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Rhonda Wray: Raptor Wrangler
Rhonda Raptor Wrangler is about a teenage girl who was innocently trying to listen to some live music … her favorite boy band happened to be playing a festival on a dinosaur planet … when bad things suddenly happened. Now she and her trusty robot are all alone in the wilderness, picking up survival skills and looking for her favorite singer, Sebastian Rose, just in case he needs to be rescued. There’s hard science, explosions, plenty of dinosaurs (with feathers), diversity, no sex (although there are a few references to it), less violence than many dinosaur stories, cliffhangers galore, and a little bogus science just to honor the fine tradition of speculative fiction (what if raptors had syrinxes and could sing like birds?).
301 pages, Paperback
Published July 2, 2020
3 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 17, 2020
I must admit that I did not expect much and mainly picked it up because the blurb sounded kind of cute. All my expectations were blown through the roof though...into the middle of a far away galaxy onto a dinosaur planet I might add. This was such a good read! I love that the main character is this wonderfully kind young woman who has the chance to grow into her strength in this rather long story. I love long books where authors give their worldbuilding and the character arcs enough time to develop and not rush through these rather important parts of storytelling. This is an adventure story and a coming of age story with a good balance of silly and serious moments. I had to laugh so hard sometimes about Rhondas infatuation with the boy band Park Picnic. If you like long reads with excellent worldbuilding, strong heroines and funny side characters, pick this up. You won't regret it. Fair warning though: You might be obsessed with the idea of a pet dino afterwards.
December 16, 2020
I picked up this book expecting a dinosaur adventure. It is that - and so much more. The authors take some unlikely subject areas - dinosaurs, pop music, intergalactic political intrigue - and seamlessly bring them together into an exhilarating, edge-of-the-seat adventure. The story is fun, but never superficial. The authors bring the dinosaurs and their world to life with paleontological precision, all without bogging down the narrative. The authors also bring a convincing dose of realism to Rhonda Wray, the protagonist, and her struggle to survive. She is a teenage girl used to listening to music and watching live feeds of miniature pet dinosaurs (it’s as cute as it sounds), pretty much the opposite of a seasoned adventure hero. She has to fight hard for each gain she makes in this land teeming with hungry dinosaurs, and perhaps other deadly enemies as well. In her odyssey across the jungle, Rhonda Wray encounters some unlikely allies and makes intriguing discoveries about the dinosaurs and why she is stranded on their planet. The story continues to astound as it unfolds in unexpected directions that are grand in scope and emotionally compelling. This rare, refreshing, and irresistible book will leave readers longing for more stories set in Rhonda Wray’s world.
September 14, 2020
This story is a science-fiction story intended for the young adult audience. It is somewhat a coming-of-age story, but with some twists. There were a lot of things I liked about the story, BUT also some things that I was uncomfortable with. More on this below.
Disclaimer: I received a free digital ARC for this novel. However, both the decision to post a review and the contents of the review are voluntary and my own alone.
Another disclaimer: I am probably half a century older than the desired audience for this book. Keep that in mind.
Things I liked.
The story was quite creative. There are a LOT of dinosaur science fiction stories (particularly since Crichton hit a home run with “Jurassic Park”) and this is a VERY hard space to find a new creative voice. The authors’ have certainly done so with the musical angle and the band-centric storyline.
There was a well-defined story arc for Rhonda (this wasn't part 1 of something, it's a full story).
The details on the dinosaurs. The authors’ did their homework on the dinosaurs. Every couple of pages, I’d go “No, I don’t think that is right” and I’d look it up – and it would be right. The absolute winner in this category by the way was thagomizer. I hit that and said something to effect of, “NO WAY – that is from Gary Larson” and looked it up on Wikipedia. Lo and behold, “A thagomizer is the distinctive arrangement of four to ten spikes on the tails of stegosaurid dinosaurs” and “The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name; the term was coined in 1982 by cartoonist Gary Larson in his comic The Far Side, and thereafter became gradually adopted as an informal term within scientific circles, research, and education.” I'll be darn! We learn something new every day.
Some snippets of reality. Sometimes science fiction stories get a bit sanitized. Not this one. There were insects, odors, sweat, blood, diarrhea, and defecating in a hole in the woods (for starters).
Things that I had some discomfort with.
Some inconsistencies in portrayal of crimes.
Killing the rex. There is a scene in the book where Rhonda and her friends hunt down and kill a Tyrannosaurs rex. I found this scene very weird. From the point of view of the characters, they have just been shipwrecked (or the space-age equivalent), their space-station has been blown up for reasons they don’t yet understand, they are attempting to survive on a planet full of dinosaurs with a minimum of survival gear, AND they have no idea of when they will be rescued. So, in the midst of this very difficult survival situation, they elect drop everything and elect to hunt down and kill a Tyrannosaurs rex for no apparent reason? WHY?
