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The Dinosaur Lords (The Dinosaur Lords #1)

by Victor Milán (Goodreads Author)

3.06 · Rating Details · 696 Ratings · 194 Reviews

A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often brutal place. Men and women live on Paradise as do dogs, cats, ferrets, goats, and horses. But dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden – and of war. Colossal planteaters like Brachiosaurus; terrifying meateaters like Allosaur ...more

Hardcover, Second Edition, 448 pages

Published July 28th 2015 by Tor Books

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Lists with This Book

Can't Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2015

43rd out of 573 books — 3,161 voters

Most Anticipated: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Novels of 2015

25th out of 451 books — 1,497 voters

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Community Reviews

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Aug 18, 2015 Mike rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, reviewed

The Dinosaur Lords delivered exactly what the cover promises: knights on dinosaurs.

Of course it is a bit deeper than at.

The one thing you should know.
This world - Paradise - isn't Earth.
It wasn't Earth. It won't ever be Earth.
It is no alternate Earth.
All else is possible...

So right off the bat I could tell something was going to be lurking below the surface. Then BAM, we meet an Angel. And not one of your namby, pamby feathered pretty boys:

It strode from the cliff fully formed, emerging form

...more

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Aug 24, 2015 Andrea marked it as to-read

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Jul 27, 2015 Mogsy (MMOGC) rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, epic, review-copy, arcs-and-galleys

4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/07/27/b...

Ever wondered what a tournament joust would look like, if both opponents were charging full-tilt towards each other while mounted on three tons of bellowing hadrosaurus? Honestly, I can’t say I have. But Victor Milán has shown me the light, and it is glorious.

Knights and dinosaurs. Tell me you can resist that, because I know I couldn’t.

The Dinosaur Lords takes place in the Empire of Neuvaropa, a fictional land reminiscent ...more

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Sep 19, 2015 Kaitlin rated it did not like it

Well honestly this book was a big disappointment for me really because after hearing the hype surrounding it and hearing George R R Martin endorse this I was at least highly intrigued by the idea of including Dinosaurs within a Fantasy...however, this book is nothing like what I expected or hoped for and every time I thought it could become something good it really disappointed me in the direction it turned.

I have many complaints when it comes to this book but mainly it comes down to lack of ori Well honestly this book was a big disappointment for me really because after hearing the hype surrounding it and hearing George R R Martin endorse this I was at least highly intrigued by the idea of including Dinosaurs within a Fantasy...however, this book is nothing like what I expected or hoped for and every time I thought it could become something good it really disappointed me in the direction it turned.

I have many complaints when it comes to this book but mainly it comes down to lack of originality and muddled plotting. In this story we're focusing on a world called Paradise and all we know about it, for the majority of the book, is that it's not Earth. I personally liked the idea that maybe this was a Fantasy with Sci-fi themes and Paradise is a world that Humans have travelled to and inhabited but it just happens to have Dinosaurs there, but within the confines of the story this doesn't work.
I then considered the idea that this world was just that, a secondary world which had an alternative history so Dinosaurs have survived and have learned to co-exist on the planet with Humans - again this doesn't work because if this is the case and we're in an alternative medieval period, why are the character's heights and measurements all measured in centimetres????
Finally I tried to wrap my head around the idea that this is a created world where people control all the humans and Dinosaurs on the world and manipulate them into doing things for whatever reason they feel like and whilst this does kind of work as a concept, it honestly doesn't work in terms of the plot and the muddled layout of this world. Why do we have a muddle of Dinosaurs, Angels, Gods, Fey, Humans and all sorts of other random stuff all just getting along?? This so wouldn't work? Why do we have God-like creatures who 'made' this world? Who are they? What is the reason? NONE of this is at any point explained and the small hints that we do get are both conflicting and misleading at various points of the story.

I'm not often someone who gets angry about a book or gives out a 1* rating. In fact it's pretty rare for me to ever go below a 2* rating as I like to at least give credit where credit is due, but honestly nothing really worked for me in this. The best bit of this story for me is when the book is almost at the end and one of the characters sings a song about a battle and the only reason that worked for me was because I liked the rhymes and lyrics... If this is the only thing I think works in the book then seriously, something must be pretty messed up, and in this book nothing else was really worth talking about or redeemable.

I don't want to go on a huge rant about this book and the various pitfalls it fell into, but unfortunately it's the only way that I'm going to be able to describe my thoughts. We have 4 major characters in the book with a 5th who becomes much more major late in the story. Out of these 5 characters, 4 of them are men and they're all 'great' leaders and fighters and plotters (how typical). The single lady who is a main character had the potential to do some really cool things and involve herself in the plot in many ways, instead she's used as eye-candy for the men and an object to rape and assault at various points. I'm not usually a stickler for women and the portrayal in fantasy as I know it's often not the best, but honestly she COULD have been a awesome character and instead she was weak and crap!!! Disappointing!

