Kong: King of Skull Island by Joe DeVito with Brad Strickland and John Michlig (2004)

Cover blurb

In 1932, American showman Carl Denham returned from a mysterious, hidden island with a priceless treasure – a treasure not of gold or jewels, but the island’s barbaric god, a monstrous anthropoid bearing the name of “Kong.” The savage giant escaped and wrecked havoc through the concrete jungle of Manhattan, but within hours of the beast’s death plummet from the peak of the Empire State Building, his body - and Carl Denham - disappeared. Twenty-five years later, the son of Carl Denham makes a shocking discovery that leads him to the site of his father’s greatest adventure and to answers that will unlock the secrets surrounding nature’s greatest miracle… and history’s greatest mystery.

Authorized by the estate of King Kong’s creator, Merian C. Cooper, Kong: King of Skull Island is a lavishly illustrated novel that acts as both prequel and sequel to the classic novel King Kong. Created by the acclaimed illustrator Joe DeVito and co-written by DeVito and top fantasy and science fiction author Brad Strickland (with John Michlig), Kong: King of Skull Island remains true to the classic Kong legend while illuminating new discoveries that will deepen the original story. Introduction by special-effects master Ray Harryhausen (The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad).

My thoughts

Kong: King of Skull Island is a sequel to the classic 1933 film King Kong that pretends that the official sequel, Son of Kong, never happened. After the events of the movie, Carl Denham, the showman who brought Kong to New York, disappears along with the body of the giant ape. Fast forward to 1957, when his son, paleontologist Vincent Denham, finds his father’s map showing the hidden location of Kong’s home, Skull Island.

Denham recruits an elderly Jack Driscoll – the hero of the first film – to take him to the island. Once there, Denham is injured while making his way to shore and ends up in the care of an elderly native woman known as the Storyteller. She lives up to her name by telling Denham a story about a native princess, the tribe’s first encounter with white people, a cult that worships an evil beast god named Gaw, and young giant gorilla who would one day be known as Kong…

Kong: King of Skull Island is part-novella, part illustrated coffee table book. DeVito provides the background story and illustrations while Strickland and Michlig flesh out the text. The art is a mix of black-and-white drawings and full-color paintings. I preferred former to the latter, as most paintings appeared hazy and washed-out, like looking at a scene through a greasy lens. That’s not an indictment of DeVito’s artistic skill, which is considerable. It’s more a reflection of my own taste in art than any failings of the artist.

As for the text, it’s serviceable. The movie was a non-stop thrill ride, and Kong: King of Skull Island has plenty of action scenes for adventure lovers. But the book also delivers some heavy-handed messages about cultural relations and – strangely – religion while trying to explain away many of the mysteries of the setting: Why did the natives build a giant wall? Where did Kong come from? And why do the islanders make sacrifices to the giant ape? The authors’ skills are not up to telling anything more than a simple action tale, so when they try to get profound, it comes off as awkward and forced. They would have been better off if they had stuck to the film’s pulp adventure tone.

Kong: King of Skull Island is probably not worth tracking down unless you’re a big fan of the original movie. I give the book’s creators credit for trying to expand the film’s universe, but at the same time feel like they missed the point: King Kong was about mystery and adventure, not self-reflection and religious mysticism. The book is a better sequel than Son of Kong, but still lacking when compared to the source material.

Trivia

• The book was released as an iPad app a couple years ago by the company Copyright 1957. Some samples of the app can be viewed on the company’s YouTube feed. (I haven’t seen the app, so I can’t say how it compares to the book.)

• The production company Spirit Pictures announced in 2009 it was making a CGI movie based on the book. There has been little news since then, except for a false rumor last year that horror director Neil Marshall was helming the project.

• Joe DeVito is an illustrator and sculptor. Samples of his work can be seen on his official website, www.jdevito.com.

• Brad Strickland has penned more than 60 novels, mostly science fiction and fantasy, according to his Wikipedia page.

• The book has an official website: www.kongskullisland.com.

Reviews

• Barbara Peterson
• Steven Silver
• Revolution SF

The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island by Weta Workshop (2005)

Cover blurb

It was an uncharted island somewhere off the coast of Sumatra, it was a land whispered about by merchants and sailors. It was a place so unbelievable that no one dared believe in its existence. Except for one man, the extraordinary Carl Denham. Many will, of course, remember his show on Broadway and its tragic ending. But New York is not where the story ended, it is where it began.

