The Dinosaur Lords

The Dinosaur Lords #1

by Victor Milán

"It's like a cross between Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones." --George R. R. Martin

A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often brutal place. Men and women live on Paradise as do dogs, cats, ferrets, goats, and horses. But dinosaurs wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden-and of war. Colossal plant-eaters like Brachiosaurus; terrifying meat-eaters like Allosaurus, and the most feared of all, Tyrannosaurus rex. Giant lizards swim warm seas. Birds (some with teeth) share the sky with flying reptiles that range in size from bat-sized insectivores to majestic and deadly Dragons.

Thus we are plunged into Victor Milán's splendidly weird world of The Dinosaur Lords, a place that for all purposes mirrors 14th century Europe with its dynastic rivalries, religious wars, and byzantine politics…except the weapons of choice are dinosaurs. Where vast armies of dinosaur-mounted knights engage in battle. During the course of one of these epic battles, the enigmatic mercenary Dinosaur Lord Karyl Bogomirsky is defeated through betrayal and left for dead. He wakes, naked, wounded, partially amnesiac-and hunted. And embarks upon a journey that will shake his world.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dinosaurs, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult

446 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2015

About the author

Victor Woodward Milán was an American writer known for libertarian science fiction and an interest in cybernetics. In 1986 he won the Prometheus Award for Cybernetic Samurai. He has also written several shared universe works for the Forgotten Realms, Star Trek, and Wild Cards Universes. He has also written books under the pseudonyms Keith Jarrod, Richard Austin (Jove Books The Guardians series), Robert Baron (Jove Books Stormrider series), and S. L. Hunter (Steele series with Simon Hawke, who used the pen name J. D. Masters). He also wrote at least 9 novels under the "house name" of James Axler for the Harlequin Press/Gold Eagle Books Deathlands series & Outlanders series.

Reviews

[Andrea]

[Kitty G Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well honestly this book was a big disappointment for me really because after hearing the hype surrounding it and hearing George R R Martin endorse this I was at least highly intrigued by the idea of including Dinosaurs within a Fantasy...however, this book is nothing like what I expected or hoped for and every time I thought it could become something good it really disappointed me in the direction it turned.

I have many complaints when it comes to this book but mainly it comes down to lack of originality and muddled plotting. In this story we're focusing on a world called Paradise and all we know about it, for the majority of the book, is that it's not Earth. I personally liked the idea that maybe this was a Fantasy with Sci-fi themes and Paradise is a world that Humans have travelled to and inhabited but it just happens to have Dinosaurs there, but within the confines of the story this doesn't work.
I then considered the idea that this world was just that, a secondary world which had an alternative history so Dinosaurs have survived and have learned to co-exist on the planet with Humans - again this doesn't work because if this is the case and we're in an alternative medieval period, why are the character's heights and measurements all measured in centimetres????
Finally I tried to wrap my head around the idea that this is a created world where people control all the humans and Dinosaurs on the world and manipulate them into doing things for whatever reason they feel like and whilst this does kind of work as a concept, it honestly doesn't work in terms of the plot and the muddled layout of this world. Why do we have a muddle of Dinosaurs, Angels, Gods, Fey, Humans and all sorts of other random stuff all just getting along?? This so wouldn't work? Why do we have God-like creatures who 'made' this world? Who are they? What is the reason? NONE of this is at any point explained and the small hints that we do get are both conflicting and misleading at various points of the story.

I'm not often someone who gets angry about a book or gives out a 1* rating. In fact it's pretty rare for me to ever go below a 2* rating as I like to at least give credit where credit is due, but honestly nothing really worked for me in this. The best bit of this story for me is when the book is almost at the end and one of the characters sings a song about a battle and the only reason that worked for me was because I liked the rhymes and lyrics... If this is the only thing I think works in the book then seriously, something must be pretty messed up, and in this book nothing else was really worth talking about or redeemable.

I don't want to go on a huge rant about this book and the various pitfalls it fell into, but unfortunately it's the only way that I'm going to be able to describe my thoughts. We have 4 major characters in the book with a 5th who becomes much more major late in the story. Out of these 5 characters, 4 of them are men and they're all 'great' leaders and fighters and plotters (how typical). The single lady who is a main character had the potential to do some really cool things and involve herself in the plot in many ways, instead she's used as eye-candy for the men and an object to rape and assault at various points. I'm not usually a stickler for women and the portrayal in fantasy as I know it's often not the best, but honestly she COULD have been a awesome character and instead she was weak and crap!!! Disappointing!

Moving onto another point, the main viewpoint character is called Rob and I felt as though he was probably the least developed for me of them all which is ridiculous as we see mostly from his pov. The reason I say he's the weakest in terms of development is because all he does is adore the other character of Karyl and praise him... very tedious and boring to read after a fair few times!!
Karyl and Jaume are basically the same except Karyl has no conscience and Jaume is all about being a nice guy. They're both 'awesome' in everyone else's eyes and they both know exactly how to fix any dire situation at the last minute. Very predictably they're both going to 'win' at whatever they do.

Finally the last main character is Falk and he's the only one who actually interested me by the end of the book as the rest I had really given up all hope of redemption for. He, at least, has a fairly interesting plot which at the end of the book does do some more interesting stuff (if still not that original).

This book also over-uses profanity and rape etc massively. I have no problem at all with swearing and such in books because I read a lot of it and it takes a LOT for it to affect me. This book is so blasé about throwing swear words and horrible characters about that it just got annoying and silly. Unfortunately when profanity is overused it really doesn't even have an effect when actual bad stuff is happening and so this book had very little 'shock' factor in terms of events or language.
Equally it's not beautifully written or anything like that and it seems as though almost every chapter and paragraph was mostly 'he slashes this dinosaur which is super terrifying and scary and manages to kill it with ease because he's super cool' which is just ridiculous... Dinosaurs are made out to be SO terrifying, and yet by sitting on top of a small and nimble one you seem able to take down even the most terrifying beastly dino in a few blows... Come on!!! Really?!

Now moving onto the plot. This is called the Dinosaur Lords. We get little to no mention of the real history of the world or how Dinosaurs have been trained to co-exist with humans meaning that not only is it instantly unbelievable, but kind of disappointing. We then meet our characters and see them ride into an initial battle on Dinos and save the day (kind of cool when you're first starting the book). From this point on, however it's all confusion until about the halfway point. We have trouble knowing who is who and what on earth they are trying to achieve or who they work for. There are some crazy moments of long political debates which are dull as we have no idea who is who and nor do we feel invested in the story yet or care, and also we then have a fair few scenes of 'training up' recruits and some random acts of magic. NONE of this has really got anything to do with Dinosaurs, they are probably the smallest focus of the whole book, woefully underdeveloped and certainly not anywhere near as badass or cool as they should have been.

I don't really have the energy to keep on talking about this but suffice to say every moment it could have redeemed itself it didn't and the ending more infuriated me than made me want to proceed with the next one (so naturally I won't be). This book is further from Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones than pretty much anything else in Fantasy in that every troupe and every rubbish idea you can think of is sadly used and I just did not think it worth recommending to anyone (particularly if they like Dinosaurs and don't want them to be totally crappy as they are in this!).

Honestly I have nothing against the author himself, but this book just wasn't a book I enjoyed for anything and I personally can find very little to praise. I read this with a lot of others and no one found it easy to understand or to give a good rating to, so I don't feel too bad about this review, but it's probably the worst review I have ever given to a book on here. 1* is more than I wish I could award this. I don't think it's worth reading at all sadly...

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dinosaur Lords delivered exactly what the cover promises: knights on dinosaurs.

Of course it is a bit deeper than at.

The one thing you should know.
This world - Paradise - isn't Earth.
It wasn't Earth. It won't ever be Earth.
It is no alternate Earth.
All else is possible...

So right off the bat I could tell something was going to be lurking below the surface. Then BAM, we meet an Angel. And not one of your namby, pamby feathered pretty boys:

It strode from the cliff fully formed, emerging form white stone in one great stride. Two and a half meters tall it loomed, gaunt past the point of emaciation, grey. It lacked skin; its flesh appeared to have dried, cracked, and eroded...It turned its wasted face directly toward the herd boy. Eyes like iron marbles nestled deep in the sockets. Their gaze struck him like hammers.

