Book Review : Dragon Teeth

Book Title : Dragon Teeth

Author : Michael Crichton

Genre : Historical Fiction

ISBN : 9780008173067

Publisher : Harper Collins

Publication : June 2017

Pages : 295

Binding : Paperback

Plot :

The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America’s western territories even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. In much of the country it is still illegal to espouse evolution. Against this backdrop two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the Wild West, hunting for dinosaur fossils, while surveilling, deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.

Into this treacherous territory plunges the arrogant and entitled William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege than sense. Determined to survive a summer in the west to win a bet against his arch-rival, William has joined world-renowned paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition.  But when the paranoid and secretive Marsh becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis, Edwin Drinker Cope, he abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a locus of crime and vice. William is forced to join forces with Cope and soon stumbles upon a discovery of historic proportions.  With this extraordinary treasure, however, comes exceptional danger, and William’s newfound resilience will be tested in his struggle to protect his cache, which pits him against some of the West’s most notorious characters.

My Rating : 4 ☆'s

Review :

Before I tell you about the book,  let me tell you about the author - Michael Crichton. He knows what he is writing... if he has picked up a subject, he will study the subject to such an extent that he can weave the whole plot of the story around the nitty-gritties and workings of a particular phenomenon or a particular act - and that is what sets him apart. Although this book is a book which is ghost written for the author died an untimely death at the age of 66 in 2008 - the essence of Crichton's writing is still there.

Coming to the book, my first impressions were that it was a biographical fiction, but it wasn't exactly so. Many of the characters in the book had found their way into the story from an era gone by. The story is as much about two famous paleontologists as it is about their rivalry... the story is about stunning discoveries as it is about what came to be known as the bone wars. But the protagonist is a fictional character and it is his journey that is captured in that fateful summer of the year 1876.

The plot is quiet interesting - what with wild west and indians... the rivalries between the Indian tribes and the professors... the streets were full of thugs and gunmen who would kill at the drop of a hat - a nail-biting thriller, the book surely keeps you on the edge and turning pages very quickly indeed.

Written from the purview of William Johnson, the protagonist, the book covers his journey not only into the wild west but from an 18 year old Yale student, son of rich parents, careless and selfish to a mature, grounded 18 year old man. The book follows his growth into a mature and responsible human being.

In his author's note, Crichton states that the rivalry between the two paleontologists has been toned down - to make the story more acceptable to the reader but for me, it left me wanting more. And in that want, I hope that it ain't the last finished manuscript by the author...

Happy Reading!