Dragon Teeth: A Novel
Written by Michael Crichton
Narrated by Scott Brick and Sherri Crichton
4/5
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About this audiobook
Michael Crichton, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Jurassic Park, returns to the world of paleontology 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. 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.
Drawing on both meticulously researched history and an exuberant imagination, Dragon Teeth is based on the rivalry between real-life paleontologists Cope and Marsh; in William Johnson readers will find an inspiring hero only Michael Crichton could have imagined. Perfectly paced and brilliantly plotted, this enormously winning adventure is destined to become another Crichton classic.
Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the bestselling novels The Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear, Next and Dragon Teeth, among many others. His books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into forty languages, and have provided the basis for fifteen feature films. He wrote and directed Westworld, The Great Train Robbery, Runaway, Looker, Coma and created the hit television series ER. Crichton remains the only writer to have a number one book, movie, and TV show in the same year. Daniel H. Wilson is a Cherokee citizen and author of the New York Times bestselling Robopocalypse and its sequel Robogenesis, as well as ten other books. He recently wrote the Earth 2: Society comic book series for DC Comics. Wilson earned a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as master’s degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. He has published over a dozen scientific papers and holds four patents. Wilson lives in Portland, Oregon.
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Reviews for Dragon Teeth
824 ratings65 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be a fantastic adventure filled with history and excitement. The book cleverly incorporates historic figures and events, providing a wonderful depiction of an era and topic. The story is riveting and educational, with touches of sarcasm and humor that make it even more enjoyable. The narration is excellent, and the characters are outrageous and gripping. Overall, this book is highly recommended for those who love adventure and want to learn about early paleontology in the USA.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book had the potential to be so much more. The story was interesting, and was based on many real life events, however it's short length (less than 250 pages) didn't allow for much character and plot development, and overall it felt rushed. If this was extended by another 300-400 pages, it co...
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Awesome read... Keeps you captivated and wanting to know what's coming next. The usual greatness od this author
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great plot and very interesting. It was hard to stop listening
Ning to this audio book. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A true novel of fact & fiction so smoothly merged into an adventurous story. From the fascinating world of paelantology, we get a glimpse of all the hardship & danger that went into it. Through the journey of this intriguing fictional character with real life characters along the way.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adventurous, dark and very informative. His books are so well researched that sometimes it is hard to differentiate fiction from reality. He had me googling the topic: early paleontology in the USA.
Also very entertaining, with touches of sarcasm and humor that always make everything better. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is typical Creighton It is excellent. I miss the man and his stories unbelievably.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great story typical of Crichton, well read I wish it was longer.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Really fun. Lots of adventure and history rolled into a great listen. Scott Brick could read the phone book and I could listen.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Full of action in the Wild West. Description so realistic I felt I was living it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely fantastic book highly recommended to read or listen to
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this book. It is Crichton in his best form!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5That was a fun listen, very cool and interesting, thanks
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Throughly enjoyed this book. Great narration to an already amazing author.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved it! This is an xcellent adventure and the readers voice is perfect.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5There was truly something exciting about this book. loved it!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Historic figures and events are cleverly incorporated, whilst not entirely accurately. Very entertaining. Great narrator.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It is a good book displaying Michael Crichton at his best. Don't expect live dinosaurs in this book but expect the expected...this book is not what I expected but it is great just the same
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The blurb for this book really tells all there is to know about it. There were a lot of info dumps about Indians, Custer and paleontology. I thought it was just ok.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I listened to this book three times. Then I read it.
It is fun and distressing at the same time. There are too many threads in this fabric to do justice in a review.
I will say what I consider the ultimate compliment to a book. What a great read! - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best I've read in such a long time!!! Thank you again Michael Crichton ❤
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great story. I enjoyed it from being to end, the story keeps you hooked.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The story moves like a 10-mike roller coaster. The characters are outrageous; the 2 most outrageous ones are well-known in the history of paleontology to have been at least as colorful as Crichton portrays them. Altogether a gripping read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The story was riveting and educational. Early paleontology meets Wild West.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fun and interesting read! Really enjoyed the post scripts as well.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excelent book, wonderful depiction of an era and topic. Recommeded
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm overwhelmed and stunned silent! -- I'll have a difficult time for awhile finding enjoyment in any other adventure/thriller -- though they will be authored using the same access to English language words, built using the same letters of the English language alphabet, therefore similarly constructed with access to the same tools -- however here the author rises to the pinnacle of the artist as author and renders those words from the same English language to the soaring heights of majesty and perfection. Review Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved.WH301MAR2024
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed this book. It was interesting fictionalized account of real life paleontologists.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5William Johnson is a spoiled rich kid who makes a bet with a colleague that he would go west during the summer with Prof. Marsh, the bone collector. This is very historic. Good read
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I went to the library with Areg to find him a page turner and I found one for myself, as well! We got home around 4, had an afternoon tea, and by 9 pm I was done. Whew!This turned out to be much better historical fiction than I was expecting--there's a biographical fiction element, with major secondary characters including real dinosaur bone hunters and outlaws, even though our protagonist, William Johnson, is fictional. Johnson is a lazy, spoiled, Ivy-league rich boy who talks his way into a trip out west to dig for bones only on a bet, not realizing just how paranoid and, well, crazy the renowned Professor Othniel Marsh is. He spends his semester learning photography to maintain his cover, which already does a bit to tame his pride by giving him a task he actually has to work at to excel at--no paying his way through this one. The book description tells you what happens next: Marsh becomes convinced that Johnson is a spy sent by his rival, Edward Cope, and leaves him behind in Wyoming. Who should happen to find him but Cope himself, who offers to take Johnson along on his own bone-hunting expedition. Contrary to Marsh's belief, Cope is not following him to steal his bones--instead, he's striking out into Montana territory on his own, without army protection, right as the Great Sioux War is picking up into full swing. To make matters worse, Marsh has slandered Cope far and wide, so that everywhere he goes he bumps into rumors and accusations that prejudice the people whose help he most needs for a safe expedition.The rest of the story is so action-packed that a full summary would take too much space. (I'm a bit conscious of how long my last two reviews have been, particularly the one for a 120-page book.) Highlights include a successful dig, a tension-packed encounter between Cope and Marsh, meetings both peaceful and plot-propulsively hostile with Crow and Sioux American Indians, a second separation that leaves Johnson in possession of Cope's most significant find of the summer, races and escapes across the Badlands, and a high-tension couple of months in the notorious Deadwood Gulch, where no one can believe that Johnson would be so dead set on protecting boxes of bones--he must be guarding something more valuable. Johnson's new-found photography skills come in useful in maintaining his finances but turn disastrous when he captures an image of a murderer who won't hesitate to kill again in order to destroy the evidence. Fortunately, he has friends as well as enemies among the notorious outlaws: the wily Earp brothers and a young, first-generation Chinese boy are on his side as long as he has money, but those professional relationships yield more loyalty than they are, strictly speaking, worth. Another bone-rattling race out of Deadwood to escape his unintended enemies leads Johnson to what ought to be safety...until a final confrontation with none other than the conniving Professor Marsh.All along the way, Crichton seamlessly integrates real American history, even including some excerpts from books and newspapers of the time, to illuminate just how rapidly the American West was "opening" to "progress", and the tragic and bloody results of that rapid expansion. These asides are concise, rarely taking a whole page and never slowing the plot (for me, at least). He does caution readers in an afterword not to read the book as history, pointing to a few places where he fudged timelines to demonstrate that the book is fiction. Dragon Bones was published almost ten years posthumously, and had he written it today Crichton probably would have been encouraged to be more balanced in describing the devastation wreaked on the American Indian populations. Though he does mention some of the ways that the U.S. government deliberately decimated their way of life, writing a thriller from the perspective of a white boy from the east coast does skew the perspective enough to make me uncomfortable. I'm fortunate in knowing just enough about this time in history to read critically.Honestly, my biggest beef with this book is the T-rex skull on the front and sharp teeth decorating the section breaks in the pages. Johnson and Cope make a significant discovery in the Montana badlands, but T-rex ain't it: the bones they find are from the largest herbivore found up to that point, not a carnivore. Ah well, that's book marketing for you. It's really no big deal to the story, as the bones are carefully packed away in boxes for most of the plot.If you're looking for a fun and informative historical thriller, give Dragon Bones a shot!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wow. At first I was worried that this posthumously published book would fall into the rut as most posthumously published books do. But I loved it. I didn't want it to end so I paced myself, reread chapters, and got lost in the words.