In 1935 a joint expedition of several prominent universities and organizations called Project Legacy was launched. Its stated mission goal was to create the first of several field guides to Skull Island, a land filled with creatures existing outside their time, where dinosaurs roamed, evolved, and still lived. Only a year later it was discovered that the island was doomed; the geological forces that had formed the island were now tearing it apart. There were only seven more abbreviated expeditions to the island before its destruction and the start of World War II.

The journals, sketches, and detailed notes to the scientists who braved Skull Island would have continued to gather dust on shelves across the plant were it not for the work of the authors of this book. Here for the first time is there work, collected in a comprehensive editions of the natural history of this lost island. Here is The World of Kong.

My thoughts

You may or may not have fond memories of Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of King Kong. As for myself, I enjoyed the movie but wish Jackson had curbed some of his cinematic excesses. (He almost lost me when he had T. rexes swinging through vines like Tarzan.) Most of the movie was set on Skull Island, a prehistoric isle that was King Kong’s home. The World of Kong is a glimpse of that world, and it may please even those who didn’t like the film.

The book is essentially a field guide to the wildlife of the island, showcasing not only the many animals seen in the movie, but also a wide variety of creatures that never received any screen time. The central idea behind The World of Kong is that Skull Island’s dinosaurs didn’t stop evolving when the rest of their kin went extinct 65 million years ago. That’s why we get T. rexes – here dubbed “V. rexes” – with three fingers instead of two and velociraptors the size of horses. The team as Weta Workshop – the special effects house that worked on the movie – let their imaginations run wild, but at the same time kept most of their animals grounded in the science of paleontology. Anyone familiar with prehistoric wildlife will recognize the inspirations for many of the creatures showcased throughout the book’s pages.

The artwork itself is gorgeous, capturing the moody atmosphere of the island. As for the text, there is no overarching story, just descriptions of each of the animals. Sometimes the folks at Weta get a little carried away, such one entry about an implausibly large spider that eats dinosaurs. And the artists are too focused on depicting predators, leaving one to wonder how all those carnivores managed not to starve to death. Those are just minor complaints though: The World of Kong will please anyone who loves fantasy illustration or dinosaurs.

Trivia

• While many of the animals in the book didn’t make it into the movie, some of them were featured in the tie-in video game.
   
• Two of the animals featured in the book – the Triceratops-like Ferrucutus and the eel-like Piranhadon – were in scenes cut from the theatrical release of the movie. However, their scenes were restored in the extended edition of the film. (The extended edition is, in my opinion, the superior version.)

Reviews

• Parka Blogs

Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara by James Gurney (2007)

Hardback cover blurb

After many years of searching, artist James Gurney has discovered in a used bookstore a never-before-seen journal by the nineteenth-century explorer Arthur Denison. Denison’s previous travel accounts, published as Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time and Dinotopia: The World Beneath, introduced a lost island where dinosaurs and humans live together in peaceful interdependence.

Now Professor Denison and his saurian companion, Bix, set out on a perilous journey to the forbidden empire of Chandara. When their personal invitation from the emperor goes missing, they are forced to cross the border penniless and in disguise. Every step of the way, Denison documents in exquisite detail the creatures, characters, and architecture he encounters: a village composed of three ships propped up on end, a fifty-foot-tall Brachiosaurus outfitted for fire fighting, an Allosaurus tending its hatchlings, young pilots air jousting on giant pterosaurs, and a lot more.

The land of Dinotopia is conjured by a brief but vivid narrative and a beguiling variety of visuals, including maps, cutaway views, and mechanical diagrams. The lives of the humans are intertwined with those of the dinosaurs and ancient mammals, all of which are actual species portrayed according to the latest scientific research. By turns whimsical, dramatic, and philosophical, the journal radiates a life-affirming vision that will cast a new light on the overlooked wonders of our own world.

My thoughts

The Italian explorer Marco Polo made many hard-to-believe claims about his famous journey to China – some people even question whether he went at all – but the one thing he never did claim to see was dinosaurs. Only in the world of Dinotopia would such a thing be possible.

Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara is essentially a retelling of Marco Polo's travels, but set in the imaginary continent of Dinotopia. The book, the fourth in James Gurney's series, returns to the journal format of the first Dinotopia. Not only is Journey to Chandara the best sequel in the series, in some ways it surpasses that first work.