Then BAM we are in the middle of a battle. Dinosaurs charging other dinosaurs, men and beasts dying by the score, and a battlefield betrayal (you can read the chapter here, care of Tor). This book was very fast paced in case you had not picked up on that from the aforementioned BAMs.

So the world of Dinosaur Lords, Paradise, takes a lot of inspiration from Medieval Europe (knightly orders, technology level, social order, etc.), with names and cultures very similar to European states. While this might strike the casual reader as lazy writing but there is something much deeper going on here. While on face this is a story about imperial intrigue, religious strife, conspiracies, and, of course, dinosaurs being used in warfare, there is an underlying current that suggests Paradise is something much more unique than just a planet with humans and dinosaurs.

Hogar, Home, Old Home - When they were done making Paradise, and found it good, the Creators brought humans, their Five Friends, and certain useful crops and herbs here from the world we call Home.

Color me intrigued. This, coupled with some magical happenings, suggests some very intriguing possibilities in subsequent books.

In terms of writing, it was a bit spotty. There were some rather good turns of phrase:

Nuevaropa's warrior class had little to do on any given day but train to fight. Except for hunting, feasting, and raping the occasional peasant, which they did after hours.

~~~

Careful what you wish for lad. Blood's not so easy to put back in, once you let it flow. Your own no more than anybody else's.

~~~

The sky warred with itself and the land, volleying rain, hurling howling wave-attacks of wind and jagged blue-white lightning spears, beating thunder war drums.

But there was a legion of dinosaur based similes and metaphors that felt a bit forced at times. Further, most of the characters were not terribly deep. They did a good job servicing the plot but I had trouble connecting with most of them. I will say that I was totally into the bromance of Karyl, the famous and recently deposed mercenary noble on the wrong side of a betrayal and Rob, the roving bard/dinosaur trainer/jack of all trades:

"How do you know what I was, anyway?" Karyl said.
"The songs!" Rob said. "I've heard the songs for years - cut my teeth on'em. Read the romances. Now I'm dying to hear the truth from you. you know how balladeers lie."
"Present company excluded?"
"By no means! I worst of all!"

They had a great, fun relationship based on mutual respect, knowledge that both had lived and seen a lot, and the necessity of the situation. Their chapters felt the most vibrant. But, for the most part, the fast paced plot and neat world covered up a lot of the writing weaknesses.

One other thing I liked about this book was that each chapter was headed with a little world building nugget. These were either description of a type of dinosaur (with their Latin named as defined in the Creator gifted book, The Book of True Names) or a passage from a child's history book. Both did a wonderful job expanding and shaping the world without the text devolving into info dumping. More books need to do this, I think it would go a long way mitigating info dumps.

So upon final review this was a fun, quick read. Not terribly deep, but it hints to some very intriguing potential developments. The world is great (especially how Milan integrated the existence of dinosaurs into everyday life), even if most of the characters that inhabit it are merely serviceable. I am eagerly looking forward to the next installment!

Also: neat book art courtesy of Tor!

[Bookwraiths · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths.

My rating is 3.5 stars.

When The Dinosaur Lords was first announced back in 2015, the hype was palpable across the fantasy genre. The concept, the book cover, and that endorsement from George R.R. Martin created expectations which rose into the stratosphere; every fantasy reader seeming to be dying to get their hands on this cross between Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones.

Then the novel was released.

Reviews were mixed. Some loved it. Some hated it. Most naysayers felt Victor Milán’s epic was too slow, too devoid of world building, too lacking in dinosaurs! Even those who enjoyed this opening salvo in the series had some issues with the pacing and character development, among other things. And the majority of readers seemed to fall right in the middle of the two extremes, enjoying parts of the story but not falling in love with it.

As for me, I sat back when the novel was published and absorbed as many reviews as I could. Naturally, the views of my favorite bloggers were most closely examined, but I also tried to understand everyone’s love or angst with the finished product. And as I did this my expectations for the book changed, which was a stroke of good luck for me. You see, that meant when I finally fit The Dinosaur Lords into my reading schedule, my expectations were close to normal; the hype for fantasy dinosaurs having cooled down somewhat; and I was able to appreciate this book for what it is: a solid — if not spectacular — introduction to an epic fantasy series which happens to incorporate dinosaurs into its narrative.

Opening with a flash, The Dinosaur Lords drops readers down into a huge battle between the Empire of Neuvaropa and rebellious nobles. Here Count Jaume Llobregat, a young, dashing, warrior-poet fights for his Emperor along side his dinosaur knight brothers, as they prepare to find beauty in the horrors of war. But even though his ideals are the most pure, Jaume finds loyalty to his betters calling upon him to do something very unchivalrous; his orders to aid the rebel Duke Falk von Hornberg in killing famed mercenary captain Karyl Bogomirskiy and destroying his legendary Triceratops corps. This vile deed of betrayal weighing heavily on Jaume’s soul.

Back at the residence of the Emperor (not in the capital, because His Highness doesn’t like that drafty place at all), the imperial princess Melodía anxiously awaits her lover Jaume. With the battle with the northern nobles won, she longs for him to finally return to court, not only for the comfort of his presence and the release of her pent up sexual frustrations, but also because she is slowly becoming aware that political machinations are brewing around her, especially since her father seems easily influenced by whomever bends his ear last. The princess hopeful that Jaume’s calming presence might end the constant waxing of Duke Falk von Hornberg’s power as well as stifle the growing talk of a crusade against the Garden of Truth and Beauty in far off Providence.

Meanwhile, across the kingdom, the commoner named Rob Korrigan (who found himself playing an unexpected but significant role in Jaume’s betrayal of Karyl Bogomirskiy) finds himself hired to track down Karyl, who seems not to be quite as dead as everyone thought. Rob’s task to convince the mercenary captain to travel to Providence, where they are to aid the Garden of Truth and Beauty in raising and training a fighting force to defend their lands from neighboring nobles bent of their total destruction. Sounds simple, but Rob isn’t sure if this stranger is really the legendary Karyl, and even if he is, he must somehow talk him into taking up a lost cause.

But there is far more transpiring on the world of Paradise than just these petty royal rivalries or isolated conflicts. Brief interludes in the narrative revealing that the Creators’ mysterious Grey Angels are watching the world very closely. These supernatural being taking an interest in the outcome of everything for some obscure reason, waiting for the right time, the right moment, to reappear and deal out judgement and retribution upon the masses!

For me, The Dinosaur Lords was a fine introduction to Victor Milán’s world and its denizens. It wasn’t perfect, didn’t reinvent the fantasy genre, and had its share of issues, but overall, it was an enjoyable read albeit a slow one at times.

Definitely, my favorite part of any story (including this one) is getting to know the characters I’ll be following along behind. Certainly, I will like some more than others, but whatever there role is to be (hero, villain, bystander) I expect to be show their public and private faces, understand them enough to want to learn more about them. And here I thought Victor Milán did a nice job showcasing each of his cast of colorful characters. From mysterious Karyl to spoiled Melodía, from noble Jaume to complex Falk, from dino lover Rob to perplexing Emperor Felipe, I met and grew to like or dislike each one of them in turn, allowing me to begin to take sides in the story as it unfolded, and while there was some truth to criticism that several seemed a bit overpowered, I chose to overlook that issue, trusting that Mr. Milán would correct that problem as the story evolved.

World building was the other area I really enjoyed here. I personally found myself drawn into this eerily similar yet distinctly different 14th Century European culture. The dynastic rivalries, political feuds, religious conflict, and overt Spanish cultural touches were a welcome change of pace from the more common British influenced fantasy I tend to see littering the bookshelves. Certainly, Victor Milán could have devoted even more time to developing the culture of this place, revealed more of its confusing past (I mean, does anyone know if this is another world or another dimension at this point?), and filled in some of the grey areas about the current state of the Empire, but even though he did not do those things, I still felt the 14th Century Spanish environment was fertile fantasy ground, which he put to good use overall.

