Dinotopia :: Return to Lost City Book Review
Author: Scott Ciencin
The Dinotopia series was started by author James Gurney. It's about an island of talking dinosaurs and the humans who share the island with them. 13 year-old storyteller Andrew and his inventor brother Ned are heroes for bringing the dinosaurs and people together. The series is about the brothers and their friends - dinosaur and human.
Knights of the Unrivaled
An accident in the library uncovers a scroll which leads to an ancient relic. Blundertail, the old librarian, sets out to find it to prove he's worthy of becoming a Knight of the Unrivaled. Andrew, Ned and their friend Lian join Blundertail on his quest. Their adventure is all about testing their courage, honor and other virtues of the Knights of the Unrivaled. On the way, they encounter traitors, parties, mechanical marvels and the Great Dragon of the Outer Dark.
The Bottom Line
What's really cool is that, although it doesn't give away too much info about previous books, Dinotopia: Return to Lost City is packed to the brim with important details. It even has a map with all the cities they travel to so you can follow along and get a clear picture in your head. The biggest nuisance in the story is Blundertail. He's so stupid it's ridiculous. His Jar-Jar antics destroy things, nearly kill people and cause major problems but everybody totally ignores his bumbling. Grr... somebody slap that dinosaur.
Scott Ciencin has a decent story going here. Dinotopia has a ton of history from the previous stories for him to work with and he does a decent job. He deserves five minutes in a torture device for Blundertail's antics but the ending is really cool.
Dinotopia: Return to Lost City Rating: 
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Dilophosaurus has been nicknamed the terror of the early Jurassic. You might think the name is perfect for it after watching Jurassic Park. This is the dinosaur that had a large colorful neck frill and spit poison in the movie. If the movie was correct the dinosaur really would have been a holy terror. However, don't always believe what Hollywood tells you.
In real life, Dilophosaurus was actually bigger than it was in Jurassic Park. What might be disappointing is that there is no evidence it had neck frills (it had a normal neck) or poison glands. It didn't have the hollow fangs to spit venom out of, like snakes do. On top of all this, Dilophosaurus was the biggest predator in its environment so it wouldn't have needed to be poisonous.
Dilophosaurus was a slender meat-eater that walked on two legs. It grew to about 20 feet (six meters) tall and five feet (1.5 meters) tall at the hips. Dilophosaurus had two thin crests that looked like half dinner plates sticking out of its head. It might have been used for mating or just for a fashion statement. Dilophosaurus had short arms with three fingers and strong legs with four toes. Both of them sported claws.
With their build - long, agile legs and clawed feet - Dilophosaurus could easily chase down the early plant eaters of the Jurassic period. As soon as it sprinted up on its prey, Dilophosaurus would've had no problems butchering it. A few bites with its long teeth while using the claws on its toes and fingers would have done the trick. Scientists think that Dilophosaurus tried to kill its meals quickly so that it wouldn't have to put its delicate crest in danger.
The first fossil was found in Arizona in the 1940s. The skeleton went nameless until 1970 when Samuel P. Welles named it. There have been three Dilophosaurus fossils discovered in the US, all of them found together in Arizona. They can be seen at the University of California's Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley. Another fossil was found not that long ago in China.
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