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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
After recently re-reading the Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle, I stumbled upon In Search of the Lost World (Primordial #1) and was intrigued. I enjoyed the writing style, main character and premise of finding information that an ancestor was involved in a trip that was directly based on the story written by Doyle.
The book also felt somewhat like what I'd imagine if one of my friends found out that one of their ancestors had this experience and we had access to his old notes. Of course they would want to follow in his footsteps.
Once the group gets to the Jungle, the story turns very dangerous, with similarities to the original ACD novel that made it feel like a direct sequel - probably as intended. I enjoyed the tie-in, and enjoyed the references to familiar places.
Without going into detail, the group that ascends to the plateau find out that it is deadly indeed, with complications to plot and (fictional) body aplenty. In the end, it's a scramble to see who survives.
I felt the author did a great job with characters, the tie to the original, plus modern day explanations for a distinctly non-modern day idea. (there are few places on earth that aren't explored now, much different than in 1908.) In the end, I enjoyed the novel very much and look forward to reading book 2.
The book also felt somewhat like what I'd imagine if one of my friends found out that one of their ancestors had this experience and we had access to his old notes. Of course they would want to follow in his footsteps.
Once the group gets to the Jungle, the story turns very dangerous, with similarities to the original ACD novel that made it feel like a direct sequel - probably as intended. I enjoyed the tie-in, and enjoyed the references to familiar places.
Without going into detail, the group that ascends to the plateau find out that it is deadly indeed, with complications to plot and (fictional) body aplenty. In the end, it's a scramble to see who survives.
I felt the author did a great job with characters, the tie to the original, plus modern day explanations for a distinctly non-modern day idea. (there are few places on earth that aren't explored now, much different than in 1908.) In the end, I enjoyed the novel very much and look forward to reading book 2.
This was a fast-paced, goofy action-adventure romp through a time-shifting prehistoric world where dinosaurs and other creatures have managed to survive for millions of years.
Look, this is by no means a "good" book. The characters are flat and one-dimensional, almost like caricatures (the hero, the rich one, the dumb blonde, the love interest, the comically evil villains, etc.) But was it enjoyable? Hell yeah! This was a ton of fun and tickled the same childhood nostalgia that I have for Jurassic Park and its ilk. Will I read the sequel? Probably!
Look, this is by no means a "good" book. The characters are flat and one-dimensional, almost like caricatures (the hero, the rich one, the dumb blonde, the love interest, the comically evil villains, etc.) But was it enjoyable? Hell yeah! This was a ton of fun and tickled the same childhood nostalgia that I have for Jurassic Park and its ilk. Will I read the sequel? Probably!
I haven't read [a:Greig Beck|3364561|Greig Beck|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1313716919p2/3364561.jpg] for long. I've read exactly two of his works, [b:Arcadian Genesis|15986039|Arcadian Genesis (Alex Hunter, #0.5)|Greig Beck|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1346724852s/15986039.jpg|21740773] and [b:Beneath the Dark Ice|7736474|Beneath the Dark Ice (Alex Hunter, #1)|Greig Beck|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388231807s/7736474.jpg|10530655], both of which I was mostly positive to. They weren't life changing experiences but they did entertain me a great deal. So saying that I became more than a little hyped when I found out he was writing a new take on [a:Arthur Conan Doyle|2448|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1495008883p2/2448.jpg]'s [b:The Lost World|10155|The Lost World (Professor Challenger, #1)|Arthur Conan Doyle|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320504012s/10155.jpg|1098725] is an understatement.
Unfortunately the book simply didn't live up to the full hype. For the most part, the book is a decent read. It's written and edited well, the spelling mistakes were practically non-existent and the split between chapters was, for the most part, pretty good. So, on a technical level, I can't complain.
My biggest gripe is that the book, for the most part, simply isn't very exciting. More than 100 pages is used to set up the adventure itself with Ben Cartwright, the main character, and his friends figuring things out and planning the adventure itself. Now, 100 pages is not that bad, I've read books with significantly longer setups than that but those books were not around 250 pages. The actual time they spend in this "Lost World" is very small. So it takes forever for the promise of any prehistoric creatures to come to fruition.
It also becomes an issue when the running and gunning and dying begins because not only did I not feel attached to any of the characters (except Ben and Emma, I suppose) but the impact the deaths have on the characters is so little because they need to fit in so many action tropes that there's very little time for them to feel the death of their friends. The book actually takes place in a very small window of time and towards the end things just happen so fast there's barely time to take it all in. "Machine gun-pace" is an apt description of how quickly things happen in the last 100 pages or so. In a book where in the first 100 pages very little of any substance happened.
I feel like slimming down the setup to about 50 pages (and don't pretend it couldn't be done) or simply change the structure where the setup is done in flashbacks would've helped this issue significantly.