But what about the dinosaurs? I hear some of you shouting out there.

Well, they are all here. A plethora of dinosaurs fully integrated into the narrative, as they co-exist side-by-side with humans on this world called Paradise. Naturally, there are many different kinds of dinos: domesticated breeds, who walk around as beasts of burden; wild dinos, who roam the countryside as ravaging beasts; even war dinosaur, who are raised to be mounts for the feared dinosaur knights of this world. And, these later dinosaurs are really the stars of the show, for whenever they appear the spotlight is firmly on them; their fearsome nature, terrifying power, and overwhelming magnetism drawing the reading eye, turning every battle scene in The Dinosaur Lords into a must read. Victor Milán’s writing ability shining its brightest when he describes these fearsome behemoths of war thundering across a field of battle, leaving all in their wake. The only negative to this full integration of dinos into human society that, outside of the battles, these beasts fade into the background, as you forget they are there, because they are another part of daily life among these people, so while the author never fails to integrate them into the ongoing narrative, they are not anything for the characters to get excited about, just like people these days think nothing of handheld computers, drones, or any number of technological marvels that once would have caused quite an uproar in people.

The main criticism I have of this novel is the pacing of the story. It is a slow moving affair for the most part. Once the battle at the beginning ends, the narrative proceeds at a snail’s pace. We have long speeches by characters we do not really know yet. Conversations are drawn out a bit too far with too much internal monologue included. Plots take forever to form. Mysteries are hinted at over and over again. Revelations about characters and events are slow in developing (if they ever come at all). And the climaxes do not quite live up to the buildup. These missteps resulting in The Dinosaur Lords being a book which steadily moves forward but seemingly never goes anywhere.

The other issue I had was the vulgarity and sex scenes. Cursing doesn’t offend me. (Unfortunately, I do it far too often in real life.) I have had sex before, so I’m fairly familiar with how it works. (Unfortunately, I don’t do that nearly as much as I’d like.) These two things do bother me when all the cursing and sex do not seem to have much to do with the story that I am reading, however. And there were moments in The Dinosaur Lords where I wondered if Victor Milán really needed to add that curse word or that sexual reference for the tale to progress forward. My answer far too many times was no, which meant the only reason it was there was for shock effect. I hate shock effect in writing. I just do. So this was a major problem for me personally.

The net outcome of all these positives and negatives is that even with its stumbles I really enjoyed The Dinosaur Lords. It had some issues here and there, which did slow down the fun, but I can’t resist dinosaurs in an epic fantasy. I mean, Victor Milán has caught lightning in a bottle with this idea. Whether he can make it live up to its tremendous potential hasn’t been determined yet, but he did enough in this book to send me back to the bookshelf to immediately read book two in the series. And, for me, that is saying a lot.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’d like to thank them for allowing me to receive this review copy and inform everyone that the review you have read is my opinion alone.

[Mogsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/07/27/b...

Ever wondered what a tournament joust would look like, if both opponents were charging full-tilt towards each other while mounted on three tons of bellowing hadrosaurus? Honestly, I can’t say I have. But Victor Milán has shown me the light, and it is glorious.

Knights and dinosaurs. Tell me you can resist that, because I know I couldn’t.

The Dinosaur Lords takes place in the Empire of Neuvaropa, a fictional land reminiscent of 14th century Europe. The story opens with a great battle. Famed noble captain Karyl Bogomirskiy and his mercenary Triceratops army (though Karyl himself rides Shiraa the magnificent matador, an Allosaurus) are betrayed and then promptly crushed by the forces of Count Jaume Llobregat and Duke Falk von Hornberg. Karyl dies and is resurrected — twice, actually – and eventually joins up with dinosaur master Rob Korrigan to travel to Providence, where they are recruited by the adherents of the Garden of Truth and Beauty to defend their lands and train their troops.

Meanwhile in the capital, the princess Melodía awaits the return of her lover Jaume from his campaign. She becomes increasingly concerned over the war, as well as the rivalries and intrigues within her father’s court. It is especially troubling, given how easily influenced the emperor can be without the presence of his right hand man. Furthermore, unbeknownst to all, the Eight Creator’s mysterious cadre of Grey Angels stand witness to the games of power playing out before them – watching…and waiting.

This is a fantastic introduction to a new series featuring engaging characters and a fun and addictive story. But let’s first talk about the dinosaurs, and about how they make everything better. If that’s what initially drew you to The Dinosaur Lords, you’re probably not alone; I myself confess that they were the huge driving force behind me finally breaking down and requesting a copy of this for review. And yet, the presence of dinos is far from being just a shtick to draw attention. Milán has deftly integrated them fully into the fantasy world of his novel, portraying his vision of a human culture that evolved side-by-side with these creatures.

Not surprisingly, a myriad species of dinosaurs in this story have been domesticated by people for different uses, including but not limited to food, beasts of burden, beloved companions, and of course, prized mounts. Ultimately, dinosaurs are undeniably an integral part the characters’ everyday lives – their folklore, their traditions and even their metaphors. They’re so ubiquitous that a lot of the time, you forget they’re even there, so seamlessly are they incorporated into the world-building. As you can imagine, there are endless possibilities when it comes to the role of dinosaurs in a medieval-like setting. The author explores many of them, and as a result, we readers win. I was especially impressed and thrilled by the battle scenes involving the mounted cavalr—er, dinosaurry. To paraphrase Jaume, a knight’s greatest weapon is his war-dinosaur, and vice versa.

By the way, have I mentioned the beautiful flavor artwork that adorns the first page of each chapter?

Interior art by Richard Anderson, these and more originally featured at http://www.tor.com/2015/05/08/dinosau...

Featuring a huge variety of species, this book will be a real treat for any dinosaur lover. And you can imagine my relief to have my kid’s Big Book of Dinosaurs on hand to look up the “true names” of all those described in these pages.

I could probably go on at length about the dinosaurs, but of course this isn’t just all about them. For once a cover blurb actually rings true for me after I read the book. Within the first handful of chapters, the story’s “Game of Thrones vibe” made itself apparent with a focus on courtly politics and the fates of kings, princesses, and nobles on the line. Probably not surprising that The Dinosaur Lords is just as much about lords is it is about dinosaurs. Leaving all the things like dinosaurs and the gigantic insects of this world aside though, there’s actually little in the way of fantasy elements apart from a very subtle thread of magic woven in. Thus even though this world is not our own, it’s easier to imagine this book as a historical fantasy rather than a general epic.

Story-wise, with the exception of a couple instances in the middle where I thought the quick bouncing back and forth of POVs was erratic and perplexing, the narrative was generally well-structured and the pacing was spot on. My only other regret was not seeing Melodía, who was my favorite, in a more significant role relative to Rob’s or Jaume’s. This isn’t the first time I’ve read a series-starter feeling that the main female character was underused compared to other perspective characters, and I hope she’ll feature more prominently in the sequel and have a stronger effect on the story.

I guess that addresses the question of whether or not I’ll continue with the series. My answer is absolutely, yes, sign me up for the next book! Fan of dinosaurs? Then you’ve got to read this novel. Even if you do pick this up for love of dinosaurs alone, you’re guaranteed to leave with a lot more than just that, no matter what. Totally worth it.

[Joel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full Review on my blog, Total Inability To Connect

Few books gathered more anxious and excited energy in 2014 and early 2015 than The Dinosaur Lords. Armed with a brilliant piece of cover art, a big publisher, and a very unique and (potentially) exciting premise, the novel seemed poised to take off upon it's release. However, following it's late July arrival, talk of it all but disappeared in the fantasy communities, and the reviews coming back at that point were tepid, at best. Why?

Well, mostly because it's not a very good book.

The synopsis on the book cover implied, essentially, that we were entering into a world where dinosaurs of all types are present, and humans have harnessed the powers of some of them to be used as mounts or weapons. Sounds epic, right?

