The Hand of Dinotopia - Hardcover

Alan Dean Foster is the author of Dinotopia Lost, and The Hand of Dinotopia, which are based on Dinotopia and Dinotopia: The World Beneath, written and illustrated by James Gurney. Mr. Foster has written novelizations of many popular fantasy and science fiction films, including Star Wars and the Alien films. He and his family live in Prescott, AZ.

James Gurney's fantasy art has appeared on the covers of more than 70 books, and his art appears regularly in National Geographic. He is the author and illustrator of Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time, Dinotopia: The World Beneath, and is currently working on his third Dinotopia book, which will be published in Fall 2000. He lives in the Hudson Valley of New York State with his family.

Grade 5-8-Following up on Dinotopia Lost (HarperCollins, 1998) with this doorstopper sequel set in the idyllic land of intelligent dinosaurs created by Gurney, Foster sends his intrepid protagonists Will and Sylvia from harsh desert to steamy rain forest in search of the fabled Hand-rumored to be a key to the sole safe passage between Dinotopia and the outside world. As can be expected from this veteran author, it's a smoothly crafted tale with an entertainingly contentious supporting cast, grandly formal language ("You claim there is something out there, Sylvia. Let us go and find it"), and replete with jawbreaking dinosaur nomenclature and a plot urged along at a steady, if deliberate, pace by well-timed adventures and discoveries. What makes this effort practically unique among epic fantasy is its lack of an evil adversary. Aside from an encounter with a threatening band of painted, spear-bearing deinonychids, the weaponless expedition faces only the occasional flash flood, giant centipede, or other natural hazard. Ultimately, the quest is successful, but with the revelation that the Hand's passage was concealed after an ancient war with human invaders, Will, Sylvia, and their scaled companions turn back in dismay-until the next sequel, perhaps. The story's (mostly) gentle dinosaurs and underlying pacificism make a rare break from the swords-and-monsters routine.
John Peters, New York Public Library
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