Poaching. There is a scene in the book where Rhonda encounters a large number of skinned raptor carcasses. The scene is very reminiscent of descriptions of bison hunting in the American West during the late 1800’s, where vast numbers of bison were killed just for their skin and tongues and the carcasses were left lying on the ground to rot. It turns out that Norine is responsible for this action. While Norine is portrayed as a bit of a “bad-ass” (from Lyell and all that) and thus this poaching was consistent with Norine's character, I found it curious that Rhonda didn’t react to Norine’s poaching. This seemed inconsistent with Rhonda’s love for TeenyRaptors and her eventual career direction as a naturalist. Yes, this might have worked if Rhonda had taken a stance against Norine opposing the poaching of the raptors, but Rhonda doesn’t. Along the same lines, the story concludes with a comment that Rhonda herself “also had a nice gig selling feathers, teeth and hides to collectors”. Again, this is a very conflicted position. A naturalist selling feathers, teeth and hides? This seems disturbingly like Jane Goodall selling gorilla hands.
Disclaimer: I received a free digital ARC for this novel. However, both the decision to post a review and the contents of the review are voluntary and my own alone.
Another disclaimer: I am probably half a century older than the desired audience for this book. Keep that in mind.
Things I liked.
The story was quite creative. There are a LOT of dinosaur science fiction stories (particularly since Crichton hit a home run with “Jurassic Park”) and this is a VERY hard space to find a new creative voice. The authors’ have certainly done so with the musical angle and the band-centric storyline.
There was a well-defined story arc for Rhonda (this wasn't part 1 of something, it's a full story).
The details on the dinosaurs. The authors’ did their homework on the dinosaurs. Every couple of pages, I’d go “No, I don’t think that is right” and I’d look it up – and it would be right. The absolute winner in this category by the way was thagomizer. I hit that and said something to effect of, “NO WAY – that is from Gary Larson” and looked it up on Wikipedia. Lo and behold, “A thagomizer is the distinctive arrangement of four to ten spikes on the tails of stegosaurid dinosaurs” and “The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name; the term was coined in 1982 by cartoonist Gary Larson in his comic The Far Side, and thereafter became gradually adopted as an informal term within scientific circles, research, and education.” I'll be darn! We learn something new every day.
Some snippets of reality. Sometimes science fiction stories get a bit sanitized. Not this one. There were insects, odors, sweat, blood, diarrhea, and defecating in a hole in the woods (for starters).
Things that I had some discomfort with.
Some inconsistencies in portrayal of crimes.
Killing the rex. There is a scene in the book where Rhonda and her friends hunt down and kill a Tyrannosaurs rex. I found this scene very weird. From the point of view of the characters, they have just been shipwrecked (or the space-age equivalent), their space-station has been blown up for reasons they don’t yet understand, they are attempting to survive on a planet full of dinosaurs with a minimum of survival gear, AND they have no idea of when they will be rescued. So, in the midst of this very difficult survival situation, they elect drop everything and elect to hunt down and kill a Tyrannosaurs rex for no apparent reason? WHY?
Poaching. There is a scene in the book where Rhonda encounters a large number of skinned raptor carcasses. The scene is very reminiscent of descriptions of bison hunting in the American West during the late 1800’s, where vast numbers of bison were killed just for their skin and tongues and the carcasses were left lying on the ground to rot. It turns out that Norine is responsible for this action. While Norine is portrayed as a bit of a “bad-ass” (from Lyell and all that) and thus this poaching was consistent with Norine's character, I found it curious that Rhonda didn’t react to Norine’s poaching. This seemed inconsistent with Rhonda’s love for TeenyRaptors and her eventual career direction as a naturalist. Yes, this might have worked if Rhonda had taken a stance against Norine opposing the poaching of the raptors, but Rhonda doesn’t. Along the same lines, the story concludes with a comment that Rhonda herself “also had a nice gig selling feathers, teeth and hides to collectors”. Again, this is a very conflicted position. A naturalist selling feathers, teeth and hides? This seems disturbingly like Jane Goodall selling gorilla hands.
June 9, 2021
Remember the names Charon Dunn and Sally Smith because you’re going to see them much more. Their latest creation, Rhonda Wray: Raptor Wrangler, absolutely sparkles! It's the story of a girl named Rhonda who is traveling through space in a unique containment called a Safepod. "If your teen is being a disgrace, pop them in a pod and launch them into space!" The story and writing are so fresh, funny and cool! The writers are masters of this age and their delivery is fast-moving, easy to read and just... WITH IT! This book is FUN!
September 24, 2020
Sally Smith co-wrote this book with me, and she did a pretty good job with her side. She dealt with all the astrophysics and kept me from wandering off on weird tangents. She did lots of dinosaur research, and she helped shape the characters with me. We went back and forth on the ending, and our launch plans were totally ruined by Covid19, but I think we made a really nice book. Uplifting, exciting, informative and (most of all) fun. I'm going to nominate Sally for some awards, and you should too!
June 9, 2021
Remember the names Charon Dunn and Sally Smith because you’re going to see them much more. Their latest creation, Rhonda Wray: Raptor Wrangler, absolutely sparkles! It's the story of a girl named Rhonda who is traveling through space in a unique containment called a Safepod. "If your teen is being a disgrace, pop them in a pod and launch them into space!" The story and writing are so fresh, funny and cool! The writers are masters of this age and their delivery is fast-moving, easy to read and just... WITH IT! This book is FUN!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews