The Hand of Dinotopia - Hardcover

Foster, Alan Dean

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060280050 ISBN 13: 9780060280055

Publisher: HarperColl, 1999

Synopsis

A long-lost legend is found...

Will is a skybax rider, one of the elite couriers of Dinotopia, a land apart from time where humans and dinosaurs coexist in harmony. Protected for centuries by raging currents that wreck any ship that comes too close to its shores, this strange land is cut off from the outside world. When headstrong Sylvia disappears in search of the legendary Hand of Dinotopia, a landmark that points toward clear sea passage to and from the island, Will follows her, accompanied by his four-footed Protoceratops companion, Chaz. Their quest for the Hand takes them to a startling destination where they're met with a choice as unexpected as the journey.

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About this title

About the Authors

Alan Dean Foster is the author of Dinotopia Lost, and The Hand of Dinotopia, which are based on Dinotopia and Dinotopia: The World Beneath, written and illustrated by James Gurney. Mr. Foster has written novelizations of many popular fantasy and science fiction films, including Star Wars and the Alien films. He and his family live in Prescott, AZ.

James Gurney's fantasy art has appeared on the covers of more than 70 books, and his art appears regularly in National Geographic. He is the author and illustrator of Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time, Dinotopia: The World Beneath, and is currently working on his third Dinotopia book, which will be published in Fall 2000. He lives in the Hudson Valley of New York State with his family.

Reviews

Grade 5-8-Following up on Dinotopia Lost (HarperCollins, 1998) with this doorstopper sequel set in the idyllic land of intelligent dinosaurs created by Gurney, Foster sends his intrepid protagonists Will and Sylvia from harsh desert to steamy rain forest in search of the fabled Hand-rumored to be a key to the sole safe passage between Dinotopia and the outside world. As can be expected from this veteran author, it's a smoothly crafted tale with an entertainingly contentious supporting cast, grandly formal language ("You claim there is something out there, Sylvia. Let us go and find it"), and replete with jawbreaking dinosaur nomenclature and a plot urged along at a steady, if deliberate, pace by well-timed adventures and discoveries. What makes this effort practically unique among epic fantasy is its lack of an evil adversary. Aside from an encounter with a threatening band of painted, spear-bearing deinonychids, the weaponless expedition faces only the occasional flash flood, giant centipede, or other natural hazard. Ultimately, the quest is successful, but with the revelation that the Hand's passage was concealed after an ancient war with human invaders, Will, Sylvia, and their scaled companions turn back in dismay-until the next sequel, perhaps. The story's (mostly) gentle dinosaurs and underlying pacificism make a rare break from the swords-and-monsters routine.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 6^-up. In Foster's second Dinotopia adventure based on James Gurnry's books, Will and Chaz, the reluctant protoceratops translator, follow Sylvia through the Great Desert and remote Outer Island as she searches for the Hand of Dinotopia, the key to a sea route that would link reef-bound Dinotopia to rest of the world. The trio battle physical hardships, vicious meat eaters, scary nomads, and primitive carnosaurs, and join forces with a reclusive saurian explorer, before discovering the secret of the Hand. The dinosaurs are more interesting than the humans in the story, and the dialogue is occasionally stilted, but Foster does a good job of expressing Gurney's original vision of Dinotopia, re-creating the cities, deserts, and jungles, along with their exotic inhabitants in vivid detail. Readers may find it helpful to consult the maps and illustrations in Gurney's books. Chris Sherman

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperColl
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060280050
• ISBN 13: 9780060280055
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Gurney James
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 407