The Lost World: A Novel (Jurassic Park)

"The Lost World" was much better on paper than it was on film. The film took a great deal of liberties with the story, going as far as adding entirely new characters and plotlines as well as borrowing from "Jurassic Park" to move the story along. This review, however, is of Michael Crichton's wonderful book and not the film loosely based on it. I'm one of those people who usually sees a film before I read the book it is based on. With the "Jurassic Park" flicks, I really enjoyed the first one and hated the second one. With this in mind I was hesitant to pick up either of Crichton's dino books. After reading "Jurassic Park" though, I found that not only was the story different, it was much better. That made me wonder if "The Lost World" would do the same. As expected, "The Lost World" did not let me down. It was almost entirely different from the film. The primary plot of this story is that one Richard Levine is curious to find out if a "lost world" actually exists. He has been researching odd animal findings in and around Costa Rica and believes that somehow a few dinosaurs actually survived extinction. Not knowing about John Hammond's business venture in building a dinosaur park where dinos actually exist, he picks the brain of Dr. Ian Malcolm in hopes to convince him to help him seek out this "lost world." Of course, Malcolm is the wonderfully cynical mathematician from "Jurassic Park." He was thought to be dead but through the wonders of the written word, Crichton revives him. As Levine presses Malcolm for help, he eventually decides to go it alone and ends up trapped on Isla Sorna, also known as Site B. At this point the story drops (for the most part) all arguments over evolution and extinction and becomes a rescue mission. Malcolm, along with the likeable Dr. Thorne, the headstrong Dr. Harding, field technician Eddie Carr and two very intelligent stowaways, sets out to save Levine's life and hopefully protect the secrets of Site B. Of course, no Crichton novel is worth a dime without a decent villain. In this case, we revisit BioSyn's Lewis Dodgson, the catalyst for most of the chaos in the first book. He, along with two counterparts, sets out to collect a few eggs from Site B for his own gain. Dodgson is sinister, calculating and very sure of himself. I'll let you find out for yourself just how much of a problem he becomes in the "lost world." As in "Jurassic Park," Crichton often goes off on long scientific tangents explaining the habits of lions and jackals in Africa. He also gives drawn out explanations on why or why not the dinosaurs were wiped out by asteroids. But just like in his first dino book, Crichton pours out this information in a way that, to me, doesn't bring the action to a screeching halt. I enjoy reading these little tidbits of scientific information, but I can see where others might find them to be a bit too much info to take in while your being attacked by velociraptors. Many reviewers find this book to be subpar. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that it is a sequel. Sure, Malcolm shouldn't be back in action, but he's such a fun character that I'm willing to let Crichton slide here. I'll also concede that doctors Harding and Thorne closely resemble Grant and Sattler from the first book. I'll also admit that the two kids are nothing more than a rehash of Hammond's grandchildren. However, Crichton puts a very good spin on an old tale with "The Lost World." In my opinion it moves at a much faster pace than its predecessor. Although the characters aren't very well developed, we are given enough information to care about or hate most of them. Also, there are quite a few differences between the actions and even the biological makeup of many of the dinos in this book and "Jurassic Park," but these differences do help to move the book along. "The Lost World" isn't a perfect book. It revisits old territory but still manages to give the reader a lesson or two about extinction and chaos theory. I give it five stars because it works wonderfully as an action yarn and it's nice to catch up with one of my favorite characters, Ian Malcolm. Highly recommended.

