Dragon Teeth: A Novel

I enjoy this novel quite a bit. I like scientific stories and I was raised on westerns. I have read many of Mr Crichton's books and he never disappoints.

What a great read. Exciting with a great story. But one of the best gems for me was that it was filled with historical characters and events.

To be clear, this is part of the Jurassic Park/World universe. However, this book does not follow the format of other novels in the series. Very brief, this book follows the adventures of a college student in the early 1900s who went on an archeological expedition. He is brought along by the leader of the group, Professor Marsh, as a photographer and discover dinosaur bones, a lot of them and even those belonging to undiscovered species. On the way back they are attacked by a group of Native Americans and the main character is split up from the others. He survives alone in a newly established town close to a mine, and somehow manages to keep the fossils in his possessions safe, until he is able to leave and go back home.This book does not focus much on dinosaurs, there is no T-Rex or velociraptors trying to eat people; in fact no dinosaurs are alive. This is, however, a story of growth and of the true monstruous nature that is people. My only gripe with the story is a side character that does nothing to contribute to the story, but you are stuck with this character for a bit. Then all of a sudden the character's portion of the story ends and nothing consequential comes out of it; without this character the story would have remained the same. It is a minor gripe and does not change the fact that I enjoyed the story and got me excited to read the next books in the Jurassic Park/World series.I would definitely recommend reading the book if you like character development and for a little bit of the 'wild west' story type. Do keep in mind that if you expect to read about living dinosaurs eating people you will be disappointed. The events in the book happen as the first fossils are being discovered and being studied; way before the creation of InGen and their methods of bringing these creatures back to life.

When you first see the title of this book, one is inclined to be reminded of Jurassic Park written by same author, but this is a tale of another kind. For those who need the warning I may have spoilers in review.Crichton is an historian by nature and a storyteller also. In this book, he takes the story of a few real live people, who did go exploring to find fossil bones here in the US and makes a tale of their adventures. So some of the story is real and some has been fabricated.Timing is late 1880-early 1900's, when such things a railroads trains and photography and telegraphs were considered modern aspects. The Wild West was literally wild, plus native Indian tribes still roams the open spaces. The gold rush fever was just starting. Depending on how people interacted with the native American Indians, some areas were better than others to travel.Our group was searching in plains/badlands area in Montana near the Black Hills which were scared to the Indians but they were in the area prior to the fall migration of the tribes north so they encountered very little interaction except from a rival researcher group. After finding a big source of fossil bones (about 1000 lbs) they decide to head back east by way of the Missouri River using a steamboat but their wagon only holds part of the find so our main character and two helpers, one is an Indian, goes back to get the second most important half, thinking they could get back before nightfall. They barely make it to site and have to set back in the dark especially since the Sioux Indians have arrived on their migration. Of course. the three run for their lives through the badlands ( which is an area with tricky footing, like quicksand). and they lose track of direction. By the time, they get out this area, the two companions of our hero are dead. He finds a wagon trail going south which leads him to a mining town where he is forced to because of funds to stay until he gets enough to leave with all the bones.No one believes his story of the bones and all think he has gold in the boxes so he is forced to bury them under the place he buried the Indian who had accompanied him. He earns money by doing photographs of locals and finally has enough to leave but has to hire Wyatt Earp and his brother as guards to get to Cheyenne. After a few more adventures, the hero of story gets the bones to Philadelphia. PA.What I enjoyed about this story was information I learned about that time period when archeology was such a big vicious event (think Indian Jones's father time period) which explains our view of people who actually do these studies. It is not a life for the faint of heart and you had to endure pain to find these fossils. Thanks to these archeologists we have the dinosaur displays in the museums

La ficción histórica y la fantasía científica creadas por Michael Crichton son siempre un deleite para los ojos y para el alma.Califico el producto con cuatro estrellas no por su contenido (pues de lo contrario serían cinco las que le otorgaría), sino por la edición: el corte delantero es irregular y dificulta el pasar de página. En cuanto al resto, es perfecto.¡Una novela que no te puedes perder!¡Viva Crichton!

Crichton's pungent humor blends in with this historical adventure to spin an intriguing yet witty tale that kept me hooked until the last page!True that Michael Crichton is one of my favorite authors ever, but I didn't know how funny and ironic he could be. This work was therefore an unexpected surprise, and it thoroughly delighted me.I would recommend this book to anyone with a high sense of adventure, a curiosity for the history of the US expansion in the West, a bonding with the fate of the American Indians, but mostly the propensity to make fun of people and situations no matter how dire their conditions.

O livro descreve uma aventura em que alguns personagens existiram e fazem parte da história da América e da ciência. O cenário é o Oeste inexplorado, selvagem e sem lei. O momento é da corrida do ouro e das guerras contra os nativos. Além de uma leitura cativante, a estória nos revela aspectos da vida social, das idéias, dos costumes da época. Excelente leitura.

Reçu dans les temps, merci.. :)Un must-read pour toutes les personnes qui se sont passionnées pour les bone wars entre Marsh et Cope. Un morceau d'histoire et même d'anthologie fort bien revisités, tout en respectant la vraie histoire.Du Michael Crichton très inspiré, comme toujours.

ジュラシックパークのもと・・というより、前作ですね。