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Dino Quest: The Trouble with Tyrannosaurs: What If Knights Rode Dinosaurs?

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Meet Moss, an apprentice dino-dung shoveler working in Primordia's royal stables. He couldn't be any further down the pecking order without being underground - and he'll certainly never get a chance to be a knight like his hero, Sir Brutus Fallsword.

But fate takes a twist when Moss discovers that he has a gift for speaking to dinosaurs. He is suddenly and unexpectedly enlisted into training a truly fearsome beast - the huge and mighty Tyrannosaurus rex belonging to the king's own daughter, Princess Opal!

When a treacherous knight launches a coup against the king, the castle descends into chaos. Can Moss and Opal - along with a ragged band of outlaw warriors - hope to save the Kingdom? Or will they be added to the dino-dung-pile?

Find out in this first book in the Dino-Quest series!

JOIN THE QUEST! Medieval fantasy collides with prehistoric peril in the illustrated Dino-Quest series, packed with action, drama, and laugh-out-loud humour. Perfect for young adventurers aged 7+.

128 pages, Paperback

Published February 4, 2025

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Ian Billings

43 books9 followers

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Sonja Charters.
2,747 reviews138 followers
November 25, 2024
This was a brilliant quick read for me - aimed at the younger reader, I had a lot of fun reading this one.

This will be the first book in this new Dino Quest series and I believe that there are already other books ready for release over the coming year.

In this book we're introduced to this new world and the main characters, Moss - an apprentice dino-dung shoveller and of course Princess Opal - the King's daughter.

This is such a great world which combines all the excitement of dinosaurs with all the adventure of knights!
With a little nod to the knights of the round table, we go on a fun adventure with the characters as a new dinosaur is introduced to the castle and the knights all start to revolt!

I loved the humour in this - mostly poop related! - which the younger ones will no doubt find hilarious!
I know when mine were younger, they'd be forever giggling through books like this!

The writing style was engaging and fast-paced and I loved that the chapters led you on to read more, but also we're short enough for the younger reader to spread out over quite a few sittings without getting too overwhelmed.

This would be fab for the more confident reader to sit alone at quiet time - but would also make a brilliant bedtime (or even class) Read-Aloud story too.

I really enjoyed when the author narrates their own book as they can really get their original ideas across beautifully and that's what I found here.
The characters really stood out, the jokes were perfectly timed and their enthusiasm makes this a great read for any car journey.

A perfect series starter and I really hope to follow this series on over the next few books.
Profile Image for Phillip Quinn.
173 reviews2 followers
December 30, 2024
I was able to check out Dino Quest: The Trouble with Tyrannosaurs: What If Knights Rode Dinosaurs and had a fun time with it.

Moss Dungpile works at the Royal Stables in Dinopolis and longs to be a knight. However, he is destined to be stuck scooping poop instead of being cool like Sir Brutus Fallsword.

When he discovers that he can speak to dinosaurs, he’s brought in to help train Gargantua, Princess Opal’s new huge T-Rex.

When the kingdom is betrayed, Moss and Opal will need to work together to save everyone before all is lost.

If your kid (hell, or you) are into dinosaurs and knights and the idea of knights riding dinosaurs, you should check out the book.

Thank you Netgalley and Arcturus Publishing for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The book has perfect humor for younger kids.

If I was in elementary school reading this book, I would have had an incredible time. Dinosaurs? Knights? Princesses? Poop jokes. Give me a break! That’s perfect.

Daniel Duncan killed it with the art.

I thought Daniel Duncan’s artwork really added to the scenes. I loved being able to have an idea of what the characters and dinosaurs looked like as I read the book. It was a huge enhancement!

Any story where a character has my grandma’s name is exciting.

I like to imagine that Princess Opal was named after my grandma who passed away earlier this year. Princess Opal forever!
Profile Image for Katy Kelly.
2,577 reviews105 followers
December 2, 2024
Nice idea for a 'mash-up' - knights and dinosaurs.

We listened to this over several school run car journeys. My 7-year-old loved it. A story about knights, quests and dinosaurs? What's not to like?!