If only. We're thrown into some action to start the book, in the only manner that would be acceptable in a book like this - a skirmish, wherein mounted dinosaur knights ride in and sway the course of the battle. This is going to be great! Except then it falls flat on it's face. The dinosaurs, for the majority of the book, become little more than an afterthought - a talking point. And unfortunately, when they are mentioned, it's in the most bland ways possible - discussing constantly how their body weight is their real weapon, how the knights are just an ancillary piece and that the dinosaurs are the true weapons, etc. However, the dinosaurs are vastly under-utilized, and despite being the cover schtick and main focus of the blurb, they are far from the main focus of the novel.

Yes, this is his actual author photo from Goodreads
This might be a minor complaint, if the rest of the story, characters, and world were intriguing enough to carry the book. However, they simply aren't. The book surrounds a handful of main characters, most of which were of varying levels of 'being awesome'. I very rarely felt like they were in true danger, as one of them would always come up with a plan to save the day. Some of them, especially Rob, were uninventive and very boring - very little character development occurred over the course of the book. He essentially spends his time praising or worshiping other characters, and doing very little for himself.

The worldbuilding leaves a TON to be desired. With the concept of the novel in mind, and knowing that there are dinosaurs and ample room to develop somewhere for them to live, Milan instead injects the novel with "Paradise", a cookie-cutter pseudo-medieval world. However, despite the dinosaurs and medieval-age technology, there's a lot of modern twists - a lot of Spanish influence, money in the form of Pesos, people measuring things in the metric system. On top of that, it's frequently referenced that there was a previous world that people came from back in history, but there was no explanation at any point as to how they got to "Paradise", no explanation for how the dinosaurs were tamed, no explanation for how this planet even works. It's very disappointing, and a very lackluster job of developing a setting.

Unfortunately, that's not the only writing blunder. The prose of the book is acceptable most of the time, however there are a pretty large number of errors in judgement that bring the book down. I noted multiple times in my updates that the book was boring - and that is true, the plot moves at a glacial speed, despite the relatively short page count of the book. There are long speeches early on that involve a lot of characters we do not know, nor do we have any vested interest in, so they come across as hollow and lacking consequence. The dialogue itself is rough as well - often stiff and unrealistic conversations, laden with profanity that would make Joe Abercrombie blush. I've no problem with naughty words, but they need to be used appropriately, and they're just flung around like the crew are proverbial sailors.

The structure of thoughts and dialogue are even worse. I lost track of the number of times there was a line such as "xxxx, she thought to herself" in the middle of dialogue. I appreciate jumping into the head of POV characters, giving some insight as to what they're seeing and feeling, etc. But Milan interjects almost every conversation with multiple instances of this, and it comes across as extremely clumsy and amateur. It breaks up the flow of dialogue, and often adds next to nothing to the situation. He also struggles with repeating himself - repeating phrases, repeating descriptions, repeating certain points. Perhaps the most egregious is his use of simile - multiple times, he compared falling soldiers to other falling items - namely describing one as dropped cutlery, and another as, I believe (not going to go back and find exact quote), "like pots and pans being dropped off a castle wall". OUCH.

There were some other cringeworthy moments, such as one of the most vulgar sex scenes I've ever read. As with profanity, I have no aversion to smut in my books, as long as they're used well. However, mentioning the female's "bush" at least 4 times during a sex scene is just awkward at best, and really terribly written at worst. I also wonder if Victor Milan has either had sex with a woman, or knows women - his main female character is permanently horny, almost voraciously so, and in the aforementioned sex scene she orgasmed explosively within the first few seconds of their sexual encounter, and the orgasm lasted throughout their sexual escapade. I actually said "What the hell?" aloud after that scene - was like a teenager who had only ever read smut on the internet had written it.

All of these components add up quickly to form the basis for a very dull, disappointing book. One with a lot of potential, ideas and concept wise, but lacking sorely in execution. I struggled to find positive things to say about it - it's far from the worst book I've ever read, but it made up for that gap by being such a letdown, such a missed opportunity. The writing was sub-par, and the decisions that went into the book even more so. The Dinosaur Lords had churned up a lot of hype and excitement, but in the end, left the reader with little satisfaction.

Rating: 1 / 5

[Stefan · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, I need you to imagine such circumstances where time, nature and extraterrestrial gigantic rocks weren’t so cruel throughout - and at the very end - of the Mesozoic Era and wiped out these magnificent creatures.
Just imagine dinosaurs lingering awhile longer in this world.
Awesome, right? No! You crazy? No.

Secondly, I want you to imagine not so distant history filled with lords and knights and queens of medieval time. A bit romantic isn’t it?
If we exclude famine and plague and average lifespan of 35.
But… what if we pretend everyone speaks Spanish? There it is.

Last - but not the hardest - thing I need you to do for me is to imagine us - mere humans - stupid enough to intertwine with such species as dinosaurs; but still clever (or cruel) to the point of taming and using them as weapons of war and transport.
Because, who needs horses, when you can ride a T-Rex into a battle or an ox to plough your field when you can have Triceratops for that?
Oh, and there are dragons here, too.

Welcome to Nuevaropa .

What exactly is The Dinosaur Lords ?
El Cantar De Mio Sid (The Poem of the Cid) VS Jurassic Park/World?
Pretty much, yeah…
With a little bit of A Knight’s Tale and Don Quixote in it.

Now, I tend to read reviews after I finish the book and after I finish writing my own review. And I do that just to see if I have missed something or misinterpret anything. But most of all I do that just to compare our thoughts on it.
And while reading them, before posting this one, I see that expectations were really high because a certain successful author compared it to his own equally successful series.
And by doing it so vaguely, if I can use the term, he actually did a disservice to this book. Great marketing, no doubt, but still because of it, people expected a lot more than what this book was offering to them.
And what does it offer? Well, let’s talk about it.

Author himself said

“The one thing you should know.
This world - Paradise - isn't Earth.
It wasn't Earth. It won't ever be Earth.
It is no alternate Earth.
All else is possible...”

But then he uses reminiscent names for his Empires, Kingdoms and States such as Spañol, Francès, Alegmanes, Slavos which all are more than clear reference to Spain, France, Germany and Slavic nations.
And people had obviously a few complaints.
Now as a sucker for worldbuilding, imaginary history and lore I have to agree to some extent with those complaints.

When you decide to make a (clearly) parallel world to Earth, but then you say “It’s not a parallel Earth.”, and then you provide for us little to no history of whatever-your-world-you-say-it-is – you’ll come out as a lazy writer.
And yes, this book suffers from lazy worldbuilding setup.
But does that lack of imagination for this imaginary world bothers me?
No.
Not as much as the fact that this book has so little to offer to compensate for it.

Which leads to characterization.
Out of 4 POV characters just one was interesting to follow.
Everyone else, the knight, the princess, the dinosaur-tamer, do exactly what you expect them to do.
Which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t so linear aka boring.

The one interesting enough is a former Voyvod of the Misty March and commander of the White River Legion Karyl Vladevich Bogomirskiy and here are some of his thoughts on realism and pragmatism, which are basically his highlight:

“Taking a life is a serious thing – because it’s irrevocable.”
“Why do it, then?”
“Because though my life’s a small and miserable thing, it is my own, and not to be stolen away from me.”

~

“What I’ve always insisted on from myself is to do as well as I could, and keep doing better until I’m at least competent. Long ago I learned that to achieve anything, one must start where one stands. Or spend eternity waiting for the right moment. Which never comes.”

I admit – it isn’t much. And I also admit – it doesn’t get any better.

Which now leads me to prose and writing.
I have read a lot of great battle descriptions throughout my faze of avid reading of epic fantasy, so I have my fair share of reading about horses and lancers, formations and… all in all – I can imagine what a pikemans’ supposed to do with his weapon, what war-horse is capable to do in a battle and what pony is not.
Here I have dinosaurs that I know little what they look like, got little description what they actually do, except that they are dropping like flies. And that took my enjoyment in reading on many occasions.
Dialogues also tend to drag, but also, on a few occasions can shine.
And I’m left wondering “Why couldn’t you make it like that throughout the entire book?”.
Answer on that awaits me in the sequel I guess…

Is this book bad? It isn’t. It has potential, but every single one of them is drowned by multitude of fantasy trope.
No dinosaurs in it will save it.
No beautiful art at the beginning of every chapter will save it.
Only better sequel will. With better writing in it, preferably.

Would I recommend it? Sure. Knock yourself out. :D

[Sean Smart · Rating 2 out of 5]

A beautiful looking book but didn't enjoy it all despite the great reviews and recommendations from people like George R R Martin. I thought it was a missed opportunity for a brilliant concept. I am sure a lot of high fantasy fans will love it though but I just could not get in to it, keep up with what was going on or who was who.

[Geek Furioso · Rating 2 out of 5]

No puedo decir que odie con toda mi alma a The Dinosaur Lords. Sólo que me hallo sumamente decepcionado.

Caballeros montando en dinosaurios, me dijeron. Algo épico, me dijeron. Pues ni una cosa ni la otra. Este esperpento de novela no es más que otro intento de ordeñar la vaca de las intrigas palaciegas que crió Juego de Tronos, pero metiéndole caballeros en dinosaurios que están ausentes durante casi todo el libro. Combina eso con el worldbuilding más patéticamente vago que haya visto en mi vida, capaz de dejar a muchas distopías adolescentes en buen lugar, unos personajes que al contrario que los de Martin no tienen matiz alguno más allá del de un personaje digno de Dragones y Mazmorras y una forma de escribir que me hacía rechinar los dientes (sobre todo cuando descuartizaba el español metiendo términos en mi idioma sin venir a cuento o cuando iba y los escribía mal) y entenderás por qué estoy frustrado. Pero no puedo limitarme a decir que este libro es malo, porque, si te gustan las tramas a lo CdHyF, estoy seguro de que te gustaría.

Reseña en breve.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insufficient dinosaurs, no completed storyline, too little exposition(!).

(If you bring in the T-rexes and they aren't actually eating everyone, why... why? Dino-sigh.)

[Sara Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooooohhhhh this book! Where even to begin?

So, in full disclosure, I was given an ARC to read by the author.

While I thought the premise was intriguing, I initially cracked it open because I am a fan of Victor Milán and his writing. But within a few lines, I was HOOKED! Hooked like a nosehorn, I tell you!

If you are a dino geek, you will love this book.
If you are an epic fantasy geek, you will love this book.
If you an intrigue geek, you will love this book.
If you are a warfare/battle geek, you will love this book.
If you are at all a fan of crisp, stellar writing with snappy dialogue, non-brooding anti-heroes, and a beautifully crafted story you will love this book!

Top 10 things that kept me reading:
1. I loved the world, every chapter is begun with an excerpt from the "textbooks" of this world that explain a lot about the details without it having to be info-dumped in the text. But even skipping those, the author draws you deeper into the details and events until you are totally submerged in it and loving every second of it.

2. Deep, dimensional characters. No good guys are purely good, no bad guys are purely evil. Everyone is human with flaws and merits and emotional baggage and personal joys.

3. Rich diversity of casting. Set in an alternate Europe, but centered in "Spana," the cast contains a very continental array of European backgrounds. A totally refreshing departure from strictly Anglo-centric fantasy.

4. Sexual agency of the female characters. Dang, this was so awesome. Imagine a world where slut-shaming doesn't even exist!

5. Religious diversity. This probably ought to be higher on the list, but this was a huge detail for me. You know how usually in fantasy novels, everyone is an adherent of the Single Religion of that world? And everyone is basically equally devout? Yeah, not so much in this book. There are atheists, agnostics, different sects- some which are more popular and some less, and different levels of beliefs even among the faithful. Also it isn't overtly stated, but could be inferred, that this is not the only religion on the planet. Which is downright revolutionary for a fantasy novel.

6. Battle details that made my head spin. I'm not really big into this but dang, the attention to detail was such that I was looking up this weapon or that piece of armor.

7. Ditto costumes. I loved knowing what everyone was wearing, but then again, I would, it's my job. But I don't think it was overdone, even for you non-costume-nerds out there.

8. Sensual details. What did everything look like, sound like, feel like, taste like, and smell like? You will know ALL.

9. Well-delivered snark. This is not a purposely humorous book, but some lines were just so perfectly hilarious. Even in tense scenes, the author supplies a few moments of levity, even if only gallow's humor, to give the reader a moment to breathe.

10. Pacing. I kept looking at the remainder of the book and wondering HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY GET WRAPPED UP BEFORE I GET THERE?! But it did. And without feeling rushed or cramped. The larger, overarching plot that will wind through the whole series just starts to get juicy by the end of book 1 and the smaller plots that drive this volume were resolved...but weren't...in a way that was actually very satisfying. I was definitely left wanting MOREMOREMORE but I also feel like I truly finished the first book. A lot like eating at one's favorite restaurant. The meal is over and you are feeling satiated, but you are already making plans for a return visit because there is so much left on the menu to eat!

BOOK 2 (The Dinosaur Knights) CANNOT COME OUT SOON ENOUGH!
I would read it tomorrow if I were able to do so.

But for now, go out and arrange to get yourself a copy of The Dinosaur Lords POSTHASTE!

[Sean Kelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

SPOILERS

I'm having a hard time reviewing this book because...

it's not good. It's really not but... dinosaurs.

There are basically four main characters. They're pretty ordinary and one dimensional. There's the rogue with the heart of a gold, the dashing knight, the mysterious warrior, and the princess who yearns to see the world outside of the palace. Every single character makes exactly the choices you expect them to make. They're all fairly wooden and boring... but dinosaurs.

The plot is boring. A small hippie colony is besieged by bad guys. Two down on their luck heroes need to train the hard scrabble hippies to fight back. Meanwhile the real villains are scheming back at the capital... but... dinosaurs.

The female characters are defined exclusively by their looks and sexuality. Oh and the writer has chosen to use rape in a cheap, and pretty awful way, so heads up for that.

Oh and there are angels? I guess? That feels weird and tacked on. Almost an after thought to everything else in the book. But... dinosaurs.

Overall, I did not enjoy, and cannot recommend "The Dinosaur Lords." I had high hopes as this was recommended on George RR Martin's blog and I really, really like the central idea of a fantasy world populated by dinos instead of dragons. There are a few redeeming qualities. The world building is genuinely interesting and tons of detail has gone into the best part of the book- the dinosaurs themselves. But everything that isn't directly related to the dinosaurs? Not so much.

[Kuroi]

Did someone say epic fantasy with DINOSAURS?

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars
This was a very weak piece of epic fantasy that was only slightly redeemed by the dinosaurs.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

review 2016 after publication of volume 2 Dinosaur Knights:

looking back at my 2015 review on original publication, I mentioned that book 2 will make or break the series for me in terms of really becoming interested or just dropping it, and when i got Dinosaur Knights around publication a little while ago, I started reading it and wasn't that impressed but as with all books that have potential but fail to involve me early, I started browsing ahead to see if I find a "hook' and in this case I actually did, though past the middle of the book (around page 250/430+ where the real story finally gets going so to speak) and then the story became so absorbing that I had to go back and re-read Dinosaur Lords and then continue with Dinosaur Knights...

on my re-read and keeping in mind the new powerful stuff, I have to say that Dinosaur Lords becomes a better book as the long introduction (which in a way the whole book is for the series) gets meaning and the characters start seeming more interesting; there is still a little too much of (non) events at the court with Princess Melodia and her entourage (stuff that is more of a way to pass time until Melodia's real storyline starts towards the end of this one) and the main new villain is still a bit one dimensional (even in book 2 he stays that way, but he gets a little more nuance by the time the 'real" story starts), while the dinosaurs are mostly props with only a few exceptions (again they really get important when the real story starts about the middle of volume 2), but overall, I would definitely recommend the series and encourage patience as the story gets really good in volume 2

original review on publication 2015:

cool concept and fantasy art inside with an ok but not great execution;

outside of the dinosaurs the book is standard fantasy which straddles the traditional-grimdark in a reasonable way so it doesn't devolve in pompousness or takes itself too seriously - most of what happens is what one usually sees in fantasy and the characters are fairly stock ones but the world and characters are new enough to keep the novel interesting with a writing style that is pleasant

as a first volume there is some conclusion, but the main action just starts by the end of the book so the next volume will make or break the series for me (as the newness will be gone, the book will have to be intrinsically interesting in storyline, characters or both to keep me reading)

overall - enough new stuff and pleasant writing to make it worth trying, but lacks powerful writing or memorable characters to be a top tier fantasy series for now

[Maurice Africh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun read! I've spent the last two weeks looking up dinosaur pictures and immersing myself in this crazy story.