Journey to Chandara takes place not long after the events of The World Beneath, with the scientist and explorer Arthur Denison anxiously awaiting word about whether he will be allowed passage to the mysterious city. Chandara, we learn, is one of the great centers of Dinotopian civilization, rivaled only by Waterfall City. Relations with Chandara have soured because the democratic-minded people of Dinotopia objected to the city’s style of government, with the Emperor Hugo Khan ruling supreme. Chandara cut off trade and diplomatic relations with the rest of Dinotopia as a result, and it has been so long since anyone has visited the city that little is known about it.

Denison and Bix, a Protoceratops, are invited by Hugo Khan to travel to Chandara, which will make them the first outsiders to journey to the city in decades. Events take a turn for the worse when their invitation is stolen by the villainous Lee Crabb, but instead of giving up, the two set off on the journey in hopes of eluding the border guards and making their way into Chandara. Along the way they will brave bandits, predatory dinosaurs, hostile environments and a culture that is wary of outsiders.

In many ways, Gurney seems to be trying to recapture the spirit of the first Dinotopia book in Journey to Chandara. Both start with the artist stumbling upon one of Arthur’s forgotten journals, and both share similar images, such as a group of kids running along a beach with a sauropod or a visit to a snow-covered mountaintop temple. The difference here is that Gurney has refined his skills as both an artist and a storyteller. Journey to Chandara combines the first-person narration of first book with the focused storyline of The World Beneath. The characters are not just wandering Dinotopia to see the sights. They have a goal in mind and must undergo hardships to reach that goal. They meet interesting characters along the way and come across several different cultures that parallel real-world civilizations, but with their own twists – my favorite being a group of very anti-Pilgrim Pilgrims.

Of course, Dinotopia is most famous for its dinosaurs, and keeping with the Asian theme of the setting, several species of feathered dinosaurs discovered in the Gobi Desert make appearances throughout Journey to Chandara. Sporting feathers or scales, the terrible reptiles are depicted with an amazing amount of realism, and they are incorporated into human society in imaginative ways. After all, what kid wouldn’t want to ride in a school bus carried on the back of an Apatosaurus? The landscapes, architecture and people are all painted with the same painstaking detail.

The production values of the book also are top-notch, with a map of Chandara printed inside of the dust cover, the cover stamped to look like dinosaur hide and the book sporting a cloth bookmark. Sure, these are tiny things, but they make readers feel they got the most out of paying the $30 cover price.

The Dinotopia books are children’s books, but Journey to Chandara has plenty for dinosaur-loving adults as well. This is a book that parents will want to read even when their kids are not around, if just to ogle at the gorgeous illustrations.

Trivia

• Marco Polo is not the only explorer Gurney is channeling in Journey to Chandara. Part of Denison’s travels also mirror the real-world adventures of British explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton, particularly his trip to Mecca.

• It is interesting to see how our knowledge of dinosaurs has changed over the series. For example, in The World Beneath, Gurney painted an Oviraptor with scales, but in Journey to Chandara, the dinosaur sports feathers.

• A few Ice Age mammals also make appearances in Journey to Chandara, including one that essentially plays the role of Santa Claus. (Santa Claws, anyone?)

• The Web site ExpandedBooks.com recently posted a preview of the book and an interview with Gurney:

• The official web site www.dinotopia.com has previews of Journey to Chandara as well as ordering information.

Reviews

• LJay (Dinotopia message board)

Dinotopia: First Flight by James Gurney (1999)

Hardback cover blurb

THE STORY OF DINOTOPIA UNFOLDS!

The much-anticipated third book in James Gurney’s Dinotopia series takes us back to Dinotopia’s ancient past, where the empire of Poseidos is about to use its robotic technology to capture the peaceful dinosaurs of Dinotopia. Only Gideon Altaire and his faithful mechanical friend, Fritz, can stop this evil plan. But first they must escape Poseidos and win the trust of the prehistoric creatures.

This dramatic addition to the award-winning Dinotopia series tells a tale of partnership and courage, where humans and animals fight side by side to over the greatest challenge yet to free Dinotopia. As a special bonus, the front cover opens up to reveal an easy-to-learn board game. By detaching the game cards fro the back of the book, players can join Gideon on his adventure, experiencing his crushing setbacks and his high-flying triumphs.

