The best books where dinosaurs run amok

I believe this is one of the earliest examples of dinosaurs truly influencing pop culture, as Doyle was one of the most popular authors of his day, and even now, his reputation precedes him.

I have always loved what this book represents as this was a time when people were first learning that dinosaurs even existed, an entire new frontier and storytelling was opening up, but this time, it wouldn’t center around mythical creatures of folklore but would be centered around beasts that once roamed our own earth.

This book is a charming time capsule that takes me back to the dawn of a new era of fiction where ancient creatures such as dinosaurs were considered new in the public consciousness.

What is there to say about this book that has not already been said? While the Lost World gave dinosaurs their place in the public consciousness, Jurassic Park gave them their place in modern pop culture. I have always loved this book for its many original ideas and concepts.

While it was inspired by earlier works such as The Island of Dr. Moreau and the aforementioned Lost World, it managed to combine the ideas of man manipulating nature and an untamed wilderness of prehistoric beasts seamlessly. I also appreciate how unapologetically dark and macabre the original novel was compared to the much more family-friendly movie adaptation.

This novel is an outright bloodbath and does not shy away from the absolute brutality that dinosaurs would bring to the modern age if they were somehow revived. An icon of dinosaur fiction and science fiction as a whole, this book is well deserving of its reputation as the king of dinosaurs in fiction.

Why did I love this book? Am I allowed to just say “dinosaurs ghosts?” In all seriousness, this story uses dinosaurs in a way that very few stories have ever dared to try, that being in a supernatural horror story.

I cannot help but admire the author's commitment to this premise. The author’s impressive knowledge of actual paleontology cannot be understated. As a mental health worker myself, I also love the story’s realistic depiction of a main character working through grief and trauma.

Add all of this to a story about the ancient spirits of dinosaurs haunting a museum, and I found myself enthralled by this book from start to finish.

This story has gained a large following in the online dinosaur fan community. I admire it for its unapologetic brutality, which is not only reminiscent of the original Jurassic Park novel but also the horror/action films of the 1980s, such as Aliens and Predator.

The authors also clearly have a passion for military history, as the setting of the Vietnam War is well-researched and accurately represented. Despite the story not shying away from the sobering brutality of war, it does not shy away from the sci-fi angle, as the plot of Soviet scientists using time travel to bring dinosaurs to Vietnam is very much front and center as well.

This book will be adapted into a movie next year, which recently finished filming. I will likely revisit the book prior to the film’s release.

A commonly discussed debate among dinosaur fans is whether or not Jurassic Park was influenced in any way by this book. Not only did the Carnosaur novel predate Jurassic Park but the film adaptations of both were released only weeks apart in 1993.

Regardless, this book did many of the same things in Jurassic Park several years before Jurassic Park’s release. The novel also features an eccentric billionaire cloning dinosaurs, but what I believe truly separates both stories is the fact that while Jurassic Park is set on a remote island, Carnosaur follows a sleepy little town where the primal creatures escape to and wreak havoc.

What follows is a gruesome series of attacks and mauling that send shivers down my spine each time I revisit this story. While this book is not as highly regarded as Jurassic Park, I believe it deserves to be remembered as a piece of dinosaur history.