menfrommarrs's review against another edition
4.0
This is considered a Bizarro book, and that is a fit description. Grotesque and Absurd.
Funny how a person can accept one unbelievable thing but not the other. Maybe that is the fodder for psychoanalysis.
This “new” genre is actually fun to read. It was a good short break between the more serious volumes on my shelves. You can not take yourself seriously when reading Bizarro.
Funny how a person can accept one unbelievable thing but not the other.
Spoiler
I was willing to accept that dinosaurs can carry and employ a multitude of various weapons, but not that mankind's nature had altered so much that they could actually survive even when their bodies are severed in two.This “new” genre is actually fun to read. It was a good short break between the more serious volumes on my shelves. You can not take yourself seriously when reading Bizarro.
sheldonnylander's review against another edition
4.0
Tyrannosaurs carrying three-barreled bazookas!
That is all.
Okay, maybe not all. That would be too short for a proper review, but if the world were a fair place, that's all that would need to be said about Love in the Time of Dinosaurs by Kirsten Alene.
To start with, the author builds an entire world populated by what we assume are probably humans, although at times I questioned this. The unnamed hero of the novel is a warrior monk fighting off an invasion of heavily armed dinosaurs. Is this Earth's unknown past? Its future? My take is that it's an entirely mythical world, but this is open to interpretation.
In this world, all dinosaurs, or Jeremies as they're referred to by the monks, are vicious killers. Even dinosaurs that have traditionally been considered herbivores will kill and devour people, such as the stegosaurus that ate the hero's best friend. That is until the hero catches a glimpse of a previously unseen dinosaur (a trachodon) who is peaceful, intelligent, and also a monk, something that the humans believe is impossible since all dinosaurs are animals to them. Armor-wearing, gun-toting, samurai-sword wielding animals. This trachodon is a female named Petunia, and the two are instantly drawn to each other. Hence the “love” part of the title. It's almost a Romeo-and-Juliet star-crossed lovers kind of deal, except that instead of Verona, it takes place on a world invaded by dinosaurs, and Tybalt is a stegosaurus with cannons mounted on his back.
There are only two complaints I have with this novel. The first is that it feels like there's more to tell. I know that I say this a lot when reviewing books from the Eraserhead Press label, but this is really the case here. It feels like there is a large chunk of the overall story missing, such as why the dinosaurs are called Jeremies, why the half-badger spiritish animals are called Steves, and where the dinosaurs came from and why they attacked. This last one is a question that seems to be creeping around in the back of the hero's mind, but is never answered, and there are hints dropped that there is definitely something going on here. But it's never fully pursued. Maybe the author will write a sequel which explores this, particularly as this whole war seems to center around the one monastery and the surrounding area, and we don't see the much of the rest of the world. There's a myth in the book surrounding islands floating at the center of the planet with one old man and one old woman on each one who never meet, and of the Great Destroyer Jeremy. If this has to do with something larger, I would like to read it.
The second problem is more of a pet peeve, that being the author completely ignores basic physical (not to mention physiological) laws. At one point, a character who has been cut in half, and generally seems to be okay if only a little upset at losing his lower half, opens his ribcage up after jumping with the hero from a pterodactyl in order to become a parachute and slow their descent (did you get all that?). I can understand and accept some stretching of basic physical principles, but when they're completely broken like that, it rips me off the page and restores disbelief. Others may be more accepting of this, but unfortunately, I just can't do it. It's not in my nature.
Still, Love in the Time of Dinosaurs is a good read. It can be surprisingly deep at times, and Kirsten Alene has an interesting and unique writing style. Her imagery, not to mention her prose, can actually be quite poetic. The novel can also be very gory, so interested readers should keep this in mind before they start reading it, aside from the above issues I mentioned. Because of those aforementioned issues, I can't say that I loved the book. However, I can say that despite those issues, I still really did like it, and I feel comfortable in giving it a solid recommendation.
Love in the Time of Dinosaurs earns four out of five stars.
That is all.
Okay, maybe not all. That would be too short for a proper review, but if the world were a fair place, that's all that would need to be said about Love in the Time of Dinosaurs by Kirsten Alene.
To start with, the author builds an entire world populated by what we assume are probably humans, although at times I questioned this. The unnamed hero of the novel is a warrior monk fighting off an invasion of heavily armed dinosaurs. Is this Earth's unknown past? Its future? My take is that it's an entirely mythical world, but this is open to interpretation.
In this world, all dinosaurs, or Jeremies as they're referred to by the monks, are vicious killers. Even dinosaurs that have traditionally been considered herbivores will kill and devour people, such as the stegosaurus that ate the hero's best friend. That is until the hero catches a glimpse of a previously unseen dinosaur (a trachodon) who is peaceful, intelligent, and also a monk, something that the humans believe is impossible since all dinosaurs are animals to them. Armor-wearing, gun-toting, samurai-sword wielding animals. This trachodon is a female named Petunia, and the two are instantly drawn to each other. Hence the “love” part of the title. It's almost a Romeo-and-Juliet star-crossed lovers kind of deal, except that instead of Verona, it takes place on a world invaded by dinosaurs, and Tybalt is a stegosaurus with cannons mounted on his back.
There are only two complaints I have with this novel. The first is that it feels like there's more to tell. I know that I say this a lot when reviewing books from the Eraserhead Press label, but this is really the case here. It feels like there is a large chunk of the overall story missing, such as why the dinosaurs are called Jeremies, why the half-badger spiritish animals are called Steves, and where the dinosaurs came from and why they attacked. This last one is a question that seems to be creeping around in the back of the hero's mind, but is never answered, and there are hints dropped that there is definitely something going on here. But it's never fully pursued. Maybe the author will write a sequel which explores this, particularly as this whole war seems to center around the one monastery and the surrounding area, and we don't see the much of the rest of the world. There's a myth in the book surrounding islands floating at the center of the planet with one old man and one old woman on each one who never meet, and of the Great Destroyer Jeremy. If this has to do with something larger, I would like to read it.
The second problem is more of a pet peeve, that being the author completely ignores basic physical (not to mention physiological) laws. At one point, a character who has been cut in half, and generally seems to be okay if only a little upset at losing his lower half, opens his ribcage up after jumping with the hero from a pterodactyl in order to become a parachute and slow their descent (did you get all that?). I can understand and accept some stretching of basic physical principles, but when they're completely broken like that, it rips me off the page and restores disbelief. Others may be more accepting of this, but unfortunately, I just can't do it. It's not in my nature.
Still, Love in the Time of Dinosaurs is a good read. It can be surprisingly deep at times, and Kirsten Alene has an interesting and unique writing style. Her imagery, not to mention her prose, can actually be quite poetic. The novel can also be very gory, so interested readers should keep this in mind before they start reading it, aside from the above issues I mentioned. Because of those aforementioned issues, I can't say that I loved the book. However, I can say that despite those issues, I still really did like it, and I feel comfortable in giving it a solid recommendation.
Love in the Time of Dinosaurs earns four out of five stars.
freelunch's review
4.0
What's not to love about dinosaurs with guns fighting genetically altered warrior monks? This is a well realised setting, quite unlike anything I've read before.
inciminci's review against another edition
3.0
Very surreal, very fun little story about a battle monk falling in love with a dinosaur, but humans and dinosaurs are at war with each other. Will make you laugh more than once. Don't be fooled though, this is not a romance story as the title would suggest- it would make a great military science fiction story if it were science fiction. Very bizarre.
bookdingo's review against another edition
4.0
The ages-old love story of a monk and his teal-eyed dinosaur. Will their pairing finally bring peace between villagers, monks, and the dinosaurs? Well I know, but you should read it yourself so you can know too.
electrobyte's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
erinks's review against another edition
4.0
This book was an adventure. Taking place in an alternate universe where dinosaurs (or Jeremy as they are called) are man-hungry killers with machine guns, katanas and flying disc blades of doom (WHAT!?) You follow the life of a monk, who has feared the Jeremy all of his life. Raised in a militant world where every day he goes out and patrols for Jeremy, protecting his fellow man. But then he sees Petunia. She's a different kind of Jeremy, one who isn't interested in chomping into his gut and flossing with his entrails. She's peaceful, and beautiful and warm, and everything changes.