My thoughts

If Dinotopia was the equivalent of a novel, then First Flight is the equivalent of a novella. The third book in James Gurney's series is about 100 pages shorter than the others, and as a result, it doesn't quite have room for the epic story it wants to tell.

First Flight is set a few thousand years prior to the events in the first two books, when the human empire of Poseidos was at its height. Poseidos is an island kingdom where advanced technology has replaced biology and its citizens drive around in vehicles shaped like dinosaurs. True dinosaurs are not allowed on the island but are instead confined to Dinotopia, which the empire's leaders are planning to invade.

Gideon Altaire is a young-pilot-in-training who gets kicked out of flight school for being a little too high-minded for his own good. Shortly afterward, he finds a small pterosaur that has injured its wing. Instead of turning the creature over the authorities, Gideon befriends the small animal, who leads him to a group of humans secretly working to protect Dinotopia's saurian inhabitants. The meeting sets off a series of events that will eventually lead to Gideon becoming the first human to fly on the back of a Quetzalcoatlus -- the first skybax rider.

Dinotopia has always been a children's book series, but First Flight is probably the only title in it that was targeted almost exclusively for children. The text is the uncomplicated, third-person narration used in The World Beneath, and the front cover of the book folds out to unveil a children's board game. The final two pages of the book are punch-out cards to be used in the game, and while I understand the reasoning behind that, I've always been a little wary of books that encourage kids to rip up their pages.

The artwork is superb, as usual for Gurney. There are not many dinosaurs in First Flight when compared to the previous two books, but there are plenty of pterosaurs as well as a gang of furry little extinct mammals that play a key role in the plot. (There also is a rather odd-looking mammal-like reptile I had no idea existed until I encountered it in this book.) The main problem is that the art and the scant 60 pages of the book don't leave much room for a story. Readers instead get a CliffsNotes version of a story that moves far too quickly and glosses over many details. It would have been nice to spend more time the odd characters or watch Gideon wrestle with the decision to betray the empire that he has called home, but there simply isn't room.

First Flight is still worth owning if you are a Dintopia fan, given the quality of the art more than makes up the cover price. Kids also will like the book and the simple board game that comes along with it. Just remind them that it's not always cool to tear pages out of a book.

Reviews

• None
  

Dinotopia: The World Beneath by James Gurney (1995)

(Note: This is the sequel to Dinotopia, reviewed below. Spoilers ahead if you haven't read the first book.)

Hardback cover blurb

The voyage that Arthur Denison and his son, Will, began in Dinotopia now continues in The World Beneath. On the lost island continent where dinosaurs and humans live together in peaceful interdependence, Arthur embarks on a quest into Dinotopia’s deepest mystery that soon becomes a desperate race to keep Dinotopia’s existence unknown to the outside world.

When The World Beneath begins, Professor Denison unveils his new invention, a steam-powered flying machine. Will, a fledgling Skybax pilot, flies his father’s creation over Waterfall City, but disaster strikes and Will narrowly escapes death.

Though stung by the failure of his machine, Arthur Denison turns his focus to an earlier exploration of ancient caves that yielded artifacts he believes point to a long-lost Dinotopian civilization. The mysterious society seemingly employed a technology beyond any that Arthur has ever encountered. The answer lies in The World Beneath.

Arthur Denison and Bix soon organize an expedition that will include the untrustworthy but resourceful Lee Crabb, and Oriana, a beautiful musician who holds the key to their quest.

While Will flies scouting missions for caravans in the Rainy Basin, Professor Denison and his team plunge deeper into the heart of the island, toward a monumental discovery that will teach him and important lesson about the power and peril of technology.

Full of dramatic illustrations like those that delighted the readers of Dinotopia, this sequel offers another wondrous excursion into this saurian realm. The balance of science and nature created by James Gurney’s imagination guides us from one wonder to the next… until we stand beside Arthur Denison in contemplation of an ancient marvel called Poseidos.

My thoughts

Dinotopia: The World Beneath was the first sequel to the original Dinotopia and Gurney's attempt to answer many of the questions that had been raised in the first book: What did Arthur Denison find when he traveled to The World Beneath? And how did his journal make to the outside world?

