This book is great opportunity to see how a paleontologist goes about his work. This is written more like a travelogue than a science book, but I highly recommend it, if you want to see all the hard work that goes on in a paleontological ‘dig’ including the dating of a site. The book is also a great introduction to the great Permian extinction that resulted in the death of over 95% of all the species on the planet 250 million years ago. This is very very readable. Highly recommended. ( )

Great book, such interesting work by paleontologists but glad I'm not out there in the Karoo ( )

I was a bit disappointed with this book, since it was not so much about "the monsters that ruled the planet before the dinosaurs" as it was about Ward's experiences working in the Karoo Desert in South Africa. It was interesting to learn about what it's actually like to be a paleontologist, and he writes of his adventures in the wilderness with a great deal of wit. But there was comparatively little information about the actual creatures, and not nearly as much information as I was expecting about the catastrophe that wiped them out. I was left feeling as though I would love to sit down and talk with the author over a cup of coffee -- and then ask him why he hadn't written the book that I expected this to be! ( )