I first read this book around 1996. I reread this in 2020, and my memory of the book had long been overridden by the Lost World movie, which has a little in common with this book. I also read Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World (from 1912) right before rereading this book, and Lost World Jurassic Park is thankfully much less racist than that one. This sequel to Jurassic Park was not as exciting or as fun as the original Jurassic Park, but it was still good. The plot focuses on several scientists/teachers/professors: Thorne, a wealthy retired professor who now builds highly complex RVs, Richard Levine, a paleontologist, Sarah Harding, a carnivorous animal behavior specialist of some sort, and Ian Malcolm, who we all thought was killed off in the original Jurassic Park (or at least that is what JP book says), but has somehow recovered and is now back to being a mathematics professor. The book also has two children tag along, perhaps as an effort to convince parents that the future movie version of Lost World was family friendly and meant for kids, Arby and Kelly. Past me might have said the kids are annoying and shouldn’t be included, but I actually found that the kids were fine and once again ended up being the much needed computer experts. I especially liked Arby, who has a complicated childhood as an only child with professional yet mostly absentee parents. (Your mileage may vary – the movie version of kids I think was rolled into one child who may or may not have been a little annoying. The kids in the book were fine with me.) The plot focuses on Thorne, Malcolm, and Eddie Carr, an engineer, (and the kids, hiding in the RV) traveling to Isla Sorna (Site B) to rescue Dr. Levine. Sarah Harding shows up a few hours later, to join in the rescue attempt, by hitching a ride with geneticist Lewis Dodgson (the guy who was trying to steal the Dino embryos in the first Jurassic Park book). Dodgson, along with two other colleagues, is still trying to get his own dinos by stealing eggs. Site B was the breeding laboratory for dinosaurs that were then transferred to Jurassic Park, and like most things involving genetics, there was a lot of trial and error before getting things right. This site was abandoned after the whole InGen was shut down after the every of Jurassic Park, and many dinosaurs got out and are now living and breeding on the island (this is background, not part of the actual book plot, although I would read that book). The plot mostly focuses on a.) finding Dr. Levine, b.) studying the behavior of dinosaurs in the “wild”, c.) understanding what is causing the dinos to act more erratic than usual , d.) surviving, and e.) not being killed off by “the bad guys”. The bad guys were never really a threat to anyone except Sarah Harding on the boat, and unlike the movie, there wasn’t a whole troop of guys with guns trying to kill the dinosaurs, mostly just Dodgson, who was trying to steal eggs. Since I’ve just read A.C. Doyle’s Lost World, I would like to mention that Crichton’s Lost World has many more dinosaurs, fewer highly problematic “ape-men” (none), and was a whole lot less racist. I thought Isla Sorna having sheer cliffs making an entrance or exit to the island hazardous was similar to Doyle’s Lost World plateau, but there were not that many similarities between the two. The only small criticism for this book is that the ending seemed anti-climatic to me. There are no big discoveries (other than prion disease, which I had no idea what I prion was when I was 15-16 years old reading this book, but I do now), no big resolutions. This book did not seem that suspenseful, and I was never that worried for most of the protagonists, but that might be because I’ve already read this book and seen the movie. All the familiar dinosaurs from Jurassic Park are back – T-rexes, hadrosaurs, velociraptors, triceratops, as well as a pair of camouflaging predators that can match their backgrounds like chameleons or octopi. Is this a feature of the Indominous Rex in Jurassic World? I’m not sure. Lost World Jurassic Park was fun, escapism fiction for me, and I’m glad I reread it. I struggle with some of Crichton’s later works, when scientists somehow are always the “bad guys”, climate-change denial runs rampant (State of Fear), evil scientists are working on human-chimp hybrids (Next), and I don’t even remember what scientists did wrong in Micro, only that almost all of them were killed off in horrific ways. Those books turned me off to Crichton’s work in general. But, after rereading this one, I think I might continue my reread of Michael Crichton. The two Jurassic Park novels may well be the first science fiction books I ever read, and I have a special place in my heart for these two books.

My 15 year old Jurassic park fan cannot put this down! He is not a big reader but this has pulled him in and he is loving it! Great adventure book!

I had seen both of the Jurassic Park films based on the novels and had enjoyed them. I finally got around to reading the novels and was surprised at how different the books were. The film's were made family friendly with neat endings. The books are thrilling page turnovers, that are fascinating. The Lost World in particular is much different from the film. Like Jurassic Park, it is one hell of a novel. Three quarters of this book is not in the film, and it is even more thrilling and realistic. The events on the island are fast paced and incredible. I love the fact that Ian Malcolm is a bachelor and there isn't much romance between him and Sarah Harding. Sarah is a real action hero in this book with a much larger role than in the film. There are two kids in this story who are both educated and intelligent and are helpful in this novel, unlike the the kids in the Jurassic Park novel. The boy Tim was smart, but the girl Alex was annoying as hell. Author Crichton includes his well researched theories and scientific information along with thoughtful discussions on the nature of man and our impact on the planet. While the novelization of Jurassic Park included this as well, this is more of a roller coaster ride. I preferred the novelization of Jurassic Park (the first film), I enjoy both film version and the novel for the Lost World. I would've loved to see films based on the novelizations of both books, James Cameron would have done them justice instead of reorganizing them to be family-friendly. A fantastic read, though I wish an epilogue was added since this book ends rather abruptly. So pleased that there is now an unabridged audiobook copy. Scott Brick is brilliant on this as usual.

In-depth follow up to Jurassic Park, differing greatly from the plot we see in the film. The conclusion here continues a part of chaos theory we see in the first book that emphasizes “life always finds a way” in any series of circumstances, no matter the control. Enjoyed it!

