The Lost World (Crichton novel)

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The Lost World
First edition cover
AuthorMichael Crichton
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction, Techno-thriller
PublisherBallantine Books
Publication date
September 1995
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Audio
Pages416 (first edition, hardback)
ISBNISBN 0-679-41946-2 (first edition, hardback) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
Preceded byJurassic Park 

The Lost World is a techno-thriller novel that was written by Michael Crichton and published in 1995 by Ballantine Books. A paperback edition (ISBN 0-345-40288-X) was issued in New York in 1996. It is a sequel to his earlier novel Jurassic Park.

Like Arthur Conan Doyle's novel of the same name, Crichton's novel concerns an expedition to an isolated Central American location where dinosaurs roam - though in this case, the dinosaurs were recreated by genetic engineering, rather than surviving from antiquity.

Plot summary

Six years after surviving the disaster on Jurassic Park, eccentric mathematician Ian Malcolm and spoiled, rich genius Richard Levine are researching InGen's mysterious Site B, and its exact location, after learning of its existence. The island, named Isla Sorna, was the secret "production factory" for Jurassic Park, where dinosaur stock were hatched and grown, before shipment to Isla Nublar. Levine mysteriously disappears, and Malcolm fears he might have discovered the location of "Site B", and in his impatience already set out for it without letting Malcolm know. Custom field vehicle creator Doc Thorne and his assistant, Eddie Carr, who have provided much of Levine's equipment, deduces the location of Site B with help from Malcom and Levine's schoolkid helpers, computer whizz R.B "Arby" Benton and Kelly Curtis, his friend . They organize a rescue operation and take with them two highly customized RV's modifed for scientific purposes, as well as a solar powered Ford Explorer, Motorcycle and an observation platform called a 'high hide'. Stowed away with them are Arby and Kelly, who plan to rescue Levine as well.

At the same time, Lewis Dodgson, geneticist at Biosyn - InGen's archrival -, and two colleagues head to Isla Sorna with the intention to steal dinosaur eggs for their own company. Sarah Harding, a wildlife observer who had a previous relationship with Malcolm, accompanies them to the island, and eventually meets up with Malcolm's team. Dodgson's team throws Sarah overboard, thinking she will drown, and continues with their plan. Dodgson locates a nest of the T-rexs and walks right up to the eggs with a myserious box in his hand that makes ultrasonic frequencies , fending the grown T-rex away. He brings with him two others from his company, named George Basleton and Howard King, and tells them to grab the eggs while he holds the T-rex off with the box, but Basleton freezes in fright once he sees the parents. Dodgson is forced to do it himself. While walking closer to the eggs, he steps on a hatched T-rex, breaking its leg and the power cord for the box falls out. It takes the T-rexs a while to notice that its stopped, but they move cautiously forward and grab Basleton and kill him. Dodgson makes a run for it to the SUV, but one T-rex pushes the SUV part way off the hill before he and King can drive away. Dodgson falls out of the vehicle but survives.

Coming across the baby tyrannosaurus rex, Eddie brings it back to the base camp where Malcolm and Harding fix its broken leg. Unfortunately the absence of the infant is noted by its parents, who track their offspring down by smell, leading them directly to the base camp. The group escapes, however they run into a pack of Velociraptors, which they also escape when they find an abandoned gas station set up by InGen for the island's workers when the island was still in use. The group hides there for the night.

Dodgson's plans fail when his two colleagues are killed, and is later pushed into the mouth of a Tyrannosaurus Rex by Harding as revenge. He is taken to the Tyrannosaur nesting site whereupon his leg is broken and he is left for the babies to eat.

As with the first book, the characters have to fend off attacks from Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptors, as well as Carnotaurus, which are described as having chameleon-like abilities. Throughout the novel, Malcolm and Levine talk about various evolutionary and extinction theories, as well as the nature of modern science and the homogenizing and destructive nature of humanity. The book also discusses the role of prions in brain diseases, which has been at the root of concerns over Mad Cow Disease.

Film adaptation

Main article: The Lost World: Jurassic Park

The Lost World: Jurassic Park is a 1997 science fiction film and sequel to Jurassic Park both of which were directed by Steven Spielberg. After the success of the first film, fans and critics alike pressured Michael Crichton for a sequel novel. Having never done one before, Crichton originally declined, but when Spielberg joined in urging him, a sequel novel was announced. As soon as the novel was published, a film was in pre-production, with a target release date of mid-1997. The film was a commercial success, breaking many box-office records when released. The film had mixed reviews, similar to its predecessor in terms of characterization. The film's title is slightly different than the novel's, adding Jurassic Park at the end to refer it to the original Jurassic Park film.

