The Great Zoo of China

The Great Zoo of China was a fast paced, action packed thrill ride! While I did find the beginning a little slow, it soon picked up and then never let up - as one would expect from a Matthew Reilly novel. Yes, one can't help but draw comparisons to Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. But regardless of that, this book kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat. It would make a great movie!

I don't know why it took me so long to pick up a copy of this book. Like all Reilly books, it was fantastic!

Fun wild ride of a story.

DNF @ 50% No, I just can't. This reads like Jurassic Park fan fiction, with all the usual tropes - beautiful yet damaged (only slightly) heroine who somehow manages to pull an Indiana Jones and saves her little party from some ferocious creatures hell bent on human blood. There is zero character development, dialogue reads like a very cheesy movie script and the story line is basically the same scene on repeat. Dragon-EEk-RUN-Fight/Hide-Phew-that was a close one! Oh dear Mr X didn't make it (insert cheesy throwaway line here).

Very one dimensional - very not for me. But hey, I don't think Mr. Reilly cares too much what I think, he sells and laughs all the way to the bank. And good for him i say...

I don't typically read thrillers, and I haven't read Jurassic Park because the movie gave young me nightmares for YEARS. (I haven't seen ANY of the sequels, it was that bad!) But this was billed as Jurassic Park but with DRAGONS. And dragon-themed ANYTHING gets my attention, so in the queue it went! And I am glad for it, because this book was awesome. From the first glimpse of dragons flying above the tourist area, to the moment when everything starts to go wrong, to racing through the pages to find out how our hero manages to survive, this book had me entranced. The action just careens through the swamps and mountains of the park, almost as out of control as the dragons CJ is running from. And while we know CJ has to survive, because she's the main character, she has a brother, a little girl she's taken under her protection, old colleagues, and countrymen that she could lose at any moment.

And the dragons. Oh my, the dragons. They come in three sizes - Princes, about the size of a small car, Kings, about city bus size, and Emperors. Emperors are the size of passenger jets. With creatures this size, the action is supersized, too! Picture dragons picking up garbage trucks and flinging them at buildings, and you've got the idea! These dragons are intelligent, too. They have a language, and can plan and set traps together. They are devious and DEADLY.

If the dragons weren't enough, the story is also set in China. China is known for squashing dissent, and it's no different with the zoo. No one outside the zoo knows about the dragons, and until they have things under control, and the zoo up and running, they can't let anyone know about it. Which means any witnesses to this dragon rebellion need to die, whether to the claws of the dragons or the bullets of the Chinese military.

The Great (Dragon) Zoo of China is one heck of a ride, and the action is amazing. I think this is one of my favorites of the year. It's also the fourth book on my Summer reading list.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

The over-the-top plot, which is basically a comic book that demonizes the Chinese pointlessly and pits one heroic (American) woman against impossible odds over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, isn't the worst thing about this ridiculous book. That would be the writing itself, loaded with needless adjectives and repetition and cartoon-ish dialogue and descriptions. I don't think I'll ever read another by Matthew Reilly.

Oh my goodness, glad to have finished this book. It was sad that I continued listening hoping for some sort of reason to have sat through this book, but it never came. The trials CJ went through in the second half of the book were almost silly and completely predictable with how zany they were. This was such a let-down. I feel the book was overly violent for no real reason, there were moments where I had to step away from it due to the description of some of the attacks. Wow...

The Great Zoo of China does a great job of grabbing your attention within the first 30 pages. Having said that, there isn't much character development offered to the readers.
Anyone who is a fan of Jurassic Park will enjoy this book. However, if you're not into countless action scenes for almost half the book, this may not be your cup of tea. Four stars was given due to my love of the ancient animals being found/created and made into an attraction for the public plot line.

Fast, furious, fun read! Dragons in China, a country used to having everything and everyone under control. Whatever could go wrong in a secret zoo of dragons?
If you loved Jurassic Park, you'll enjoy this one.
Ps: and if you can be patient with the author's love of exclamation marks and italics (fortunately, less than in his previous works). He spins a great yarn. Love the premise.

I am a Matthew Reilly fan so yes, I may well be a little biased here.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Fast paced, some tech details to make it plausible, and a great big survival adventure set in a contained claustrophobic style environment.
Highly entertaining, different enough from his Scarecrow and Jack West novels to stand nicely on its own.
Great to have a female lead who although she has trauma has not allowed it to hamper her life.
It didn't feel as ‘at home' as some of his other novels but maybe that's because I know his ‘regular' characters and these are new ones.
Characterisation is well done. My only real complaint is that it reads so quickly!

When you read Reilly you do so knowing what to expect. Break neck speed and over the top stunts. And boy does he deliver. When he reach the pinnacle (for me it was Scarecrow) of what he could do with bad guys (bounty hunters) he decided to take a leaf out of Contest and viola The Great Zoo was born. Sadly, knowing what to expect means that you can almost predict whats going to happen and the dramatic pauses and build up are a dead give away to the next scene. Normally his plots are more robust and its difficult for the reader to figure out how to solve them but this book does not meet those standards. The layout of the Zoo and the drawings are still classic Reilly though and you will still probably stay up into the wee hours to finish it.