The Lost World

In addition to his Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s dinosaur adventure story delivers world-class excitement and deeply satisfying reading. Doyle’s story of explorers who find living dinosaurs in the Amazonian rainforest can hardly be matched for its originality.

I read it long ago and found it so memorable it was worth another read more recently. And I’m glad I did. The dinosaurs are portrayed dramatically, to say the least, but I was also impressed by rereading that the characters were quite ingenious. Professor Challenger, the expedition leader, is a gruff, highly irascible fellow, given to brawling as much… show more.

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… show more.

Conan Doyle’s masterpiece takes readers on an expedition to a remote plateau in the Amazon, where prehistoric creatures roam undisturbed.

This novel serves as a pioneering work in the genre of exploration fiction, captivating audiences with its vivid portrayal of unknown realms and the dangers they conceal. Through gripping adventure and scientific curiosity, the book explores the clash between human ambition and the natural world.

It stands as a major work, inspiring subsequent generations of explorers and storytellers to venture into the unknown. 

This one goes back a century or so, but no man-eating monster list would be complete without it. The Lost World is one of my favourites from when I first read it many years ago (not in 1912, however, I’m not that old), and it has stuck with me since. Interestingly, The Lost World is also the title to Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park sequel and was also noted as being Merian C. Cooper’s favourite novel. Cooper, as you may or may not know, co-directed King Kong with Ernest B. Schoedsack in 1933. Written by Arthur Conan Doyle, who was also… show more.

Everyone wants to find something sensational on their next trip. How cool would it be to find dinosaurs? Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel captures the spirit of adventure into a realm unknown, a plateau hidden on the map where time has stood still since the Mesozoic. When traveling to a place of historic (or prehistoric) significance, what fun is it to consider what those things were actually like? You probably won’t meet a dinosaur in the 21st Century, but echoes of past titans still linger in the ancient corners of our planet. 

What could be dreamier than being told exactly how to win the heart of your first true love? This is how Doyle’s classic novel begins, and where he takes the reader is nothing shy of a boisterous affair; an adventure starring dinosaurs, cannibals, and excitement at every turn of page.

It’s on point and at pace, being a shorter book. But it was one of the first books which I found to spark the dreamer lurking in me. I’ve even done a modern translation of this book.

Okay, we know there are no dinosaurs living on the tepuis (steep-sided mountains in Venezuela and Guyana). But in 1912 such a discovery was not outside the realm of possibility because this part of South America remained largely unexplored. Doyle, better known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was fascinated by the latest discoveries in science at a time when anything seemed possible. Couple that with an interest in far-off places and you have an expedition to South America to verify a series of outrageous claims by arguably his second-greatest character, Professor George Edward Challenger.

Well-researched by Doyle, the book… show more.