The Lost World

An interesting, theory heavy version of Jurassic Park. Not a whole lot of action occurs until about 2/3 through the book, but that's okay, because Ian and Lavine's constant theorizing and extrapolating on the themes of extinction and evolutionary behavior is highly interesting and delivered in a very character-centric and entertaining way! The last third of this book is a constant, non-stop excitement machine that introduces clever dinosaur after bastard dinosaur after clever dinosaur after nasty death after terrifying dinosaur. Some of the revelations that Ian and Lavine go through are a little ham-fisted and I have hard time believing some of the logic the characters use to get out of bad situations some times (that cable under the show more computer???) but for the most part I can look past it. Over all, The Lost World is a different paced adventure than Jurassic Park was, but I'd say given the characters it's definitely an understandable direction to go for this book. I really enjoyed reading it; it was a lot of fun! show less

This review is also posted on my book blog, Rinn Reads.

Jurassic Park is one of my favourite books. As a child, the film both simultaneously fascinated and terrified me. I was one of those children who loved dinosaurs, and collected fossils on the beach. This interest in palaeontology led to an interest in history, which then led to an interest in archaeology. So I think I can say that I have Jurassic Park to thank for where I am today.

So I was so disappointed that I didn't particularly enjoy this book. If you have read Jurassic Park, you will know that unlike in the film, Ian Malcolm actually died at the end. Hence why I was so confused as to how he was the main character in this one - apparently the press 'wrongly reported' his death. show more Funny how this book came out after the Jurassic Park film, huh? Funny how one of the films more popular characters has been bought back from the dead? I just couldn't shake a funny feeling that Crichton was cashing in on the success of the film throughout the entire time I was reading the book...

If you have seen the second Jurassic Park film, you will know it involves Ian Malcolm going back to the island, after reports that something wasn't right. His daughter sneaks into one of the trailers - but in the book it is actually originally two young (middle-school?) students, along with the professor they help out and a few others. Despite the constant menace of the T-rex and raptors, the action just kind of felt flat - even though they were in great danger, I always felt like I was waiting for something really big to happen.

The writing is very typical of Michael Crichton - to the point, technical in places yet still accessible to the reader. I quite liked the majority of the characters - and of course with this sort of book, there's got to be some you don't like, so you're waiting them to be snatched up by the T-rex or velociraptors, or some other horrible fate. And there are several rather arrogant or cocky characters in this just waiting for that to happen.

Overall - yes, I enjoyed the book (dinosaurs!). But somehow it almost felt unresolved, it felt almost like the middle part of a book, with the beginning and ending missing. Perhaps Crichton was betting on a third book, I don't know. It just doesn't have the excitement and wonder that the first Jurassic Park book had, and is nowhere near as tense - events somehow seemed much more predictable. show less

I'm ever so glad I decided to give Crichton's "dinosaur books" a try. I read Jurassic Park last year, mostly because I thought a dinosaur thriller would be fun, and was really surprised by how much science and philosophy he worked into the plot. I'm a lover of science, and I was quite happy to see that the book was more than just dinosaurs killing stuff. Fortunately, The Lost World is much the same, only this time focusing more on the complexity of life and theories of extinction over the chaos theory and behavioral sciences of the previous book. Not that there isn't plenty of fictional dinosaur behavioral anomalies here as well, though.

To summarize briefly, without spoiling the first book, there are dinosaurs loose on a secluded show more island, a dinosaur nut goes to observe them and then needs to be rescued by few new-to-the-series characters and Ian Malcom, the only returning character from the previous book. Ian and his monologues are as awesome as ever, of course, and made all the more wonderful by my inability not to picture him as Jeff Goldblum. This character is probably the main reason why I enjoyed these novels as much as I did.

I think the major pitfall of the novel is how slow it is in the beginning. The reader, having read Jurassic Park already, knows that there are dinosaurs about, but they are forced to watch yet another cast of character struggle with the concept of living, breathing prehistoric creatures. It's a common mistake, it seems, and it makes much of the beginning of the novel drag a bit.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed The Lost World and will undoubtedly continue to explore Michael Crichton's bibliography. show less

The concept for The Lost World's predecessor, Jurassic Park – dinosaurs in a modern theme park gone wrong – was such a disgustingly brilliant idea that I am angry I did not think of it first, even though I was not even born when Michael Crichton wrote it. It was a sure-fire crowd-pleaser and a licence to print money.

There is still enough of that original magic in The Lost World that, when allied to Crichton's storytelling skill, this by-the-numbers sequel seems greater than the sum of its parts. Less happens plot-wise and what does happen seems derivative of Jurassic Park (it is noteworthy that the Spielberg film sequel took very little from Crichton's follow-up, except for that excellent dangling trailer sequence). There is a fair show more amount of deus ex machina towards the end (when the constant jumpy action scenes start to make you weary) and none of the characters are especially interesting.

And yet… Goddamn it, dinosaurs out of control in a modern world is so great an idea that The Lost World still entertains massively. It is the sort of bracing, Saturday-afternoon adventure story that is not really written any more, or at least is only now written cynically or ironically. Crichton loved those old adventure stories (the title is taken from one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories) and he adds to them a keen scientific edge. It's just a wonderful way to spend your time. show less

Fast paced and full of adventure, Michael Crichton does not disappoint in this sequel to his instant classic, Jurassic Park. Crichton is a master at blending science and fiction together, seamlessly blending well-researched scientific theories into the fictional plot. This book will simultaneously make you think and entertain.