Moving onto another point, the main viewpoint character is called Rob and I felt as though he was probably the least developed for me of them all which is ridiculous as we see mostly from his pov. The reason I say he's the weakest in terms of development is because all he does is adore the other character of Karyl and praise him... very tedious and boring to read after a fair few times!!
Karyl and Jaume are basically the same except Karyl has no conscience and Jaume is all about being a nice guy. They're both 'awesome' in everyone else's eyes and they both know exactly how to fix any dire situation at the last minute. Very predictably they're both going to 'win' at whatever they do.

Finally the last main character is Falk and he's the only one who actually interested me by the end of the book as the rest I had really given up all hope of redemption for. He, at least, has a fairly interesting plot which at the end of the book does do some more interesting stuff (if still not that original).

This book also over-uses profanity and rape etc massively. I have no problem at all with swearing and such in books because I read a lot of it and it takes a LOT for it to affect me. This book is so blasé about throwing swear words and horrible characters about that it just got annoying and silly. Unfortunately when profanity is overused it really doesn't even have an effect when actual bad stuff is happening and so this book had very little 'shock' factor in terms of events or language.
Equally it's not beautifully written or anything like that and it seems as though almost every chapter and paragraph was mostly 'he slashes this dinosaur which is super terrifying and scary and manages to kill it with ease because he's super cool' which is just ridiculous... Dinosaurs are made out to be SO terrifying, and yet by sitting on top of a small and nimble one you seem able to take down even the most terrifying beastly dino in a few blows... Come on!!! Really?!

Now moving onto the plot. This is called the Dinosaur Lords. We get little to no mention of the real history of the world or how Dinosaurs have been trained to co-exist with humans meaning that not only is it instantly unbelievable, but kind of disappointing. We then meet our characters and see them ride into an initial battle on Dinos and save the day (kind of cool when you're first starting the book). From this point on, however it's all confusion until about the halfway point. We have trouble knowing who is who and what on earth they are trying to achieve or who they work for. There are some crazy moments of long political debates which are dull as we have no idea who is who and nor do we feel invested in the story yet or care, and also we then have a fair few scenes of 'training up' recruits and some random acts of magic. NONE of this has really got anything to do with Dinosaurs, they are probably the smallest focus of the whole book, woefully underdeveloped and certainly not anywhere near as badass or cool as they should have been.

I don't really have the energy to keep on talking about this but suffice to say every moment it could have redeemed itself it didn't and the ending more infuriated me than made me want to proceed with the next one (so naturally I won't be). This book is further from Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones than pretty much anything else in Fantasy in that every troupe and every rubbish idea you can think of is sadly used and I just did not think it worth recommending to anyone (particularly if they like Dinosaurs and don't want them to be totally crappy as they are in this!).

Honestly I have nothing against the author himself, but this book just wasn't a book I enjoyed for anything and I personally can find very little to praise. I read this with a lot of others and no one found it easy to understand or to give a good rating to, so I don't feel too bad about this review, but it's probably the worst review I have ever given to a book on here. 1* is more than I wish I could award this. I don't think it's worth reading at all sadly... ...more

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Jul 13, 2015 Bob Milne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-historical, dinosaurs

I first became aware of The Dinosaur Lords back in November of last year. Once I got wind from Victor Milán that ARCs were appearing in the wild, I began (politely) begging for an ARC in April of this year - and Tor Books were quick to oblige. As you can guess, I pretty much devoured it the week that it arrived, but I sat on my review until now, having been asked to wait until closer to the release date.

What we get here is exactly what the cover blurb promises - an historical fantasy, with all t I first became aware of The Dinosaur Lords back in November of last year. Once I got wind from Victor Milán that ARCs were appearing in the wild, I began (politely) begging for an ARC in April of this year - and Tor Books were quick to oblige. As you can guess, I pretty much devoured it the week that it arrived, but I sat on my review until now, having been asked to wait until closer to the release date.

What we get here is exactly what the cover blurb promises - an historical fantasy, with all the religious and political conflicts of 14th century Europe, told with both brilliant snark and violent flair, regaling the reader with the exploits of dinosaur-mounted knights. Yes, you read that right, armored knights riding into combat atop armored dinosaurs, themselves selectively bred for battle. It sounds impossibly awesome, almost too good to be true, but Milán completely pulls it off.

Before I get into the story itself, let me just talk for a moment about how this is presented. Each chapter begins with a gorgeous woodcut style illustration, presenting the reader with a starkly beautiful 14th century rendering of a dinosaur, complete with armor and rider. Accompanying each illustration is an entry from The Book of True Names, providing the common name, scientific name, and battle summary of the dinosaur in question. While Milán takes some liberties with his species, and the naming conventions are from an alternate timelines, the dinosaurs are all instantly recognizable, and the details allow us to better envision just what kind of terror stalks these battlefields.

As for the world-building, it goes far beyond the dinosaurs. The religion and politics here are recognizable as being of the 14th century, but Milán has invested a lot of time and effort in subtly tweaking their evolution in this alternate timeline. It's a deep story, with a lot of layers, and I daresay it even gets bogged down in the regal minutiae from time to time. I appreciated the amount of detail, and probably would have been far more patient/interested were this a different book, but I freely admit to just wanting to get back to the dinosaurs. Having said that, those scenes are done well, and are what truly earn it the "cross between Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones" comparison from George R.R. Martin. I will admit to no minor amount of curiosity regarding the Grey Angels but, really, I generally just wanted more dinosaurs.