The film centers on the island of Isla Sorna, an auxiliary site for the main Jurassic Park island, where dinosaurs have taken over and live in the wild. Ian Malcolm leads a team to document the dinosaurs in their native habitat, while an InGen team attempts to capture them for a second Jurassic Park in San Diego, California.


Differences between the film and the novel

The 1997 film adaptation's plot differs significantly from the novel:

  • Ian Malcolm still suffers greatly from his wound in the first book and film, though in The Lost World film adaptation, he suffers little pain from the wound.
  • In the film, Sarah and Ian have a relationship. In the novel it is said that their relationship ended with Sarah's trip to Africa.
  • The characters of Richard Levine, Jack Thorne, Lewis Dodgson, Howard King, George Baselton, and Arby Benton do not appear in the film. The main antagonist of Dodgson is replaced with Peter Ludlow, the 'know-it-all' figure of Baselton is replaced by Robert Burke, and the henchman of King is overtaken by Dieter Stark.
  • The "Great White Hunter" figure of Roland Tembo from the film has no real equivalent in the novel.
  • In the novel, five people arrive on the island along with the trailer and Ford Explorer: Malcolm, Thorne, Carr, Kelly, and Arby. Harding swims to the island after being thrown overboard from a ship by Dodgson, who arrives with King and Baselton. In the film, Malcolm, Carr, Nick Van Owen, and Kelly arrive in an attempt to rescue a missing Harding. The second team consists of Tembo, Ajay Sidhu, Ludlow, Burke, Stark, and the rest of a rather extensive InGen team.
  • In the novel, Malcom's team arrives on the island with one Ford Explorer, but in the film, the group brings two.
  • In the novel, Kelly is Caucasian, but in the movie she is portrayed as African-American and of Jewish descent.
  • In the novel, Kelly is a middle school student that became an assistant for Levine. In the film, she is Ian Malcolm's daughter. Malcolm has no children in the novel.
  • In the novel, Sarah Harding is a brunette; yet in the movie, she is a redhead.
  • In the novel, Levine is the first person on Isla Sorna that Malcolm's team goes to rescue - yet in the film it is Harding.
  • In the novel, the character of Eddie Carr was much younger than that in the film. The film's version is instead based on Dr. Jack Thorne, and is only given Eddie's name.
  • In the novel, InGen has gone bankrupt and does not play a pivotal role. Instead, a team from rival company BioSyn seeks to exploit the island. The film replaces this with a divergent group within InGen that has broken off from Hammond's ideals.
  • In the novel, there were two infant Tyrannosaurus, as well as a clutch of unhatched rex eggs. In the film there is only one infant.
  • In the novel, only one of two of the trailers fall over the cliff, and it doesn't explode upon impact.
  • The novel does not feature an adult Tyrannosaurus rex rampaging in San Diego, unlike in the film. Because of the Rex's rampage, Isla Sorna's existence is now known, leading to the events of Jurassic Park III.
  • As a result of the above sequence, Peter Ludlow does not die like Dodgson does in the novel. Although he is still killed by the infant Tyrannosaurus and his leg is still broken by the adult Tyrannosaurus, he not killed in the Rex's Nest but is instead killed in the cargo ship's hold as he tails Malcolm and Sarah who are trying to trap the rampaging Adult. He follows the Baby rex's howls into the hold, failing to notice the adult rex approaching from behind.
  • Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Dennis Nedry, and Donald Gennaro are mentioned in the novel, but not the film (however, Gennaro is referred to along with Robert Muldoon and John Arnold in one of the deleted scenes).
  • The novel also mentions that Jurassic Park was destroyed along with all of the dinosaurs by the Costa Rican military, though in the film, the park's fate is never mentioned (in a deleted scene on the DVD it was briefly explained that the Jurassic Park facility was destroyed). This could explain the film's tagline "Something has Survived".
  • In the novel, the team investigates InGen's main research facility containing a vast laboratory and offices. The film only features InGen's Operations Center, however, the laboratory is featured in Jurassic Park III.
  • In the novel, Carr is not killed by two Tyrannosaurs, instead by a group of Velociraptors.
  • Carnotaurus did not appear in the film.
  • The scenes in the film featuring the compy dinosaurs are not in the book and are adapted from similar scenes in the original Jurassic Park Novel. The pre-credit sequence of the film is closely adapted from the original Jurassic Park's Prologue chapter. The death of Dieter Stark mirrors closely the death of John Hammond in the original novel.
  • At the conclusion of the novel, all of the dinosaurs are fated to die off due to the uncontrolled spread of prions (the result of using ground-up lamb as dinosaur feed). In the film, Hammond turns the island into a preserve so that the dinosaurs can live free of human interference.

Dinosaurs featured in the novel

External links

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