This book was such a quick read, and (as bizarro fiction is want to do) there are a lot of liberties taken with the world of physics, but I loved the main character and he kept me reading.
There were moments of absolute truth and beauty in Alene's writing, contrasted with a whole lotta ugly and gore, and all-in-all I was very satisfied with the tale.
This book was such a quick read, and (as bizarro fiction is want to do) there are a lot of liberties taken with the world of physics, but I loved the main character and he kept me reading.
There were moments of absolute truth and beauty in Alene's writing, contrasted with a whole lotta ugly and gore, and all-in-all I was very satisfied with the tale.
xterminal's review
4.0
Kirsten Alene, Love in the Time of Dinosaurs (Eraserhead Press, 2010)
Okay, here's the checklist: monks practicing magical martial arts, dinosuars with large-bore weaponry, surgeons who have to improvise with whatever extra parts they have handy, sentient thought-clouds, interspecies forbidden love (even if it is never consummated, which would have made for an interesting scene, at least from the perspective of logistics). If you have even ONE of these things in a novel, you have already amped up the coolness factor. Put them all in? See for yourself by picking up a copy of Love in the Time of Dinosaurs, an outrageous trip of a novella set in an alternate-universe Asia (we're never told, but one assumes Tibet) where feral dinosaurs known as Jeremy have been waging war for years with a band of warrior monks holed up in a monastery with impenetrable walls. All continues on as it had been until a nameless monk meets Petunia, a trachodon who belongs to a peace-loving dinosaur sect who lives at the top of a nearby mountain and falls in love with her. Could their romance bring an end to this terrible war?
Of course I'm going to complain (as I do with most bizarro I read) that the damn thing's too short. There are acres of different things Alene could have explored with this conceit, and any of them would have been great. But despite that, what's here is wonderful, not just because of the cool factor but also because Alene digs into her characters enough to allow us some moments of genuine emotion as events unfold. It's pretty tough to write a warrior monk (a nameless one at that) in such a way as to make a reader identify with his trials and tribulations, but it works here, and it works very well.
Pure and simple: I loved this. Guessing you will too. Very much worth it despite its brevity. ****
Okay, here's the checklist: monks practicing magical martial arts, dinosuars with large-bore weaponry, surgeons who have to improvise with whatever extra parts they have handy, sentient thought-clouds, interspecies forbidden love (even if it is never consummated, which would have made for an interesting scene, at least from the perspective of logistics). If you have even ONE of these things in a novel, you have already amped up the coolness factor. Put them all in? See for yourself by picking up a copy of Love in the Time of Dinosaurs, an outrageous trip of a novella set in an alternate-universe Asia (we're never told, but one assumes Tibet) where feral dinosaurs known as Jeremy have been waging war for years with a band of warrior monks holed up in a monastery with impenetrable walls. All continues on as it had been until a nameless monk meets Petunia, a trachodon who belongs to a peace-loving dinosaur sect who lives at the top of a nearby mountain and falls in love with her. Could their romance bring an end to this terrible war?
Of course I'm going to complain (as I do with most bizarro I read) that the damn thing's too short. There are acres of different things Alene could have explored with this conceit, and any of them would have been great. But despite that, what's here is wonderful, not just because of the cool factor but also because Alene digs into her characters enough to allow us some moments of genuine emotion as events unfold. It's pretty tough to write a warrior monk (a nameless one at that) in such a way as to make a reader identify with his trials and tribulations, but it works here, and it works very well.
Pure and simple: I loved this. Guessing you will too. Very much worth it despite its brevity. ****
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