In terms of narrative and storytelling, this is a really fun read. Milán knows his story is just a touch absurd, relying entirely on almost childish wish-fulfillment, and doesn't attempt to cover that up. There's no attempt here to put a serious, dramatic veneer on the fun, to force a measure of respectability onto the tale. He imbues the tale with tons of snark and sarcasm, allowing characters to be both human and vulnerable. Yes, it's a very violent book with some serious conflicts, but it never loses its playful heart. As for the pacing, it literally races along, making you wonder how he can possibly hope to resolve everything before the end.

Much of that sense of fun comes from the characters themselves. They're well-rounded, well-developed, and perfectly suited to their world. These are professional rulers and warriors who take dinosaurs for granted - as they should - and who have real affection for their mounts. Karyl is our primary protagonist, a minor Duke with the smarts and the bravery to step in when needed (and, as a result, dies twice early on). Of course, it helps that he rides a Triceratops, the country's greatest native predator. Falk is the young (yet more significant) Duke who proves that not all nobles are useless in battle, a clever man who rides (of all things) and albino Tyrannosaurus rex. Jaume is the eloquent, poetic, amorous Count who loves his men (sometimes too much), and who struts about atop a Corythosaurus casuarius. I could go on, but suffice to say there are both commoners and nobles here, soldiers and rulers, and even a plethora of princesses who get some great lines and some fantastic scenes.

Now, generally, my brain tends to fog up and my eyes gloss over with extended scenes of battle. I enjoy them, and can appreciate them, but don't go out of my way to really focus on watching them play out in my head. Not here. Here, I was engrossed in every battle, envisioning each charge, each clash, and each terrifying death. These dinosaurs are as fast and as smart as we've ever seen on screen, their instincts honed by centuries of training. In some cases, they're the heavy artillery you sacrifice in a desperate attempt to break enemy lines, but more often they're precision instruments, used to bite, and tear, and gore as their riders hack and slash above them. Seriously, these aren't just wild beastly blindly carrying their riders into battle, they're well-hone fighting machines with a specific role to play in the battle.

Suffice to say, I'm already desperate for a second volume, and this one hasn't even officially hit the shelves yet! It doesn't matter whether your tastes run more towards epic, heroic, or military fantasy, so long as you have a healthy admiration for dinosaurs, you'll be completely enthralled by The Dinosaur Lords. Yes, it's a fun gimmick that's design to pull you in, but both the story and the storytelling are worth sticking around for.

Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins ...more

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Aug 14, 2015 Sean Smart rated it it was ok

A beautiful looking book but didn't enjoy it all despite the great reviews and recommendations from people like George R R Martin. I thought it was a missed opportunity for a brilliant concept. I am sure a lot of high fantasy fans will love it though but I just could not get in to it, keep up with what was going on or who was who.

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May 05, 2015 Krishna *needs a pink katana* marked it as to-read

Did someone say epic fantasy with DINOSAURS?

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Jun 14, 2015 Sara Harvey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy

Ooooohhhhh this book! Where even to begin?

So, in full disclosure, I was given an ARC to read by the author.

While I thought the premise was intriguing, I initially cracked it open because I am a fan of Victor Milán and his writing. But within a few lines, I was HOOKED! Hooked like a nosehorn, I tell you!

If you are a dino geek, you will love this book.
If you are an epic fantasy geek, you will love this book.
If you an intrigue geek, you will love this book.
If you are a warfare/battle geek, you will ...more

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Sep 27, 2014 Evan Morgan marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Knights on dinosaurs... Why has no one thought of this before now?

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Aug 11, 2015 Karina rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2015

Insufficient dinosaurs, no completed storyline, too little exposition(!).

(If you bring in the T-rexes and they aren't actually eating everyone, why... why? Dino-sigh.)

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Aug 08, 2015 Sean Kelley rated it it was ok

SPOILERS

I'm having a hard time reviewing this book because...

it's not good. It's really not but... dinosaurs.

There are basically four main characters. They're pretty ordinary and one dimensional. There's the rogue with the heart of a gold, the dashing knight, the mysterious warrior, and the princess who yearns to see the world outside of the palace. Every single character makes exactly the choices you expect them to make. They're all fairly wooden and boring... but dinosaurs.

The plot is boring. ...more

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Sep 25, 2015 The Shayne-Train rated it really liked it

This book was such a fun, interesting experience!

There are knights, and wars, and gallantry, and betrayal, and motherfucking dinosaurs struttin' their stuff.

description

Yeah, like that guy.

