Book Review - Dinotopia: Return to Lost City

Courtesy of Randomhouse

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.

Courtesy of Randomhouse

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.

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.

For more dino-mania check out a bunch of info on Dinotopia and Scott Ciencin's Dinoverse stories at www.randomhouse.com. There's even a Dinotopia movie underway, catch the 411 on the movie at www.dinotopia.com

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