The Lost World
Michael Crichton
Quick View: A Strong follow up to Crichton’s previous work, this novel brings back all of the excitement and thrills from the last, while introducing new and fresh ideas and characters. not a journey you want to be left behind on/!
Full Review: The Lost World is the sequel to the critically renowned novel Jurassic Park. Writer Michael Crichton delivers even more amazing stories and science in his follow up to the amazing thriller. Very few writers can seamlessly sew scientific and historical understanding with a well written and rhythmic piece of fiction. This novel continues to speak wonders, as it turns the focus from science to observation as a survivor of the Jurassic Park incident ventures back to the seas near Costa Rica to the Island of Isla Sorna, where his
friend innocently observes the out-of-time genetically engineered dinosaurs. The novel is not just entertaining but thought provoking, as we see the consequences of corporate greed, cost ineffectiveness, and the pride of man vs the nature of the animal kingdom, both modern and ancient.
The story follows Ian Malcolm, survivor of the Jurassic Park incident and Mathematician, renowned for his work on chaos theory. He suffers from injuries and PTSD from his experience on Isla Nublar, and when he hears of his partner becoming involved with Hammond and his wish to send a team back to the prehistoric hell, he rushes to help her, even if it means traveling back to the forsaken shores of another of InGen’s mistakes. Upon arrival, things go awry as InGen sends a team to document and capture the various creatures and ship them to California to become a part of a new Jurassic park themed resort. Things inevitably go wrong as the small team hired by Hammond sabotage inGen’s efforts, and the survivors must band together to survive against the cretaceous threat. From invisible, camouflaged raptors to the gigantic T-Rex, the scientists and hunters alike have their work cut out for them.
The characters are varied and original as is Crichton’s style, and each goes through their own changes and experiences. Malcolm fights through his fear and memories as he tries to survive the island, and the varying cast of people each must deal with the new and terrifying experience in their own ways. The distinctive attitudes of each group of people offers different experiences throughout the book, and keeps a level of varying entertainment. We can take many different lessons about human nature from their experiences, and can learn a thing or two about ourselves in the process.
The beautiful and vivid tropical island is brought to life through Crichton’s words, and we get to create the world in our own heads to a great extent thanks to the seeds he plants. The abandoned buildings and the wild forests add the perfect scenes for a dinosaur-fest and the novel makes great use of these different locals. Overall the entire novel is just another one of Michael Crichton’s amazing works of art, and anybody who values good writing and quality entertainment will love this novel.
Final Score: 9/10