Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Ballantine Books (1996), Edition: New Ed, Paperback, 352 pages
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. Thriller. HTML:#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.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member deslni01
Michael Crichton's The Lost World is an interesting piece of work. On the one hand, it is an exciting, page-gripping, edge of the seat thriller reminiscent of the first Jurassic Park novel. On the other hand, it is exactly that: reminiscent of the first Jurassic Park novel. In many ways, it is
But that must be taken with a grain of salt, and Crichton forgiven, as he never planned on writing a sequel. It was only after many, many people, ranging from film producers to fans of both the novel and the movie pressured him into it.
Although many aspects are similar, that does not make the book any less appealing. With dinosaurs running amok, creating chaos, how can it be a bad read? This time, Ian Malcolm makes another appearance by wanting to visit the island and see the dinosaurs again. In that regard, his personality is very different than readers are accustomed - that, and he is alive, which he wasn't at the end of the first novel. One of his colleagues finds Site B, another island where dinosaurs were being produced for the park. Naturally, said colleague visits it alone, and Ian and several other colleagues must rescue him.
Of note are the reasons for the velociraptor's unseemly lifestyle - because as recreated animals they are missing a very important part of evolution: the social aspect. Also interesting are Malcolm's discussions on evolution and Darwins theory. Crichton was no slouch when researching what he wrote about, and this is no exception. Of course, Crichton has an agenda in writing such a book, and that is to beware human existence and technological advancement. As Malcolm said,
Human beings are so destructive, I sometimes think we're a kind of plague, that will scrub the earth clean. We destroy things so well that I sometimes think, maybe that's our function. Maybe every few eons, some animal comes along that kills off the rest of the world, clears the deck, and lets evolution proceed to its next stage.
The Lost World is a thrilling adventure that should not be missed by any reader who enjoys dinosaurs, thrillers, excitement or adventure. And since nearly everyone likes dinosaurs, it should be a required read...for most. For those that dislike the character Dodgson from both the original and the beginning of The Lost World, it is worth finishing merely to see Dodgson's comeuppance.
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merely a rehash of the original. Ian Malcolm returns, as does Dodgson, there are other dinosaur and mammalian experts involved (of course, they are all considered the best in the world), and the story could not be complete without two out-of-place brilliant children with knowledge and skills well above their actual level - particularly in the field of computers.But that must be taken with a grain of salt, and Crichton forgiven, as he never planned on writing a sequel. It was only after many, many people, ranging from film producers to fans of both the novel and the movie pressured him into it.
Although many aspects are similar, that does not make the book any less appealing. With dinosaurs running amok, creating chaos, how can it be a bad read? This time, Ian Malcolm makes another appearance by wanting to visit the island and see the dinosaurs again. In that regard, his personality is very different than readers are accustomed - that, and he is alive, which he wasn't at the end of the first novel. One of his colleagues finds Site B, another island where dinosaurs were being produced for the park. Naturally, said colleague visits it alone, and Ian and several other colleagues must rescue him.
Of note are the reasons for the velociraptor's unseemly lifestyle - because as recreated animals they are missing a very important part of evolution: the social aspect. Also interesting are Malcolm's discussions on evolution and Darwins theory. Crichton was no slouch when researching what he wrote about, and this is no exception. Of course, Crichton has an agenda in writing such a book, and that is to beware human existence and technological advancement. As Malcolm said,
Human beings are so destructive, I sometimes think we're a kind of plague, that will scrub the earth clean. We destroy things so well that I sometimes think, maybe that's our function. Maybe every few eons, some animal comes along that kills off the rest of the world, clears the deck, and lets evolution proceed to its next stage.
The Lost World is a thrilling adventure that should not be missed by any reader who enjoys dinosaurs, thrillers, excitement or adventure. And since nearly everyone likes dinosaurs, it should be a required read...for most. For those that dislike the character Dodgson from both the original and the beginning of The Lost World, it is worth finishing merely to see Dodgson's comeuppance.
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LibraryThing member laurab_53
A great follow-up to the original.
LibraryThing member StormRaven
The Lost World is the sequel to Jurassic Park, and it just isn't nearly as good. Crichton apparently originally didn't want to write a sequel, but the enormous success of the Jurassic Park movie (coupled with some pressure from movie makers) caused him to change his mind. The end result seems
A character who unequivocally died in the first book is back (a concession to the movie, where that character survived), and becomes the central character of the book. A hidden source of trouble, unmentioned by any of the characters in the first book (including those who necessarily would have known of it) is the central locale of the plot. People run off to do silly things. An evil corporation crops up, a new one, not the same one as in Jurassic Park. Rescue missions are planned. Greedy people make shortsighted decisions in pursuit of money, and poetic justice is visited upon them.
The book just seems tired and stale. Reading the book feels like eating day old bread - it was probably really good yesterday, but today it is just good enough to be edible. The Lost World is just good enough to be readable, but nothing more than that.
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strained and unfocused, as if Crichton simply had no good ideas and decided to just toss in a bunch of people and dinosaurs at random.A character who unequivocally died in the first book is back (a concession to the movie, where that character survived), and becomes the central character of the book. A hidden source of trouble, unmentioned by any of the characters in the first book (including those who necessarily would have known of it) is the central locale of the plot. People run off to do silly things. An evil corporation crops up, a new one, not the same one as in Jurassic Park. Rescue missions are planned. Greedy people make shortsighted decisions in pursuit of money, and poetic justice is visited upon them.
The book just seems tired and stale. Reading the book feels like eating day old bread - it was probably really good yesterday, but today it is just good enough to be edible. The Lost World is just good enough to be readable, but nothing more than that.
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LibraryThing member dspoon
The Lost World: Jurassic Park Junior Novelisation captures all the thrills and chills of The Lost World story - with heart-stopping suspense, hair-raising action, and illustrated with colour photographs from the film. Something has survived...In 1993, an ambitious entrepreneur named John Hammond
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spoke four words which ushered in a new era of motion picture excitement and set worldwide boxoffice records..."Welcome to Jurassic Park". Now, a few years later, Hammond makes a startling confession to scientist Ian Malcolm: another island of dinosaurs exists...an island where dinosaurs have been living and breeding in the wild...the Lost World. Show Less
LibraryThing member brettjames
The follow-up to his best book ever was one of his worst, and sadly a harbinger of things to come. No doubt distracted by the success of his TV show ER, Crichton barely seemed to be paying attention to what he was writing, as if his sole goal was just to get the producers of Jurassic Park II off
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his back. Incidentally, the movie itself was barely passable, but it was also one of those rare cases where it was much better than the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member LillyParks
A bit detailed when it came to evolution, animal behavior and their extention. But overall it was an interesting read.
LibraryThing member nnylrac
Not as good as the first book, but better than it's movie adaptation.
LibraryThing member reblacke
A fairly good sequel to Jurassic Park and necessary to finish the story.
LibraryThing member mpultz
The sequel to Jurassic Park is just as thrilling, thought-provoking, and informative as the original. While Jurassic Park focuses upon the science and ethics of genetic engineering and frames the situation within "chaos theory," The Lost World deals with these issues as well as evolution and other
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mathematical concepts, putting science in perspective for the modern world. The book concludes with a very profound observation about science as it relates to human life. Anyone who liked Jurassic Park or Michael Crichton's novels in general, is interested in mathematics, science, and technology, or just likes thriller novels, should enjoy The Lost World. Show Less
LibraryThing member TadAD
A bit to much Jurassic Park-redux for me. Like most Crichton books, it's an easy read and will while away a weekend for you, but I don't think you're missing anything if you skip it.
LibraryThing member Radaghast
I loved this book when I was younger. Rereading it recently, I'm not sure why. It loses the sharpness of Jurassic Park. The characters are much less compelling. The whole book just feels forced. Maybe you can only read the Lost World once to appreciate it, or maybe I've discovered the reality of
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the book with more mature eyes. Show Less
LibraryThing member Mitchburns
Reading everyone else review I have taken it all into consideration. I found the second book to be a great read. the only problem was it never really picked up until Dodsgon and his crew came to the island. I found Thorne a great character, almost more exciting than Malcolm, The kids were fun, and
**Question.... does anyone know why there were dinosaurs on jurrasic park (the first island) that were not on site B? namely gallimimus , dilophosaurus, styracosaurus, hypsilophodon, Cearadactylus, Euoplocephalus??? please e-mail me as this is bugging me. [email protected]
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Harding was exciting. one of the greatest parts of this book was the detailed description of the dinosaurs, and there surroundings. we got to learn so many exciting and fun things about these dinos. when the book did pick up it was an exciting thrill ride, that kept me up till 3 in the morning finishing it. It filled my childhood obsession for dinosaurs and my adult obsession with thrills. **Question.... does anyone know why there were dinosaurs on jurrasic park (the first island) that were not on site B? namely gallimimus , dilophosaurus, styracosaurus, hypsilophodon, Cearadactylus, Euoplocephalus??? please e-mail me as this is bugging me. [email protected]
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LibraryThing member ciara.caldwell
Great follow up for Jurassic Park. I was sad to find out there wasn't a third.