Gurney drops the first-person narration of the first book to tell a more traditional and straightforward adventure story in The World Beneath. The book opens with Will test-flying a dragonfly-shaped contraption invented by Arthur only to have it crash into the swirling waters around Waterfall City. Arthur is disappointed by the failure and comes to realize that if he is ever going to master the technology behind the flying machine, he must revisit The World Beneath. It turns out the vast caverns under Dinotopia hold the remains of an ancient and highly-advanced civilization that has long since disappeared. Arthur mounts a second expedition, this time joined by the protoceratops Bix, the shady Leo Crabb and by the musician Oriana, who is in possession of a key that can open the doors to the underground world.

Meanwhile, Will is assigned to escort a caravan across the Rainy Basin, a place where carnivorous dinosaurs prey on humans and other dinosaurs. While on patrol, Will makes a discovery deep in the rainforest that has implications for his father's expedition.

One thing readers will notice when comparing The World Beneath to Dinotopia is that Gurney has refined his skills as a paleo-artist. The dinosaurs in the original book were exquisitely detailed, but they are even more so in The World Beneath. There are subtle changes in their appearances that make the creatures even more lifelike, such as detailed skin textures. Also, people who like their dinosaurs big and ferocious will be happy to see that the carnivorous dinosaurs play a much larger role this time around.

The focused story may please readers who wished the first book had more of a plot, but I believe something was lost in Gurney's decision to replace the first-person journal entries of Dinotopia with the third-person narration of The World Beneath. The narrative format of the first book allowed readers to connect with the setting at a more personal level -- you felt as if you were traveling with Arthur as he made his way across Dinotopia. The world seemed more real because you could fool yourself into believing this really was a journal written by someone who lived in a lost world of dinosaurs. Also, Will's inclusion in the story seems almost an afterthought, which is a shame after spending so much time with him in the first book.

These are small complaints, however. The artwork more than makes up for any shortcomings in the text, and expedition to The World Beneath manages to capture much of the whimsy of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. You will once again be left waiting for a return visit to Dinotopia after you have finished with The World Beneath.

Trivia

• The World Beneath plays a central role in the 2002 Dinotopia miniseries.

• Two real paleontologists who helped with the research for Dinotopia are honored in The World Beneath. Ralph Chapman of the Smithsonian has an island named after him on page 45. Michael Brett-Surman is portrayed as the grinning bearded sea scavenger on page 40.

• “Stinktooth” the Giganotosaurus is the first reconstruction of the new giant carnivore recently found in Patagonia. Gurney met the discoverer Rodolfo Coria just weeks after he uncovered the first fossil. Coria graciously allowed Gurney to include the dinosaur in the new Dinotopia book, provided the publication date followed that of Coria’s scientific paper. It did by just a couple weeks.

* Updated trivia provided by author James Gurney.

Reviews

• Stephen Bespalko
  

Dinotopia by James Gurney (1992)

Paperback cover blurb

In 1860, when extensive uncharted territories covered a respectable portion of the globe, biologist Arthur Denison and his young son, Will, set out on a Darwinian voyage of exploration.

Somewhere on the expedition, Professor Denison and Will disappeared. Neither they nor anyone from their ship were heard from again – until very recently. It now appears that, through the kindly intervention of dolphins, they were transported to the lost island of Dinotopia, a land where dinosaurs and humans live together in peaceful interdependence. The dinosaurs appreciate the skills and liveliness of Homo sapiens, and the humans benefit from the wisdom and gentleness of the very much older species.

The exciting, often spectacular, adventures of the Denisons in Dinotopia are chronicled here by the Professor. As a trained professional observer of the world’s flora and fauna, he recorded his experiences in meticulous detail; otherwise it would be difficult to believe the astonishing discoveries he documented. His artistic skills allow the rich tapestry of Dinotopia life to emerge with graphic impact. He presents clearly the marvels of architecture designed for 50-ton organisms – aquatic cities, water-parks, treetowns, and other wonders both natural and dinosaur/man-made.

Professor Denison details aspects of daily life, too: parades and celebrations, sports (some quite risky!), and foods. He tells of sleeping quarters suspended from trees; hatcheries (where dinosaurs tend dinosaur young) and playparks (where dinosaurs tend human young); and modes of transportation, including air travel on Quetzalcoatlus, known locally as Skybax. In short, he shows Dinotopia to be a marvelously fascinating place, offering adventure and excitement, as well as an extraordinary opportunity to gain insight into our own world and time from the Dinotopian point of view.

