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Friday, August 12, 2011

Review: Rex Riders by J.P. Carlson

Publisher: Monstrosities Books
Published: June 21, 2011
Pages: 440
Source: For Review from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program
Rating: 2.5 Stars


When 14-year-old Zeke Calhoun goes to live at his Uncle Jesse’s broken-down ranch in Texas, he discovers that he has a natural way with horses and loves to ride. But this is nothing compared to what he finds in a riverbed near the ranch: a mysterious stranger, riddled with bullets, lying face down in the dirt, and a juvenile T-Rex keeping a pack of hungry wolves at bay. Where did the stranger come from? Who shot him and why? While Zeke saves the stranger and sets out to answer these questions, he finds something much more interesting—a bridle in the dinosaur’s mouth. From that moment on he knows he is destined to ride the T-Rex. What he does not know, however, is that his actions will set off a chain of events plunging him into an incredible adventure, one that will lead to the discovery of a deadly alliance between Earth and a prehistoric world that could threaten the very fabric of both.

In short: Though it is by no means a triumph in writing, characterization, or editing, Rex Riders by J.P. Carlson is a great adventure for any major dinosaur geek.
I was so excited to receive Rex Riders through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program. As a paleo nerd, my reaction upon seeing the cover and reading the blurb for Rex Riders was pure, unadulterated joy. A story about a boy who gets to ride a tame, teenaged T-Rex, in the style of Dinotopia? Cool Factor 10! (Erm, or should this be Nerd Factor 10?). In Rex Riders, aliens transport dinosaurs from Cretaceous Era Earth to their own planet using a special-transport-device-thing. The dinosaurs thrive on their new planet and coevolve with other alien life forms. Later, they are brought back to Earth through the same special-transport-device-thing. Rex Riders definitely gets points for being the most original and strange book I've read this year.

The major problem with Rex Riders however, is that it is simply no great piece of literature, to put it lightly. The writing and characterization is amateurish, reverting to the easy way out of "telling instead of showing" the reader. At 440 pages, Rex Riders is also in dire need of some serious editing. At various points, there were large sections of extraneous and boring information that I felt the urge to just skim over to get to the actual action. This all being said, did I expect Rex Riders to be excellently written when I saw it? No. I wanted to read it purely because it had dinosaurs in it, I'm not going to lie.

And as a dinosaur fan, Rex Riders delivers on the Cool Factor scenes, featuring triceratops stampedes, baryonyx chases, and tyrannosaur hunts. J.P. Carlson excels in staging intense action scenes that were great fun to read. Anytime there was a dinosaur on the page, it thrilled me, even if they weren't doing anything particularly interesting. This story is for anyone who has ever dreamed of living in a time when dinosaurs were alive (with the added bonus that juvenile T-Rexes can be "domesticated" and ridden and are less likely to, you know, kill you). I know I've dreamt of it.

To put it bluntly, if you are not as much of a dinosaur geek as I am, I would skip this one.

Author Links:
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21 comments :

  1. This book sounds like it had the potential to be a lot of fun, but the lack of professionalism really killed it. Bummer! I'm by no means a dinosaur fan, so I'll be skipping this one. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! :)

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  2. Yeah, I get the impression that the guy is just a dinosaur fan, himself. He may not be a writer by profession.

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  3. Too bad this book didn't deliver in other aspects, but it does take the cake for having an intriguing premise.

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  4. It was a kind of campy premise but I liked it. I think it would be very cool anyway :)

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  5. Aww, it sounds like a bit of a book fail. :( Which is sad because the premise sounded like fun .

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  6. Yeah, but I really never expected it to be a work of art. It's not quite self-published because they do have a company, Monstrosities Inc. that they published it through, but it never passed under the eyes of an actual editor, that's for sure. I didn't read it for he writing, but the fact that it had dinosaurs in it, pure and simple.

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  7. The story behind this one definitely sounded interesting. I love how he came across the T-Rex, and how it had a bridle in his mouth. That's too bad that the other aspects of the book weren't really up to par :( Thanks for the honest review, Aylee!

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  8. I think I'm going to have to skip this one for the pure reason that I just don't have time for books without a high rating, you know? Fab honesty though, Aylee! :)

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  9. Tessa: How cool would that be, to come across that site? But, again, only if it was a domesticated!

    Melissa: I really meant it when I recommended it only to intense dinosaur geeks... and even then, I'm an intense dinosaur geek and I found lots at fault with it.

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  10. It's too bad it did not live up to your dino geek expectations.;0) Good and honest review though! :0)

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  11. What I really enjoy about your blog is that you read a wide variety of books! You always surprise me.

    Bum deal that this one didn't quite work for you. My little cousin is in a dino phase. I wonder if he'd be interested in it. With so many pages, I'm thinking probably not. LOL

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  12. Wow 440 pages and still we don't get a lot of character development? It's always frustrating for me when there are sections of information just stuck in that don't seem to add anything to the plot. The premise sounds really fun, but I think I'll be passing on this one. Thanks Aylee!

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  13. I like dinosaurs, but I don't think I like them enough to read though over 400 pages of meh writing. I love the idea of riding a t-rex though!

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  14. Tracy: Thanks! My expectations were pretty low to begin with honestly...

    Missie: I do try to branch out, and yet when I do, it's always into an area that involves something I'm interested in, like dinosaurs. And yeah, I found that the tone of the book skewed young, MG, and yet the size of it was so large that it would only work for voracious readers.

    Jenny: It wasn't that there wasn't a lot of character development per se, because I knew who the characters were. It's just that the process to get there (telling and not showing) was not good. Boring really, compared to the more interesting way of learning about a character through their actions.

    Small: Yup, it's for super fans only. And even then, I didn't really find it to be that amazing. I loved the concept though and I loved the illustrations!

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  15. After seeing the cover, I thought this might be something my little brother would enjoy. I doubt he'd be up for reading a 440 page book though, especially one that you didn't think that highly of.

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  16. Yeah, if only this had had an actual editor, cut a good 150 pages or so, I think it could be a great read for boys MG-aged.

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  17. Well, shoot. At least you read it and gave it a chance. I'm not really a huge dinosaur fan, so I'm sure I wouldn't have even gave this one a second look.

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  18. It is pretty definitive, isn't it? Either you see the cover and read the blurb and absolutely want to read it, or not at all.

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  19. Bummer to hear the writing and editing aren't up to snuff. I'm not a super-huge dinosaur nerd (though I love reading whenever archeologists find new groundbreaking fossils), so I'll be taking your advice and skipping this one. Thanks for the honest review!


    Smiles!
    Lori

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  20. No problem! I'm not so much interested in the latest archaeological finding myself, but I do like paleontological findings.

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