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Dragon Teeth Michael Crichton 9780008173067 Books

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Dragon Teeth Michael Crichton 9780008173067 Books

I was surprised that there was no full explanation of how Dr. Crichton, who died in 2008, could be publishing a new book in 2017, with the exception of a brief afterword by his wife. But a little research cleared up the mystery. I learned he had been working, on and off, on this for 15 years before his death. His wife discovered the manuscript when organizing his archives. So while the book is represented as all Crichton, I expect there was some editorial work performed on it before publication.

I have read with pleasure and benefit almost all of Crichton's previous novels. From that perspective, I would say this novel is OK but not striking--it certainly is not a page turner that grabs the reader. It is typical Crichton in that he instructs while entertaining. For example, he once again attaches a bibliography of related books for readers interested in pursuing the topic. He also stops the narrative at several places (107; 116;and 153) to explain the context of what is happening, so that the reader can fully appreciate the story. Since paleontology is the setting for the story, these brief explanatory interruptions are quite helpful. Crichston also attaches an author's note and postscript at the end explaining a few things.

He also adopts the practice of intermixing real figures with the story's characters. This technique requires real skill and discipline in not overdoing it, and Crichton does not abuse the practice. The two central figures in the novel, aside from the young Yale student narrator, are two real professors of paleontology who during 1876 are competing for the academic title of King of Bones. The prize goes to whomever digs up the most important and numerous fossils, generally drawn from the far west. So almost immediately, in effect, Crichton has shifted the story into almost a conventional western--an area I only previously saw him involved with in "The Great Train Robbery" and indirectly in "Westworld." So we have gunfights, Indian attacks, Deadwood, the U.S. Calvary, dance hall girls, stagecoach attacks, and other trappings of a western story. Yet throughout, Crichton keeps the theme of dino fossils first and foremost. Additional real life characters appear, including Collis Huntington (one of the big four founders of the UP railroad) and especially Wyatt Earp, who had come into prominence during the 15 years Crichton was crafting the novel.

So, folks interested in the West and/or paleontology (the title relates to actual fossil dino teeth) should enjoy this book. Its 283 pages pass quickly, and the author thoughtfully has converted the end papers into a detailed map which makes it easy to follow where all the stages of the story occur. It is good to read Crichton once again!


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Dragon Teeth Michael Crichton 9780008173067 Books Reviews

If you want to have any chance of enjoying this novel, forget everything you probably think of when you hear the name Michael Crichton. Although the story certainly includes some perilous moments, there is no nail-biting tension and no science-fictional menaces no live dinosaurs or killer robots charging out of the bushes. Instead, it’s a pretty decent historical novel based on real events the rivalry between America’s two top paleontologists in the 1870s, Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope, and their digging up dinosaur bones in Montana in the days when that area was still very much the Wild West.

I knew about those real people and events, so I particularly enjoyed the first half of the book, which focuses on them. During that half I could well believe that the novel was what it claimed to be, a lightly fictionalized account based on the diary of someone who actually took part in the Cope and Marsh digs. (In a way it was, according to the author’s afterword, but the account was from Charles Sternberg, mentioned briefly in the story, not the fictional “William Johnson” who is cited at the novel’s beginning.) That part of the book gives a vivid picture of the feuding paleontologists and of what it must have been like to dig out the bones and teeth of unimaginably huge creatures—whose reality many people of the time found impossible to accept—in the hot, dusty badlands of a West still filled with hostile (with good reason, most people would say today) Indians and stagecoach robbers.

I found the second half, in which Johnson becomes separated from the Cope party and must try to bring their heavy cache of excavated bones to safety, much less interesting, even though that is where most of the perils occur. They were the sort of perils that occur in just about any Western novel, so I felt like I’d seen it all before. I didn’t find Johnson a very interesting or well-developed character, either. In short, I’d recommend the first half of the book to anyone interested in the colorful early history of paleontology, but they can skip the so-so Western it’s attached to—and readers looking for a “Michael Crichton thriller” should never even start it.
It is quite different than I expected Ted, thinking it would more like the Jurrasic story. What I found was a warm endearing story about a young man coming of age. Once I started it, I could not put it down. It is a perfect historical novel
A real gem for all readers deeply saddened by the loss of Michael Crichton. Riveting, but deep character development. A fascinating picture painted in words of an interesting, and highly romanized period of American history. The books strips away romanticism while enhancing the fascination.
Great historical fiction about real life paleontologists from nineteenth century America and fictional student from Yale who joins one of them and a group of students on a journey West to dig for dinosaur bones. I've been a fan of Michael Crichton since The Andromeda Strain. I believe he had one of the most gifted minds of the twentieth century. He paid his way through medical school by writing suspense novels. When I was in medical school I didn't have time to read a book that wasn't a textbook, certainly I never could write one. When you read one of Dr. Crichton's books you get more than a story. In Dragon Teeth you get a piece of history about the railroad system in the 1870s, the Philadelphia Exposition, the swampy beginnings of Chicago, General Custer and how he came to be defeated, the saloons in Cheyenne, more. If you haven't read any Crichton I suggest Congo, Spere, Timeline, Rising Sun, and Jurassic Park (It's so much better than the movie). Dr. Crichton died of lymphoma in 2008. His widow found the unpolished manuscript for Dragon Teeth among his papers. I for one am so grateful that she found it.
I was surprised that there was no full explanation of how Dr. Crichton, who died in 2008, could be publishing a new book in 2017, with the exception of a brief afterword by his wife. But a little research cleared up the mystery. I learned he had been working, on and off, on this for 15 years before his death. His wife discovered the manuscript when organizing his archives. So while the book is represented as all Crichton, I expect there was some editorial work performed on it before publication.

I have read with pleasure and benefit almost all of Crichton's previous novels. From that perspective, I would say this novel is OK but not striking--it certainly is not a page turner that grabs the reader. It is typical Crichton in that he instructs while entertaining. For example, he once again attaches a bibliography of related books for readers interested in pursuing the topic. He also stops the narrative at several places (107; 116;and 153) to explain the context of what is happening, so that the reader can fully appreciate the story. Since paleontology is the setting for the story, these brief explanatory interruptions are quite helpful. Crichston also attaches an author's note and postscript at the end explaining a few things.

He also adopts the practice of intermixing real figures with the story's characters. This technique requires real skill and discipline in not overdoing it, and Crichton does not abuse the practice. The two central figures in the novel, aside from the young Yale student narrator, are two real professors of paleontology who during 1876 are competing for the academic title of King of Bones. The prize goes to whomever digs up the most important and numerous fossils, generally drawn from the far west. So almost immediately, in effect, Crichton has shifted the story into almost a conventional western--an area I only previously saw him involved with in "The Great Train Robbery" and indirectly in "Westworld." So we have gunfights, Indian attacks, Deadwood, the U.S. Calvary, dance hall girls, stagecoach attacks, and other trappings of a western story. Yet throughout, Crichton keeps the theme of dino fossils first and foremost. Additional real life characters appear, including Collis Huntington (one of the big four founders of the UP railroad) and especially Wyatt Earp, who had come into prominence during the 15 years Crichton was crafting the novel.

So, folks interested in the West and/or paleontology (the title relates to actual fossil dino teeth) should enjoy this book. Its 283 pages pass quickly, and the author thoughtfully has converted the end papers into a detailed map which makes it easy to follow where all the stages of the story occur. It is good to read Crichton once again!