My favorite passage:
"A hundred years from now, people will look back at us and laugh. They'll say, 'You know what peope used to believe? They believed in photons and electrons. Can you imagine anything so silly?' They'll have a good laugh, because by then there will be newer and better fantasies." Thorne shook his head. "And meanwhile, you feel the way the boat moves? That's the sea. That's real. You smell the salt show more in the air? You feel the sunlight on your skin? That's all real. You see all of us together? That's real. Life is wonderful. It's a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there really isn't anything else." show less

This book was absolutely a page-turner. It was scary in its own way, because some of the dinosaurs definitely acted as "monsters" for the characters. Sure, they weren't really monsters, in the sense of the bogeyman or ghosts or something like that. But, maybe along the same vein as Godzilla being viewed as a monster (although without the laser breath). Creatures of the past, never existing together with man, brought back to life and set loose on a remote island.

Levine and Dr. Ian Malcolm tend to be in some kind of odd contest to see who can frustrate the reader more, but at the same time those frustrations drive a lot of the uneasiness, the suspense, of the book and trust me...Michael Crichton knows how to put you on the edge of your show more seat just by the things the characters say and when he chooses to cut to another scene. I loved that.

The action and sense of danger was definitely there, and there was no guarantee about who, if anyone, would be safe and make it out alive. So there was the constant feeling that anyone, from a favorite to a despised character, might have an equal chance of living or dying. That definitely worked in the book's favor.

It's been many years since I watched Jurassic Park, and I have never read the book (which came before this one). However, I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything, like there was something I needed to understand but couldn't understand because I hadn't read the first book. They're definitely tied together, for sure, but the book is written in such a way that a first-time reader can pick up the second book without realizing it's a sequel to another book and not feel as though they're missing something important. For all intents and purposes to the reader, it really is a self-contained story despite the obvious connections and references to the first book (which get explained well enough that it's not a huge mystery or source of confusion at all).

I think the biggest surprise in the book, however, was Sarah Harding. She definitely shined and I had no idea, no expectation, that this book was going to contain such a message of girl power as it did. Not only is she basically She-Ra without the magic sword, she was also a great mentor to one of the two kids that ended up stowing away for this dangerous and scary trip (boy are they likely going to have nightmares for a while after this). I loved that Sarah was such a good role model and mentor to Kelly. Some of the things she says are very important for young girls to hear, and even not-so-young women.

Another thing that I enjoyed about the book very much was that it didn't talk down to or about the child characters. Kelly and Arby were active, important, even vital members of the group. Without them, the adults in their group would've died long before Sarah Harding joined them. Even after that, they had their moments as being savior(s) of the hour more than once. They were smart kids, and while sometimes the adults did underestimate them, it was clear that when the chips were down and the kids were absolutely needed nobody was underestimating them in those moments but rather counting on them just like they were counting on the other adult members of the group.

While that might seem unfair, to expect kids to take on adult responsibilities whether or not they are capable of doing them, it was definitely not your average situation they were stuck in and if they hadn't relied on the kids and listened to them in those moments, they would have all died. Including the kids, in a lot of those instances.

Really, the only contention I have is some of the scientific misinformation that was given, and the terminology that was misused by all of the science-oriented characters. Many times they used the word "theory" instead of "hypothesis" when talking about scientific endeavors and research, even when they were talking among themselves as adults, and that just is not something that actual scientists are likely to do. While it's true that in the colloquial usage of the terms, they're interchangeable, in science they are absolutely not. I thought it was unrealistic. I can, perhaps, pass off some of the scientific misinformation as either being accurate for the time period this was written and took place, or that's where some more of the "fiction" aspect of the "science fiction" genre came into play. But, I still heavily side-eye it.

Still, it was a fast, interesting read that didn't skimp on the entertainment or the terror and gore. Great book and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys sci-fi and/or dinosaurs. show less

I was really excited to read this after Jurassic Park. However, I think there is a level to the book that Crichton was just done with the series and wasn't as inspired to write it-- this is what I have heard about this novel, and I think it is apparent in the writing.

Don't get me wrong, the story and atmosphere are excellent, which speaks Crichton's skill, but the book lacked the things that made Jurassic Park reach classic status. The dinosaurs felt sloppy and "mob-like" rather than as entities and characters in the last book. The suspense became exhausting at points, and the characters lacked the details and qualities that made them easy to read and connect with in Jurassic Park.

I'm sure you can already see my issue-- I went into show more this expecting to be wowed the way I was with Jurassic Park. You may imagine that is a failing task. In one way, the book was very good. The chills were present, the dinosaurs every bit as frightening as before. However, comparing it to Jurassic Park wasn't the right way to go into reading the book. Similar story, clear connection to the first book, but Lost World is vastly different from its predecessor. I still enjoyed the novel and was glad to have read it. After all, Crichton was a talented writer, and even his "bad" writing still managed to capture the nostalgia and adventure from the first novel. show less