It’s been six years since that big fiasco at Jurassic Park. There has been an extensive cover up about the incident, with those who knew about it being “hush hush” about the tragedy. Miraculously, Ian Malcolm, presumed dead, is recovering and has heard rumors from fellow scientist Richard Levine about a purported “lost world”, where the prehistoric animals continue to live. The temptations to find out are just too irresistible for not only Malcolm and Levine, but others too…. If I have this correct, I believe I read somewhere that Crichton was somewhat pressured by fans into creating a sequel because of the runaway success. And, with the thought of a film most likely in the works, who could have blamed him? At the end of the day, though, The Lost World is like the less successful, annoying little brother of Jurassic Park. One of the questions explored is how and why these animals are still thriving/ existing on this island that they have discovered. So, this gives the characters a reason to arrive there. Malcolm, Levine, and a few other side characters (including, of course, the stowaway kids) head to this mysterious place. However, of course, there are the slime ball kind of characters out for their own gain doing slime ball-like things that arrive there as well unbeknownst to others. There are some aspects to Crichton’s style that are always pluses for me. One is that he creates intensity and fast-moving tension, and this comes in the form of our main characters being in very difficult and perilous situations where we end chapters sometimes with a suspenseful cliffhanger. Along with this, there always seems to be a cerebral approach to Crichton’s novels, where a moral or an ethical question or issue is examined through what takes place. This gives the novels a little more dimension or depth, as they go beyond being just a “fast paced thriller.” With that being said, characters are often very meh in Crichton’s book (as is the case here), and while he’s normally able to get around this with an intriguing plot, it just doesn’t work here at all. I think that this stems from the fact that the plot and some of the action gets more and more ludicrous the further we progress into the novel. I mean, this novel goes off the deep end a little in the second half with all the wild goose chases. Some of the scenes were just flat out silly or unbelievable (I know the book is fantasy, but come on now!). The action scenes were way over the top, and then some of the capabilities of the dinosaurs were a bit much to believe. So, events fizzled tremendously in the novel’s second half. And with the lackluster characters and the cringeworthy dialogue and interactions, it just rendered everything sort of mediocre. I will still give Crichton credit for creating a quick-paced novel that has tension and some intrigue. However, The Lost World is like that ride that just eventually loses its fun. I think Crichton’s novels always have interesting and engaging premises so I would still like to read some of Crichton’s other works, such as The Great Train Robbery or Timeline among others.

Once again, Michael Crichton writes a great book. As with Jurassic Park (the book), the Lost World (the book) fills in all the gaps left by the movies. Everything about the plot starts to make more sense when you read the books. Which book is better, Jurassic Park or the Lost World? I would say both books are about the same level of quality, and I like both books immensely. Are the books better than the movies? They are different. The movies have less content, and because of that, the plots do not make as much logical sense. But some scenes from the movies are better than the scenes from the books, and vice versa. I think the scenes involving the tyrannosaurs are mostly better in the movies (although the books do have some interesting tyrannosaurus rex scenes. The books make the tyrannosaurs seem more like real animals, while the tyrannosaurs in the movies are more like Godzilla type monsters). The book mostly has better scenes involving the raptors. The compsognathus scenes from the books are mostly better, although the compsognathus scene from the Lost World movie where Dieter gets attacked and killed by the compsognathuses is a great action scene. The movies are of course more action driven, and less logical. The books are more logical, less action oriented, and provide much more information about dinosaurs. I would say both the movies and the books are both great for different reasons. If you love the movies, you will love the books too. I guess the only real issue I have with the Lost World book is thar it seems utterly incomprehensible that Biosyn would be so inadequately prepared for a mission to Isla Sorna. Nevertheless, this is believable I suppose, because of Lewis Dodgson's arrogance. In contrast to the movies where Ian Malcolm's team seems rather unprepared, they are actually quite well prepared in the book. So this fact sort of makes up for the fact that Biosyn is not well prepared in the book. It also makes infinitely more sense that Biosyn is sending a mission to Isla Sorna instead of InGen. In the book, InGen has gone bankrupt. So some aspects of the plot of the book are more believable than the plot of the movie. Overall, I have very few criticisms about the Lost World or Jurassic Park books. They are both well written and entertaining books.

This novel is way better than the movie, with almost a completely different composition. There is a more in depth exploration of International Genetic Technologies. Many of the characters are complex, and relatable.

What a fantastic writer! It’s amazing how he was ahead of his time and updated on the latest knowledges when the book was written.

This is what a bestseller novel should read like. Captivating, enlightening, thought provoking and entertaining to the very last page. Crichtons best by far. I am not a fan of Jurassic Park the novel. But The Lost World is a masterpiece.

El libro me llegó al siguiente día y hasta donde voy está super interesante, no daré spoilers pero es sorprendente desde el capítulo uno

This was a surprising read for me because it is from this book that all the elements were chosen to make the film franchise after Jurassic Park. It contains the recognizable characters from the 2nd movie - Ian, Sarah, and Eddie - but also Dodgson (1st and 6th) who was way more cut throat and maniacal than the Jurassic World film depicted! But there were other characters in the book that I enjoyed that balanced others that equally annoyed me making a colorful collection of characters trapped on an equally vibrant island of dinos. No spoilers but the dinosaurs at the gas station was top tier thrilling! I will say there is a lot of chaos theory jargon that took up a number of paragraphs and some of it was a little long but the adventure and peril do make up for it. 100% recommend for a good quick summer read!

Great book