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marikalla's review
3.0
3 stars.
The writing is about as dry as you probably suspect.
Like:
"The number of teeth in each maxilla and dentary vary in the tyrannosaurs, with each having between 11 and 18 teeth, and there typically being more in smaller, older tyrannosaurs, and fewer in more recent and larger forms" (94).
Despite this, the book is also chock-fool of great information, and the author's passion about sharing his knowledge shines through. I may not have understood all the vocab (no matter how many times I read a sentence over), but hey, I got answers to a lot of the questions I wondered about.
Like, did dinosaurs have feathers since they're bird ancestors?
Though it also left me with other questions, like did dinosaurs have lips, but I suppose that's a question for another day.
Also, apparently pterodactyls weren't actually dinosaurs, who knew? (this guy I guess)
The writing is about as dry as you probably suspect.
Like:
"The number of teeth in each maxilla and dentary vary in the tyrannosaurs, with each having between 11 and 18 teeth, and there typically being more in smaller, older tyrannosaurs, and fewer in more recent and larger forms" (94).
Despite this, the book is also chock-fool of great information, and the author's passion about sharing his knowledge shines through. I may not have understood all the vocab (no matter how many times I read a sentence over), but hey, I got answers to a lot of the questions I wondered about.
Like, did dinosaurs have feathers since they're bird ancestors?
Though it also left me with other questions, like did dinosaurs have lips, but I suppose that's a question for another day.
Also, apparently pterodactyls weren't actually dinosaurs, who knew? (this guy I guess)
dostojevskijs's review
5.0
This was both entertaining and educating (even if I'll admit that I did feel rather lost once or twice). I have been saving this one for a while, and the wait was definitely worth it.
balfies's review against another edition
Didn't get very far into this one when I realised it was less a walking tour of tyrannosaurs and more a descriptive diagram in listed form. Scientists may find this more engaging than I did, but for the amateur dinosaur lover you may be better served by a wiki article to give you the biological Cliffs notes. Though the author is clearly very knowledgeable, I think the marketing and cover on this book should have skewed more straight up and down scientific than pop science.
ryner's review
3.0
Tyrannosaurs are arguably the most studied dinosaur since the very first fossils of 'terrible lizards' began to pique human imaginations, and scientists now know (with relative confidence) enough about them to fill a 300-page book. One need not be an expert in paleontology to enjoy this read, only to have retained a childlike wonder that these amazing creatures ever existed at all. I look forward to a day when, as the wheels of research continue to turn, full-length books are possible about many other favorite prehistoric personalities.
fantastichaxorus's review against another edition
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
2.0
couldn't decide if it was a pop science book or something heavier, and thus wasn't very good.
vegancleopatra's review against another edition
2.0
Sadly my takeaway from this work is that the author should stick with paleontology and put aside the writing. His passion for paleontology is clear, his writing is not. It was often difficult to pull from his lengthy ramblings what his overall point was in many parts. The book was a bit of a chore to get through.
I found a great deal of the book to be extremely dull because while it was about dinosaurs (tyrannosaurs), it really was just a biological breakdown of EVERY minute detail that has been discovered. It just was not compelling. There was also often far too much information in too confined a space. No one is going to recall all of the names and details the author throws at you rapidly. The book could have been on any other species and it would have been dull as well. Overall, I find it unlikely that this would be an inviting book for general dinosaur lovers, especially since I even found it dull and I have a biology degree and usually love this type of thing.
Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley & publisher in exchange for an honest review. (They may regret this.) Any and all quotes were taken from an advanced edition subject to change in the final edition.
I found a great deal of the book to be extremely dull because while it was about dinosaurs (tyrannosaurs), it really was just a biological breakdown of EVERY minute detail that has been discovered. It just was not compelling. There was also often far too much information in too confined a space. No one is going to recall all of the names and details the author throws at you rapidly. The book could have been on any other species and it would have been dull as well. Overall, I find it unlikely that this would be an inviting book for general dinosaur lovers, especially since I even found it dull and I have a biology degree and usually love this type of thing.
Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley & publisher in exchange for an honest review. (They may regret this.) Any and all quotes were taken from an advanced edition subject to change in the final edition.
voraciousreader's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this and I'm also enjoying the series that this book sits within. This book makes the science and the history of this topic fun, highly readable and interesting. Well worth a read.