I did my best to stay focused but I must admit I wasn't all that keen on the author's narration, I didn't like Moss's voice which seemed wrong in my mind. And I like poo as much as the next person (I'm a mum of boys, for goodness sake!) but this did come close to being dung-overload.

Moss works in the royal stables shovelling the dino dung (think horse-alternative), as low as it's possible to go really, but when he realises he can speak to the beasts... and that the kingdom is under threat... his skills might help him rise up and become a hero.

Feminist-friendly princess. Stereotypical villain. Underdog hero. Dinosaurs. It's all here.

As a Beast Quest fan, my son is definitely just at the right age for this, and it's not overlong for solo or bedtime shared reading.

For ages 6-10.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample audio copy.
Profile Image for Meagan.
188 reviews8 followers
October 30, 2024
This was a cute book. It would be perfect for the intended audience.

I could hear the sarcasm in the main character’s words. It was fun to read.
There are a lot of made-up words that tripped me up, as well as my son.

I received an #ARC from #NetGalley and #ArcturusPublishing in exchange for my honest review. Publication date: January 1, 2025
1,170 reviews35 followers
November 4, 2024
Superb, audiobook for children, young teens and all the adults that have no choice to listen along. (The adults will find plenty to amuse them.) The narrator is very entertaining. The story is fun. So download and plug the children in for a fun story. Thank you to Arcturus Digital Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.
Profile Image for Rachel Thompson.
86 reviews3 followers
November 25, 2024
What in the doodling heck did I just read? The start to a fun and silly new middle-grade series! Knights? Check. Dinosaurs? Check. A heaping pile of poop/potty humor? CHECK. This series will be a great one for students who are ready for their first ventures into chapter books. Sure to catch their attention and keep them reading til the end!
Profile Image for Aimee.
259 reviews2 followers
February 17, 2025
Dino Quest: The Trouble with Tyrannosaurs: What If Knights Rode Dinosaurs? was a pretty good book. I would give this book 3.5 stars. I would like to read the second book.
Profile Image for Mehsi.
15.1k reviews455 followers
January 7, 2025
I received this book from the publisher/Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.


🦖 I loved the absolutely chaos of this book! There is so much happening and there is definitely not one moment of peace, haha. You go from poop to dinos to gifts to bad knights to more dinos and a fun ending.
🦖 I loved seeing all the dinos and I loved that apparently the carnivores didn’t eat humans, or at least, I haven’t seen any of them try.
🦖 I just laughed at Gorge and Devour who are big boys but instead love to just pretend fight. Even one of the knights called them kittens, which is not a word I would normally pick for hungry carnivores, haha.
🦖 I loved the names for the dinosaurs we meet!
🦖 Moss Dungpile (yep, RIP that boy), he was such an interesting character. Didn’t mind it too much that he was just a stable boy but made the most of it, and later on he turns into something even bigger which just made me so happy. He really shows some great skills and when he gets over being shy he does some epic things. I mean, how many people do you know that would willingly go to a rampaging dinosaur and click the shackles back to close? Not many right? I also love that he stood up for what was right. Go Moss!
🦖 Seeing Moss tame that big big dinosaur also made me happy, though I had expected a whole different way, but this just fits better with the book. I do wonder what he is communicating, you know just like how I wonder what cats think when their owners meow at them.
🦖 A whole world with dinosaurs???? YES!
🦖 The illustrations were a lot of fun and I love the style!
🦖 Opal! LORD, she was so epic! She can fight, she kicks ass, is smart, has more sense than her dad, and just is a total bad-ass and I love it! She quickly became my favourite character of the book!
🦖 Then there is something happening in regards to the knights and I was rooting for the villagers (and Moss/Opal) to kick some butt while being helped by some big ass dinosaurs.
🦖 The punishments at the end for certain people. Good luck. Teehee.
🦖 OH OH that reference to an event in Jurassic Park/World! Love it!

😐 I am just a bit done with the whole dumb king/simple king trope along with a smart daughter/son who is much more competent.
😐 I wasn’t such a fan with how Moss was often treated.
😐 Boggy and her dad can just go away and be eaten by a dinosaur. They were the worst characters for me, even more so than the knights doing bad things.

All in all, I had fun reading this one! I am definitely curious what will be next for our duo and how they will solve this next problem!

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

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