "bones" back home. Crichton quotes from the historical characters' journals, which gives the book a sense of authenticity, but that doesn't slow the narrative down. It's a coming of age tale, both for the young man at its center and for the young science of paleontology, and it's a cracking great adventure. I really enjoyed it.
Another good book from Crichton!
I believe this book was finished by others after the author's death. It is NOT a typical Crichton book, but is a tale based on history involving recovery of dinosaur bones in the American West in the late 1870's. A Yale student, to win a bet, goes west with an expedition and encounters a variety of individuals and adventures. Very entertaining.
