John Taine was a pseudonym for Eric Temple Bell, a mathematician whose hobby was all things science, writing science fiction novels and poetry. Party. He wrote fifteen novels from 1924 to 1954 and is considered one of the forefathers of science fiction.
I’m guessing the reason you clicked on this review is the same reason I picked the book up in the store. Just look at that cover art. The terrified woman, who in the midst of some outback adventure had time to set her hair in curlers the night before, with a giant Brontosaurus displaying oversize sharp teeth about to attack. It is simultaneously awesome, intriguing and hilarious.
Back in San Francisco Dr Lane, his daughter Edith and conceited giant crybaby archaeologist, Drake are hanging around doing science stuff. Dr Lane was a student who couldn’t afford science so he became an oil tycoon and now he can fulfill his true passion of science experiments at the age of 40. He loves strange creatures from the sea and offers the salty dog sailors’ money for any odd biological specimens.
One day Captain Anderson arrives with a tiny baby dinosaur carcass. Dr Lane’s curiosity is aroused. This thing was recently alive. Where did you find it?? Anderson tells him of a mishap in Antarctica wherein a bunch of oil shot up into the sea all around them and with it carried bodies of dinosaurs. Most of them giant but he found this little guy and scooped him up. Also, his first mate, Ole is an amateur photographer, scientist and philosopher who took pictures of some black rocks with ancient inscriptions on them. This of course interests Drake the archaeologist who immediately begins to have a mental breakdown trying to decipher the pictograms.
The captain wants oil, and the doctor wants dinosaurs so they make a deal, the captain will take Dr Lane, his daughter Edith and Drake to Antarctica to study the dinosaurs and find more of the ancient rocks in exchange for the doctor finding Captain Anderson oil.
There is a cute part after this that I can’t help to picture as an 80’s movies montage wherein Lane, Edith and Drake head out to Canada to camp out in the wintery night to get prepared for the oncoming cold adventure. While there Drake stops eating and sleeping as he becomes overwhelmed with solving the inscriptions. He’s also a complete asshole to everyone. I think this was to show how mind-boggling this discovery is and how amazing he is at being an archeologist, but I found it to be really annoying. Like, can we hurry up and find some dinosaurs so they can eat this guy, or what?
Now on the ship, Edith, yes, the ship’s name is also Edith, the greatest adventure has gotten underway. The three soft scientists are now hard as a block of ice. It’s a pretty uneventful trip, ship wise. There is lots of pontificating on what they will find. The first mate character Ole always chimes in with, “I have a theory…” and then is yelled at by the captain to shut the fuck up. It’s amusing at first but then loses steam quickly to become irritating. Just let the guy give his theory, fuck. There are some other moments of would-be humor that are cheeky era quips at each other that are the sort of thing you can tell were supposed to be funny but now seem prehistoric.
They land in Antarctica, scout around, find more dinosaur bodies, more rocks, more oil, snow and adventure ensues. I’ve read some reviews online that say it’s a precursor to Mountains of Madness. Woah there buddy, not too sure about that BUT I can see where they make the connection. There are moments that it does have that feel and there is a twist in the plot that heads down that icy cavern. They eventually find living dinosaurs and yes even the ones who are supposed to be herbivores have long jagged teeth. Why? You gotta read it.
This was a bit of a slog to get through. It’s very dry and dated. You can tell it was written in the 1920’s. The dialogue is super wordy and intellectual. Also, lots of science and biology jargon. Sooo much talking about what they’re going to do. Everything is discussed, argued, theorized and then executed. There were brief moments of immediate action but not much. Edith is by far the most exciting character. I’ve also seen (a lot) of reviews that consider her the main character. I don’t necessarily agree with that either. She is by far the strongest and most resilient character, but the story isn’t told from her perspective and it’s not soley her desires that make the plot move forward. There are many parts where she is just along for the ride. She reminds me of Kurt Russel’s character in John Carpenter’s The Thing. There is a ridiculous romance between her and asshole archaeologist that is him treating her like shit and her taking care of him. It’s depressing.
So yeah, this does have dinosaurs in it. They do have sharp teeth and try to eat people. It’s a pretty good adventure. It’s definitely not the greatest adventure. It has a presence to it. A feel. If you’re in the mood for something classic, this is it. There isn’t much from our current era in this. Everything down to how the people communicate is old timey. Like the beginning of the original Journey to the Center of the Earth movie where that pompous scientist drones on and on before the adventure begins and you just want them to start but everything must be explained first. They were in less of a hurry in those days and they filled it with talky talky. It was fun though once you mentally slowed down to a cool 25 mph.
Originally published in 1929
My edition: Ace books 1960
Review by: Nick Anderson
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