Book Review: Dragon Teeth (Michael Crichton)
Book Review: Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
A pretty middle-of-the-road novel, to be honest. And unfortunately, that seems to be a recurring theme with some of Crichton’s posthumously published works. Dragon Teeth is an entertaining, fast-paced historical adventure, but there’s not a whole lot of nuance, subtlety, or introspection to be found along the way. It moves quickly, jumping from one scene to the next, often punctuating chapters with a little tagline or dramatic flourish. It’s certainly effective at keeping things moving, but it also makes the novel feel somewhat episodic and, at times, a little too calculated.
One of my biggest issues is that there’s never really much of a sense of danger for the protagonist. The story frequently reminds us that Johnson will eventually write about certain events in his journal, or we get little glimpses of where he’ll end up before we’ve even gotten there. The opening itself essentially tells us who Johnson is at the beginning, shows us a photograph of him at the end, and lets us know that the book is about everything that happened in between. It’s an interesting framing device, but it also takes a little of the suspense out of the proceedings. It’s difficult to feel particularly concerned about a character’s fate when the novel keeps reminding you that he makes it through everything.
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
The other interesting aspect of Dragon Teeth is how Crichton takes a fictional character and drops him into the middle of a fascinating historical period, connecting him with real people, places, and events. Think Forrest Gump, but with paleontology, the American West, and a whole lot of dinosaur bones. Johnson finds himself crossing paths with historical figures like Samuel Franklin Emmons, Wyatt and Morgan Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, Othniel Charles Marsh, and Edward Drinker Cope. Along the way, he makes his way through Deadwood, the various frontier towns and forts, and the dangers of the American West. There’s certainly no shortage of interesting historical material here, and Crichton does a nice job using the infamous rivalry between Marsh and Cope as the backdrop for his adventure.
And that’s really where the novel succeeds: it’s just plain fun. It’s a historical adventure with plenty of action, colorful characters, interesting settings, and enough momentum to keep you turning the pages. Crichton clearly had an interesting subject to work with, and the late-19th-century Bone Wars provide a terrific foundation for a story.
That said, I was hoping for a little more. Perhaps some deeper character development, a little more substance, or something that lingered with me after finishing the book. And, given Crichton’s legacy as the author of Jurassic Park and The Lost World, I was also hoping for some sort of connection or glimpse into the ideas that would eventually become those dinosaur novels. Not necessarily a direct connection, but something that might have made Dragon Teeth feel like another piece of the larger Crichton puzzle. Alas, it wasn’t to be.
Ultimately, Dragon Teeth is a perfectly enjoyable page-turner, but not one of Crichton’s more memorable efforts. A fun little adventure, an interesting historical setting, and a fascinating cast of real-life characters, but not much more than that.
A decent read, but one that leaves you wishing there was a little more meat on the bones.
My rating: *** on GoodReads and 3.5 on LibraryThing.
Back of the Book Blurb
Michael Crichton, the number one New York Times best-selling author of Jurassic Park, returns to the world of palaeontology in this recently discovered novel – a thrilling adventure set in the Wild West during the golden age of fossil hunting.
The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America’s western territories, even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. Against this backdrop two palaeontologists pillage the Wild West for dinosaur fossils while deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.
Into this treacherous territory plunges William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege than sense. Determined to win a bet against his archrival, William has joined world-renowned palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition. But Marsh becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis, Edwin Drinker Cope, and abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a locus of crime and vice.
Soon William joins forces with Cope and stumbles upon a discovery of historic proportions. The struggle to protect this extraordinary treasure, however, will test William’s newfound resilience and pit him against some of the West’s most dangerous and notorious characters….
©2017 Michael Crichton (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
GoodReads Average Global Rating: 3.86
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