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Primeval #8
Fire and Water
When strange anomalies in time start to appear. Professor Cutter and his team have to help track down and capture a multitude of dangerous prehistoric creatures from Earth's distant past and terrifying future...
In this brand new original never-seen-on-TV Primeval adventure, the team confront anomaly crises both in rain-swept London and on hot South African plains.
At a safari park in South Africa, rangers are disappearing and strange creatures have been seen battling with lions and rhinos. As the team investigate they are drawn into a dark conspiracy, which could have terrible consequences; while back at home in England, as torrential rain pours down over the city, an enormous anomaly opens up in East London.
In this brand new original never-seen-on-TV Primeval adventure, the team confront anomaly crises both in rain-swept London and on hot South African plains.
At a safari park in South Africa, rangers are disappearing and strange creatures have been seen battling with lions and rhinos. As the team investigate they are drawn into a dark conspiracy, which could have terrible consequences; while back at home in England, as torrential rain pours down over the city, an enormous anomaly opens up in East London.
231 pages, Hardcover
First published June 2, 2009
10 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
About the author
Simon Guerrier
166 books60 followersSimon Guerrier is a British science fiction author and dramatist, closely associated with the fictional universe of Doctor Who and its spinoffs. Although he has written three Doctor Who novels, for the BBC Books range, his work has mostly been for Big Finish Productions' audio drama and book ranges.
Guerrier's earliest published fiction appeared in Zodiac, the first of Big Finish's Short Trips range of Doctor Who short story anthologies. To date, his work has appeared in the majority of the Short Trips collections. He has also edited three volumes in the series, The History of Christmas, Time Signature and How The Doctor Changed My Life. The second of these takes as its starting-point Guerrier's short story An Overture Too Early in The Muses. The third anthology featured stories entirely by previously unpublished writers.
After contributing two stories to the anthology Life During Wartime in Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of books and audio dramas, Guerrier was invited to edit the subsequent year's short story collection, A Life Worth Living, and the novella collection Parallel Lives. After contributing two audio dramas to the series, Guerrier became the producer of the Bernice Summerfield range of plays and books, a post he held between January 2006 and June 2007.
His other Doctor Who work includes the audio dramas, The Settling and The Judgement of Isskar, in Big Finish's Doctor Who audio range, three Companion Chronicles and a contribution to the UNIT spinoff series. He has also written a play in Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel range.
Guerrier's work is characterised by character-driven humour and by an interest in unifying the continuity of the various Big Finish ranges through multiple references and reappearances of characters. As editor he has been a strong promoter of the work of various script writers from the Seventh Doctor era of the Doctor Who television series
Guerrier's earliest published fiction appeared in Zodiac, the first of Big Finish's Short Trips range of Doctor Who short story anthologies. To date, his work has appeared in the majority of the Short Trips collections. He has also edited three volumes in the series, The History of Christmas, Time Signature and How The Doctor Changed My Life. The second of these takes as its starting-point Guerrier's short story An Overture Too Early in The Muses. The third anthology featured stories entirely by previously unpublished writers.
After contributing two stories to the anthology Life During Wartime in Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of books and audio dramas, Guerrier was invited to edit the subsequent year's short story collection, A Life Worth Living, and the novella collection Parallel Lives. After contributing two audio dramas to the series, Guerrier became the producer of the Bernice Summerfield range of plays and books, a post he held between January 2006 and June 2007.
His other Doctor Who work includes the audio dramas, The Settling and The Judgement of Isskar, in Big Finish's Doctor Who audio range, three Companion Chronicles and a contribution to the UNIT spinoff series. He has also written a play in Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel range.
Guerrier's work is characterised by character-driven humour and by an interest in unifying the continuity of the various Big Finish ranges through multiple references and reappearances of characters. As editor he has been a strong promoter of the work of various script writers from the Seventh Doctor era of the Doctor Who television series
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 8, 2011
This book: Well, ok, it was pretty good.
I read the summary and it said that the team goes to Africa while Abby and Connor are left on their own in London to face some sort of danger there. I was like "Oh, no. This is gonna suck!" Turns out, that summary is a bit falsified.
Danny and Lester go to Africa when news of dinosaurs in a Game Park near a British oil mine reaches the ARC. They are met by Sophie, a park ranger, and the fun begins.
Abby, Becker, Connor, and Sarah (the ABCS) are left in London, where the fierce rains have turned the streets into rivers and opened two anomalies. But that isn't the 'fun part'. That comes after the anomalies have been taken care of, when the team returns to the ARC to discover that while they were out, someone broke in: and all the evidence points to Connor.
