Birds of Stone / Luis Chiappe, Meng Quingjin

4 out of 5 stars

When fossils of birds from China's Jehol region first appeared in scientific circles, the world took notice. These Mesozoic masterpieces are between 120 and 131 million years old and reveal incredible details that capture the diversity of ancient bird life. Paleontologists all over the world began to collaborate with Chinese colleagues as new and wondrous fossil-related discoveries became regular events. The pages of National Geographic and major scientific journals described the intricate views of feathers as well as food still visible in the guts of these ancient birds. Now, for the first time, a sweeping collection of the most interesting of Jehol's avian fossils is on display in this beautiful book.

Birds of Stone makes visible the unexpected avian diversity that blanketed the earth just a short time (geologically speaking) after a dinosaur lineage gave rise to the first birds. Our visual journey through these fossils is guided by Luis M. Chiappe, a world expert on early birds, and Meng Qingjin, a leading figure in China's natural history museum community. Together, they help us understand the "meaning" of each fossil by providing straightforward narratives that accompany the full-page photographs of the Jehol discoveries.

If you are interested in dinosaurs, birds, and the relationship between these two groups, this is a book you should have a look at. It was larger than I had anticipated (over 30 cm tall), but that meant that the illustrations were large enough to truly appreciate. There were many full colour photographs of museum specimens, showing off the many fossil birds or the Jehol Biota, found in the Liaoning Province of China. The book collects photos of fossils from fourteen museums, thirteen of which are located in China and not easily accessible to the average North American fossil enthusiast. Finding all of them in one volume is fabulous.

The fossils themselves are marvels of preservation. Often, feathers and fleshy structures are also present in these beautiful fossils, proving that this Cretaceous Lagerstatten in China is a priceless resource. Sometimes stomach or gizzard contents are present, providing important information about the food habits of some of these creatures as well. And of course, not only birds and bird-like dinosaurs are preserved. The second half of the book also illustrates some plants and small animals that are represented in the sediments.

The second half of the book, giving more information on the current state of research on the evolution of birds, was informative, but rather repetitive. If the pygostyle (the short fleshy tail of modern birds, the pope’s or parson’s nose) was explained once, it was explained ten times. There were other details were which similarly repeated, maybe not quite so often or annoyingly. 

Still, if is definitely worth borrowing from your local library if you are a bird and dinosaur nerd, such as myself.

Just One Damned Thing After Another / Jodi Taylor

4.25 stars out of 5

Behind the seemingly innocuous façade of St Mary's, a different kind of historical research is taking place. They don't do 'time-travel' - they 'investigate major historical events in contemporary time'. Maintaining the appearance of harmless eccentrics is not always within their power - especially given their propensity for causing loud explosions when things get too quiet.

Meet the disaster-magnets of St Mary's Institute of Historical Research as they ricochet around History. Their aim is to observe and document - to try and find the answers to many of History's unanswered questions...and not to die in the process. But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And, as they soon discover - it's not just History they're fighting.

Follow the catastrophe curve from 11th-century London to World War I, and from the Cretaceous Period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. For wherever Historians go, chaos is sure to follow in their wake....

This is the most enjoyable time-travel romp that I’ve ever read! I had great fun following the boisterous and sometimes explosive adventures of Madeleine Maxwell, as she joins the St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research. The book ends up being something that is hard to categorize, although I’m pretty sure that stores will stick it firmly on the Fantasy shelf. But there is mystery, intrigue, romance—you name the genre.

I am always delighted with fiction that includes dinosaurs, so the time travel to the Cretaceous was absolutely perfect for my tastes. As Miss Maxwell says, “You put dinosaurs and people together, you always get screaming.” Apparently she has seen at least one of the Jurassic Park movies!

I chose this as my time travel selection for my 2018 PopSugar challenge, but I will definitely be continuing on with the series. I love the patchwork of genres, the British sense of humour, and the adventure.

Dead Beat / Jim Butcher

4 out of 5 stars

Paranormal investigations are Harry Dresden’s business and Chicago is his beat, as he tries to bring law and order to a world of wizards and monsters that exists alongside everyday life. And though most inhabitants of the Windy City don’t believe in magic, the Special Investigations Department of the Chicago PD knows better.

