Helpful Score: 1
Imagine that the fictional dragons of history aren't fictional. They're solo representatives of their hibernating race. Then, imagine that a nest containing 88 eggs hatched and emerged into the world where they were captured by the Chinese and confined to a valley where they were to be displayed for the public ...
Yes, the basic premise of Matthew Reilly's "The Great Zoo of China" sounds a lot like Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park". He makes no secret of that fact, and even has one of the characters make allusions towards it. However, there is so much more to "The Great Zoo of China" than a simple clone of the earlier work.
"The Great Zoo of China" stands as an excellent thriller in its own right. After a relatively short introduction, author Reilly jumps directly into the action and the action feeds additional action, upon additional action. Reilly knows the difference between "thriller" and "suspense", as well, and mixes the latter in on occasion. (To paraphrase Hitchcock if a dragon leaps out of a cave's side tunnel, that's a thriller. If you know, or even suspect, that a dragon is in one of the side tunnels but don't know when it'll leap out, that's suspense.) Further, while Crichton's novel was driven by the various faces of capitalism, Reilly uses his to explore the emergence of China on the world stage.
Under most circumstances, a thriller like "The Great Zoo of China" would get the highest rankings for its effective use of thrills, timing, and morality. However, as it is impossible to read this book without having the shadow of Crichton's T-Rex loom over both it and the reader, I cannot do that. The author is responsible for giving his or her work a uniqueness, and Reilly did not quite accomplish what in this case was an incredible daunting task.
RATING: 4 stars
Yes, the basic premise of Matthew Reilly's "The Great Zoo of China" sounds a lot like Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park". He makes no secret of that fact, and even has one of the characters make allusions towards it. However, there is so much more to "The Great Zoo of China" than a simple clone of the earlier work.
"The Great Zoo of China" stands as an excellent thriller in its own right. After a relatively short introduction, author Reilly jumps directly into the action and the action feeds additional action, upon additional action. Reilly knows the difference between "thriller" and "suspense", as well, and mixes the latter in on occasion. (To paraphrase Hitchcock if a dragon leaps out of a cave's side tunnel, that's a thriller. If you know, or even suspect, that a dragon is in one of the side tunnels but don't know when it'll leap out, that's suspense.) Further, while Crichton's novel was driven by the various faces of capitalism, Reilly uses his to explore the emergence of China on the world stage.
Under most circumstances, a thriller like "The Great Zoo of China" would get the highest rankings for its effective use of thrills, timing, and morality. However, as it is impossible to read this book without having the shadow of Crichton's T-Rex loom over both it and the reader, I cannot do that. The author is responsible for giving his or her work a uniqueness, and Reilly did not quite accomplish what in this case was an incredible daunting task.
RATING: 4 stars
Helpful Score: 1
When you're looking for great, timeless literature (which I do love), that's not the time to pick up a Matthew Reilly book. But if you're up for a roller coaster ride with page-turning suspense, nonstop action and can happily suspend disbelief, try his books out. Think Clive Cussler on steroids. The Great Zoo of China is one of Reilly's best so far: it has all of the above plus well-imagined dragons and, for a fun change, a butt-kicking female hero.
Typical Matthew Reilly! Fast-paced and out-there with a woman taking the lead in this one. Good book.
What a whirlwind of a tale. Loved this book.
A ridiculous premise executed with considerable skill.
Sometimes I want to pick up a book and be taken along on a roller coaster ride of a story. I just want to have fun creating my own mental movie. That is exactly what I did with Matthew Reilly's The Great Zoo of China. From first page to last, I willing suspended disbelief and had a blast.
CJ Cameron is the type of intelligent, determined woman who can fight a hungry crocodile and win. When everything starts to go pear-shaped, I knew CJ was the person to glue myself to. From the plausible why's and how's of how the Chinese government could create such a zoo to the beautiful yet deadly dragons to the all-out, on-the-fly escape plans Cameron has to come up with, I was on board and enjoying every syllable and punctuation mark.
Is the plot predictable? Not always. Are the bad guys really bad and the good guys the best they can be? You bet! Will you really believe in the existence of dragons? That I don't know. All I know is that, for 416 pages, I certainly did.
If you enjoyed the Jurassic Park movies (at least one or two of them), and if you're in the mood for action-packed derring-do and just plain fun, I highly recommend picking up a copy of The Great Zoo of China. What a ride!
CJ Cameron is the type of intelligent, determined woman who can fight a hungry crocodile and win. When everything starts to go pear-shaped, I knew CJ was the person to glue myself to. From the plausible why's and how's of how the Chinese government could create such a zoo to the beautiful yet deadly dragons to the all-out, on-the-fly escape plans Cameron has to come up with, I was on board and enjoying every syllable and punctuation mark.
Is the plot predictable? Not always. Are the bad guys really bad and the good guys the best they can be? You bet! Will you really believe in the existence of dragons? That I don't know. All I know is that, for 416 pages, I certainly did.
If you enjoyed the Jurassic Park movies (at least one or two of them), and if you're in the mood for action-packed derring-do and just plain fun, I highly recommend picking up a copy of The Great Zoo of China. What a ride!
This book is a pretty good read. If you like non stop, no holds barred action then this one might be for you. You really have to suspend reality on this one. The characters shouldn't have made it out alive from an one of the situation that they got themselves into; let alone the 15 or so they faced. Think of it as the poor, backwards cousin of "Jurassic Park".
I enjoyed reading this story. It kept me interested, and wanting to read more to see what was going to happen.
The plot was well written, the characters believable. Mr. Reilly wrote it in a way that makes the reader believe the premise behind the story could actually happen!
A real page turner, I highly recommend it.
The plot was well written, the characters believable. Mr. Reilly wrote it in a way that makes the reader believe the premise behind the story could actually happen!
A real page turner, I highly recommend it.
Such an exciting page turner! A "Jurassic Park" except with dragons. The dragons are intelligent. Most are angry and scary. Some fun characters that are in precarious situations over and over from all directions. Some seem a bit over the top, but the explanations are plausible so it is believable. What a fun thriller!
INCREDIBLE! ! ! ! Absolutely loved it! I don't keep many books. I like to read and trade. I will be keeping this one!
