Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time - Hardcover

Gurney, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1878685236 ISBN 13: 9781878685230

Publisher: Turner Publishing, 1992

Synopsis

In 1862, after being shipwrecked in uncharted seas, Professor Arthur Denison and his twelve-year-old son Will find themselves washed up on a strange island where people and dinosaurs live together peacefully.

About this title

Reviews

Grade 4 Up-- Arthur Denison, a Victorian scientist, and his son Will are shipwrecked on an amazing island . Here, dinosaurs live in harmony with a colony of humans, made up of other marooned travelers and their descendants. Will and his father are fascinated by the technology of their new home. They visit a hatchery, a blacksmith in Volcaneum, and a city built on waterfalls. The boy is most impressed by the Skybax Riders, people who are trained to fly on winged reptiles. Deciding to join them, he goes through their rigorous training program. In the meantime, his father finds a route to the dinosaur underground, a mythic place referred to in old dinosaur tales. He returns to find his son has ``earned his wings,'' but his discoveries are saved for (one assumes) another book. This fairytale will capture the interests of older fantasy readers--those perhaps, who enjoy the ``Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (Houghton), or Lewis's ``Narnia'' series (Macmillan). Younger readers, too, will be enticed by the dramatic, full-color illustrations, which include both panoramic sweeps of the utopian cities and detailed sketches of Dinotopian contraptions. While the women are more active than their Victorian counterparts, the adventurers here are still Will and Dad. Also, the illustrations tend to portray nonwhite Dinotopians as exotics, a stereotype better left in the past. Overall, the success of this story depends upon readers' ability to accept these creatures as peaceful, intelligent herbivores. Advanced readers who find sharp-toothed carnivores more to their liking may prefer a visit to Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park (Knopf, 1990), for a not-so-tame tale also set on a dinosaur isle. --Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Posing as a 19th-century scientist's travel sketchbook, this entertaining hybrid mates the visual appeal of the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady with a Jules Verne-like tale of Dinotopia, a land where dinosaurs and humans coexist. The scientist and his son travel around it, and the son grows up and falls in love. This unimaginative narrative exists mainly as a framework for the copious illustrations, which show breathtakingly exotic but impossible sights, such as a canyon city of people and flying dinosaurs, as well as amusing sketches of domestic scenes. The result is an enjoyable pastiche, full of visual references to cultures from Oz to Thailand and flavored with a Robert Fulghum-inspired philosophy: "Observe, listen, and learn. Do one thing at a time" (from the Code of Dinotopia). Though too superficial for the serious fantasy reader, this volume is great fun to browse through, and should find its way on to many coffee tables. 400,000 first printing; BOMC featured alternate; QPB selection; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A sweet, visually attractive utopian fantasy about an island where humans and dinosaurs--not to mention mammoths, flying reptiles, and exotic plants--live together in peace. Races and sexes are equal, long life is assured, and innovation is used to benefit the inhabitants, all thanks to the dinosaurs' benign influence. Literary stepchild of Robinson Crusoe and Shangri-La, midwifed by the Walts (Disney and Kelly), this creative anachronism purports to be a long-lost diary chronicling the discoveries of biologist Arthur Denison and his son after an 1862 shipwreck. The book's heart is its illustrations, presenting Gurney's imaginary society in the loving detail of the National Geographic--or a child's extravagant inventions. Much is made in the attendant publicity of the scientific accuracy, meaning that (though they speak seven languages, invent writing, and use tools) the dinosaurs look right. The technology surrounding the gliders, submarines, and helium balloons is also a little fuzzy, but by the time they appear the reader will either be charmed or alienated. More wistful fancy than a new vision of a cure for humanity's ills, but some adults--and children--will love it dearly. (Fiction. 8+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Turner Publishing
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1878685236
• ISBN 13: 9781878685230
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 159