My thoughts

The word "Dinotopia" literally translates to "terrible place," but as envisioned by artist and writer James Gurney, it isn't such a bad place to visit.

The story begins with Gurney stumbling upon an obscure journal written by an equally obscure 19th century explorer, Arthur Denison. The book that readers hold is a copy of that journal, which records Arthur's travels in Dinotopia, a lost continent where dinosaurs and humans live together in peace, with a few exceptions.

Arthur is traveling by sea with his young son Will when their vessel is shipwrecked in a storm. The two are saved by friendly dolphins, who carry the father and son to a sandy beach. The discovery of a large footprint in the sand is their first clue that something strange is going on. Not long after, a bizarre-looking reptile come walking out of the underbrush, and Arthur, in a panic, throws a large stone at it and injures it. Arthur and Will are immediately surrounded by a group of dinosaurs, but instead of being trampled or eaten, they are surprised when a young girl appears and talks to the beasts. It turns out that dinosaurs are not only still alive, they're as intelligent as humans.

So begins a years-long journey across Dinotopia, which Arthur meticulously records with paintings and writings in his journal. At the same time Will makes his own journey into manhood, training to become one of Dinotopia's most celebrated residents -- a skybax rider.

I admit my first reaction to the book was mild disappointment because I was assuming Dinotopia was a place where humans lived beside wild dinosaurs and not the intelligent beasts that populate the Gurney's world. However, that disappointment soon disappeared and I quickly got caught up in the fantasy. What makes Dinotopia an outstanding work of fiction is the art. It is incredibly detailed, from the anatomy of the dinosaurs to the architecture to the often bizarre clothing worn by Dinotopia's residents. It's as if Gurney painted each of his scenes from real life rather than from his fertile imagination, and a reader can easily loose track of time scanning for details in many of the paintings.

The book itself really doesn't have much in the way of plot. The character of Arthur is largely just the vehicle readers use to explore Dinotopia, experiencing the world through his eyes and ears. Will's story is more fleshed out as he grows to manhood, falls in love and pursues his dream of becoming a skybax rider. Some readers may bemoan the lack of a focused story with a beginning, middle and end, but the journal format Gurney uses works quite well because it allows readers to explore the setting at a level that would have not been possible with a more traditional plot.

Dinotopia ends with many of the questions raised throughout the book left unanswered. It is clear that Gurney meant the book to be the first in a series. While the ending may feel like a bit of an anti-climax, you will have had so much fun making the journey, you won't mind returning again.

Trivia

• Dinotopia was adapted into a three-part miniseries and a short-lived television show in 2002. The series is set several years after the books, but references to Gurney's works are found throughout the show.

• There also have been at least three video games adapted from the series: A PC game titled Dinotopia: Living the Adventure; an Xbox game titled Dinotopia: The Sunstone Odyssey; and a Gameboy Advance game called Dinotopia: The Timestone Pirates.

• The official web site is Dinotopia.com

• The Code of Dinotopia, found on page 77 of Dinotopia begins with the saying: “Survival of all or none,” and is followed by 10 other lines. If you look at the first letters of each of those sentences and read down, they spell out another line: “SOW GOOD SEED.”

• The dinosaur and the human in charge of the library are named “Enit” and “Nallab.” If you spell their names backwards, you get “Ballantine.” Ian Ballantine, who served as the model for Nallab, was the publisher who encouraged James Gurney to write the book.

• The Dinotopian footprint alphabet was inspired by cuneiform writing from ancient Babylon. The idea developed from actual reports that early explorers mistook the impressions in clay tablets for the footprints of birds.

• In the dinosaur parade scene on page 153, the building says “SAUROPOLIS” in Roman letters rather than in the footprint alphabet. This painting was finished before the alphabet was developed, and the change wasn’t possible.

• On page 24 of Dinotopia, there is a man with white hair named “Orchardwine” seated at the head of the table. His face is modeled after Sir Richard Owen, the British scientist who came up with the name “Dinosauria.” If you rearrange the letters of “Orchardwine,” they will spell “Richard Owen.

• Dinotopia has been published in 18 languages, including Chinese, where the word “Dinotopia” translates as “terrible lizard happy dream kingdom.”
  

* Updated trivia provided by author James Gurney.

