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Time Travel Dinosaur
You work for the Time Travel Investigation Agency, a job which, to be honest, is mind-meltingly dull. That is, until a raving lunatic in a lab coat breaks the laws of physics and drastically alters the space-time continuum (changing your memory right along with it). Set off on a wild adventure through the Mesozoic Era, the Middle Ages, the steampunk 1880s, and the distant future in an attempt to safeguard the true timeline. The timeline where people evolved from dinosaurs. Time Travel Dinosaur is a sci-fi/comedy reimagining of the choose-your-own-path stories you grew up with. Find one of 76 possible endings, or get stuck in a time loop and literally read this book forever."
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
15 people are currently reading
394 people want to read
About the author
Matt Youngmark
26 books50 followersMatt Youngmark is the author of the Chooseomatic Books series, the Arabella Grimsbro series, and the webcomic Conspiracy Friends (now collected in three paperback volumes). Back in the day, he worked the newsprint mines at Tacoma Reporter and Pandemonium Magazine.
To be notified when his next book comes out (and get a free Arabella short story!), sign up for his newsletter at www.youngmark.com
To be notified when his next book comes out (and get a free Arabella short story!), sign up for his newsletter at www.youngmark.com
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 20, 2014
As is very often always the case, I received this book free in exchange for a review. Despite the kindness of receiving a free book I'm absolutely candid about the book because I want everyone to know what they're getting as much as I hope to when I'm shopping.
This book is a 'chooseomatic' adventure which means essentially that it is one of those 'choose your own adventure' books on steroids. A few decades ago those books ran about 100 pages but this one is nearly 300 so there is much more meat (and decision) to this book than its predecessors. The book features 76 endings most of which are exceptionally negative in outcome.
To the positive side, the book is as madcap as the cover would suggest; it's shades of Quantum Leap and... well, I'm not sure what else but the story certainly doesn't consider itself encumbered by anything approaching sanity. Further, the story is fairly complex, as you would guess about a book with 76 alternate endings. It does keep you guessing and almost requires that you keep a couple of fingers on previous pages just in case you end up prematurely eaten by your time-traveling double.
To the negative, I would simply state that this isn't quite a kid's book. It has a fair amount of profanity and at least one reference to sex. I'd consider it fine for my teenagers but younger children will be scandalized a bit. Unfortunately, my own teenagers are rather put off by the cover so it's a bit of a quandary finding an audience who will read it and not take umbrage at the language and the occasional violence.
In summary, I was entertained for a couple hours bouncing about nostalgically. Now if I can just find someone else in the house to will want to read it.
This book is a 'chooseomatic' adventure which means essentially that it is one of those 'choose your own adventure' books on steroids. A few decades ago those books ran about 100 pages but this one is nearly 300 so there is much more meat (and decision) to this book than its predecessors. The book features 76 endings most of which are exceptionally negative in outcome.
To the positive side, the book is as madcap as the cover would suggest; it's shades of Quantum Leap and... well, I'm not sure what else but the story certainly doesn't consider itself encumbered by anything approaching sanity. Further, the story is fairly complex, as you would guess about a book with 76 alternate endings. It does keep you guessing and almost requires that you keep a couple of fingers on previous pages just in case you end up prematurely eaten by your time-traveling double.
To the negative, I would simply state that this isn't quite a kid's book. It has a fair amount of profanity and at least one reference to sex. I'd consider it fine for my teenagers but younger children will be scandalized a bit. Unfortunately, my own teenagers are rather put off by the cover so it's a bit of a quandary finding an audience who will read it and not take umbrage at the language and the occasional violence.
In summary, I was entertained for a couple hours bouncing about nostalgically. Now if I can just find someone else in the house to will want to read it.
June 22, 2020
I really enjoyed the authors mix of self deprecating humor, references to time travel shows and movies and his take on the chose your own adventure stories. The subject matter of time travel paired well with this genre of book.
