The Lost World is the 1995 sequel novel to author Michael Crichton's hit best seller Jurassic Park (not to be confused with Arthur Conan Doyle's 1928 novel The Lost World). This is another Crichton Techno-Thriller, a style of writing he is considered to be one of the fathers of, masterfully combining Action pieces and Sci-Fi aspects. I am positive that some of the people reading this review have already seen the movie adaptation of this book that was released in 1997, and you might be thinking I already know this story and what happens in it from watching the film, but think again. The film and the book could be mistaken for completely different stories in comparison, to the point that the film makers basically threw the source material out the window and did whatever they wanted after the title credits, but this review is about the novel not the film.

The story takes place roughly 5 years after the events of Jurassic Park in the first novel, and begins by following the mathematician Ian Malcolm, who was purportedly deceased at the end of the first novel ( this was most likely changed to coincide with the ending of the first film).Malcolm is being vigorously pursued by an infamously rich paleontologist Dr. Richard Levine, who claims to be fully aware of the events that happened five years ago on Isla Nublar, and wants Malcolm to assist him in his investigation of a secretly owned abandoned island by the people that produced Jurassic Park, Ingen Corp.

Malcolm is very hesitant to accept his offer because he is under federal oath forbidding him from speaking about the events on the island and how the event affected his life, namely setting his career back over a year and a half, as well as almost costing him one of his legs. After much pursuing by Levine and encouragement from his girlfriend, African wild life behavioral expert Sarah Harding, he agrees mostly due to the fact the is confident that Levine will come up short with his investigation of the second island. However, after a few weeks Malcolm has been informed that Levine has been reported missing from his mechanic and confidant Dr. Jack Thorne, and Malcolm fears that he found the island. After deducing that Levine has indeed found the island after some extensive investigating by his department and backlogging of his activities over the last few weeks, and with the assistance of Levine's middle school assistants Kelly and Arby, who played an unknowing part in his discovery of the island, they gather up the equipment Levine had ordered from Throne, a trailer and 2 SUV's. Along with Thorne's assistant Eddie Carr, they set off to the island Isla Sorna, with Arby and Kelly stowed away without the knowledge of Malcolm and company. Also at this time, former CEO. of bio-Syn Lewis Dodgson (the man who indirectly caused most of the events of the first film and novel), is heading to the island in order to steal the eggs of dinosaurs and bring them back to the main land in order to regain control of his company and to make a fortune with his assistants Howard King, and George Baselton.

The Book has incredibly good pacing, always throwing something interesting at the reader whether it be something scientifically fascinating or an action scene or even just a very suspenseful moment to keep the reader interested. The book also has the tendency to discus theories such as evolution and extinction and how they could use the island to further those studies, much to Levine's disappointment at the end of the book. It also has excellent action sequences most notably its chase scenes, you always have a feel for what is going on in the scene and what the surroundings are mostly due to the fact that there are constant reminders and effects when the Dinosaurs are attacking. The book also has plenty of slow moments giving the characters a chance define themselves and grow, rather than being basic team red shirts (essentially kill fodder). Another thing that Crichton did superbly was defining characteristics and looks of all of his dinosaurs, especially the velociraptors who act incredibly different from how they did in both the first book and the 3 films. Instead of fairly intelligent pack hunters, they are uncoordinated and very feral creatures who for the most part don't care about their young. Whereas the Tyrannosaurus is the much more nurturing and defensive, but still blood culturing and dangerous animal.

I might be making the book sound perfect but it's not without flaw, fortunately the book only has one real flaw but unfortunately it’s a somewhat major flaw. The Major flaw is that in some places of the novel there are answers given but not gone into great depth where it very much needs some. For instance the reason why the animals act differently than how they should like the raptors that were mentioned earlier, in the long run it makes sense why they act how they do, but what makes very little to no sense is why they're not only just starting to act the way they do or why they’re still alive after 5 years. Another example is that it states that the island is over populated and there are far too many predators, but don't go into any detail as to how the islands population has been affected by this.


I definitely recommend this book and give it 4 Stars out of 5. While yes it has its flaws, its positives are plentiful and more than make up for the few flaws. The wide range of characters and personalities makes the adventure more intense, and make you feel danger and concern for them. This is a great read for anyone, and I recommend it to anyone who likes thriller, sci-fi, or even if your just looking to kill time.