BEGIN SPOILERS! SKIP THIS SECTION IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!
Now, as a Connor fan, this was absolutely FANTASTIC! I love it when Connor has shit going down, or the shit going down revolves around Connor. Mind you, this was a relatively, sort of, minor point in the whole book, but it Made. My. Day.
It is revealed in this book that Connor no longer needs his database to identify dinosaurs. He knows them by sight now. Also, that he has invented a machine that can hack into and open automatic doors. This machine is not listed on his primeval.wikia.com page, most likely because it has a short lived life span and is never given a name. Connor is brilliant in this book and I absolutely adored the interaction of the other characters with him; especially Becker. *snort*
Meanwhile, Danny and Lester take on Africa. Lester proves he's possibly more of a badass than Danny is. Danny proves that he's given in to ARC gossip about Lester. The saddest part about Danny in this book is that he sort of finds this girl in Africa that he fancies, but knowing that in episode 3.6 Danny has no girlfriend proves that he doesn't get to keep her, for whatever reason.
Then the storylines connect and all hell breaks loose. Everything starts to finally make sense. You find out who the enemy is and why everything has happened the way it has happened. Sarah almost makes a difference (lol j/k). Becker proves he's awesome, Connor proves he's a genius, Abby proves she knows lizards better than anyone else, etc. etc.
SPOILER OVER! YOU CAN READ AGAIN NOW!
This book is told in a different sort of way. I mean, it still shifts from person to person like in the other books, so I guess it's the same. But Danny and Lester are in the hot heart of Africa; Connor, Abby, and Becker are either in the waterlogged center of London or doing various different things at the ARC; and Sarah's doing her own thing the whole time but in much the same place as Abby, Becker, and Connor. I suppose what is really different is that those three parts are not following the same exact story.
Whereas in the other books, such as Extinction Event, all the characters were in Russia with much the same information to run with and trying to fix the same problems, here everyone is doing something else. Abby, Becker, and Connor are dealing with dinosaurs and security problems. Danny and Lester are dealing with traitors and government cover ups. Sarah is dealing with the temporary boss and her own misgivings about life as we know it and has practically no idea of what is going on with the rest of the cast.
That detail right there made this book different and interesting. And there was no Jenny just running around and getting into trouble. I love Jenny, really I do, but I was so glad she wasn't 'trying to help' this time around. At least Sarah understands that she'd just be in the way and stays out of it.
ANYWAY. The book was good. Very few non-cast characters were introduced, which was ok given how much was going on at once, but the ones that were shown were good and you wanted to like them. Sometimes you couldn't, but you wanted to. Also, lots of references to the events occurring around the time the book takes place (between 3.5 and 3.6). Liked that.
I read the summary and it said that the team goes to Africa while Abby and Connor are left on their own in London to face some sort of danger there. I was like "Oh, no. This is gonna suck!" Turns out, that summary is a bit falsified.
Danny and Lester go to Africa when news of dinosaurs in a Game Park near a British oil mine reaches the ARC. They are met by Sophie, a park ranger, and the fun begins.
Abby, Becker, Connor, and Sarah (the ABCS) are left in London, where the fierce rains have turned the streets into rivers and opened two anomalies. But that isn't the 'fun part'. That comes after the anomalies have been taken care of, when the team returns to the ARC to discover that while they were out, someone broke in: and all the evidence points to Connor.
BEGIN SPOILERS! SKIP THIS SECTION IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!
Now, as a Connor fan, this was absolutely FANTASTIC! I love it when Connor has shit going down, or the shit going down revolves around Connor. Mind you, this was a relatively, sort of, minor point in the whole book, but it Made. My. Day.
It is revealed in this book that Connor no longer needs his database to identify dinosaurs. He knows them by sight now. Also, that he has invented a machine that can hack into and open automatic doors. This machine is not listed on his primeval.wikia.com page, most likely because it has a short lived life span and is never given a name. Connor is brilliant in this book and I absolutely adored the interaction of the other characters with him; especially Becker. *snort*
Meanwhile, Danny and Lester take on Africa. Lester proves he's possibly more of a badass than Danny is. Danny proves that he's given in to ARC gossip about Lester. The saddest part about Danny in this book is that he sort of finds this girl in Africa that he fancies, but knowing that in episode 3.6 Danny has no girlfriend proves that he doesn't get to keep her, for whatever reason.