The last half of the book definitely wasn't helped by the fact that it added additional characters that received little to no characterization beyond their basic traits. I just finished this book and those names are slowly but surely being phased out of my memory and I doubt the names of Ben's friends are gonna last much longer given how slim their characterization is. If their deaths (and I don't think it's a spoiler some of them don't make it out alive) had at least been memorable then I'd have something to remember them by they're quick, unremarkable and leave such a small scar on the other characters they might as well have never been there.
It was also hard to accept some characters' motivations and actions towards the end. I know people do things out of character when stressed but some things weren't just out of character, they made no sense even for panicked characters. Or angry characters. Some found hitherto unknown strengths and knowledge while others seem to practically disappear only to show up again near their deaths. All very peculiar.
Part of me wonders if I might have gone easier on this book if I had the sequel all set up and ready to be read right away. Because this feels like a 200 pages long setup for another book, a far more interesting book. And perhaps that was the intention, they were released relatively close to each other so I doubt the second part wasn't planned out long before the first released. It wouldn't surprise me if they were written as a single book but then split for easier reading and sales on Kindle store.
Perhaps a good idea would've been to hold back any printed edition until after the second part was published then print a collection instead? Might've made for a better reading experience. And could've been an interesting setup, the end of this book marking the middle of the book and beginning a new story for the second half... sort of.
Anyway, it's still not a bad book. It's an easy and for the most part enjoyable read. The focus on a creature that doesn't normally get as much spotlight was kinda neat and I'll be interested to see how that's followed up in the sequel. Some possibilities for good storytelling there and I'm expecting the second book to utilize the ideas much better than this. Hopefully. Maybe.
Unfortunately the book simply didn't live up to the full hype. For the most part, the book is a decent read. It's written and edited well, the spelling mistakes were practically non-existent and the split between chapters was, for the most part, pretty good. So, on a technical level, I can't complain.
My biggest gripe is that the book, for the most part, simply isn't very exciting. More than 100 pages is used to set up the adventure itself with Ben Cartwright, the main character, and his friends figuring things out and planning the adventure itself. Now, 100 pages is not that bad, I've read books with significantly longer setups than that but those books were not around 250 pages. The actual time they spend in this "Lost World" is very small. So it takes forever for the promise of any prehistoric creatures to come to fruition.
It also becomes an issue when the running and gunning and dying begins because not only did I not feel attached to any of the characters (except Ben and Emma, I suppose) but the impact the deaths have on the characters is so little because they need to fit in so many action tropes that there's very little time for them to feel the death of their friends. The book actually takes place in a very small window of time and towards the end things just happen so fast there's barely time to take it all in. "Machine gun-pace" is an apt description of how quickly things happen in the last 100 pages or so. In a book where in the first 100 pages very little of any substance happened.
I feel like slimming down the setup to about 50 pages (and don't pretend it couldn't be done) or simply change the structure where the setup is done in flashbacks would've helped this issue significantly.
The last half of the book definitely wasn't helped by the fact that it added additional characters that received little to no characterization beyond their basic traits. I just finished this book and those names are slowly but surely being phased out of my memory and I doubt the names of Ben's friends are gonna last much longer given how slim their characterization is. If their deaths (and I don't think it's a spoiler some of them don't make it out alive) had at least been memorable then I'd have something to remember them by they're quick, unremarkable and leave such a small scar on the other characters they might as well have never been there.
It was also hard to accept some characters' motivations and actions towards the end. I know people do things out of character when stressed but some things weren't just out of character, they made no sense even for panicked characters. Or angry characters. Some found hitherto unknown strengths and knowledge while others seem to practically disappear only to show up again near their deaths. All very peculiar.
Part of me wonders if I might have gone easier on this book if I had the sequel all set up and ready to be read right away. Because this feels like a 200 pages long setup for another book, a far more interesting book. And perhaps that was the intention, they were released relatively close to each other so I doubt the second part wasn't planned out long before the first released. It wouldn't surprise me if they were written as a single book but then split for easier reading and sales on Kindle store.
Perhaps a good idea would've been to hold back any printed edition until after the second part was published then print a collection instead? Might've made for a better reading experience. And could've been an interesting setup, the end of this book marking the middle of the book and beginning a new story for the second half... sort of.
Anyway, it's still not a bad book. It's an easy and for the most part enjoyable read. The focus on a creature that doesn't normally get as much spotlight was kinda neat and I'll be interested to see how that's followed up in the sequel. Some possibilities for good storytelling there and I'm expecting the second book to utilize the ideas much better than this. Hopefully. Maybe.
I wanted to love it so bad, for it to be on par with the original lost world! But sadly it was just a bit formulaic, very predictable with stale, stereotypical characters. I wanted it to end already by the mid-way point.
On a positive note, the scene at the end on the cliff was pretty tense and scary, my favourite bit for sure!
Overall nothing in here was all that interesting, so I can’t recommend it.
On a positive note, the scene at the end on the cliff was pretty tense and scary, my favourite bit for sure!
Overall nothing in here was all that interesting, so I can’t recommend it.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was an exciting novel that continuously grew in energy and excitement. There was a lot going on fast. It was definitely an enjoyable read.
Fantastic! It had everything I could ask for and more!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No