Scan barcode
malreynolds111's review against another edition
3.0
I love Matthew Reilly books, but I have to say this one fell just a little short for me. I really hated the illustrations/diagrams throughout the book. I didn't need to have a picture to figure out what you were writing about the first time let alone twice. I felt like it completely ruined the flow of the book, and that was a real shame as it prevented me from giving this book the 4 stars that it deserved. I liked CJ a lot more than I thought I would.
livvyspraggs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
ineffablebooks's review against another edition
5.0
There is WAY too much to say about this book!! But I'll try to make it brief.
This book reads superbly - one minute you'll be a quarter in and then BAM! you're falling and running and avoiding crazy demented dragons before you realise you're two thirds of the way through. Also, do not try to read the last quarter of the book at night time, because you will be up until 3am trying to finish it, and if you're like me, have some really bizarre dreams.
When 'The Great Zoo of China' came out, the major question everybody kept asking was "how is it different to Jurassic Park?" - and I admit, even I was thinking that, but then again, I also knew M.R's books and figured that 1: it was going to be a roller-coaster thriller, and 2: he was going to think of some ingenious way to throw this right out of the water and into another ball park from Jurassic Park. And he did.
I cant exactly explain how so without ruining too much, but the main thing you need to know is that it IS very different. Just read it and find out.
**(The following has subtle character/plot spoilers)**
I wasn't expecting to like 'CJ' Cameron as much as the likes of Scarecrow or Jack West Jr, but she ended up being just as kick-ass and awesome as the others. Her fight with the master dragon, the garbage truck scene and the revolving restaurant scenes (to name a few) were... just .. WOW. Purely epic.
I couldn't help but see Greg Johnson, as Jeremy Renner from Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, mostly because he's described as being the Ambassador's "aid" (emphasis on the "") and turns out to be awesome and . He is the sort of character that you didn't expect to end up rooting for - and the epilogue!! GAH! it's perfect!
On a side note, while I don't really tend to get grossed out at things, out of everything that happens in this book, was absolutely revolting. Thank you for that charming image M.R....
Full on action and brilliant themes/ideas - I can not recommend this book highly enough. I think one of my update status comments pretty much sums up this review:
Matt Reilly sure does live up to the title of 'non-stop action ride' - once you start, it just does. not. stop, and its marvelous.
This book reads superbly - one minute you'll be a quarter in and then BAM! you're falling and running and avoiding crazy demented dragons before you realise you're two thirds of the way through. Also, do not try to read the last quarter of the book at night time, because you will be up until 3am trying to finish it, and if you're like me, have some really bizarre dreams.
When 'The Great Zoo of China' came out, the major question everybody kept asking was "how is it different to Jurassic Park?" - and I admit, even I was thinking that, but then again, I also knew M.R's books and figured that 1: it was going to be a roller-coaster thriller, and 2: he was going to think of some ingenious way to throw this right out of the water and into another ball park from Jurassic Park. And he did.
I cant exactly explain how so without ruining too much, but the main thing you need to know is that it IS very different. Just read it and find out.
**(The following has subtle character/plot spoilers)**
I wasn't expecting to like 'CJ' Cameron as much as the likes of Scarecrow or Jack West Jr, but she ended up being just as kick-ass and awesome as the others. Her fight with the master dragon, the garbage truck scene and the revolving restaurant scenes (to name a few) were... just .. WOW. Purely epic.
I couldn't help but see Greg Johnson, as Jeremy Renner from Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, mostly because he's described as being the Ambassador's "aid" (emphasis on the "") and turns out to be awesome and
Spoiler
HUZZAH! doesn't die!!On a side note, while I don't really tend to get grossed out at things, out of everything that happens in this book,
Spoiler
Ben Patrick's deathFull on action and brilliant themes/ideas
Spoiler
(I mean, the whole idea behind the ear device and being able to communicate with Lucky??! While I saw it coming, it was great and just like 'How to Train Your Dragon'!! :D )Matt Reilly sure does live up to the title of 'non-stop action ride' - once you start, it just does. not. stop, and its marvelous.
growlcat's review against another edition
3.0
I must never read another Matthew Reilly book again. So far fetched, such a copy of Jurassic Park, and what was his editor thinking allowing all those italics and exclamation marks?
albionscastle's review against another edition
5.0
I received this books as an ARC from Gallery books.
