NYT's best-selling author does not disappoint

NYT’s best-selling author does not disappoint

By ELLIE SMITH

Staff Writer

“Dragon Teeth” is the most recently published novel by Michael Crichton, the author that brought you “Jurassic Park,” “The Lost World,” “The Andromeda Strain,” and many other New York Times bestsellers. The novel is believed to have been started by Crichton in 1974 and was published posthumously in May of 2017.

“Dragon Teeth” offers a compelling story of the unexpected trials in a college student’s adventure out west. Having only previously read one Crichton novel, “Jurassic Park,” I was delighted to experience Crichton’s captivating rhythm in a genre more akin to historical fiction rather than science fiction. The novel is characteristic of Crichton’s style of suspense and creative, informative, supporting details.

If you are interested in the coming of age of college-aged protagonists, the intense drama of westerns, the pursuit of scientific knowledge, or edge of your seat suspense, then “Dragon Teeth” should be next on your reading list.

I will not spoil the ending, but if you would like the general plot to remain a surprise, I would suggest you stop reading now. William Johnson is a student at Yale in 1875 who gets roped into a summer paleontology trip out west on a bet. As a privileged city boy, his family warns him that he has no business going out west among warring Indian tribes and manic miners of the gold rush.

As the trip begins, Johnson reflects on how “Hunting for bones [sic] has a peculiar fascination, not unlike hunting for gold, (“Dragon Teeth,” Crichton). As the journey begins, Johnson’s fascination becomes appreciation as he learns more about the taboo topic of evolution.

Early in the trip, Johnson is kicked out of professor Marsh’s expedition as a result of Marsh’s extreme paranoia and competitive nature in his field. Johnson then joins Professor Cope’s team, Marsh’s academic rival. It is under the supervision of Cope that Johnson extracts fossilized teeth from a rock that appear to be an entirely new species, one so large that it is compared to a dragon. The competing teams cross paths again out west where they attempt to sabotage each other’s respective expedition.

In addition, suspense is built among the characters during close encounters with Indian tribes and geographic perils of the west. While Johnson and his friends experience several narrow escapes, a single attack leaves Johnson alone to fend for his life and the protection of several crates of bones – including the teeth. While the attack by Indians on horseback was at least predictable, Johnson finds that he must also anticipate the deception of the men in lawless gold rush towns who accost him in saloons for gold that they believe he carries in his crates of bones.

Crichton was so informed and researched in the content matter of this novel that you are left considering that perhaps the events of this novel really could have transpired. In fact, Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh were real paleontologists who fought over each other’s discoveries. The believable quality of Crichton’s fiction augments the level of suspense imbedded in the creation of “Dragon Teeth.” It is a sure treat for Crichton fans and a great read for those who wish to experience a unique period in American history through fiction.