There was some amazing forethought with how time lines merged into different choices you made, how you can get stuck in time loops and run into different versions of yourself as you travel through time to attempt to stop the universe from falling apart.
A fun read, definitely worth re-reading to try and complete all the different endings.
There was some amazing forethought with how time lines merged into different choices you made, how you can get stuck in time loops and run into different versions of yourself as you travel through time to attempt to stop the universe from falling apart.
A fun read, definitely worth re-reading to try and complete all the different endings.
July 25, 2022
This is my first choose your own adventure book ever so to say that I enjoyed it would be an understatement.
I’m rating it 3.5 stars because I loved the concept of the book and I was hooked onto it for quite some time. Time Travel dinosaur is as absurd as the title sounds. It has a sci-fi angle to it with the protagonist, who happens to be you given the genre, leaps through time and enters several timezones and eras.
It is however not a kids books. It is a nostalgic experience bringing back the fun involved in ‘choose your own adventure’ books but written for a more mature reader base.
I have to applaud the writer and everyone involved in bringing this book to us because having 76 endings, sometimes getting us stuck in a loop and having interlinked chapters is not easy and they pulled it off seamlessly.
The only catch for me is that this book has 76 alternate endings and most if not all are of eternal doom. While I was entertained for about 3-4 hours, it got repetitive and irritating towards the end. Sure, this reflects in how I would never survive an apocalypse due to my poor choices but having a few good alternate endings wouldn’t hurt. 😂
I’m rating it 3.5 stars because I loved the concept of the book and I was hooked onto it for quite some time. Time Travel dinosaur is as absurd as the title sounds. It has a sci-fi angle to it with the protagonist, who happens to be you given the genre, leaps through time and enters several timezones and eras.
It is however not a kids books. It is a nostalgic experience bringing back the fun involved in ‘choose your own adventure’ books but written for a more mature reader base.
I have to applaud the writer and everyone involved in bringing this book to us because having 76 endings, sometimes getting us stuck in a loop and having interlinked chapters is not easy and they pulled it off seamlessly.
The only catch for me is that this book has 76 alternate endings and most if not all are of eternal doom. While I was entertained for about 3-4 hours, it got repetitive and irritating towards the end. Sure, this reflects in how I would never survive an apocalypse due to my poor choices but having a few good alternate endings wouldn’t hurt. 😂
January 26, 2018
This book was an delightfully absurd premise executed brilliantly. The matrix generated by the choose-your-own-adventure is masterfully combined with the plot's time-travel multiple-universe setting. It's a clever idea that the author treated with the thoroughness it needed to work. And it's great. Good humour, fluffy but entertaining characters and even illustrations make this book a solid package of awesome.
January 2, 2018
I read the free sampler version of this book. Even with the reduced story options, it's still a wild ride! This would be a great read for fans of Ryan North's "Choose Your Own Hamlet" and similar. Despite the cartoony art, there's some bad language that might make it unsuitable for young kids, if you're a parent who cares about that sort of thing.
October 9, 2017
A fun read! Not sure I got in all 76 endings but I did get stuck in a time loop so that's cool.
Read
October 2, 2019Good
January 9, 2016
Another interesting choose your adventure story, somewhat marred by being broken. As in, at some point I'm told to turn to page 9. There is in fact a page nine, but I have to hunt all over the ebook to find it since the hyperlink that would have taken me to it is not included on the page that says to turn to page 9.
So. Alternate evolution (dinosaurs evolving to humoid like creatures), steampunk, mad scientists, insane goblins, biped dolphin women, time travel, references to Scott Bakula, all included.
I do not recall if gender is expressed in the "you", though "you" appear vaguely surprised to be about to give birth, so maybe "you" were male at some point. Your mind kind of drifts in the story, so you've probably been in every gender and in everything. Heck, the book starts with you inside a female dog (that's part of the "Bakula" reference, time travel through traveling into people's/things heads).
