Love in the Time of Dinosaurs in Q&A with Eric Hendrixson

Jan 27, 2017 Danger rated it really liked it

What a gem this book is! Love in the Time of Dinosaurs does what Bizarro is supposed to do: introduce you to a completely immersive and original world (bound only by the rules it sets up for itself) and gives you a tapestry of interesting characters, all of which is delivered by sharp and colorful prose. And considering how much is packed into it’s tight 77 pages, this is no small task! I really enjoyed every facet of this book, my only criticism being that it ended too soon. Kirsten Alene is a ...more

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Oct 25, 2010 Steve Lowe rated it really liked it

Shelves: bizarro, nbas

I'm starting this review with an apology to Ms. Alene, the author. A couple days ago, when I was knee deep in this bizarro story of a monk who falls in love with a dinosaur, the very creatures he has dedicated his life to destroying, I saw a commercial for some BluRay thing or another and the movie shown in the ad was Avatar.

Try as I might, the visual of Avatar would not leave my head as I read this action-packed tale of a human (the monk) who falls in love with a blue creature (a trachodon). It ...more

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May 04, 2011 Dustin Reade rated it it was amazing

This book was pretty intense. The writing itself is strangely beautiful, despite being fairly simplistic.
The story: A band of nearly-invincible Monks are at war with The Jeremies, intelligent dinosaurs whom wield advanced weaponry and a grudge against humanity. One of the Monks finds and falls in love with one of these dinosaurs and we get a whole surrealist-Romeo-and-Juliet type of thing, that provides us with some of the most unique scenes in literary history (I won't go into any of these sce ...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Gabriel rated it it was ok

I finally found a copy of the last of the NBAS books from 2010 and read it (in one day, like the others).

:( I was underwhelmed.

The world built for this story involves a hateful violent race of dinosaurs that have driven the peaceful land into a giant warzone for years. The monks have dealt with this by learning a magical kung-fu (which, unfortunately, was only really described once) that allows them to stay alive despite the fact that they have lost all internal organs in battles and other part I finally found a copy of the last of the NBAS books from 2010 and read it (in one day, like the others).

:( I was underwhelmed.

The world built for this story involves a hateful violent race of dinosaurs that have driven the peaceful land into a giant warzone for years. The monks have dealt with this by learning a magical kung-fu (which, unfortunately, was only really described once) that allows them to stay alive despite the fact that they have lost all internal organs in battles and other parts of their bodies. Of course, the monks are also "peaceful" and so can't kill the violent dinosaurs. Instead they capture them in giant plastic sculptures.

Interesting idea? Yes! Fully developed in the book? Eh.

If the dinosaurs in plastic don't die, why is there a field full of "exploded plastic dinosaur bits"? (I can make the assumption that they were blown up in the battle ... but that's only a few hours after I finished the book) Why was the magical kung-fu not supposed to be taught and what happened when it was? Why are monks - usually all for protecting society - refusing to help the people for so long? How in the world do you justify a man, who has had his entire bottom half eaten AND ripped his own chest apart, remains conscious and coherent?

Those are only some of the questions I left this book with. Out of all the NBAS for 2010, this one felt like it had the most missing. There were scenes that were too short and characters that didn't get the full screen time they needed. I mean, yeah, it's cool to imagine giant gun-welding dinosaurs and our meditative thoughts out copulating with badgers ... but the idea is not enough for me. I want more! I want to really see our main character struggle with the fact that he's forming a friendship with someone who he would have taken as an enemy just a couple of seconds ago. I want to know what it is about babies that turns him soft. I want to know more!

So the cool ideas and interesting world that was started left me wanting more. And that's why, in the end, I was underwhelmed. ...more

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May 18, 2011 S.T. Cartledge rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bizarro, reviewed

At this point in time I have read 6 out of the 7 books in the 2010 New Bizarro Author Series. I've read five others before this and enjoyed them thoroughly. Not only do they strive to be entertaining in that unique, bizarro way, but these books are remarkably well thought out, very clever writing. I feel this is not only proof of the authors' talents, but also of the editor who saw this process all the way through. I feel that these books are a brilliant showcase of a group of seriously talented At this point in time I have read 6 out of the 7 books in the 2010 New Bizarro Author Series. I've read five others before this and enjoyed them thoroughly. Not only do they strive to be entertaining in that unique, bizarro way, but these books are remarkably well thought out, very clever writing. I feel this is not only proof of the authors' talents, but also of the editor who saw this process all the way through. I feel that these books are a brilliant showcase of a group of seriously talented up and coming authors in the bizarro field. Kevin Donihe has done a brilliant job picking these guys up and ensuring their debut novellas are of a high standard.

