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elisetheninth's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
This book is just as enchanting to revisit now as it was to visit for the first time decades ago. The artwork is incredible and so detailed it really does feel like you might fall into some of the two-page spreads! I love the foundation of this world, too - there's something really gentle and lovely about it.
sgenheden's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
amylynn44's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
austinstorm's review against another edition
5.0
There's definitely diminishing returns as the series goes on, but this represents the best mixture of Wyeth-esque art and fantasy narrative. A must-own!
jaruth's review against another edition
5.0
I fell in love with Dinotopia in elementary school, and turns out I still love it as an adult. Gurney's artwork is beautifully detailed, and immersive, making the reader wish they could see everything with their own two eyes! Absolutely wonderful!
snazel's review
4.0
Beautiful and incredibly fun story and illustrations, but it's interesting how early-90s this feels. I can't see such a pacifistic (vegan!) utopia flying in the era post 9/11. It's so hopeful. We just decided to leave systemic prejudice and injustice behind and moved on to utopia! Yeah, that doesn't ring quite true.
It's an interesting indictment that the social utopia is the part which I find most unbelievable, not the talking intelligent dinosaurs.
It's an interesting indictment that the social utopia is the part which I find most unbelievable, not the talking intelligent dinosaurs.
mal_eficent's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I grew up on the TV miniseries and always wanted to grab the book, but could never find it. Now I have it, I regret not getting it sooner!
For some reason, I was expecting this to be more of narrative book – instead it follows the journal entry style of classic adventure stories (like Edgar Rice Burroughs, for example) and uses mostly illustrations to pad out the text. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, so I'm hardly complaining, but it makes it pretty short and lacks a lot of the world building I was looking for. Weird thing to say when this is entirely the recordings of a scientist discovering a new world and goes into a lot of detail...I'm just greedy. I will probably just treat this as an artbook in the future, but the story is equally lovely and worth the time.
Honestly, if you're a fan of world building, fantasy/sci-fi illustrations, and DINOSAURS, this is absolutely worth grabbing.
For some reason, I was expecting this to be more of narrative book – instead it follows the journal entry style of classic adventure stories (like Edgar Rice Burroughs, for example) and uses mostly illustrations to pad out the text. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, so I'm hardly complaining, but it makes it pretty short and lacks a lot of the world building I was looking for. Weird thing to say when this is entirely the recordings of a scientist discovering a new world and goes into a lot of detail...I'm just greedy. I will probably just treat this as an artbook in the future, but the story is equally lovely and worth the time.
Honestly, if you're a fan of world building, fantasy/sci-fi illustrations, and DINOSAURS, this is absolutely worth grabbing.
shanaqui's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Dinotopia is a delightful world, one full of the author's hopes of how people could be better to each other, and how a society could keep itself in balance. It's also just a lovely idea: what if people and dinosaurs could coexist, communicate, and work together.
The artwork is beautiful, and the additional info about the process and Gurney's thoughts about creating it all are really interesting.
The artwork is beautiful, and the additional info about the process and Gurney's thoughts about creating it all are really interesting.