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Item - Last of the Dinosaurs

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(First printing)
(First printing)
(First printing)
(Book fair edition)
(Fourth printing)
(Fourth printing)
(Fourth printing)
(Sixth printing)
(Sixth printing)
(Sixth printing)
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Combined Summary

Series: Time Machine — no. 22
Platform: Microsoft Reader (First printing, Microsoft Reader edition)
Translated Into: El Ășltimo dinosaurio (Spanish)
Author: Lerangis, Peter
Illustrators: Hallett, Mark (cover)
Henderson, Doug (interior)
Dates: February, 1988 (First printing)
2001 (Microsoft Reader edition)
May 1, 2017 (Ibooks reissue)
ISBNs: 055316810X / 9780553168105 (Book fair edition)
0553270079 / 9780553270075 (First printing, Fourth printing, Sixth printing)
1596876336 / 9781596876330 (Ibooks reissue)
Length: 113 pages (plus data bank and data file) (First printing, Book fair edition, Fourth printing, Sixth printing, Microsoft Reader edition)
Number of Endings: 1
Cover Price: US$2.50 (First printing, Book fair edition, Fourth printing)
User Summary: To explain the disappearance of the dinosaurs you must travel back to the Great Extinction and observe the last surviving dinosaurs.
Demian's Thoughts:

This book really didn't need to be written. It covers a lot of the same territory as the other dinosaur-related book in the series; I suspect it was only written because dinosaurs sell and by this time the series was most likely waning in popularity. Among other problems, there are a lot of seemingly arbitrary decisions and a couple of largely pointless and uninteresting trips to the 20th century. The ultimate solution to the mystery is believable and realistic, however, and makes up for a number of the book's flaws.

One peculiar thing -- this is one of the earliest gamebooks I owned, and I remember reading it seemingly forever as a child and never finishing it. I would pick it up, read for a while, put it down for a few weeks, then pick it back up again and still never finish. I assumed until recently that this was simply due to a lot of backward loops in the book, but now that I've seen Julien Peter Benney's map, it is apparent that the book has a strong forward momentum with only one backward loop. I must have either picked up reading from the wrong page every time I returned to the book in my childhood, or I was a slower reader than I thought! In any case, I take back my prior complaint about the book sending the reader in loops forever.

More reviews by Demian

Special Thanks:Thanks to Ryan Lynch for the first printing cover images.
Users Who Own This Item: Alatar001, Andys80s, angriestmonster, Ardennes, auximenes, bigcobra, bookwormjeff, CSquared, Cyan, dave2002a, Demian, domj29, Eamonn McCusker, EegahInc, egokun, Erikwinslow, exaquint (book fair, book fair (reversed price info)), Ffghtermedic, firefoxpdm, Garrick Muttley, Grifter (book fair), Gurvo, Himynameistony, hoops4ever, horrorbusiness, Hrk, jdreller, Jubal (book fair), katzcollection, kinderstef, knginatl ("book fair"), mattender, mlvoss, nelsondesign, Nomad, novelist1982, ntar, Oberonbombadil (Original US 1st), outspaced, Pseudo_Intellectual, qazplm (regular), Radical347, randrews, resurgens, RonaldFrobnitz, Seizure, Sheridan77, SherlockHolmes, spragmatic, strawberry_brite, ThaRid, ToucanJams, Tremendez, twar, waktool (US 1st printing ($2.50)), wonderfly
Users Who Want This Item: bonhomme, dblizzard72, Dronak, exaquint, Faberwest, Greeneuva, HAMBORSKI (i want this book), Mr ?, NEMO (regular&book fair edition), Ryuran333, stock, ThisIslandEarth, Waluigi Freak 99
Users with Extra Copies: exaquint - book fair (x2)
kinderstef
ntar
rtaylor352
SherlockHolmes - One extra copy for sale
Tremendez

Known Editions

First printing
Book fair edition
Fourth printing
Sixth printing
Microsoft Reader edition
Ibooks reissue

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Related Documents

Structure Diagram

Time Machine #22 Map
Thanks to Julien Peter Benney for contributing this map of the book's structure.