Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton

Shane | Allentown High School, Grade 11

Rating: ***

Dragon Teeth was published a decade after Michael Crichton’s death, only after finding his manuscript by random chance. It follows the rivalry of two well-established paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope through the form of fictional accounts based on the rumors of these once living explorers. The novel takes place mostly from the eye of a photographer named Johnson, who though simply just trying to make a living with this skill, gets caught between the two sides. Things quickly start to go south once both paleontologists learn of Johnson’s affiliation with their rival, placing high bounties on the head of the photographer. He’s forced to go into hiding in the town of Deadwood, where the citizens there might kill him before Marsh or Cope can find him.

This historical fiction tale is the perfect ode to western stories, but I can see that the late Michael Crichton wanted to put much more into this story before his unfortunate death. If you’re a fan of Jurassic Park, I believe that you’ll find that this is the perfect prequel before all the genetic extraction that lead to the creation of Crichton’s greatest work. There are some really phenomenal moments in this story, such as my favorite… Emily’s secret. I won’t spoil what that is, but her character really adds another depth to the story. Michael Crichton’s wife finished the last few chapters of Dragon Teeth upon discovering the manuscript, and I think the viewpoint does begin to deviate from that of the original. Some parts are a bit slow, such as the infinite wandering in the desert with nowhere to go… taking up a number of chapters without much progression. All in all, I am just glad that even after all these years, it would not be the last of Michael Crichton.