Karrin Murphy is the head of S. I. and Harry’s good friend. So when a killer vampire threatens to destroy Murphy’s reputation unless Harry does her bidding, he has no choice. The vampire wants the Word of Kemmler (whatever that is) and all the power that comes with it. Now, Harry is in a race against time—and six merciless necromancers—to find the Word before Chicago experiences a Halloween night to wake the dead...

Best Dresden book so far!  I approve of the zombie T. rex Sue and all the mayhem that she causes!

Harry, like any good noir detective, is a bit soft-headed when it comes to a dame.  This gets him in trouble in every book and this one is no exception.  His wry sense of humour helps him deal with the situations that his instinctive responses get him embroiled in.

At least in this installment, Harry gets to know members of the White Council better (and vice versa), finds out that he has fans among the younger wizards, and gets to communicate with an important person from his past.

He also becomes a personal coach for a new friend, Butters.  Polka will never die!!

The Dinosaur Knights / Victor Milan

4 out of 5 stars

Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often cruel world. There are humans on Paradise but dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden, and of war. Armored knights ride dinosaurs to battle legions of war-trained Triceratops and their upstart peasant crews.

Karyl Bogomirsky is one such knight who has chosen to rally those who seek a way from the path of war and madness. The fact that the Empire has announced a religious crusade against this peaceful kingdom, the people who just wish to live in peace anathema, and they all are to be converted or destroyed doesn't help him one bit.

Things really turn to mud when the dreaded Grey Angels, fabled ancient weapons of the Gods who created Paradise in the first place come on the scene after almost a millennia. Everyone thought that they were fables used to scare children. They are very much real.

And they have come to rid the world of sin...including all the humans who manifest those vices.

I enjoyed the first volume, The Dinosaur Lords, but the second volume The Dinosaur Knights is better. The world is already established, the reader knows the main characters, and the action is already underway. The dinosaurs continue to be awesome and the “rules” of their behaviour in Paradise (our non-Earth setting) are refined a bit. Now it is clear to me why the Tyrannosaurs don’t run amok. What is less clear (and may be fodder for future installments) is who exactly the Creators are and what their aims may be.

There are an awful lot of gritty battle scenes in both books, which generally are not my thing. However, to counter-act that, we have Imperial Princess Melodía joining the rebels and learning to be something besides an imperial princess. This book continues to honour the Bechdel test, as Melodía discovers unexpected female friends along the way. My only reservation is that these amigas seem to be very expendable and Milan eliminates them almost as quickly as he introduces them and never gently. There are fewer sex scenes, which is a blessing, as I don’t care for Milan’s execution of them.

I think the trick to enjoying these books is to go into them with an open mind. Probably it helps for me that I have never read any of George R.R. Martin’s books, to which Milan’s books are compared, most notably on the dust jacket. Milan shares Martin’s willingness to dispose of characters, and a certain gritty, somewhat medieval-like setting. Empty yourself of any other expectations before entering the world of Paradise, and you will be free to enjoy what Milan is offering.

There are a certain number of editing errors which bugged me along the way (‘our’ instead of ‘your’ and similar little glitches that would require re-reading of sentences to figure out what was meant). But over all, these small snafus didn’t ruin the reading experience.

Dinosaur Lords / Victor Milan

4 out of 5 stars

A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often brutal place. Men and women live on Paradise as do dogs, cats, ferrets, goats, and horses. But dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden – and of war. Colossal planteaters like Brachiosaurus; terrifying meateaters like Allosaurus and the most feared of all, Tyrannosaurus rex. Giant lizards swim warm seas. Birds (some with teeth) share the sky with flying reptiles that range in size from batsized insectivores to majestic and deadly Dragons.

Thus we are plunged into Victor Milán's splendidly weird world of The Dinosaur Lords, a place that for all purposes mirrors 14th century Europe with its dynastic rivalries, religious wars, and byzantine politics…and the weapons of choice are dinosaurs. Where we have vast armies of dinosaur-mounted knights engaged in battle. And during the course of one of these epic battles, the enigmatic mercenary Dinosaur Lord Karyl Bogomirsky is defeated through betrayal and left for dead. He wakes, naked, wounded, partially amnesiac – and hunted. And embarks upon a journey that will shake his world.