Reviews

• Stephen Bespalko
• RebeccasReads.com
  

The Katurran Odyssey by Terryl Whitlatch and David Michael Wieger (2004)

Cover blurb

The Katurran Odyssey is a remarkable visual achievement, filled with spectacle, fantasy and wonder on every page. This epic tale of faith, hope and selfless heroism is illuminated by the stunning illustrations of Terryl Whitlatch, the principal creature designer for the Star Wars prequels, and is brought to dynamic life by the storytelling of screenwriter and author David Michael Wieger.

Bo-hibba is a remote island in in a faraway time and place that is populated by animals who are at once fantastic and startlingly real. The island's survival is threatened by the Long Winter, and not even the High Priest's ancient ceremony of renewal can put an end to the suffering from the hunger and the cold.

Katook, a small but courageous young lemur, lives in the village of Kattakuk. When he dares to enter a forbidden area on the island and witnesses a shocking secret; the outraged priests banish him from the island forever. Forced to journey across the vast sea in search of a new home, Katook encounters great perils and marvels on his quest and undergoes profound tests of trust and friendship. At last, he finds the place where the secret of the Long Winter is revealed and where he must summon all of his courage to confront his greatest fear if he is to save his family and his home.

Like such classic works of fantasy as Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, Rien Poortvliet's Gnomes, C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, Brian Jacques's Redwall series, and Brian Froud's Faeries, The Katurran Odyssey creates a mythic world imbued with beauty, adventure and transcendent imagination.

* Cover image from the publisher's web site.

My thoughts

It’s no secret why many of the works reviewed here have faded into obscurity, but it’s a mystery to me why The Katurran Odyssey didn’t receive the same attention as the thematically related Dinotopia series. Amazon.com doesn’t have any copies of the book, even though it’s just three years old as of this writing. That’s too bad, because it is a gorgeously illustrated work that should be on the shelves of any person who enjoys both natural history and fantasy.

The Katurran Odyssey is a children’s book, but one that adults will appreciate for the sheer majesty of its illustrations. Katook is a young ring-tailed lemur who is banished from his home after he finds out the village’s priests have been abusing their positions to hoard food during a drought. He sets off across the world, meeting several characters along the way, including a vain quagga. His travels eventually lead him to an encounter with his people’s god, the Fossa.

The main difference between The Katurran Odyssey and Dinotopia is that the former has no dinosaurs or people. Instead, many animals in the book are extinct mammals, from albino mammoths to pack-carrying glyptodonts to Tasmanian tigers. There are a few dinosaur-era contemporaries as well, if you look closely. The anatomical detail of each animal in the book is astounding, as is the detail of the surrounding environments. Whitlatch was the creature designer for the Star Wars prequels, and The Katurran Odyssey’s cover features praise from George Lucas. Check out for yourself how amazing the illustrations are on the book’s official web site.

While I originally gave this book high praise on Amazon.com – calling it “Middle Earth meets the American Museum of Natural History” – I now think the story could be a little stronger. What starts out as a critique of religion ultimately turns into a cop out, (spoiler alert: highlight text with cursor if you want to know why) with Katook transforming into a messiah and leading his people back onto the golden path through a miracle -- making him perhaps the first “Jesus lemur” of fiction. Quigga the quagga, the lemur’s sidekick, is supposed to be humorous, but to me he was simply annoying, although kids may like him. And at one point the book comes across as surprisingly anti-science, but I’m not sure whether that was intentional.

Anyway, these are small complaints. This is still a book worth buying, if you can find it. Many bookstores where I live have put it in the adult science fiction section rather than the children’s section, which I think is a mistake. Pick it up if you see it: You won’t be disappointed.

Trivia

• The Katurran Odyssey has a soundtrack, although it is sold separately. The score by Jeff Johnson and Brian Dunning is New Age, with each song based on a different part of the book. It is quite relaxing, especially if you are leafing through the book on a rainy day. Ironically, reviews of the soundtrack are far easier to find than reviews of the book itself.

• Every species illustrated in the book is real, except one. Readers are encouraged to figure out which one is the make-believe animal. Highlight the following text with your cursor for the answer: It’s the flying chameleons on page 16.

• The Katurran Odyssey is the first in a planned trilogy of books. I hope sales were successful enough to justify a sequel to the publisher.

Reviews

• None