This was a weird but ultimately well-crafted piece of fantasy. The setting is pretty much Middle Ages Spain, but not OUR Middle Ages Spain. I can't tell if it's just an Earth-like place, or the ever-popular "aliens built this place as a kind of Earth creature zoo." But either way there are lots of fine Spanish gentlemen r ...more

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Jul 26, 2015 Liviu rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-fantasy, 2015_release_read, read_2015

cool concept and fantasy art inside with an ok but not great execution;

outside of the dinosaurs the book is standard fantasy which straddles the traditional-grimdark in a reasonable way so it doesn't devolve in pompousness or takes itself too seriously - most of what happens is what one usually sees in fantasy and the characters are fairly stock ones but the world and characters are new enough to keep the novel interesting with a writing style that is pleasant

as a first volume there is some con ...more

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Sep 07, 2015 Liam rated it it was ok

Shelves: owned-books, 2015, bought-2015, nope, didnt-finish

Ho boy. I didn't expect much from this book to be honest - the concept of dinosaur knights in medieval Europe is pretty bloody pulpy - but I got even less than that. Gave up on this one about 60% of the way in.

Where to start. Speaking of starts, the book took until about 100 pages in to actually pick up - everything before that is either an extended prologue, or hamfisted character introductions which completely failed to impress any interest or empathy upon me. Conversations would proceed slowl ...more

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Sep 13, 2015 11811 (Eleven) rated it did not like it

Shelves: netgalley

UPDATE: My library got this one in. I could have gone with the free preview after all. I pushed myself to read half of it because the concept and artwork are so awesome, the book itself should be too, dammit. But, I couldn't keep going. The story was bland as hell. Very cool pictures though. I highly recommend browsing them before putting the book back on the shelf.

When I requested this book from Netgalley, I didn't realize it was a preview excerpt. Sorry for the misunderstanding but I have no d ...more

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Aug 07, 2015 Maitrey rated it liked it

Shelves: sff, 2015_kindle

I'll be honest, I picked up this book thanks to that blurb from GRRM and the awesome cover. The hype from my favourite SFF site tor.com (ok, they are affiliated with the publisher, but I love their recommendations) helped a lot too.

The book was pretty much a let down. Although there is enough action and politics happening all the time, the machinations are pretty absurd. This is due the extremely poorly written characters. You've no idea what is drving them at all. (Except for the clichéd genius ...more

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Dec 29, 2015 Vagner Stefanello rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015

Review in Portuguese from Desbravando Livros:

Um dos lançamentos mais aguardados do ano de 2015 no Brasil e mundo afora, Os Senhores dos Dinossauros chegou até nós pelas mãos da editora DarkSide Books no mês de setembro de 2015.

O livro nos apresenta diversos personagens e um prólogo, no mínimo, estranho à primeira vista. Um garoto pastoreia um "rebanho" de dinossauros enquanto um mítico Anjo Cinza aparece e diz para ele esquecer que o viu, apenas "lembre-se quando for convocado a se lembrar". De ...more

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Oct 29, 2015 Marcos rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

A tradução é horrivel mas não é o único motivo que faz deste livro, regular, para não ser muito rigoroso. É uma história ruim com dinossauros. E nem os dinossauros salvam a obra do fracasso. Não fazem a menor diferença na trama e chega a ser irritante o uso de expressões envolvendo os bichos. Ainda mais quando o autor chega ao ponto de fazer uma analogia com um dinossauro macho, pasmem, no cio.
Para não ficar só nos aspectos negativos, gostei da história não contada de Paraíso. Tem elementos nela ...more

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Nov 18, 2015 Wanda rated it really liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, fantasy, dinosaurs-in-fiction, bechdel-test, read-in-2015

Reasons to love The Dinosaur Lords:

1. DINOSAURS. Yup, they're part of everyday life on the planet of Paradise.
2. A chance to actually use that French/Spanish/Latin that you've studied in school.
3. All the fun stuff included in high fantasy epics--battles, personal vendettas, romances, escapes and captures, death, lies, and sometimes truths.

This novel owes a debt of gratitude to many that went before it. There is a nod to Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books (if you are present at the hatching of one of t Reasons to love The Dinosaur Lords:

1. DINOSAURS. Yup, they're part of everyday life on the planet of Paradise.
2. A chance to actually use that French/Spanish/Latin that you've studied in school.
3. All the fun stuff included in high fantasy epics--battles, personal vendettas, romances, escapes and captures, death, lies, and sometimes truths.

This novel owes a debt of gratitude to many that went before it. There is a nod to Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books (if you are present at the hatching of one of the large carnivorous dinosaurs, it will bond to you and you alone). The quotes from various texts at the beginning of each chapter were very reminiscent of Frank Herbert’s Dune series, although this world is much less complex. And there is a distinct Robin Hood vibe to the last chapters of the book wherein the Rob, the “Irish” bard, and Karyl Bogomirksy, the old campaigner, take a group of peasants and unwilling nobles and try to forge them into a fighting force to stand up to the Dinosaur Lords.

Still, I found some aspects of the book jarring. Every now and then, in a pseudo-Medieval setting, a blunt, modern term would slap me out of the narrative. Usually something just a bit too coarse for the rest of the writing. There was only one sex scene, which was described much more towards the porn end of the spectrum than I would have expected—if you haven’t seen your lover for months, there is urgency yes, but there is still affection and tenderness that was completely missing from this depiction. Unfortunately, there is a rape in the latter stages of the book and I found it more realistic than the supposedly loving sex.

