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ogreart's review against another edition
3.0
More of a 3.5. I liked the homage to the old action/adventure pulps. I read Doc Savage and Buck Rogers books when I was a kid, and this harkened back to those for me. Wendig did a great job of bringing that era back to life. I may go ahead and listen to the second and third books, as this ended--appropriately enough--on a giant cliffhanger. Is that a spoiler?
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
After receiving a tip that FDR is going to be assassinated, the Century Club spring into action, only to find they've been led into a trap! Psychic dinosaurs invade the world from seven dimensional portals, led by Khan, the Conqueror Ape, and his simian horde! But who is pulling Khan's strings? And can his son, Professor Khan of the Century Club, help his friends defeat his father and avert the Dinocalypse?
Psychic dinosaurs, talking apes, yes, this book is that much fun. Set in the world of Evil Hat's Spirit of the Century RPG, the real kind, not the video game kind, Dinocaypse Now is a tribute to the pulp magazines of the 1930's, from it's relentless action to it's intentionally purple prose.
The characters are an interesting mix. There's Sally Slick, a smart inventor who resembles Rosie the Riveter, Mack Silver, the pilot/Doc Savage type, Jet Black, the stand-in for The Rocketeer, Benjamin Hu, mystic detective, Professor Khan, the talking gorilla who's also a teacher at Oxford, and Amelia Stone, lady Indiana Jones.
The plot is pretty simple. Super-villains, supposedly led by Khan the Conqueror, are capturing members of the Century Club and subjugating the world with psychic dinosaurs. However, there's someone lurking in the shadows with a much more sinister plan.
Like I said, it's a lot of fun and didn't have much chance of being otherwise with all the dinosaurs and talking apes in it. Wendig works some modern sensibilities in as well. Sally Slick is no shrinking violet, that's for sure. I was really glad the love triangle between her, Silver, and Jet Black didn't become the focal point of the story. Professor Khan wound up being my favorite characters, his jungle instincts conflicting with his academic nature.
If I had to complain about something, it would be that a lot of characters seemed like archetypes rather than characters. However, since this is a pulp homage, that's the nature of the beast. Speaking of beasts, I already have one of the subsequent books, [b:Khan of Mars|17317809|Khan of Mars|Stephen Blackmoore|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1359928582s/17317809.jpg|23986715], heading my way.
Dincalypse Now is a non-stop fun read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Psychic dinosaurs, talking apes, yes, this book is that much fun. Set in the world of Evil Hat's Spirit of the Century RPG, the real kind, not the video game kind, Dinocaypse Now is a tribute to the pulp magazines of the 1930's, from it's relentless action to it's intentionally purple prose.
The characters are an interesting mix. There's Sally Slick, a smart inventor who resembles Rosie the Riveter, Mack Silver, the pilot/Doc Savage type, Jet Black, the stand-in for The Rocketeer, Benjamin Hu, mystic detective, Professor Khan, the talking gorilla who's also a teacher at Oxford, and Amelia Stone, lady Indiana Jones.
The plot is pretty simple. Super-villains, supposedly led by Khan the Conqueror, are capturing members of the Century Club and subjugating the world with psychic dinosaurs. However, there's someone lurking in the shadows with a much more sinister plan.
Like I said, it's a lot of fun and didn't have much chance of being otherwise with all the dinosaurs and talking apes in it. Wendig works some modern sensibilities in as well. Sally Slick is no shrinking violet, that's for sure. I was really glad the love triangle between her, Silver, and Jet Black didn't become the focal point of the story. Professor Khan wound up being my favorite characters, his jungle instincts conflicting with his academic nature.
If I had to complain about something, it would be that a lot of characters seemed like archetypes rather than characters. However, since this is a pulp homage, that's the nature of the beast. Speaking of beasts, I already have one of the subsequent books, [b:Khan of Mars|17317809|Khan of Mars|Stephen Blackmoore|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1359928582s/17317809.jpg|23986715], heading my way.
Dincalypse Now is a non-stop fun read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
surfmonkey01's review against another edition
4.0
Terrific pulp read, can't wait for the sequel. But even more than that, I want to see the Benjamin Hu and Professor Khan novels. Hell, I want it all, this was so much fun...
pjwhyman's review against another edition
1.0
Yeah but no. When you can't make it to chapter 3 that's a problem.
wickedlyethan's review against another edition
3.0
Chuck Wending is a man of endless creativity, and the talent to back it up. Sometimes, however, maybe a few too many ideas get into that marvelous dome of his, and every single one of them landed on the pages of "Dinocalypse Now", a novel that includes adventure, steampunk, telepathic dinosaurs, normal dinosaurs, intellgent ape-people, not-so-intelligent neandrethals from under-the-earth, Atlantis, and a super villain trying to end all of time itself.
If this all sounds like a bit much to cram into 240 pages, that's because it is. It's such a weird problem to have, but there's actually too much happening in "Dinocalypse", and while it is overall excellently plotted and constantly gripping, it does lead to fatigue around page 180 when all the reader wants is to explore the relationships between our main characters, Sally, Mack, and Jet. Instead there are admittedly creative and fun battles and chases and magic, but it leads to five or so plots that are more shallow than I'd like, as opposed to three deeper plots with more character work and less psychosaurs. That and a truly criminal cliffhanger ending leave me hesitating to buy the second book in a planned trilogy. At the same time, where else am I going to get jetpacks, cargo planes, and pterodactyls?