Now, on to Kirsten Alene's title, 'Love in the Time of Dinosaurs' is brilliant. What can I say? It's about a race of monks trying to fight off the dinosaurs and the philosophical implications that occur when one monk starts thinking what if the dinosaurs aren't all evil? Monks vs Dinosaurs is a pretty awesome concept on the surface, but by introducing the forbidden love angle, Kirsten gets us thinking about love and war and peace. Universal themes that reflect kindly on the human condition.

Often, we find that because we're so used to the culture that we live in that we don't question it. We believe in the world being a certain way and it is because it's the only way we've ever known. As much as this book is about forbidden love, it is also about stopping and thinking about the world you live in and the culture that surrounds you. It's not natural, but because you've grown up with people killing dinosaurs and being killed by dinosaurs, you assume the point in life is to kill dinosaurs and, most likely, be eaten by dinosaurs at some point. Just like you buy junk because everyone else buys junk and you want to fit in.

I find comfort in things that go against the grain, that get people to stop and think about the 'forces that be', the seemingly invisible god-complex-culture that we aspire to, and think that maybe the dinosaurs are mainly evil because we keep killing them and so they keep killing us, but what if there's another way?

'Love in the Time of Dinosaurs' is well written, entertaining and resonant. It's the sort of reach I'd like to have in my own writing.

I am definitely excited to see where Kirsten Alene's writing takes her in the near future. ...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Douglas Hackle rated it really liked it

This odd tale of love, war, kung fu monks, and gun-blasting dinosaurs has both a romantic sweetness and a mythic/fairytale vibe to it. In a pretty clear-cut dichotomy, Alene’s anthropomorphic dinosaurs capture the best and worst in humanity. With their thirst for blood and incapacity for higher thought, the warmongering majority of the dinosaurs (mysteriously dubbed the "Jeremy”) represent the base and the bad, while the peace-loving trachodons, with their capacity for beautiful thought, embody This odd tale of love, war, kung fu monks, and gun-blasting dinosaurs has both a romantic sweetness and a mythic/fairytale vibe to it. In a pretty clear-cut dichotomy, Alene’s anthropomorphic dinosaurs capture the best and worst in humanity. With their thirst for blood and incapacity for higher thought, the warmongering majority of the dinosaurs (mysteriously dubbed the "Jeremy”) represent the base and the bad, while the peace-loving trachodons, with their capacity for beautiful thought, embody the good and the transcendent. Then you have the "Steve," diaphanous creatures that symbolize a balanced harmony between pure thought and primitive animal nature. The monks appear to aspire to be like the Steve, but may share more in common with the Jeremy then they would like to admit.

The novel serves up a nice helping of graphic violence, though the violence is at times softened by its limited effect on the victims. The monks can only die from “complete obliteration or ritual self-destruction,” a condition which leads to some enjoyably bizarre moments. For example, one monk gets bit in half by a dinosaur, loses the contents of his body cavity (presumably his heart too), but survives to walk--well, hop--another day.

Petunia is the forbidden dinosaur love-interest of the nameless monk protagonist. I think I would have liked to have seen her character developed a little more. Eh, just a tad maybe. Also, I might have preferred a less conventional type of ending for this story. Don't get me wrong--the ending works well enough. But I suppose I’m a little burnt out on stories that close with a big battle, a showdown, or some other type of fight as a means of providing a climax. I realize, of course, that many stories naturally and even inexorably propel themselves toward a big battle type of ending--certainly war stories do. Shit, I don’t know. Maybe I’ve just seen the Death Star blown up to many hundreds of times.

But that’s my problem, not this book's.

At any rate, I found Love in the Time of Dinosaurs to be an enjoyable, highly imaginative, well-paced tale written in a lucid and sometimes lyrical prose.
...more

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