However, this novel passes the Bechdel test with flying colours! There is a whole bevy of strong women who surround princess Melodía, who is herself seeking a way of making her life more meaningful. Instead of just letting life slip by in a series of pleasures and entertainments, these women are seeking to influence their society. They have sexual agency and a fair bit of freedom and are making the most of it. Bonus points!

I can definitely see where those who are not dinosaur aficionados would be somewhat confused (although that is what those chapter headings are there to help with) and if you resolutely resist using any language except English, you will encounter difficulties. Some interest in Medieval vocabulary is of utility to the reader as well (i.e. knowing that a sackbut is a trombone-like instrument and that Parasaurolophus had a long crest which presumably gave it’s call a trombone-like quality, hence calling this species of Hadrosaur a Sackbut).

I think every dinosaur lover has dreamt of being able to see these marvelous animals in the flesh (and not in Jurassic Park, either!); this book allows us to indulge this dream a bit. The dinosaur masters, who care for the war-dinosaurs, obviously love their charges and have fond relationships with them. I think many of us will insert ourselves imaginatively into that role!

I look forward to the second installment of the tale, The Dinosaur Knights.
...more

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Nov 02, 2015 Eduardo Schimitt marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: abandonados

Juro que tentei, mas não consigo continuar lendo. Uma hora eu tento terminar.

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Oct 22, 2014 Sabri (Greatsword) rated it it was amazing

Gonna leave 5 stars here just of the Cover.
I'll update my rating once I read the book.

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Aug 03, 2015 Brittany rated it really liked it

Shelves: sciencefiction

There are four types of books I particularly like to read in the summer while relaxing on vacation:

1. Epic fantasy
2. Books about dinosaurs/dragons
3. Thought-provoking science fiction
4. Books with a mystery or puzzle for you, the reader, to figure out

I don't know how Victor Milán got ahold of this list or why he decided to write a book that combined all four for me, but I'm extremely grateful that he did.

So grateful, in fact, that I don't actually know if I loved the book as much as I think I lov ...more

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Dec 18, 2015 Anderson Tiago rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books

Dinosaur Lords estava na minha lista de livros para ler desde antes da divulgação da publicação do livro no Brasil pela DarkSide Books. É impossível não se empolgar com a capa, com o conceito de cavaleiros montados em dinossauros e pela declaração de George R.R. Martin na capa descrevendo o livro como uma mistura de As Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo com Jurassic Park.

Depois de muito tempo de espera, desde que a publicação do livro foi anunciada no ano passado até meados desse mês de julho, consegui col ...more

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Aug 06, 2015 Alexander Páez rated it liked it

Shelves: english, fantasía, 2015

Esperaba más dinosaurios. No MUCHOS dinosaurios, sino más. El inicio de la novela es una enorme batalla entre dos ejércitos de saurios, caballeros y guerreros. A partir de ahí, la novela se convierte en una intriga palaciega que, lejos de se aburrida, me ha gustado mucho. El caso es que yo esperaba dinosaurios en un libro que se llama The Dinosaur Lords.

El libro está bien, es entretenido, pero el factor que hizo que me pusiera a leerlo prácticamente desaparece y se queda como mero decorado. Si o ...more

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Nov 03, 2015 Crini added it

Shelves: z-fantasy, read-2015

Not sure how to rate this right now but it's 3 stars at best

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Nov 13, 2015 James Schmidt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tor-books-review-copies

A copy of this book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

I was so excited for this book. Once I heard about it I was counting down until it was released. I mean knights riding dinosaurs, could anything be more awesome! Well unfortunately I think I over hyped this in my mind. The book seemed a bit of a disappointment. It was a good book and I enjoyed it very much. I think my over enthusiasm and my own over hype just got the better of me and created impossibl A copy of this book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

I was so excited for this book. Once I heard about it I was counting down until it was released. I mean knights riding dinosaurs, could anything be more awesome! Well unfortunately I think I over hyped this in my mind. The book seemed a bit of a disappointment. It was a good book and I enjoyed it very much. I think my over enthusiasm and my own over hype just got the better of me and created impossible expectations.

The book was full of political intrigue, amazing characters, and yes dinosaur knights. The world created was a fantastic blend of rich cultures in a wondrous setting. Even so I was left wanting more. More of what, is what becomes confusing. I can’t quite place what was missing for me or what could be added to be what my expectations wanted. I loved Karyl and Rob, they were dynamic together and there should have been more of them. There could have been less of princess Melodía and her story line. The same can be said for Jaume’s story line. Not that they were bad but they were much less interesting than Karyl and Rob. Then there is the Dinosaurs, or the lack of them. Don’t get me wrong they are there but they always seem to be in the back round or just out of touch. I feel like I am being to negative and I don’t want to come off that way. I really liked this book and I am very excited for the next book ( The Dinosaur Knights ) and to see where it takes this amazing tale. I really feel this series is heading in a great direction and even better things are to come.