I enjoyed the novel immensely. I really loved the Rob and Karyl storyline, though there was much to enjoy from the Melodia and Jaume storylines, too.

My biggest complaints with the book are sort of nitpicking. I didn't like that many of the decisions made by the characters and (especially) people antagonizing the characters seemed unmotivated. I'm also not a fan of the "bad military commander" trope unless it's done incredibly well. Incompetence is often a plot point in military fantasy, and sometimes, it seems motivated, but other times, it feels like lazy writing.

I also feel like there's another book of this length that could cover the political motivations behind this book's key plot points and machinations. In the end, I don't know that I was super invested in any of the major twists, turns, reveals, etc. Or, at least, the way they happened were more or less revealed *suddenly* without preamble. So, there wasn't much rising tension woven into the narrative.

That said, it was a super fun read, and I found myself excited to get back to it every night. Highly recommend, and I'll definitely check out the next book in the series!

[Evan Morgan]

Knights on dinosaurs... Why has no one thought of this before now?

[Liam || Books 'n Beards · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ho boy. I didn't expect much from this book to be honest - the concept of dinosaur knights in medieval Europe is pretty bloody pulpy - but I got even less than that. Gave up on this one about 60% of the way in.

Where to start. Speaking of starts, the book took until about 100 pages in to actually pick up - everything before that is either an extended prologue, or hamfisted character introductions which completely failed to impress any interest or empathy upon me. Conversations would proceed slowly, drawn out - everything was 'exclaimed' or 'cried'.

For the setting, I guess setting it in a sort of alternative Europe and Spain in particular (I think?) is a neat idea but I'm not entirely sure why it was that way at all. I think a new, fictional world would have worked just as well - probably better. As it was, the writing would switch into other languages for some portions, especially character dialogue, for flavour - but it wasn't consistent. A character would be called Condesa one paragraph and Countess/Count the next - Mister and then Maestro. If you're going to use foreign languages and titles, more power to you - just pick one and use that. Another example is the Life-to-Come cult/religion/whatever. Wait, no, Vida-la-Viene. No, Life-to-Come. Switch, switch, switch.

Dinosaurs are worked into a medieval setting in a surprisingly deft way. They don't feel unnatural or out of place, and one of the neat things is that they each have a different name from whatever-osaurus. Parasaurolophus is 'sackbut', due to the trumpeting noises it makes sounding like an instrument, Deinonynchus are called 'horrors', for obvious reasons. However the author seems to forget his fictional names for the dinosaurs occasionally, I spotted at least two instances of him calling a Corythosaurus (a 'morion') a sackbut, or vice versa. Not major, but a bit sloppy nevertheless. Also a couple of inaccuracies, as far as you can be inaccurate about something we don't know much for certain about - saying that hadrosaurs would walk on their hind legs and gallop on all fours? Please. You try galloping with those stumpy front legs. They'd sprint on their hind legs if anything, using the momentum to keep themselves from falling forwards. Anyway, I digress.

The writing fluctuates between passable and cringeworthy. Particularly one particular sex scene (thankfully the only one I read in my time with the book) which had all the subtlety and wit of two teenagers cybering.

"Strong, long-fingered hands molded her buttocks as if he were a blind artist and meant to sculpt them"

This is the kind of shit I wrote when I was in Year 9, bad harlequin romance crap. Speaking of crap, on p. 63;

"Lupe scowled, which her single brow equipped her well to do."

...and on p. 162;

"Lupe scowled. Her single heavy brow equipped her well to do so."

Not going into how clumsy those sentences are in isolation, using the same description for a character - down to the wording - 100 pages apart? This is rookie stuff.

And the plot? Well it couldn't hold my interest after 280~ pages, and it showed no signs of picking up in the near future. The characters are bland and uninteresting, the plot is kept apparently intentionally vague and mysteeeeerious, unless literally "Go to this place and train some men" and "Go to this place and kill some men, also your girlfriend is cross with you for killing those men" was the plot. In which case, what a waste of my time.

I've given it 2 stars rather than 1 because honestly I could probably have dragged myself through the rest of the pages, so it wasn't completely awful. It's just, Seveneves got here and why bother reading this tripe when I could be reading that?

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very rare did not finish for me. A brilliant premise, but I just didn't care about the humans in, this book.

I haven't read this book for a few days and I haven't had a serious urge to start reading it again which is a problem.

I have other books to read and more coming next month.

[Caleb CW · Rating 1 out of 5]

Im gonna be really really harsh here but I have the right. I earned it.
Four years. It took me four years, but I've finally done it I have tamed the beast that is the dinosaur lords. And what do I think? What wisdom do I have to impart upon you? Well, you could read 80% of this book and still be bored to tears while trying to bash in your own head in with the paperback copy you were excited to buy right before your local bookstore closed. You would be mostly disappointed with yourself because out of all the grand adventures you could have chosen you picked this thing up thinking it would be eloquent and badass. I mean look at that cover, that is a badass cover. The cover is a lie. Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. I know it's my own fault judging a book by its cover but then there's the shining commendation from the likes of George R.R. Martin saying it's like Jurassic Park meets Game of Thrones. No, no it's not. It's political intrigue that's not intriguing, a band of squirming ladies who inspire all of the sympathy of a cold wet sock, and a band of merry biker bros in assless chaps who like to sleep with each other and ride on dinos. The assless chaps part was made up sorry. But the band does ride together in more ways than one and one of their names is Jaume. This would have worked worlds better as a comedy I'm sure you have figured out by now. But it wasn't a comedy it was a balls to the wall drama that was supposed to put you at the edge of your seat. It certainly made me slump wishing I could just DNF the thing but I bought it so by George I was gonna finish it. If this book would have only had the last 100 pages it would have been a good book but it wasn't. The book was 300 pages too long of exposition and awkward sexual experiences/relationships that garnered more laughs than sympathy. The grey angels by the way that are mentioned in the blurb as such an important plot device to strike fear into your core show up twice for about two to three minutes of reading and the second time they show up all fears are dissolved into a gigantic pile of triceratops dung. The only character I enjoyed was Rob and maybe Karyl but for the most part this books a stinker with characters galore. The artwork is awesome, the dinosaurs are awesome, the sparse dino battles are intriguing, unfortunately most of the book is background. And that background is not intriguing.

Ugh, I'm glad it's over.

There it is and there you have it.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reasons to love The Dinosaur Lords:

1. DINOSAURS. Yup, they're part of everyday life on the planet of Paradise.
2. A chance to actually use that French/Spanish/Latin that you've studied in school.
3. All the fun stuff included in high fantasy epics--battles, personal vendettas, romances, escapes and captures, death, lies, and sometimes truths.

This novel owes a debt of gratitude to many that went before it. There is a nod to Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books (if you are present at the hatching of one of the large carnivorous dinosaurs, it will bond to you and you alone). The quotes from various texts at the beginning of each chapter were very reminiscent of Frank Herbert’s Dune series, although this world is much less complex. And there is a distinct Robin Hood vibe to the last chapters of the book wherein the Rob, the “Irish” bard, and Karyl Bogomirksy, the old campaigner, take a group of peasants and unwilling nobles and try to forge them into a fighting force to stand up to the Dinosaur Lords.

Still, I found some aspects of the book jarring. Every now and then, in a pseudo-Medieval setting, a blunt, modern term would slap me out of the narrative. Usually something just a bit too coarse for the rest of the writing. There was only one sex scene, which was described much more towards the porn end of the spectrum than I would have expected—if you haven’t seen your lover for months, there is urgency yes, but there is still affection and tenderness that was completely missing from this depiction. Unfortunately, there is a rape in the latter stages of the book and I found it more realistic than the supposedly loving sex.