Reasons to love The Dinosaur Lords:

1. DINOSAURS. Yup, they're part of everyday life on the planet of Paradise.
2. A chance to actually use that French/Spanish/Latin that you've studied in school.
3. All the fun stuff included in high fantasy epics--battles, personal vendettas, romances, escapes and captures, death, lies, and sometimes truths.

This novel owes a debt of gratitude to many that went before it. There is a nod to Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books (if you are present at the hatching of one of the large carnivorous dinosaurs, it will bond to you and you alone). The quotes from various texts at the beginning of each chapter were very reminiscent of Frank Herbert’s Dune series, although this world is much less complex. And there is a distinct Robin Hood vibe to the last chapters of the book wherein the Rob, the “Irish” bard, and Karyl Bogomirksy, the old campaigner, take a group of peasants and unwilling nobles and try to forge them into a fighting force to stand up to the Dinosaur Lords.

Still, I found some aspects of the book jarring. Every now and then, in a pseudo-Medieval setting, a blunt, modern term would slap me out of the narrative. Usually something just a bit too coarse for the rest of the writing. There was only one sex scene, which was described much more towards the porn end of the spectrum than I would have expected—if you haven’t seen your lover for months, there is urgency yes, but there is still affection and tenderness that was completely missing from this depiction. Unfortunately, there is a rape in the latter stages of the book and I found it more realistic than the supposedly loving sex.

However, this novel passes the Bechdel test with flying colours! There is a whole bevy of strong women who surround princess Melodía, who is herself seeking a way of making her life more meaningful. Instead of just letting life slip by in a series of pleasures and entertainments, these women are seeking to influence their society. They have sexual agency and a fair bit of freedom and are making the most of it. Bonus points!

I can definitely see where those who are not dinosaur aficionados would be somewhat confused (although that is what those chapter headings are there to help with) and if you resolutely resist using any language except English, you will encounter difficulties. Some interest in Medieval vocabulary is of utility to the reader as well (i.e. knowing that a sackbut is a trombone-like instrument and that Parasaurolophus had a long crest which presumably gave it’s call a trombone-like quality, hence calling this species of Hadrosaur a Sackbut).

I think every dinosaur lover has dreamt of being able to see these marvelous animals in the flesh (and not in Jurassic Park, either!); this book allows us to indulge this dream a bit. The dinosaur masters, who care for the war-dinosaurs, obviously love their charges and have fond relationships with them. I think many of us will insert ourselves imaginatively into that role!

I look forward to the second installment of the tale, The Dinosaur Knights.

Jurassic Park / Michael Crichton

3.5 stars out of 5

I figured that it was time to read the original Jurassic Park, as I recently went to see the fourth movie, Jurassic World. Basically, JW follows the same pattern as previous movies—people create dinosaurs, dinosaurs get loose, much running & screaming ensues. Still it was worth every penny just for the scene in which the Mosasaur leaps out of a pool in a SeaWorld like setting.

In many ways, this novel, which started the whole franchise, is better than the corresponding Jurassic Park movie—the science is more obvious and better and the plot is a bit more complex. However, for characterization, the movie probably gives the viewer more sympathy for those doing the running & screaming. The novel does include an awful lot of computer programming diagrams & jargon—probably trendy at the time of its publication, but a bit dated now.

Crichton seems to have much the same message in mind as Mary Shelley did when she wrote Frankenstein—science often seems to out-strip humanity’s moral development and just because we are able to do something doesn’t mean we should do it. Where Shelley left it for the reader to develop this thesis on their own, Crichton gets down right preachy, hitting the reader over the head with this message repeatedly (as articulated by the mathematician). And this whole idea that nature can’t be contained and that it’s hubristic of people to try—this seems to me to be a very “city folk” way of looking at the world. Ask anyone who grew up on a farm, complete with livestock, and we will tell you that there is no such thing as a fool-proof fence! Try to out-smart a pig—it’s not as easy a task as you might think. I’ve ended up using reverse psychology (open two gates, chase them towards the gate you don’t want the pigs to go out). Ever try getting a large beast like a cow or a horse to do something they don’t want to do? Good luck! You will need many people in order to accomplish the task. The horse may do what you want if you have a very good working relationship with it (I think about each year here in Calgary at Stampede time when some brave soul takes a horse up the Calgary Tower and attempts to get it to stand on the glass floored part of the observation deck—I wouldn’t do it and neither will any sensible horse!) Farmers and ranchers know their limits—they have no illusions of control when it comes to animals. I also know a substantial number of zoo keepers and they have a keen respect for their charges and know that zoo animals have plenty of time to contemplate the weak spots in their enclosures and that they are willing to test those weak spots when all the zoo staff have gone home for the evening. If it’s hard to convince a cow to do something, it can be downright dangerous to ask an elephant to do something it has an aversion to. While zoo keepers know these things, it often seems that zoo administration is clueless about animal behaviour & intelligence. When things go wrong (e.g. when an animal escapes), it is often because administration and/or architects discount the warnings of animal care staff. When Calgary Zoo opened a new building, the Colobus monkeys climbed right out of their supposedly-secure new enclosure and were found in the rafters the next morning. Modifications, previously suggested by zoo keepers and disregarded, were put into place.