Bottom line, Do you like dinosaurs? Do you like knights? How about some GoT style betrayal and intrigue? Well yeah of coarse you do and so did I. Now go read this book!

As you know if you have read my reviews before I am not about long reviews with synopsis and spoilers. I just give my opinion on my experience with this book and you can take it from there. Now on to the next book.

4/5 STARS

Check out all my reviews at: https://mightythorjrs.wordpress.com/ ...more

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Sep 17, 2015 Nathan rated it it was ok

Shelves: books-i-own

So, epic fantasy with dinosaurs thrown into the mix, what could be better than that, right? This was the question I asked myself when I got extremely excited to read this book, and then came the letdown. It was okay. Just okay, nothing great. My first and largest complaint is the lack of a map with this book. Maybe I am being a little picky, but the map that was in the book was not sufficient for this epic world the author tried to create. The map at the front of the book only includes one main So, epic fantasy with dinosaurs thrown into the mix, what could be better than that, right? This was the question I asked myself when I got extremely excited to read this book, and then came the letdown. It was okay. Just okay, nothing great. My first and largest complaint is the lack of a map with this book. Maybe I am being a little picky, but the map that was in the book was not sufficient for this epic world the author tried to create. The map at the front of the book only includes one main city and a detailed layout of that city. But the author made a huge world, with huge countries bordering each other... Plus only half of the book was in that one city and most of that was spent in the main palace in the city, so that map didn't even do anything. Maybe I am being a little over the top about the map, but for me, I was so confused the entire book because I couldn't locate the characters in terms of the world. Sure they were at some place, but I couldn't keep track of things. So complaint number one is poor map with a huge world.

Complaint number two is that there was way too much going on in this world. The dinosaurs were really awesome (probably the highlight of the book as they should be), but there was a lot of other world-building stuff thrown in randomly. Like there are hints of magic at one point in the story, and then it is never referenced again. And to build off of this complaint, there was way too much political stuff going on, with characters who were pretty basic. I never really connected with any of the characters, they were so-so.

I don't know, maybe I got too excited and then this book fell flat of my expectations, but this book really didn't do it for me. There is a lot of room left at the end for more books in the series to come, but I don't know if I will be reading further in this series. Maybe... But for right now I need to pick up something better ASAP, because this was a tedious read. So if you really love dinosaurs, those parts are cool and the incorporation of dinosaurs is a neat idea. However everything else kind of fell flat in my opinion. ...more

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Sep 08, 2015 Chernz rated it it was ok

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Well, color me disappointed.
Like many people I first heard of this book last year, when it was announced as the exciting lovechild of Game of Thrones and Jurassic Park (by none other than GRRM himself). With gorgeous cover art, an exciting synopsis, a positive review from George, AND the promise that we'd get to see knights on dinosaurs, I was one of those early believers that this would be the next BIG thing and who can blame us? This book sounds like it appeals to THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Well, color me disappointed.
Like many people I first heard of this book last year, when it was announced as the exciting lovechild of Game of Thrones and Jurassic Park (by none other than GRRM himself). With gorgeous cover art, an exciting synopsis, a positive review from George, AND the promise that we'd get to see knights on dinosaurs, I was one of those early believers that this would be the next BIG thing and who can blame us? This book sounds like it appeals to just about everyone that's summarily interested in fantasy with its blend of magic, politics, war, and freaking dinosaurs. Surely Milan had found the perfect storm of content, the best melting pot of subject matter, to unleash upon the fantasy reader-base, right?
Yes....but no.
As kickass as the concepts may be, and let me just pause here to say mounted dinosaur battles ARE pretty kickass, they can't support the novel on their own. It's the equivalent of sticking the shiniest, nicest, racing tires on a schoolbus and then trying to drive anywhere. You won't get very far. I was around halfway through when my interest started going and every chapter from that point forward became a test of endurance. By the end I was bored through and through and the clumsy cliffhangers stuck into the last chapters did nothing to inspire me to continue on with the series.
Fundamentally, there are several major flaws with this book but my largest complaint by far were the shallow, insipid characters that populated this narrative. Let's get one thing clear here, authors: simply because you have multiple viewpoints, a large cast, and a medieval world with different levels of society and internal politics, does not mean you are the next George RR Martin. What MADE Game of Thrones so successful was that GRRM knew how to write his characters and how to write them well. You may not have liked many of them and some of them you loved to hate, but at the end of the day you understood their motivations and their personalities. With the exception of Robin Hobb and maybe Joe Abercrombie, I don't think there's another fantasy author out there currently who can write such varied characters so effortlessly. Milan doesn't even come close.
It's something of a clue-in when, at the end of 400 odd pages, I still have no idea who I'm supposed to be rooting for in the Dinosaur Lords (let alone who the true opposition is) and to be fair, I don't really have great choices. Jaume, the Knight Captain of the elite order of fighting men called the Companions, seems to be a top contender but there was nothing about him that was remotely interesting. He's a poet, a lover, one of the best knights and military commanders in the land, ridiculously handsome, charming... The one 'flaw' in his character seems to be his sense of duty which compels him to complete orders that he disagrees with in his golden heart of hearts. But this isn't a tragically tormented person torn between loyalty and morals (a la Ned Stark), this is a bland Knight with a perfect physique and a randomly small elite fighting force (which despite its 15 odd members or so, we never get a chance to really meet). Seriously, I felt more attachment to the triceratops in the opening battle than I did to the Companions as a unit.
Then there's Rob Korrigan, the minstrel and rogue (who despite being a minstrel never sings anything until the last 5 pages) tasked with raising a milita to defend an order of pacifists from the raids of nearby greedy Lords. I think Rob's function was to be the voice of the every day ordinary man but his comedy ran more than a little flat and it's obvious he was there mainly as a foil to the mysterious ex-commander Karyl who helps raise the army with him. Rob and Karyl are probably the least grating of the cast, even with Rob ogling every woman who passes by, but their section was painfully slow and not particularly interesting. Why do we care about this order of Pacifists? It's not exactly made clear. Why does Karyl agree to resume training men when, by his own account, he's tired of being in command? We're not really sure. Why does the sorceress who hired these two (and yes there are sorceresses in this world) have an interest in this order of pacifists? Who knows. Instead of clarification or grounding context we get some lackluster descriptions of archery practice, wooo.
Melodia is the last of our major players: the daughter of the Emperor of Paradise she supposedly chafes at not being allowed to do anything but we only know this because it's told to us, not because she demonstrates it in any way, shape, or form. Melodia's just dull, that's pretty much the only way to put it. The only amusing thing about her chapters were that they allowed us glimpses at the doings of her father, the Emperor, who is legitimately THE dumbest ruler I've ever come across in fantasy literature. Seriously, you could put my dog on the Fanged Throne of Paradise and he would do a better job ruling than this guy. He makes major decisions to go to war on one of his neighbors based on one short council, inconclusive evidence, and the encouragement of an ex-rebel (an ex-enemy!) who recently joined his court. He then allows said ex-rebel to duel to the death and then REPLACE his chief bodyguard (a man who served him loyally for 70 years!) effectively granting him sole control over the Emperor's own elite Imperial soldiers.
... What? .....
What?
Milan wants to pass himself off as having this great, convoluted political scheme, as being a writer that can develop a complex world, but everything he's done so far is superficial and lazy. Big choices like whether or not the Emperor should launch a war are decided in, oh, 2 paragraphs. There's a lot of traveling from place to place and when we get there the battle instantly starts, no preparation required. Magic exists (?) but people don't really know or talk about it. In fact the whole world building seems haphazard, contradictory at times, and ill-thought out. From a few of the excerpts we're lead to believe that our star-travelling ancestors found Paradise, seeded it with human and animal and dinosaur life sometime so long ago that its origin was forgotten. Fine, so it's got a distant sci-fi twist but then why is there magic? Is this world inherently magic? Is magic just the remnant of advanced tech still hanging around? And why, of all things, is the sorceress named Aphrodite!? I like being given cake and eating it, but this seems ridiculously bloated: dinosaurs, knights, ancient sci-fi origin stories, tie ins to Greek myth, alternate European nations and languages, and magic. When you try to cram all that in with as much disinterested attention to detail as Milan displays, you get one chunky 400 page mess.
But.
The dinosaurs ARE cool. While it's true that the book hamstrung itself for me around the halfway point, the only thing that kept it lurching forward were the dinos. The visual appeal of knights jousting on dinosaur back or of war-hadrosaurs grappling chest to chest with each other is undeniable. It's vivid, it's exciting, it's fun to hell to read about, and it reminded me again and again of what wasted potential this book had.
The Dinosaur Lords wanted to burst onto the scene with a T-rex roar. It wanted to be this big, bold, beautiful new thing. But between the dull characterization, the pacing problems, and a bloated plot that manages to strive for too much and accomplishes too little, this one swayed out of the woodwork like a drunken sackbut instead. ...more

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Jun 13, 2015 Geneva Schult rated it it was amazing

Chivalric codes of honor. Horrifying betrayals. Nobles and peasants. Knights on horseback. Knights on … dinosaurback??? Tasty tidbits of languages that evoke English, French and Spanish etymology. Just enough similarity to our planet that it seems familiar, but different enough that you know it ain’t Earth. Our protagonist, the inscrutable Karyl, rides a terrifying mount-- a carnivorous FREAKING DINOSAUR!!! On this world, the humans and their five Friends (dogs, cats, ferrets, horses and goats) ...more

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Jan 06, 2016 Celly Nascimento rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Portuguese review from brazilian blog Me Livrando.

PORQUE UMA OBRA TÃO AGUARDADA ME DECEPCIONOU

Eu não tinha ideia sobre como começar essa resenha, e francamente nem estava com vontade de iniciá-la. Não gosto muito de resenhar negativamente... No entanto, se eu não fosse sincera sobre Senhores dos Dinossauros, me sentiria mal com os leitores que tenho no blog. Porque estaria sendo omissa e deixando de contribuir com minha opinião para a decisão de vocês de comprar ou não... Afinal, é uma edição tã

Portuguese review from brazilian blog Me Livrando.

PORQUE UMA OBRA TÃO AGUARDADA ME DECEPCIONOU

Não, gente. Não é bem assim. Os Senhores dos Dinossauros foi uma grande decepção não apenas para mim, mas para tantos outros amigos que compraram o livro por conta do hype em cima dele – Game of Thrones com dinossauros? Incrível! O Martin recomendou? Deve ser perfeito! Eu mesma entrevistei Victor Milán, uma pessoa incrível e fofa, que me deixou ansiosa pelo lançamento. Ele pareceu uma criança quando soube da repercussão que a divulgação da DarkSide estava tendo aqui no Brasil... E acho que isso colaborou para a decepção dos leitores. Com tantas postagens e conjecturas sobre a publicação do livro – inclusive incentivadas por mim, que estava empolgada –, Milán passou a carregar o imenso peso das nossas expectativas, e infelizmente não conseguiu erguê-las do chão por muito tempo.

Ele não é novato na seara literária, mas pareceu que sim quando li o seu livro. Ou talvez seja o seu estilo de escrita – que deve funcionar muito bem quando escreve ficção científica, mas deu um nó na minha cabeça ao tratar de fantasia. Não me agradou: a narrativa de Milán não combinou com o meu gosto pessoal. Só para começar, reli o primeiro capítulo algumas vezes, então finalmente desisti e fui perguntar a amigos o que estava acontecendo. Eu estava mais confusa que os próprios combatentes em meio a uma batalha que não sabia se prosseguia ou recuava, com personagens que ora davam a impressão de estar de um lado, ora de outro. E isso se repetiu durante toda a leitura, sabem? Eu perdia o fôlego, mas não de um jeito bom, quando saía da ação e já estava na mais absoluta calmaria. Detalhes desnecessários tiravam minha atenção da leitura. Ele descreve bem, mas pelo menos nesse livro não soube o momento certo de encaixar as descrições mais extenuantes. Isso, por tabela, me extenuou.

Agora vamos à comparação com Game of Thrones: oi? Entre os apreciadores de As Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo há um consenso: o que mais admiramos na obra de Martin são as tramas e subtramas políticas que tecem uma confusão infindável provocadora de inúmeras (e sofridas) mortes. Não há isso em Senhores dos Dinossauros. Ah, e o sexo... Em ASOIAF tem algum sentido, não é aleatório como a série dá a entender. Já em Senhores dos Dinossauros, você tem a impressão de que o autor as colocou parecendo seguir uma regra, sabem? Só para ter e pronto. Além de tudo, os dinossauros foram tão pouco exploradas no livro que é injusto comparar com Jurassic Park. Delegaram a eles o papel de meros coadjuvantes! Poderiam ser substituídos por cavalos que não faria diferença. Uma obra que chama atenção por conter dinossauros deveria saber explorar muito bem o seu ponto mais forte.

Enfim... Como vocês podem ver, o livro definitivamente não funcionou pra mim. Foi uma ideia fantástica, que todos ficaram fascinados ao ver – existe algo mais legal que cavaleiros medievais montados em dinossauros? –, mas que não foi executada de modo que atendesse às expectativas que a divulgação criou. Além disso, senti falta daquela apresentação gradativa dos elementos fantásticos que é típica em qualquer livro que inaugura uma série assim. Mas pelo menos no início de cada capítulo éramos apresentados aos mais variados dinossauros – o que achei bem legal, confesso – e pude me apegar a alguns personagens (embora tenha gostado mais da Shiraa, a “dinossaura” de Karyl). Se eu vou ler o próximo volume? Tentarei. Afinal, a escrita não passa de um constante processo de aperfeiçoamento. Milán merece uma segunda chance, pois embora tenha falhado um pouco na narração, provou que sua criatividade pode proporcionar mundos e histórias interessantes.

...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Fantasy and Sci-F...: Chap 48 & 49 & Epilogue & Final Thoughts	7	20	Oct 01, 2015 11:00AM
Fantasy and Sci-F...: Chap 3 & 4 & 5	4	15	Sep 19, 2015 01:31PM
Fantasy and Sci-F...: Chap 36 & 37 & 38	2	4	Sep 19, 2015 12:15PM
Fantasy and Sci-F...: Chap 27 & 28 & 29	2	8	Sep 18, 2015 03:46PM
Fantasy and Sci-F...: Chap 9 & 10 & 11	3	9	Sep 18, 2015 03:21PM
Fantasy and Sci-F...: Prologue & Chap 1 & 2	10	18	Sep 18, 2015 03:19PM
Fantasy and Sci-F...: Chap 6 & 7 & 8	2	8	Sep 06, 2015 10:49PM

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About Victor Milán

Victor Woodward Milán is an American writer known for libertarian science fiction and an interest in cybernetics. In 1986 he won the Prometheus Award for Cybernetic Samurai. He has also written several shared universe works for the Forgotten Realms, Star Trek, and Wild Cards Universes. He has also written books under the pseudonyms Richard Austin (Jove Books The Guardians series), Robert Baron (Jo ...more

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