If this all sounds like a bit much to cram into 240 pages, that's because it is. It's such a weird problem to have, but there's actually too much happening in "Dinocalypse", and while it is overall excellently plotted and constantly gripping, it does lead to fatigue around page 180 when all the reader wants is to explore the relationships between our main characters, Sally, Mack, and Jet. Instead there are admittedly creative and fun battles and chases and magic, but it leads to five or so plots that are more shallow than I'd like, as opposed to three deeper plots with more character work and less psychosaurs. That and a truly criminal cliffhanger ending leave me hesitating to buy the second book in a planned trilogy. At the same time, where else am I going to get jetpacks, cargo planes, and pterodactyls?
cognative's review against another edition
4.0
The last couple of chapters dragged me in until the end of the book and I couldn't reading.
It was pretty cool to see my name in the kickstarter credits.
It was pretty cool to see my name in the kickstarter credits.
eoghann's review against another edition
4.0
I've always had a soft spot for pulp fiction so the basic notion of Dinocalypse Now immediately appealed to me. Using the setting for role playing game Spirit of The Century, author Chuck Wendig gives up a flat out and unapologetic pulp story that features "can do" heroes, science, magic and psychic dinosaurs.
Well technically it's psychic lizard people who control dinosaurs, but now we're just splitting hairs.
Is the science ludicrous? Yes of course it is. Does the plot to conquer the world actually make sense? Well no not really. But who cares. The whole thing is fun and faced paced and ever chapter has at least one cliff-hanger.
There have been plenty of pulp fiction pastiches but this takes the concepts pretty much at face value and just plays it out. Yes very occasionally there may be a knowing reference but mostly you're getting the sort of pulp storytelling that makes things like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark so fun to watch.
We're given a lot of characters to care about over the course of the novel and they all start out as immediately recognizable tropes (there's an air ace and an intelligent talking gorilla amongst other things) but Wendig manages to sneak in just enough character development over the course of the tale that they have some depth to them and you do care about how they're going to get out of their latest jam.
There's really only two criticisms I'd level at Dinocalypse Now. The first is that it really isn't a story in its own right. The book ends on a massive cliffhanger and it's fair to say that nothing has been resolved. So it's part 1 of a 3 part story, not the first book in a series. I prefer a little more resolution at the end of a book.
The bigger issue might be a seeming need to cram every pulp sci-fi trope into this story. We've got time travel, the hollow earth, dinosaurs, lay lines and more. This is intended to be an epic story and they've thrown the kitchen sink in with it. There is something to be said for holding a few things back though and giving the elements you have included just a little more room to breathe.
These are criticisms that if I wasn't enjoying the story would pretty much damn it. However since it is in fact a huge amount of fun, it's hard to care about them really. Basically I just want to read more about Sally Slick, Jet Black and friends.
Well technically it's psychic lizard people who control dinosaurs, but now we're just splitting hairs.
Is the science ludicrous? Yes of course it is. Does the plot to conquer the world actually make sense? Well no not really. But who cares. The whole thing is fun and faced paced and ever chapter has at least one cliff-hanger.
There have been plenty of pulp fiction pastiches but this takes the concepts pretty much at face value and just plays it out. Yes very occasionally there may be a knowing reference but mostly you're getting the sort of pulp storytelling that makes things like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark so fun to watch.
We're given a lot of characters to care about over the course of the novel and they all start out as immediately recognizable tropes (there's an air ace and an intelligent talking gorilla amongst other things) but Wendig manages to sneak in just enough character development over the course of the tale that they have some depth to them and you do care about how they're going to get out of their latest jam.
There's really only two criticisms I'd level at Dinocalypse Now. The first is that it really isn't a story in its own right. The book ends on a massive cliffhanger and it's fair to say that nothing has been resolved. So it's part 1 of a 3 part story, not the first book in a series. I prefer a little more resolution at the end of a book.
The bigger issue might be a seeming need to cram every pulp sci-fi trope into this story. We've got time travel, the hollow earth, dinosaurs, lay lines and more. This is intended to be an epic story and they've thrown the kitchen sink in with it. There is something to be said for holding a few things back though and giving the elements you have included just a little more room to breathe.
These are criticisms that if I wasn't enjoying the story would pretty much damn it. However since it is in fact a huge amount of fun, it's hard to care about them really. Basically I just want to read more about Sally Slick, Jet Black and friends.
themosquitoqueer's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
heregrim's review against another edition
5.0
Dinosaurs, pulp action and superheroes, what more could I want. I have found a genre in this type of book that I didn't know I was missing from my reading life. In this one, the Centurians are battling psychic dinosaur men, time-travel, intelligent apes and a villian from their own past. Love building on the backgrounds of Sally Slick, Jet Black, Mac Silver, Benjamin Hu, Amelia Stone and Khan as well as a world building that these heroes live in. All the adventures I wanted even since I saw Indiana Jones.