This is the third in this specific series, and the quality of the writing seems to reflect that, though I haven't read the first one yet. They are related in being choose your own adventure books, but not by any other means. Well, other than being by the same author. So . . . somewhat higher quality writing, mostly referring here to the choices given are less annoying than they were in the Superhero book.
hmms. Not sure what else to note here. Good enough read. Nothing erotic or romantic occurs. There's violence, blood, and death. I suppose all I'm left with is that I would recommend it.
So. Alternate evolution (dinosaurs evolving to humoid like creatures), steampunk, mad scientists, insane goblins, biped dolphin women, time travel, references to Scott Bakula, all included.
I do not recall if gender is expressed in the "you", though "you" appear vaguely surprised to be about to give birth, so maybe "you" were male at some point. Your mind kind of drifts in the story, so you've probably been in every gender and in everything. Heck, the book starts with you inside a female dog (that's part of the "Bakula" reference, time travel through traveling into people's/things heads).
This is the third in this specific series, and the quality of the writing seems to reflect that, though I haven't read the first one yet. They are related in being choose your own adventure books, but not by any other means. Well, other than being by the same author. So . . . somewhat higher quality writing, mostly referring here to the choices given are less annoying than they were in the Superhero book.
hmms. Not sure what else to note here. Good enough read. Nothing erotic or romantic occurs. There's violence, blood, and death. I suppose all I'm left with is that I would recommend it.
August 22, 2016
Full Review
I received Time Travel: Dinosaur by Matt Youngmark for free in exchange for a review. When I found out I won this book I was excited. I grew up reading Choose Your Own Adventure books and I felt that this book would have the opportunity to throw me back to sitting on the floor in the library with my friends reading for hours on end. This book most definitely did except this time I was sitting in my bathtub soaking my soak body after a long day at work.
The book is witty yet it causes the reader to think beyond the story, it causes the readers imagination to run wild and imagine as if they are in a jungle somewhere, to running for their life from a dinosaur to being an actual dinosaur to spending time on the moon with cops. The goal is to save the original timeline and you are able to do this through time travel.
There is some profanity used in this book, so while it appears to be perfect for children I believe it is aimed more for readers who are teenagers because of language use. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I hope teenagers and other adults who want a revamped choose your own adventure book to spark their imagination and entertain them for several hours.
I received Time Travel: Dinosaur by Matt Youngmark for free in exchange for a review. When I found out I won this book I was excited. I grew up reading Choose Your Own Adventure books and I felt that this book would have the opportunity to throw me back to sitting on the floor in the library with my friends reading for hours on end. This book most definitely did except this time I was sitting in my bathtub soaking my soak body after a long day at work.
The book is witty yet it causes the reader to think beyond the story, it causes the readers imagination to run wild and imagine as if they are in a jungle somewhere, to running for their life from a dinosaur to being an actual dinosaur to spending time on the moon with cops. The goal is to save the original timeline and you are able to do this through time travel.
There is some profanity used in this book, so while it appears to be perfect for children I believe it is aimed more for readers who are teenagers because of language use. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I hope teenagers and other adults who want a revamped choose your own adventure book to spark their imagination and entertain them for several hours.
September 19, 2015
An excellent update/homage to the classic Choose Your Own Adventure series, this delivers all the fun implied by the title. Every story thread ultimately fits together; if you meet a person evolved from a Labrador in one thread, another adventure shows you where they came from in the fractured timestream. With over 70 endings and a writing style that gleefully breaks the fourth wall to comment on reader choices, this one has excellent rereading value. Great fun!
October 9, 2014
This book is funny, ridiculous and weirdly thought-provoking. There's even a tender love story hidden in the loops of time! Stomp through the jungles of the Cretaceous period, look dapper in a Steam Punk Top Hat in the 1880s, hang out with time cops on the moon, and try your best to save the original timeline - the one where people evolved from DINOSAURS. Fun and smart, with neato illustrations.
February 11, 2018
Tons of possibilities and always a fun read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews