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sngsweelian's review against another edition
3.0
You can't help comparing this to Jurassic Park and of course, I feel that Michael Crichton is a much better story-teller. Having said that, this is not a bad attempt at writing an action thriller, filled with Dragons of various kinds and a smart heroine. The stereotypical portrayal of the Chinese, however, doesn't go well with me.
fergp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Fun, think Hollywood book. Sharknado for books. Enjoyable and some clever points and clever fake science.
psfb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Omg I love this so much. Gorgeous fast paced, gripping book that is similar in premise to the Jurassic Park series, but with more than enough differences to make it feel completly new!Lucky is the best girl she is so sweet and we Stan.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence
eggplantia5's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
puzzlemoneky27's review against another edition
3.0
Let’s do a bit of quick math here;
Matthew Reilly + dragons = ONLY THE BEST THING EVER!!!
I’m going to call a spade a spade. Great Zoo of China is not going to win any prestigious literary awards or change the way you think about life (at least I don’t think it will but you know everyone’s different). Who cares? If you’re already a Reilly fan (excellent taste by the way) then this is going to be right up your alley. Action? Check. Giant creatures? Check. Explosions? Uh-huh. A main character way cooler, smarter and more resourceful than you will ever be? You’d better believe it baby.
So here’s the general gist, no spoilers by the way, Dr Cassandra Jane (CJ) Cameron, well regarded herpertologist and writer for National Geographic and her brother, Hamish, her photographer, as well as a bunch of other journalists and generally quite important people are invited to take a sneak peak at “some big new zoo” in China. Turns out the zoo is less a meerkat, penguins type situation and more a dragon based one. Dragons? I know what you’re thinking, ‘surely you can’t those giant mythical reptile things with the claws and the wings and the fire’? Yeah, I do mean those things. Don’t worry though because they’ve got all kinds of safety measures in place so nothing can possibly go wrong. Obviously stuff does go very seriously wrong and basically aside from their initial arrival once the proverbial hits the fan that fan just keeps on spinning right up until the very end.
At a writers festival a few years ago I heard a bunch of romance writers talk about the kind of contract that they felt they had with their audience. That is, if you pick up one of their books they have to deliver XYZ because that is what the audience is expecting and anything less would almost certainly disappoint them. Matthew Reilly, I feel, has much the same thing going with his audience. When I see his name on the cover I know anything that can explode will, anything that can go wrong will and the life of our hero (or heroes) will perpetually be in danger. In The Great Zoo of China Reilly delivers on all promises.
What Reilly does best is entertain, yes the story is sometimes predictable (not always) and yes I was incredibly grossed out when CJ performed some “minor” surgery involving an eyeball (I’m not going to elaborate more on that, read the book and you’ll know what I mean) but for hours I was entertained and at the end of the day that’s part of what makes reading so enjoyable.
If you love Matthew Reilly already you won’t need me to tell you to read this but if you miss the old school action found in things like Indiana Jones or Jurassic Park, and you haven’t given Reilly a go previously, this is the perfect place to start.
Matthew Reilly + dragons = ONLY THE BEST THING EVER!!!
I’m going to call a spade a spade. Great Zoo of China is not going to win any prestigious literary awards or change the way you think about life (at least I don’t think it will but you know everyone’s different). Who cares? If you’re already a Reilly fan (excellent taste by the way) then this is going to be right up your alley. Action? Check. Giant creatures? Check. Explosions? Uh-huh. A main character way cooler, smarter and more resourceful than you will ever be? You’d better believe it baby.
So here’s the general gist, no spoilers by the way, Dr Cassandra Jane (CJ) Cameron, well regarded herpertologist and writer for National Geographic and her brother, Hamish, her photographer, as well as a bunch of other journalists and generally quite important people are invited to take a sneak peak at “some big new zoo” in China. Turns out the zoo is less a meerkat, penguins type situation and more a dragon based one. Dragons? I know what you’re thinking, ‘surely you can’t those giant mythical reptile things with the claws and the wings and the fire’? Yeah, I do mean those things. Don’t worry though because they’ve got all kinds of safety measures in place so nothing can possibly go wrong. Obviously stuff does go very seriously wrong and basically aside from their initial arrival once the proverbial hits the fan that fan just keeps on spinning right up until the very end.
At a writers festival a few years ago I heard a bunch of romance writers talk about the kind of contract that they felt they had with their audience. That is, if you pick up one of their books they have to deliver XYZ because that is what the audience is expecting and anything less would almost certainly disappoint them. Matthew Reilly, I feel, has much the same thing going with his audience. When I see his name on the cover I know anything that can explode will, anything that can go wrong will and the life of our hero (or heroes) will perpetually be in danger. In The Great Zoo of China Reilly delivers on all promises.
What Reilly does best is entertain, yes the story is sometimes predictable (not always) and yes I was incredibly grossed out when CJ performed some “minor” surgery involving an eyeball (I’m not going to elaborate more on that, read the book and you’ll know what I mean) but for hours I was entertained and at the end of the day that’s part of what makes reading so enjoyable.
If you love Matthew Reilly already you won’t need me to tell you to read this but if you miss the old school action found in things like Indiana Jones or Jurassic Park, and you haven’t given Reilly a go previously, this is the perfect place to start.
spersephone's review against another edition
3.0
Great read, but way too much non-stop action. So many times that CJ and others should have died. I question the ongoing psychological effects on one particular character, given the events they witnessed. I also didn't completely appreciate the clear bias against China. While it was believable, the concept of their craze to achieve super world domination, comments were snidely made about things that I felt were somewhat cruel and unnecessary.
logiebear1218's review against another edition
3.0
Jurassic park but in China. Not a big action reader, but fun story. Good read!
pelargonia's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
alicesayshi's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Big, dumb and fun. Exactly what I’d expected.
At times felt like something a year 8 kid with a good vocabulary would write. Lots of exclamation marks! In the narrative text! Boom!
At times felt like something a year 8 kid with a good vocabulary would write. Lots of exclamation marks! In the narrative text! Boom!