Suspense: 7
Humor: 4
Relatability: 6
Originality: 7
Overall: 6.2
Comments: The sequel to the acclaimed Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, The Lost World picks up the story 6 years after the events of Jurassic Park. Ian Malcolm appears as the main protagonist, and after an intellectual duel with Richard Levine, a bratty student at Berkley, joins Levine in researching a supposed "Site B" to the Jurassic Park facilities that were destroyed in Crichton’s first novel. But when Levine goes missing, Malcolm discovers that not only does Site B exist, not only that Levine has found it’s location and traveled there, but that InGen’s dinosaurs are still alive and well with unscrupulous entrepreneurs hot on their tails. So it’s up to Malcolm an a crack team of associates (not to mention the two stowaway school kids looking out for beloved teacher Levine) to keep the lost world safe from the rest of the world.
This sequel, while certainly an adequate follow up to Jurassic Park, doesn’t quite do justice to it’s predecessor. The addition of the two younger characters, Kelly and Arby, along with the spoiled rotten Levine, adds an edge of humour not present in the first, but somewhat at the expense of the story overall. Unlike Jurassic Park, where the flow of the plot was steady, brisk, and understandable, the events in The Lost World are like a rollercoaster, and if you blink you might miss something. There are many back and forth events throughout the book, covering nearly all of the tiny island, and if not for the map on pages 6 and 7, one could find themselves having some small difficulty imagining the layout of the island as well. The setting is interesting enough though, as most abandoned laboratories in the middle of jungle islands tend to be, but is rather spoiled by the heavier technical aspects of the sequel, which far outweighs that of the first book. Some theories are explained in detail in both books, but unlike Jurassic Park, The Lost World seems to have the plot supporting the theories, rather than the theories supporting the plot.
The characters are all new, with the exception of Malcolm, Dodgson (the main antagonist), and a side character named Guitierrez. The new characters are overall very well developed, with only some small exceptions. Richard Levine is a focal character throughout, but has some moments which are clearly comic relief and nothing else, which distracts from his core. Kelly also seems to exist mostly as a counterbalance to Arby, who does play an important role. Of the returning characters, I do have to say I have a bit of a problem with Malcolm to a degree. Perhaps it’s his traumatic experience at the end of Jurassic Park, but the continuity of his character seems as if it’s been disrupted between the two novels. The Malcolm of Jurassic Park is a cocky, smart-alec, hotshot (whose image is further strengthened by his portrayal in the movie adaptation), while the new model might as well be an old man. One of his first dialogues in The Lost World includes, "’Then you're badly deluded,' Malcolm said, with a dismissive wave of his hand." This just doesn't sound like quite the same man. Maybe Ian Malcolm's father, but not quite Ian himself.