However, this novel passes the Bechdel test with flying colours! There is a whole bevy of strong women who surround princess Melodía, who is herself seeking a way of making her life more meaningful. Instead of just letting life slip by in a series of pleasures and entertainments, these women are seeking to influence their society. They have sexual agency and a fair bit of freedom and are making the most of it. Bonus points!

I can definitely see where those who are not dinosaur aficionados would be somewhat confused (although that is what those chapter headings are there to help with) and if you resolutely resist using any language except English, you will encounter difficulties. Some interest in Medieval vocabulary is of utility to the reader as well (i.e. knowing that a sackbut is a trombone-like instrument and that Parasaurolophus had a long crest which presumably gave it’s call a trombone-like quality, hence calling this species of Hadrosaur a Sackbut).

I think every dinosaur lover has dreamt of being able to see these marvelous animals in the flesh (and not in Jurassic Park, either!); this book allows us to indulge this dream a bit. The dinosaur masters, who care for the war-dinosaurs, obviously love their charges and have fond relationships with them. I think many of us will insert ourselves imaginatively into that role!

I look forward to the second installment of the tale, The Dinosaur Knights.

[The Shayne-Train · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a fun, interesting experience!

There are knights, and wars, and gallantry, and betrayal, and motherfucking dinosaurs struttin' their stuff.



Yeah, like that guy.

This was a weird but ultimately well-crafted piece of fantasy. The setting is pretty much Middle Ages Spain, but not OUR Middle Ages Spain. I can't tell if it's just an Earth-like place, or the ever-popular "aliens built this place as a kind of Earth creature zoo." But either way there are lots of fine Spanish gentlemen riding goddamn triceratops into battle.

You know what, don't even listen to me. Listen to that little kid you still have in your head. That kid that lets out excited exclamations whenever you think about the gigantic reptilian titans who made this world their own far before we came and fucked the place up. That kid wants to read this book.

[11811 (Eleven) · Rating 1 out of 5]

UPDATE: My library got this one in. I could have gone with the free preview after all. I pushed myself to read half of it because the concept and artwork are so awesome, the book itself should be too, dammit. But, I couldn't keep going. The story was bland as hell. Very cool pictures though. I highly recommend browsing them before putting the book back on the shelf.


When I requested this book from Netgalley, I didn't realize it was a preview excerpt. Sorry for the misunderstanding but I have no desire to read and review an incomplete book.

Adding insult to injury, The Kindle edition is $12.99 so I'm waiting on either my library to order a copy or for the publisher to have a 99 cent Kindle sale. If that doesn't work out, I'll be forced to read one of the other couple thousand books currently taking up space on my Kindle. God forbid I read something that I had actually bought already.

Life is too short to read preview excerpts. Thanks anyway, Netgalley. I love the cover art and concept though! Good luck with the price gouging!

[Vagner Stefanello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review in Portuguese from Desbravando Livros:

Um dos lançamentos mais aguardados do ano de 2015 no Brasil e mundo afora, Os Senhores dos Dinossauros chegou até nós pelas mãos da editora DarkSide Books no mês de setembro de 2015.

O livro nos apresenta diversos personagens e um prólogo, no mínimo, estranho à primeira vista. Um garoto pastoreia um "rebanho" de dinossauros enquanto um mítico Anjo Cinza aparece e diz para ele esquecer que o viu, apenas "lembre-se quando for convocado a se lembrar". Desmaiando logo em seguida e acordando um pouco depois, o garoto percebe que seu rebanho está disperso e que o tal Anjo sumiu. Será que a visão era real? O que são esses Anjos Cinzas? Ao longo da obra temos algumas pistas, mas gostaria de ter visto mais sobre eles, é o que posso adiantar a vocês.

Logo após, no capítulo 1, a ação realmente começa. Somos jogados em meio à uma batalha entre os Príncipes Rebeldes e os mercenários contratados pelo famoso imperador Felipe Delgao. Imaginamos pela 1ª vez os temidos dinossauros sendo usados como montaria de combate e responsáveis por mudar o destino da batalha, onde nos vemos envolvidos em uma conspiração que parece ter matado um dos maiores senhores de dinossauros que existem, o voyvod Karyl Bogomirskiy, comandante mercenário da Legião do Rio Branco. Também conhecemos Jaume Llobregat, o Conde das Flores, duque Falk von Hornberg e seu tiranossauro rex albino Floco de Neve, e por fim o plebeu Rob Korrigan, que é também um menestrel e um senhor dos dinossauros.

“"Guerras começam quando você quer, mas não acabam quando você deseja."”

Confesso que essa ideia de iniciar o livro já dentro de uma batalha parece sempre interessante e corajosa, mas aqui ela ficou meio confusa e só depois de umas 50 páginas deu pra entender o que realmente tinha acontecido e o que estava por vir. Isso acabou deixando o ritmo do livro meio "quebrado", eu não conseguiu me situar tão bem nos fatos e só após vários capítulos a leitura começou a ficar mais agradável/atrativa e o leitor é inserido aos poucos nas tramas da corte.

Jaume é o Capitão General da Ordem dos Companheiros de Nossa Senhora do Espelho, o típico cavaleiro dos sonhos, honesto e honrado, sempre preocupado com os seus subordinados e as pessoas ao seu redor. Algumas cenas de combate em que ele aparece são muito boas, então fique de olho.

Gostei de algumas coisas nesse livro, principalmente as partes em que Karyl e Rob estão juntos, que costumam ser as mais engraçadas, mas não curti tanto as intrigas da corte, com a princesa Melodía, filha do imperador Felipe, sendo a personagem principal na maioria dos capítulos, uma guria viciada em sexo (ela e todas suas amigas, vou te contar...) e que tenta frear um pouco as ações do pai, que parece estar se envolvendo em grandes problemas. Muita coisa acabou ficando em aberto ao término do livro, e eu acho que umas 30-50 páginas a mais teriam ajudado bastante mesmo.

Queria ter visto um pouquinho mais sobre os dinossauros também. Eles acabaram não sendo tão protagonistas como eu pensava, apesar de terem lá os seus momentos de grande importância.

Conforme avançamos na narrativa, já dá pra se ter uma ideia do que vai acontecer no final, o que acaba estragando um pouco a surpresa. Muita treta parece estar a caminho no 2º livro, então talvez eu o leia por que realmente não gosto de deixar uma série pelo caminho, sabendo que ela pode evoluir e melhorar bastante o que não foi tão bom nesse volume inicial.

Escrito em 3ª pessoa, destaco também que a linguagem utilizada pelo autor no livro é bem adulta, com algumas cenas chocantes e de teor mais forte. MUITOS dos personagens têm tendências bissexuais, o que não é tão comum assim de se ver na maioria dos livros desse gênero fantástico.

"“O que sempre insisti”", Karyl prosseguiu, "“foi em fazer o meu melhor e continuar fazendo até que seja, ao menos, competente. Há muito tempo aprendi que parar conquistarmos qualquer coisa, é preciso começar. Ou passar a eternidade esperando o momento certo. Que nunca chega."”

Um porém: a revisão ficou muito mal feita, com várias palavras erradas saltando aos olhos, e isso aconteceu muitas vezes durante a leitura. A tradução também ficou um pouco estranha, acredito que ler na versão original, em inglês, possa ser a melhor opção para quem se interessar pela obra. A edição em capa dura, ao contrário, ficou extremamente bonita, com várias ilustrações internas. Só senti a falta de um mapa que estava na versão original e a DarkSide acabou não colocando.

Enfim, esse 1º volume da série não me agradou tanto quanto eu gostaria, mas o autor deixou algumas pontas soltas durante a narrativa e eu imagino que elas sejam bem/melhor exploradas no livro seguinte, intitulado The Dinosaur Knights, que deve ser lançado internacionalmente em 2016.

[Stephen Kozeniewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the blurb on the cover of THE DINOSAUR LORDS no less an authority than George R.R. Martin himself states that the book is "a cross between JURASSIC PARK and GAME OF THRONES." If that comparison alone doesn't send a little thrill down your spine and make you want to read it, then you and I, my friend, are very different people.