I own several books by Matthew Reilly but they are still on my "to-read" list so this book was actually the first one for me. Being a fan of Steve Alten and Michael Crichton I was drawn to the synopsis of fantastic, extinct creatures brought back to life. Naturally you knew something was going to go wrong.
The parallels to Jurassic Park were obvious and in fact the writer makes mention of that in the book when one of the characters mentions how well this sort of thing worked out for Jurassic Park. Turns out he was right on the nose.
This book is incredibly fast-paced with a barely a moment to take a breath before the next disaster or epic battle takes place. It was in no way a relaxing read as I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I almost literally could not put it down, to the point that I considered calling into work just to stay home and read it.
The humans are treated with barely restrained contempt in this novel and I like that. These humans are acting without any humanity, breeding, caging, training with pain, messing with forces beyond their comprehension and simply murdering anyone or anything who gets in the way. The whole idea of the zoo, minus the awe-inspiring nature of the inhabitants, is one that is portrayed as over commercialized, tawdry, dirty and just downright unethical. The idea that humans could "train" these kinds of ancient mythical creatures is absurd and every description of this high tech uber-secret facility is described with this undertone. You get the sense that no one who really knows their stuff is fooled by the shiny exterior of the zoo's operations.
This book isn't light-hearted nor is it for the faint of heart. There is plenty of gore, violence and outrage to be had, served on a buffet of vivid descriptions and action-packed sequences that really test the limits of your imagination.
All in all I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with this read and I absolutely loved the book. Matthew Reilly just moved to the top of my "to read" pile.
I own several books by Matthew Reilly but they are still on my "to-read" list so this book was actually the first one for me. Being a fan of Steve Alten and Michael Crichton I was drawn to the synopsis of fantastic, extinct creatures brought back to life. Naturally you knew something was going to go wrong.
The parallels to Jurassic Park were obvious and in fact the writer makes mention of that in the book when one of the characters mentions how well this sort of thing worked out for Jurassic Park. Turns out he was right on the nose.
This book is incredibly fast-paced with a barely a moment to take a breath before the next disaster or epic battle takes place. It was in no way a relaxing read as I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I almost literally could not put it down, to the point that I considered calling into work just to stay home and read it.
The humans are treated with barely restrained contempt in this novel and I like that. These humans are acting without any humanity, breeding, caging, training with pain, messing with forces beyond their comprehension and simply murdering anyone or anything who gets in the way. The whole idea of the zoo, minus the awe-inspiring nature of the inhabitants, is one that is portrayed as over commercialized, tawdry, dirty and just downright unethical. The idea that humans could "train" these kinds of ancient mythical creatures is absurd and every description of this high tech uber-secret facility is described with this undertone. You get the sense that no one who really knows their stuff is fooled by the shiny exterior of the zoo's operations.
This book isn't light-hearted nor is it for the faint of heart. There is plenty of gore, violence and outrage to be had, served on a buffet of vivid descriptions and action-packed sequences that really test the limits of your imagination.
All in all I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with this read and I absolutely loved the book. Matthew Reilly just moved to the top of my "to read" pile.
neighbor_reads's review against another edition
1.0
This book was a bummer. There is a nugget of a good idea but the execution made me roll my eyes more than once. The novel starts off with a decent prologue to spike interest, and then things get weird. I kept flipping to the front cover that says "a thriller" to remind myself of what it was because after the prologue, a whole lot of nothing happens for 100 pages. Let's talk about the creatures in this book and introduce all their quirks/weaknesses now so when the heroine does something utterly ridiculous later on, it might make a tiny bit more sense. Then when things do get exciting, the writing is weak. Instead of creating tension, the author relies on a TON of exclamation points, ellipses, and pauses. Because everything is more exciting with an exclamation point! Right?! Ugh. No tension, and you can guess who is going to make it by the second scene.
It seemed that the author knew all of us would be making Jurassic park comparisons, so he actually has a character bring it up in dialogue! Why?! Make me shake my head.
