Jurassic Park

Amazon.com
Unless your species evolved sometime after 1993 when Jurassic Park hit theaters, you're no doubt familiar with this dinosaur-bites-man disaster tale set on an island theme park gone terribly wrong. But if Speilberg's amped-up CGI creation left you longing for more scientific background and ... well, character development, check out the original Michael Crichton novel. Although not his best book (get ahold of sci-fi classic The Andromeda Strain for that), Jurassic Park fills out the film version's kinetic story line with additional scenes, dialogue, and explanations while still maintaining Crichton's trademark thrills-'n'-chills pacing. As ever, the book really is better than the movie. --Paul Hughes


From Publishers Weekly
An island off Costa Rica will soon be the world's most ambitious theme park--a dinosaur preserve. A visionary financier's biotechnology company has succeeded in cloning these extinct reptiles. Fifteen different species, presumably incapable of breeding, are now placidly roaming around, but Jurassic Park's resident mathematician, an expert in chaos theory, predicts that the animals' behavior is inherently unstable. When a rival genetics firm attempts to steal frozen dinosaur embryos, things go haywire. Two cute American kids, eight-year-old Tina and 11-year-old Tim, a safari guide from Kenya and a Denver paleontologist set things aright--almost. Though the dinosaurs here are more interesting than the people, Crichton ( The Andromeda Strain ) ingeniously interweaves details of genetic engineering, computer wizardry and current scientific controversy over dinosaurs to fashion a scary, creepy, mesmerizing techno-thriller with teeth. It can be read as a thought-provoking fable about technological hubris and the hazards of bioengineering. 150,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; movie rights sold to Steven Spielberg/Universal Pictures . Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA-- Massive sums spent on biotechnology, 24 Cray supercomputers sent to a fog-shrouded island off Costa Rica, and expert advice bought from paleontologists have combined to produce the most incredible amusement park of all time. Jurassic Park is inhabited by real dinosaurs, over 200 of them, all cloned from snippets of ancient DNA. Crichton is a master at blending technology with fiction, creating a tale all the more terrifying because it could happen. And the terror is heightened when dinosaurs escape from their barricaded area on the island, an event occasioned by the foolhardiness of relying on technology to control their range. Readers can just imagine being caught in the open with these dinosaurs after there's been a massive power outage on the island. Suspense, excitement, and good adventure pervade this book--and few YAs will be able to resist it.- Pam Spencer, Jefferson Sci-Tech, Alexandria, VACopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Buy from Amazon     Compare Prices

YA-- Massive sums spent on biotechnology, 24 Cray supercomputers sent to a fog-shrouded island off Costa Rica, and expert advice bought from paleontologists have combined to produce the most incredible amusement park of all time. Jurassic Park is inhabited by real dinosaurs, over 200 of them, all cloned from snippets of ancient DNA. Crichton is a master at blending technology with fiction, creating a tale all the more terrifying because it could happen. And the terror is heightened when dinosaurs escape from their barricaded area on the island, an event occasioned by the foolhardiness of relying on technology to control their range. Readers can just imagine being caught in the open with these dinosaurs after there's been a massive power outage on the island. Suspense, excitement, and good adventure pervade this book--and few YAs will be able to resist it.-- Pam Spencer, Jefferson Sci-Tech, Alexandria, VA


Buy from Barnes & Noble     Compare Prices