I HAD to pick up this book when I first heard of its existence. Medieval knights fighting on dinosaurback? Not only was this like something I would have made up as a child, in a way, I couldn't believe nobody had ever done it before. I was compelled, drawn to the book, and I guess that's always a good sign.

The proof, of course, would be in the pudding. As regards Martin's two comparison titles, the former is only incidental, the latter, of course, is far more accurate. Like GAME OF THRONES, THE DINOSAUR LORDS was a densely plotted story that takes place in a deeply imagined world. And like GAME OF THRONES, it was hard to be drawn in at first. Even Milán's attempt to ease us into things by starting from the perspective of a shepherd boy was instantly perplexing, because it was trying far too hard to be mysterious. And from there it was just like being tossed into the water and told to swim.

For one thing, the dinosaurs, even for a former dinosaur nut like myself (what little boy wasn't, honestly?) were a bit obscure. The knights mostly rode a variety of hadrosaurs and ceratopsians which, while I don't doubt Milán did extensive research into how humans would actually interact with such creatures, were not exactly the famous dinosaurs that I recalled by name. And even worse, the inhabitants of Nuevaropa (or Paradise or the Empire or...I dunno, there wasn't really a map given so I didn't know what these places were) all had nicknames for the dinosaurs like "horrors" and "matadors" and "tyrants" and the like. Which makes sense, again. I wouldn't run around calling a fly a drosophila melanogaster for the benefit of a potentially foreign person reading about my life, but it doesn't exactly make for an easy entry point for the audience.

Anyway, you're probably at the point where you're wondering why I would give this book 5 stars when all I've done is piss and moan about it for two paragraphs. Well, again, and I suppose the comparison is earned, if nothing else, like GAME OF THRONES by around 100 pages into THE DINOSAUR LORDS I had started to cobble together a rudimentary understanding of the world and was finally able to focus on the plot and characters and follow along. And I'm very glad I did.

The story was intensely absorbing. A Polish (I'm supposed to pretend like it's not Earth, but literally every human nation has a direct analog in this book, so I'm just going to state things plainly) noble is defeated in a major upset by an Irish commoner, and his massive mercenary dinosaur army is scattered. The two enemies slowly become grudging friends as they are hired to raise an army essentially out of thin air, for a region of pacifists that has been plagued by predations from their neighbors. It's the sort of riches to rags to riches again (?) tale told in the best style of DUNE or "Lawrence of Arabia" and is instantly enticing.

Meanwhile, in the court of a supposedly figurehead Spanish emperor, great intrigues are afoot. Former German rebels are finding positions of authority and loyalists are finding themselves pushed around. A dark, Rasputin-like figure may be behind it all. And an imperial princess is just trying to go along to get along, but even her complaints that no one ever listens to her are grist for a terrible conspiracy.

And in the interstitials between chapters and hints dropped by characters about their religion, questions begin to arise about the exact nature and origin of this strange new world. This isn't just a fantasy world that exists so the plot can take place there like Middle-Earth or Hyperborea. If the nature of Paradise doesn't come to be a huge plot element as the series continues, I'll eat my hat.

Oh, and, did I mention...knights on dinosaurs? I mean, that's the real draw here, right? Like I said above, Milán seems to have spent ages researching how humans would function in a world of dinosaurs, and what spots various dinosaurs would take in our culture and stories. I can't say he's miserly in that regard, either. There are scenes of dinosaurs hunting men, dinosaur knights clashing with each other and ordinary soldiers, and even a few scenes from the perspective of the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs really are intricately woven into the tapestry of this world, not just tossed in as an afterthought.

Once you get over that first hump, I think you, like me, will find THE DINOSAUR LORDS to be your next obsession. And I certainly think it will benefit from re-reading.

[Maitrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I picked up this book thanks to that blurb from GRRM and the awesome cover. The hype from my favourite SFF site tor.com (ok, they are affiliated with the publisher, but I love their recommendations) helped a lot too.

The book was pretty much a let down. Although there is enough action and politics happening all the time, the machinations are pretty absurd. This is due the extremely poorly written characters. You've no idea what is drving them at all. (Except for the clichéd genius-warlord who has a heart of gold, and his normal-man sidekick). The princess character is angry and ranting all the time and doesn't move the plot forward. She's just there so other characters can comment on her breasts and to get raped (I wish I where making this up). Her lover, who also happens to be her cousin, is a character who comes closest to the protagonist in this book, but I can't understand his motivations at all. And don't get me started on the villains. The writing is not great either, and Milan tries to build interest with frequent PoV shifts but it falls flat since almost all the PoVs are boring.

Why three stars? Dinosaurs.

Milan has cleverly integrated dinosaurs into a faux-Medieval society. I loved the accurate descriptions, and the clever imagination involved in how you could actually use dinosaurs in battle. The little chapter headings with gorgeously illustrated dinosaurs probably bumped up the rating by a star.

It is obvious that things are not what they seem in this world, the Creators which are so frequently mentioned as gods by the denizens of Paradise are clearly not what they seem. Unless Milan pulls off something spectacular with this meta gameworld-esque theme, I don't think I'll be returning to this series.

So bottomline: The blurb and hype are misleading. Unless you are passionate about fantasies involving dinosaurs, stay away.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could rate this book higher.

I liked it, but didn't LOVE it, and I feel like I'm missing something... Can anyone who REALLY loved this title explain to me what hooked them?

At this point, I'm not sure whether I'm willing to continue with the series...

[Oceana_Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF : Because I have no idea where the story is going, the characters seem bland and the world building is kinda off even for a fantasy book.

[Emily Luebke · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars rounded up to 2.
1 star because I have to. 1/2 star for the way the dinosaurs are written.

This book committed one of the worst sins I feel a book can commit. It was BORING. My eyes were glazing over and I wasn't even reading it (audiobook). It was struggle to want to pay attention to the simple plot as the author bogged it down with SO MUCH nothing! Characters talking about NOTHING! Endless information about various countries and city states and politics that don't matter! Maybe they matter in future books but there's no way in hell I'm going to remember all those details you info-dumped in my lap.

The characters were bland architypes and the two male leads had serious cases of Perfect Man-itis. So much so that a 3rd guy seems to have been employed solely to follow one around reassuring the reader of just how amazing, awesome, and badass one dude is. The other has a hot princess in a constant state of horniness for him and a harem of sexy warrior-gays awaiting his return (I'm not kidding). Did I mentioned how unbelievably cool these two men are?! So cool!

This book is just 4th Wing but for boys and you cannot persuade me otherwise.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, epic fantasy with dinosaurs thrown into the mix, what could be better than that, right? This was the question I asked myself when I got extremely excited to read this book, and then came the letdown. It was okay. Just okay, nothing great. My first and largest complaint is the lack of a map with this book. Maybe I am being a little picky, but the map that was in the book was not sufficient for this epic world the author tried to create. The map at the front of the book only includes one main city and a detailed layout of that city. But the author made a huge world, with huge countries bordering each other... Plus only half of the book was in that one city and most of that was spent in the main palace in the city, so that map didn't even do anything. Maybe I am being a little over the top about the map, but for me, I was so confused the entire book because I couldn't locate the characters in terms of the world. Sure they were at some place, but I couldn't keep track of things. So complaint number one is poor map with a huge world.

Complaint number two is that there was way too much going on in this world. The dinosaurs were really awesome (probably the highlight of the book as they should be), but there was a lot of other world-building stuff thrown in randomly. Like there are hints of magic at one point in the story, and then it is never referenced again. And to build off of this complaint, there was way too much political stuff going on, with characters who were pretty basic. I never really connected with any of the characters, they were so-so.

I don't know, maybe I got too excited and then this book fell flat of my expectations, but this book really didn't do it for me. There is a lot of room left at the end for more books in the series to come, but I don't know if I will be reading further in this series. Maybe... But for right now I need to pick up something better ASAP, because this was a tedious read. So if you really love dinosaurs, those parts are cool and the incorporation of dinosaurs is a neat idea. However everything else kind of fell flat in my opinion.