Scan barcode
A review by thereadingwren
The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly
2.0
2/5
If you like dragons, don't read this!
Ugh, it was such a struggle to get through this book. For an action/adventure novel it was so boring. Sure, there was lots of blood and guts, fight scenes and death, but still I kept yawning through the whole thing. This whole book is so tedious and it's about a Dragon Zoo where the dragons take over. It shouldn't be boring but it is. I think that has something to do with Matthew Reilly's writing. He uses a lot of basic writing tactics to induce suspense without actually making things feel suspenseful. He also explains the hell out of every situation, he's a teller not a shower and it's the most boring thing to read in a book.
Another issue with Matthew Reilly's writing (that I was somehow able to ignore with the Shane Schofield series) is how confusing everything is. I have no idea what the scenery of a scene actually looks like or where the characters spatially are in that scene. Sometimes you don't even know someone was in the same area as the other character until they die, like they popped out of nowhere just to be eaten. Nothing really made sense with this book.
The idea was interesting, as was the way Reilly explained dragons in a way that made it seem very plausible. However, the fact that he took the first 130 pages to dump this information on us in huge paragraphs with nothing else happening made the whole thing boring. I'm honestly surprised I didn't DNF it in those first hundred pages.
The characterisation of Go-Go has me incredibly offended and disliking Matthew Reilly. Go-Go is actually described as 'supergay' ... WTF is that supposed to mean?! Then he goes on to be the most stereotypical gay man I've ever read about. I'm so disappointed in Matthew Reilly.
This just wasn't written well and as a lover of dragons I didn't enjoy 515 pages of dragon slaughter - either by humans or other dragons.
If you like dragons, don't read this!
Ugh, it was such a struggle to get through this book. For an action/adventure novel it was so boring. Sure, there was lots of blood and guts, fight scenes and death, but still I kept yawning through the whole thing. This whole book is so tedious and it's about a Dragon Zoo where the dragons take over. It shouldn't be boring but it is. I think that has something to do with Matthew Reilly's writing. He uses a lot of basic writing tactics to induce suspense without actually making things feel suspenseful. He also explains the hell out of every situation, he's a teller not a shower and it's the most boring thing to read in a book.
Another issue with Matthew Reilly's writing (that I was somehow able to ignore with the Shane Schofield series) is how confusing everything is. I have no idea what the scenery of a scene actually looks like or where the characters spatially are in that scene. Sometimes you don't even know someone was in the same area as the other character until they die, like they popped out of nowhere just to be eaten. Nothing really made sense with this book.
The idea was interesting, as was the way Reilly explained dragons in a way that made it seem very plausible. However, the fact that he took the first 130 pages to dump this information on us in huge paragraphs with nothing else happening made the whole thing boring. I'm honestly surprised I didn't DNF it in those first hundred pages.
The characterisation of Go-Go has me incredibly offended and disliking Matthew Reilly. Go-Go is actually described as 'supergay' ... WTF is that supposed to mean?! Then he goes on to be the most stereotypical gay man I've ever read about. I'm so disappointed in Matthew Reilly.
This just wasn't written well and as a lover of dragons I didn't enjoy 515 pages of dragon slaughter - either by humans or other dragons.