And seriously, how many city folk can’t even get their dogs to be obedient?

So, a very good novel with good suspense and a fun premise (who wouldn’t want to go to a safe version of Jurassic Park?), but I am knocking off a star because I was smart enough to see the message without being beaten about the head & ears with it!

Scaly, Spotted, Feathered, Frilled

No human being has ever seen a triceratops or velociraptor or even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. They left behind only their impressive bones. So how can scientists know what color dinosaurs were? Or if their flesh was scaly or feathered? Could that fierce T.rex have been born with spots? In a first for young readers, the Sibert medalist Catherine Thimmesh introduces the incredible talents of the paleoartist, whose work reanimates gone-but-never-forgotten dinosaurs in giant full-color paintings that are as strikingly beautiful as they aim to be scientifically accurate, down to the smallest detail. Follow a paleoartist through the scientific process of ascertaining the appearance of various dinosaurs from millions of years ago to learn how science, art, and imagination combine to bring us face-to-face with the past.

I have often found it useful to read children's books on subjects that interest me--the authors usually boil down the subject to its basics and present it very clearly.  For the person-on-the-street, this is usually the most about a subject that they are interested in.  I spent 17 years as a natural history educator and I have used kids' books effectively to prepare myself on a number of subjects.

Having said that, I was somewhat disappointed in this book.  The art is all lovely, but some of it has been around for a while and used in other books.  In my opinion, photos of the fossils, showing what it was that the artist observed that led to a certain depiction, would have been a great improvement.  Perhaps I was expecting too much.

Having said that, if you have a budding dino artist in your family, you could do worse than to buy this book for him/her as an encouragement.

Our Beloved Brontosaurus

 Just like the author of this book, Brian Switek, I did not get the memo that only children were supposed to love dinosaurs to distraction. I grew up next to dinosaur country, the badlands of Drumheller and Dinosaur Provincial Park by Brooks, Alberta. My first dinosaur book was a How and Why book and my father used to claim that I knew the names of "all the dinosaurs" by the time I was two. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I do remember insisting on going to the Chamber of Commerce display of dinosaur bones almost every time the family went to Drumheller for any purpose and I was absolutely delighted when the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology opened there in 1985. My birthday was often celebrated by a trip to the museum and I don't feel like a summer is complete without at least one visit to the Museum and Drumheller. In fact, I just recently made my 2013 pilgrimage.

I'm still fascinated by all things dinosaur, although I don't have the time I used to have keep up with all the new discoveries and new interpretations of old material. That's why I enjoyed this book so much--its Switek's job to keep up with it all and he provided me with a much needed update on all the latest information. What are the paleontologists debating these days? Many of the same things from different angles, actually. Figuring out which fossils, currently identified as separate species, are actually growth stages of other species. Finding out more about the original dinosaurs of the Triassic period and about what actually defines a dinosaur. Figuring out what made them so successful as a group and why they finally went extinct after all those millennia of awesome. Bringing birds into the dinosaur fold and determining why they are the only dinosaurs to survive the K/T extinction.

Switek is obviously and completely devoted to dinosaurs, which I can understand and appreciate. His passion comes through in his writing and its very inspiring for those of us who have to make our livings in other fields, but have always wanted to be paleontologists. I would love to have coffee with him!

I also adored the book jacket artwork--a kneeling man offering a lovely boquet of flowers to an enormous sauropod, which is taking it gently from his hand. It beautifully captures his tribute to Brontosaurus, which runs throughout the book.

Highly recommended to every one who hasn't lost their love of all things saurian.