LibraryThing member andyray
This sequel to Jurassic Park is better than the original.
LibraryThing member Snukes
Though I'm still a little baffled about how a few of the characters came back to life (after croaking in Jurassic Park) I thought it was an enjoyable read.
LibraryThing member ColinOBlivion
I found it difficult to finish this book. I found the characters uninteresting and the plot weak. The first Jurassic Park is one of my favorite books, which made the followup all the more disappointing for me.
LibraryThing member sturlington
I suggest you give this and Lost World a whirl if you only saw the movies and you're interested in a meaty backstory - Lost World, in particular, has nothing much in common with its lame film counterpart. Although the science may stretch the bounds of believability if you know a lot about genetics,
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the theories themselves are interesting, fodder for further thought, and the plots are certainly suspenseful, veering off in different directions than the movies at many points. Also, the film version of Jurassic Park omitted the wonderful compys and an entire plotline involving the velociraptors' escape from the island (although I do think that Spielberg did a better job with the children's characters). The Lost World's plot is a bit more ridiculous than its prequel, I must warn you, but if you can get past the several unbelievable plot twists, you'll really enjoy the ride. Show Less
LibraryThing member themythicalcodfish
As if the first one wasn't horrific and bloody and "Science Shall Be Our Downfall"-y enough, here's the sequel, with even more blood, death, and dinosaurs. As with its older sibling, it's a good idea to read the book before you watch the movie, but the two of them together can provide a much better
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Hallowe'en pleasure than any Prom Night Slasher Fright currently being produced. Show Less
LibraryThing member br13damc
Dan McNutt
the lost world book review
I was unimpressed with the lost world by Michael Crichton it lacked many things. I was on page 130 and they were not even on the island yet. The whole time they kept talking about it and doing absolutely nothing. They also only talked about dr malcoms kid at
the lost world book review
I was unimpressed with the lost world by Michael Crichton it lacked many things. I was on page 130 and they were not even on the island yet. The whole time they kept talking about it and doing absolutely nothing. They also only talked about dr malcoms kid at
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school for like 30 pages. I would not recommend this book to anyone i found it very boring with little to no action. Show Less
LibraryThing member BK138
Cool JURASSIC PARK follow-up with surprisingly heavy themes of extinction and scientific failure. Crichton clearly rushed this to cash in on the fame of the original, but it's still highly entertaining.
LibraryThing member Wilwarin
When I read about the section of evolution, I was sitting outside. Once again it dawned on me how amazing life and earth is, how fascinating it were that I was there, the threes, the birds, the flowers. It was fascinating to think about my world, and how it had been in the past, how cool it was
The book itself was interesting, but not as good as the first book. The lessons/presentations of theories, dinosaurs and evolution I find very interesting, but the story itself was kinda meh. The book has good dialogue and I like how strong and capable Sarah is written. And Malcolm's a wonderful character.
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that it had evolved to the present.The book itself was interesting, but not as good as the first book. The lessons/presentations of theories, dinosaurs and evolution I find very interesting, but the story itself was kinda meh. The book has good dialogue and I like how strong and capable Sarah is written. And Malcolm's a wonderful character.
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LibraryThing member AmberTheHuman
I loved Jurassic Park as a child and watched it three times in the theater. I loved it so much, I began to write my own sequel to it, which I should still have (it's a few paragraphs at most). I was in middle school when this book came out. My parents bought it for me at Costco, and I read it.
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Later, I took a weekend trip with my family, and when I got home late Sunday night I suddenly realized I had a book report due the next day. So I decided to just write it about this book. Since I didn't have a lot of time, I created a 'quiz' book report, where I asked questions and gave multiple choice answers. I thought it was pretty skimpy, but figured it was better than turning in nothing. The teacher actually gave me a good grade on it, said it was 'creative.' So ... thanks, Lost World! Oh, the book itself? Not as good as the first, better than the film. If you want to see scenes that this book contains, you'd have to watch the second and third films. Show Less
LibraryThing member LillyParks
Not as good as Jurassic Park.