Then the storylines connect and all hell breaks loose. Everything starts to finally make sense. You find out who the enemy is and why everything has happened the way it has happened. Sarah almost makes a difference (lol j/k). Becker proves he's awesome, Connor proves he's a genius, Abby proves she knows lizards better than anyone else, etc. etc.
SPOILER OVER! YOU CAN READ AGAIN NOW!
This book is told in a different sort of way. I mean, it still shifts from person to person like in the other books, so I guess it's the same. But Danny and Lester are in the hot heart of Africa; Connor, Abby, and Becker are either in the waterlogged center of London or doing various different things at the ARC; and Sarah's doing her own thing the whole time but in much the same place as Abby, Becker, and Connor. I suppose what is really different is that those three parts are not following the same exact story.
Whereas in the other books, such as Extinction Event, all the characters were in Russia with much the same information to run with and trying to fix the same problems, here everyone is doing something else. Abby, Becker, and Connor are dealing with dinosaurs and security problems. Danny and Lester are dealing with traitors and government cover ups. Sarah is dealing with the temporary boss and her own misgivings about life as we know it and has practically no idea of what is going on with the rest of the cast.
That detail right there made this book different and interesting. And there was no Jenny just running around and getting into trouble. I love Jenny, really I do, but I was so glad she wasn't 'trying to help' this time around. At least Sarah understands that she'd just be in the way and stays out of it.
ANYWAY. The book was good. Very few non-cast characters were introduced, which was ok given how much was going on at once, but the ones that were shown were good and you wanted to like them. Sometimes you couldn't, but you wanted to. Also, lots of references to the events occurring around the time the book takes place (between 3.5 and 3.6). Liked that.
July 24, 2015
Better than I expected, so I'm happy. And what an ending! I need the follow up.
April 29, 2019
A little sad that there aren't any more Primeval novels left.
Danny Quinn is written to a tee. Though he'd only been in 3 episodes previously, the man in the book matches the character in the show, with a little more depth too. Simon Guerrier also manages to continue Lester's character development, however the relationship between Connor and Abby was dealt with a little heavy-handedly, but overall the story fit in with the TV series well.
The book is set between episodes 5 and 6 of season 3.
Danny Quinn is written to a tee. Though he'd only been in 3 episodes previously, the man in the book matches the character in the show, with a little more depth too. Simon Guerrier also manages to continue Lester's character development, however the relationship between Connor and Abby was dealt with a little heavy-handedly, but overall the story fit in with the TV series well.
The book is set between episodes 5 and 6 of season 3.
July 17, 2021
Not bad
This isn't my favourite of the primeval books, but I do like the characterisations, I think they're very apt. I like how the story links and everything, but I found it a little complicated/confusing at times. But that's on me and not the author!
This isn't my favourite of the primeval books, but I do like the characterisations, I think they're very apt. I like how the story links and everything, but I found it a little complicated/confusing at times. But that's on me and not the author!
June 9, 2022
The last primeval book an it was the worst of the whoule series.
January 21, 2023
A great read. Characters were written brilliantly. Loved reading it.
February 4, 2025
Good book author knows the characters and it was good to see Lester in the thick of the action
January 28, 2016
This is probably going to be the final book in the Primeval series since the show was canceled. This book has the 'new' team; Cutter is dead, Stephen is dead, and Jenny has left the team. Danny and Sarah have been added.
There are three storylines going on but they all converge later. In one case, Danny and Lester have gone to a game park in Africa where dinosaurs seem to be eating the game wardens. There's a lot of blood and gore in this part. What makes things worse for Danny and Lester is that they are in more danger from humans than from the dinosaurs as they are set up to be killed by the creatures
Another theme revolves around the ARC building itself, where Sarah has stayed behind while Abby and Connor have gone out to deal with other anomalies. What she didn't count on was an anomaly opening up in the ARC itself, nor that there is basically a coup-de-etat going on around her.
The third theme has Abby and Connor taking on dinosaurs from yet another anomaly. This battle involves spray deodorants vs. giant crocodiles (of a type). There are also other really giant dinosaurs that need to be coaxed to go back into an anomaly and back to their own time period.
Where, eventually, everyone involved ends up in. They find out just how far corporate greed is willing to go in order to make a profit, even if it endangers the entire future of humanity.
There's an awful lot of stuff that goes on in this book and it is a really, really good read.
