Item - Dinosaur Island

While you never do manage to take down the mad scientist who runs this island (though in a few endings he does self destruct in the helicopter not managing to take off fast enough), and many of the endings are shorter than average (there are many different branches of things that happen based on the choices you make), the overall ending remains the same: the volcano will blow up and you have a very short amount of time to explore the island. Ironically, while you might enjoy the dinosaurs, you main objective in this book is to take a few pictures as fast as you can and then try to get off the island quickly. Well put together.

More reviews by Countersound

This was a surprisingly good book. I'm making my way through my 100 book collection, trying to read and review every single one, and I reached this one with slight disinterest. It was written in 1993, which was the height of the Jurassic Park/dinosaur mania. It's by Packard, so I expected it to be well written in a bland way with weak nods to "what's hot" like he did in the book about skateboarding.

But what a surprise! It's really good. You end up on an island as the result of a plane crash off the coast of Australia. It's run by a mad French scientist who has cloned dinosaurs. There are many different paths you can take, and I was very pleased to get a good ending on my first runthrough. (If you've read my reviews before, you'll know that I strive to get a good ending on the first try). It was all a case of making good, logical choices. Of course, on some other paths, it was all up to chance, but that first ending really put me in a good mood, and I enjoyed delving into the rest of the book to explore it all.

A lot of the endings are pretty bleak, but that's fitting, considering your situation as the character. I think the one that will stick with me the most is when you're being chased by a newborn allosaur, and it's almost comical, because it's wobbling around after you. You laugh, thinking "it won't know what to do with you when it catches you.

It does.

THE END."

Whoa. Awesome. LOVED this book.

More reviews by yunakitty