I originally purchased this book for a beach trip and I thought it was too silly even as a beach read. I was just disappointed overall.
It seemed that the author knew all of us would be making Jurassic park comparisons, so he actually has a character bring it up in dialogue! Why?! Make me shake my head.
I originally purchased this book for a beach trip and I thought it was too silly even as a beach read. I was just disappointed overall.
ajreader's review against another edition
3.0
Read my full thoughts over at Read.Write.Repeat.
China's attempt at cultural dominance through a fantastical new zoo takes a bad turn in this Jurassic Park style thriller.
China's attempt at cultural dominance through a fantastical new zoo takes a bad turn in this Jurassic Park style thriller.
vikingwolf's review
5.0
I first heard of this book through Nikki at https://breathesbooks.com/ who said it might be to my taste, liking theme parks with animal disasters like Jurassic Park. I was instantly intrigued by the idea of a dragon theme park and how it would look to have them all flying around! After I read Contest by Matthew Reilly, I was even keener to read this one! I had all kinds of questions in my head before I started about how they were controlled and kept within the park so I was already keen to get stuck into it. It did live up to my expectations!
An accident at a zoo in China leaves 19 people dead and the Chinese government decide on a mass cover up which means murdering all witnesses. The event is hushed up and the park is re-prepared for a grand opening with specially invited guests, animal experts and journalists. China is ready to show off their grand new dragon theme park, with 232 dragons in various social groups, and CJ and her brother Hamish travel there to do a piece for a magazine. They are given the guided tour and assured that the keepers and computer people have complete control of the zoo and nothing can go wrong. However when it does go wrong, the survivors have to find somewhere safe to escape the dragons-and the security guards who are determined to hush up yet another disaster at the park.
I liked CJ. She was a herpetologist until being disfigured saving someone from an alligator attack, instead becoming a vet. She carries the scars of the attack with her and it has greatly affected her life. Now she is casting her expert eye over the dragons. She knows her reptiles and is the one who asks the awkward questions that other journalists gathered are scared to ask, which doesn't go down well with her Chinese hosts. She is capable and tough, which is very much needed when things go wrong. Her brother Hamish is photographer for the piece and is pretty stunned by what he is seeing around him. With them are New York Times journalists Seymour and Aaron, their guide Na, US Ambassador Kirk and his aide Greg and Chinese journalist Xin Xili with her cameraman. I liked all of them except the bitchy Xin, who is nasty to CJ, and of course I was hoping to see her eaten at some point. You have to dream!
Kirk is not the steriotype US politician. He isn't the arrogant blowhard that you see in a lot of these books. He comes across as as a nice guy who wants to do good, and he is capable in a crisis, along with his trusted aid Greg, who has a few surprises of his own to share with his new friends. One of my favourite characters was CJ's old friend Go Go, a larger than life gay man who works at the park, who has a wonderful personality and I just took to him straight away. We also meet Ben, who CJ once had a bad date with, and also works in the birthing centre and is pretty far up himself. Then there is the evil Colonel Bao, head of security, who sees every surviving guest as an enemy to be eliminated to save the future of the zoo. I certainly hated that guy as we are meant to!
The story really opens with the journey to and arrival at the park and we get a Jurassic Park style talk to explain how the park exists, where the dragons are from and how things work. It is then time to go into the actual park itself, and the descriptions of the lake, mountains and buildings had me imagining in my head how stunning this place would be if it was real. I could see the dragons flying around the cable car and the photos I could take...! It does take some time to go through all of the introductory stuff but I found it all really interesting as the concept of the park was fascinating. If you enjoyed the Jurassic Park book, then you know what to expect from the opening third here. The other thing I enjoyed was seeing Lucky, the tame yellow dragon who was just so sweet and seemed devoted to the trainer Yim-unlike a few other so called trained dragons who seem to hate the woman and Lucky.