There are three storylines going on but they all converge later. In one case, Danny and Lester have gone to a game park in Africa where dinosaurs seem to be eating the game wardens. There's a lot of blood and gore in this part. What makes things worse for Danny and Lester is that they are in more danger from humans than from the dinosaurs as they are set up to be killed by the creatures
Another theme revolves around the ARC building itself, where Sarah has stayed behind while Abby and Connor have gone out to deal with other anomalies. What she didn't count on was an anomaly opening up in the ARC itself, nor that there is basically a coup-de-etat going on around her.
The third theme has Abby and Connor taking on dinosaurs from yet another anomaly. This battle involves spray deodorants vs. giant crocodiles (of a type). There are also other really giant dinosaurs that need to be coaxed to go back into an anomaly and back to their own time period.
Where, eventually, everyone involved ends up in. They find out just how far corporate greed is willing to go in order to make a profit, even if it endangers the entire future of humanity.
There's an awful lot of stuff that goes on in this book and it is a really, really good read.
May 22, 2014
My actual rating is 3.5 stars. This book is based on the BBC television show. In this novel, Lester and Quinn go to Africa to investigate a possible anomaly while Connor, Abby, an Becker deal with problems at home. These two separate storylines are woven into one nice conclusion.
The author did a great job with the characters as they were spot on. This story ties in nicely with season 3 of the television show and I can tell the author knew the show. I liked the storyline and how it explored what could happen when the anomalies are controlled for the wrong reason. It also explores how man does not think out the whole situation and is just concerned with the present. The only problem with this novel was I wished there was a little more setup for the bad guys and their operation.
If you are a fan of the show, I strongly recommend reading this book as it is nice to revisit with these characters.
The author did a great job with the characters as they were spot on. This story ties in nicely with season 3 of the television show and I can tell the author knew the show. I liked the storyline and how it explored what could happen when the anomalies are controlled for the wrong reason. It also explores how man does not think out the whole situation and is just concerned with the present. The only problem with this novel was I wished there was a little more setup for the bad guys and their operation.
If you are a fan of the show, I strongly recommend reading this book as it is nice to revisit with these characters.
February 5, 2017
And that's the last one finished, like the others the first chapter or 2 is a little slow, but when the main story starts you can't put them down!
It's a pity it's the last one, I remember when season 4 was first broadcast here in the UK they said there was a couple of books planned to explain what happened in the 12 months between s3 and s4, but unfortunately it never happened, and with the tv show looking like it's gone for good this time it probably never will happen
It's a pity it's the last one, I remember when season 4 was first broadcast here in the UK they said there was a couple of books planned to explain what happened in the 12 months between s3 and s4, but unfortunately it never happened, and with the tv show looking like it's gone for good this time it probably never will happen
August 29, 2009
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.
bubble-gum lit.
quite frenetic to start, as the shifting between several scenes doesn't build tension, it just creates confusion.
i did like the device of people in present going back in time to pre-mine coal/oil/gas resources. nice touch to have the bad guy, Samuels, die at end by an accidental import of a dino from past to the present.
characters sort of reminded me of characters in some TV series. (I was probably influenced by the pop-star depiction of a teen character on the hardback's glossy, jacketless cover).
story sort of reminded me of Jurassic Park movies, as to inadvertent consequences of messing w. extinct creatures.
not sure of the meaning of the hidden camera, which is what the author points out just before the close.
bubble-gum lit.
quite frenetic to start, as the shifting between several scenes doesn't build tension, it just creates confusion.
i did like the device of people in present going back in time to pre-mine coal/oil/gas resources. nice touch to have the bad guy, Samuels, die at end by an accidental import of a dino from past to the present.
characters sort of reminded me of characters in some TV series. (I was probably influenced by the pop-star depiction of a teen character on the hardback's glossy, jacketless cover).
story sort of reminded me of Jurassic Park movies, as to inadvertent consequences of messing w. extinct creatures.
not sure of the meaning of the hidden camera, which is what the author points out just before the close.
August 19, 2025
One of the better entries in the Primeval tie-in novels, this had a nice multi-threaded plot and knotted together nicely. The only issue is that it's set later on during the show, with little to no explanation as to who the new characters are nor what really happened the the missing ones last seen in the previous book. You have to have seen the show.
January 4, 2013
beyoud amazing like the show on tv and is good for people who are in suspence and dinosaurs.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2014
Started out interesting but felt the ending was rushed. Also as a standalone book I didn't like the cliffhanger-like conclusion which can never be resolved.
April 8, 2013
didn't like this one at all...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews