Raptor Red (1995)

A novel about a year in the life of a Utahraptor as she and her family travel around what will later be the western United States.

Very readable, and the author's speculations about dinosaur life felt plausible (at least to this lay reader who didn't have much of a dinosaur phase as a kid), though I'm curious as to whether there's been anything in the last twenty years that'd change some of the author's interpretations. I had a few character/situation quibbles (I'm not sure whether it's ever mentioned what happened to the sister's mate, for example; while the sister wouldn't be able to communicate this, the narrator certainly pops in and comments on occasion), but nothing that kicked me out of the book. ( )

I saw this book mentioned somewhere recently and it piqued my interest. Paleontologist Robert Bakker was noted in the 80's for his revolutionary theories on dinosaurs popularized in his non-fiction book The Dinosaur Heresies. He wrote a few children's books and one fiction novel for older (adult) readers and this is it. It is certainly something different. It is a story of one year in the life of a female Utahraptor; he names her "Raptor Red". This book essentially brings Bakker's theories to life.

Bakker includes a preface and epilogue to supplement his story. I'll quote Bakker from his introductory pages to the novel to best explain:

"We can learn from Utahraptor's story. Hers was a beautifully alert and sentient species. By looking through her eyes we can see the evolutionary forces that were changing the natural world during the Early Cretaceous. Our own human ancestors were being created by the invisible hand of natural selection, as were the beginnings of the other animals and plants that enjoy supremacy in today's world. Utahraptor's story is part of our story.
The story begins with an invasion, an ambush, and a death.

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The time is a hundred and twenty million years ago. On the flat, featureless floodplains that were central Utah, an evolutionary event is about to occur that will shock the ecological community of dinosaurs. The event is the arrival of a new superpredator."

Although intrigued, I wasn't excited about this book like I might have been if I was 10 or 11 years old. I did enjoy it but I felt like I was watching a documentary reenactment of some sort much of the time. I could even hear Rex Allen inside my head doing the narration. It kept my interest throughout and I did learn some things. I think a novel like this would be most enjoyed by middle school students. Throughout the novel I felt I was being taught to, but I give it credit for teaching in a way that mostly avoided dry details. Towards the latter part of the book the didactic tone lessens considerably and the story picked up and I liked it more and more. I can also understand a bit better the fun that being a dinosaur fossil hunter could bring.

This novel falls into the lower end of what I consider a good read. ( )

Enjoyed it. Hard to put down. ( )

One of my favorite books of all time. This is an incredible work of prehistoric fiction. Following the life of a raptor who has not been anthropomorphized was rather clever and very well done. I only wish this were not Dr. Bakker's only adult fiction piece. ( )

A year in the life of a dinosaur named Raptor Red, this book is unique in the fact that the dinosaur is the main character and we see the world from her point of view. Written by a professional paleontologist, the Age of Dinosaurs truly comes to life in this book.

The story is good and gripping, and the author is very skilled in showing more than just Raptor Red’s narrow worldview by drawing other dinosaurs into her story, interweaving several small storylines into the big plot of Raptor Red’s struggle for survival. Only when the author gives too much scientific detail – a mistake he makes mainly in the first few chapters – the pace of the story stops and that’s a real shame. But other than that, I loved this book. A very unique prehistoric novel that deserves the four stars I gave it. ( )