The Lost World
A Novel
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4.5 • 1.2K Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Timeline, Sphere, and Congo comes the sequel to the smash-hit Jurassic Park, a thriller that’s been millions of years in the making.
“Fast and gripping.”—The Washington Post Book World
It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, six years since the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end—the dinosaurs destroyed, the park dismantled, and the island indefinitely closed to the public.
There are rumors that something has survived. . . .
“Harrowing thrills . . . fast-paced and engaging.”—People
“A very scary read.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Action-packed.”—New York Daily News
“An edge-of-the-seat tale.”—St. Petersburg Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
One fact about this sequel to Jurassic Park stands out above all: it follows a book that, with spinoffs, including the movie, proved to be the most profitable literary venture ever. So where does the author of a near billion-dollar novel sit? Squarely on the shoulders of his own past work--and Arthur Conan Doyle's. Crichton has borrowed from Conan Doyle before--Rising Sun was Holmes and Watson in Japan--but never so brazenly. The title itself here, the same as that of Conan Doyle's yarn about an equatorial plateau rife with dinos, acknowledges the debt. More enervating are Crichton's self-borrowings: the plot line of this novel reads like an outtake from JP. Instead of bringing his dinos to a city, for instance, Crichton keeps them in the Costa Rican jungle, on an offshore island that was the secret breeding ground for the beasts. Only chaos theoretician Ian Malcolm, among the earlier principals, returns to explore this Lost World, six years after the events of JP; but once again, there's a dynamic paleontologist, a pretty female scientist and two cute kids, boy and girl--the latter even saves the day through clever hacking, just as in JP. Despite stiff prose and brittle characters, Chrichton can still conjure unparalleled dino terror, although the wonder is gone and the attacks are predictable, the pacing perfunctory. But his heart now seems to be not so much in the storytelling as in pedagogy: from start to finish, the novel aims to illustrate Crichton's ideas about extinction--basically, that it occurs because of behavioral rather than environmental changes--and reads like a scientific fable, with pages of theory balancing the hectic action. As science writing, it's a lucid, provocative undertaking; but as an adventure and original entertainment, even though it will sell through the roof, it seems that Crichton has laid a big dinosaur egg. 2,000,000 first printing; BOMC and QPB main selection.
Customer Reviews
This book is SO much better than the movie. Crichton's a genius!!
The Lost World is a continuation of the story started with Jurassic Park. It tells the story of another island owned by InGen and the work done there, the chaos that ensued and the rescue of the main characters.
Crichton always had a knack for writing science fiction novels that could actually take place in the real world. He'd study the subject and present his story, no matter how outrageous, in a believable way. This is what he did with the Lost World.
This story tells of the rescue of a paleobiologist named Levine who travels to Site B, the island where Jurassic Park was actually created. The park on the other island was too perfect, Site B was where the hard work was ACTUALLY done. Levine finds the island but is trapped and calls on an old friend for help. That friend, Dr. Ian Malcolm, joins an expedition to save his colleague along with some friends of his. Also a rival company wants to exploit the island to make some money for themselves.
Before you think this is the same as the movie story, let me tell you it's DEFINITELY not. That movie story was completely different from the book. Other than Ian Malcolm, Dr. Harding, and the the trailer hanging over the edge, the movie and the book share virtually nothing in common. This book is 1,000 times better than anything you saw on the screen. Crichton described everything in vivid detail, you could close your eyes and see the scenes happening in your head. The action is intense and will make you never want to put the book down til you find out what happens. The dialogue was well written, articulate and witty.
This was actually the second novel I have ever read. The teaser inside this novel made me curious enough to read Jurassic Park just so I could read this book afterwards. I have no doubt that if you're a Crichton fan you will love this book. If you saw the movies I'd recommend reading this book but only after you have read the first book. After that you will definitely agree that the book is much much better than the movie.
Why did Malcom go back smh
While I get why they probably didn’t adapt THIS version of the story for the movie , I was left wondering what this story would’ve been like on screen !! Starts off slower than the last book but you’ll be engrossed and blasting through those chapters once Dino’s are involved! Also you’d think Malcom had enough of chaotic Dino islands after the last book , but his monologues are always welcome.
Awesome book
Fun read, i wish this series would of never ended.