DRAGON TEETH takes us back to the old west in the early days of the field of paleontology. Two men, Professor Othniel Marsh and Edwin Drinker Cope, are engaged in a race to discover the newest and largest number of dinosaur fossils. William Johnson, the son of a prominent Philadelphia shipbuilder and a Yale student, finds himself caught between the two paleontologists after a ridiculous bet sends him on a quest to travel out west. William is about to get a firsthand view of just how nasty the Bone Wars are.
William is a great narrator for DRAGON TEETH. He starts off as a rich college student, wasting his father's money as he engages in one reckless act after another. However, it is his pride that sends him on the journey out west after a bet with a fellow Yale student. The events that ensue force him to grow up. I love seeing his evolution from a privileged and often frivolous student into a man willing to stand up for what he believes in and what he knows is right.
One of the things I've always loved about Michael Crichton's novels is the meticulous research incorporated into the storylines. DRAGON TEETH is no exception as the story had me googling facts and downloading a nonfiction historical work recommended by Crichton. While the character of William is fictional, the Bone Wars and the deep animosity between Cope and Marsh are well documented. In fact, the Author's Note points out that DRAGON TEETH tones down the hostility that existed between the two men. Michael Crichton does a brilliant job at engaging the reader in the story line and the characters as I actually wanted William to be real.
Published posthumously, DRAGON TEETH is exactly the sort of story one expects from Michael Crichton. Michael Crichton intersperses fictional journal entries to heighten the believability of William's character. DRAGON TEETH harkens back to the earlier works of Michael Crichton and reminds me of why his books were on my auto- buy list.
Michael Crichton, the #1 New York Times
bestselling author of Jurassic Park, returns to the
world of paleontology in this recently discovered novelβa
thrilling adventure set in the Wild West during the golden
age of fossil hunting.
The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate
Americaβs western territories even as lawless gold-rush
towns begin to mark the landscape. In much of the country it
is still illegal to espouse evolution. Against this backdrop
two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the Wild West,
hunting for dinosaur fossils, while surveilling, deceiving
and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be
known as the Bone Wars.
Into this treacherous territory plunges the arrogant and
entitled William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege
than sense. Determined to survive a summer in the west to
win a bet against his arch-rival, William has joined
world-renowned paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his
latest expedition. But when the paranoid and secretive Marsh
becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis,
Edwin Drinker Cope, he abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a
locus of crime and vice. William is forced to join forces
with Cope and soon stumbles upon a discovery of historic
proportions. With this extraordinary treasure, however,
comes exceptional danger, and Williamβs newfound resilience
will be tested in his struggle to protect his cache, which
pits him against some of the Westβs most notorious characters.
A page-turner that draws on both meticulously researched
history and an exuberant imagination, Dragon Teeth
is based on the rivalry between real-life paleontologists
Cope and Marsh; in William Johnson readers will find an
inspiring hero only Michael Crichton could have imagined.
Perfectly paced and brilliantly plotted, this enormously
winning adventure is destined to become another Crichton
classic.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026