When the disaster occurs it becomes a fast paced rollercoaster adventure with tons of dragon action and run ins with the deadly security forces. There are lots of action scenes and attacks, and a good few twists in the plot along the way as the dragons start to try and plan their own escape and the humans try to stop them. I liked that each colour of dragons had their own traits, and were different kinds of threats to the guests. It gave them very distinct personalities and as soon as a colour was sighted, the people knew whether or not these were the ones to really fear. I never quite knew what was coming next and the action was mixed in with a lot of tension as we followed the group. I enjoyed the book a lot and it is something I would love to see made into a film. I can already imagine the CGI dragons flying around!
This is my second book by the author and it is another 5 star read. I'm looking forward to reading more by him in the future.
An accident at a zoo in China leaves 19 people dead and the Chinese government decide on a mass cover up which means murdering all witnesses. The event is hushed up and the park is re-prepared for a grand opening with specially invited guests, animal experts and journalists. China is ready to show off their grand new dragon theme park, with 232 dragons in various social groups, and CJ and her brother Hamish travel there to do a piece for a magazine. They are given the guided tour and assured that the keepers and computer people have complete control of the zoo and nothing can go wrong. However when it does go wrong, the survivors have to find somewhere safe to escape the dragons-and the security guards who are determined to hush up yet another disaster at the park.
I liked CJ. She was a herpetologist until being disfigured saving someone from an alligator attack, instead becoming a vet. She carries the scars of the attack with her and it has greatly affected her life. Now she is casting her expert eye over the dragons. She knows her reptiles and is the one who asks the awkward questions that other journalists gathered are scared to ask, which doesn't go down well with her Chinese hosts. She is capable and tough, which is very much needed when things go wrong. Her brother Hamish is photographer for the piece and is pretty stunned by what he is seeing around him. With them are New York Times journalists Seymour and Aaron, their guide Na, US Ambassador Kirk and his aide Greg and Chinese journalist Xin Xili with her cameraman. I liked all of them except the bitchy Xin, who is nasty to CJ, and of course I was hoping to see her eaten at some point. You have to dream!
Kirk is not the steriotype US politician. He isn't the arrogant blowhard that you see in a lot of these books. He comes across as as a nice guy who wants to do good, and he is capable in a crisis, along with his trusted aid Greg, who has a few surprises of his own to share with his new friends. One of my favourite characters was CJ's old friend Go Go, a larger than life gay man who works at the park, who has a wonderful personality and I just took to him straight away. We also meet Ben, who CJ once had a bad date with, and also works in the birthing centre and is pretty far up himself. Then there is the evil Colonel Bao, head of security, who sees every surviving guest as an enemy to be eliminated to save the future of the zoo. I certainly hated that guy as we are meant to!
The story really opens with the journey to and arrival at the park and we get a Jurassic Park style talk to explain how the park exists, where the dragons are from and how things work. It is then time to go into the actual park itself, and the descriptions of the lake, mountains and buildings had me imagining in my head how stunning this place would be if it was real. I could see the dragons flying around the cable car and the photos I could take...! It does take some time to go through all of the introductory stuff but I found it all really interesting as the concept of the park was fascinating. If you enjoyed the Jurassic Park book, then you know what to expect from the opening third here. The other thing I enjoyed was seeing Lucky, the tame yellow dragon who was just so sweet and seemed devoted to the trainer Yim-unlike a few other so called trained dragons who seem to hate the woman and Lucky.
When the disaster occurs it becomes a fast paced rollercoaster adventure with tons of dragon action and run ins with the deadly security forces. There are lots of action scenes and attacks, and a good few twists in the plot along the way as the dragons start to try and plan their own escape and the humans try to stop them. I liked that each colour of dragons had their own traits, and were different kinds of threats to the guests. It gave them very distinct personalities and as soon as a colour was sighted, the people knew whether or not these were the ones to really fear. I never quite knew what was coming next and the action was mixed in with a lot of tension as we followed the group. I enjoyed the book a lot and it is something I would love to see made into a film. I can already imagine the CGI dragons flying around!
This is my second book by the author and it is another 5 star read. I'm looking forward to reading more by him in the future.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
5.0
Oooh this was so much fun. Epic dragon action going on and not dull in a single moment. It's so exciting and so intense with facts about the zoo and things going on, it's difficult to put down. Devoured this so fast and it left me wanting more!