This book is a bit slow and predictable. Maybe, having read Jurassic Park had gotten me prepared for those dinos living on Site B will be hungry and restless on Site B. I found the characters Arby and Levine to be enjoyable and amuzing. To bad they weren't included in
The Lost World is not near the brillance of Jurrassic Park, but still satisfies. If you like dinosaurs, science, or anything Crichton writes, you should find that this novel has something you will enjoy.
This book is a bit slow and predictable. Maybe, having read Jurassic Park had gotten me prepared for those dinos living on Site B will be hungry and restless on Site B. I found the characters Arby and Levine to be enjoyable and amuzing. To bad they weren't included in
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the motion picture. It was nice to see Malcolm, resurrected from the dead, even though he died in Jurassic Park. He was alive and well and still, the cantankerous mathematician. The Lost World is not near the brillance of Jurrassic Park, but still satisfies. If you like dinosaurs, science, or anything Crichton writes, you should find that this novel has something you will enjoy.
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LibraryThing member regularguy5mb
This is the third and final book of my cruise reading for 2015, even if I did only start the book on the last night on the ship.
Having seen the movie when it came out, I always enjoyed it. It wasn't as good as the first, but enjoyable. However, now that I've read the book, I really don't understand
So yeah, was pleasantly surprised that the book had so many improvements over the film. At least the initial inspiration for Malcolm's involvement was still a research expedition turned rescue mission, because that's the only way I see him returning to an environment like Site B after everything he went through the first time.
If you're a fan of the movie, don't expect many similarities (except in passing), but if you enjoy the world of Jurassic Park, this is definitely a welcome sequel.
Having seen the movie when it came out, I always enjoyed it. It wasn't as good as the first, but enjoyable. However, now that I've read the book, I really don't understand
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most of the changes made, especially the homage to the first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World (replacing a T-Rex stalking through Los Angeles with the Willis O'Brien Brontosaurus). I understand the economy of combining Arby and Kelly into one character, but I don't understand eliminating Richard Levine and Dodgson's entire team (replacing them with John Hammond's money-grubbing nephew and a team of hunters).So yeah, was pleasantly surprised that the book had so many improvements over the film. At least the initial inspiration for Malcolm's involvement was still a research expedition turned rescue mission, because that's the only way I see him returning to an environment like Site B after everything he went through the first time.
If you're a fan of the movie, don't expect many similarities (except in passing), but if you enjoy the world of Jurassic Park, this is definitely a welcome sequel.
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LibraryThing member TiffanyHickox
Fast paced and full of adventure, Michael Crichton does not disappoint in this sequel to his instant classic, Jurassic Park. Crichton is a master at blending science and fiction together, seamlessly blending well-researched scientific theories into the fictional plot. This book will simultaneously
My favorite passage:
"A hundred years from now, people will look back at us and laugh. They'll say, 'You know what peope used to believe? They believed in photons and electrons. Can you imagine anything so silly?' They'll have a good laugh, because by then there will be newer and better fantasies." Thorne shook his head. "And meanwhile, you feel the way the boat moves? That's the sea. That's real. You smell the salt in the air? You feel the sunlight on your skin? That's all real. You see all of us together? That's real. Life is wonderful. It's a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there really isn't anything else."
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make you think and entertain.My favorite passage:
"A hundred years from now, people will look back at us and laugh. They'll say, 'You know what peope used to believe? They believed in photons and electrons. Can you imagine anything so silly?' They'll have a good laugh, because by then there will be newer and better fantasies." Thorne shook his head. "And meanwhile, you feel the way the boat moves? That's the sea. That's real. You smell the salt in the air? You feel the sunlight on your skin? That's all real. You see all of us together? That's real. Life is wonderful. It's a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there really isn't anything else."
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Awards
Soaring Eagle Book Award (First runner-up — 1997)
Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 1997)
Original publication date
1995-09
1996-06 (1st Ballantine Books International edt.)
Physical description
352 p.; 7 inches
ISBN
0099637812 / 9780099637813
Local notes
It is six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, and there are rumours that something has survived.