DINOMORPHS: Back to the Beginning

by Odin Gray

"What if you were sucked into a portal to a parallel universe? One where the dinosaurs never went extinct? One where they evolved to rule?

Sounds pretty epic, huh? Believe me, it is and not in a good way. It's been nothing short of a nightmare. From a casual Friday night at the beach to being chased through carnivorous jungles and the streets of their fortified cities, I just want to go home where the most stressful thing is breaking in my new surfboard.

Getting home isn't going to be easy, though. On this world, the dinosaur royals--the Annunaki--reign supreme. To them, our kind are nothing but dogs, shackled slaves to the Royal houses. The Annunaki might have bigger teeth, but with us, they are about to learn they've bitten off more than they can chew. We have a surprise up our sleeves, one that will make them see that no one holds our leash.

My name is Kellen Masters and this is my story--welcome to the world of the Marduk."

Free giveaway short story also included with The Impossible Choice -- Dagon's Duty.

Genres: Young Adult

420 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 11, 2017

About the author

Odin Gray is an Australian YA fantasy and Adult Urban Fantasy writer. He is best known for his YA ‘DINOMORPHS’ and ‘Dark Realm’ series.

"I have always lived in my own head. As a kid, all I did was create stories and act them out. The more magic the better. When I read Christopher Pike’s ‘The Last Vampire’ as a teen, it was all over. After that, anything that had fangs and fur had my name on it. I have lived and breathed vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters ever since."

The first Young Adult Fantasy series, DINOMORPHS, centres on fifteen-year-old, Kellen Masters and his friends who are not as human as they seem. When events beyond their control rip them from earth and drop them into the parallel world of their ancestors, they must deal with carnivorous forests, fortified cities and worst of all, those who created them; the Dino-Lords—the Annunaki. It’s a good thing Kellen and his friends have a few tricks up their sleeves, they are going to need it after all if they stand a chance of getting home. Welcome the world of the dinosaurs; welcome to the world of the Marduk.

Odin Gray is involved with a number of animal charities and mental health organizations, particularly supporting animal rescue efforts and raising funds for teen awareness of depression and anxiety.

Odin Gray currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his canine master, Odin (yes, two Odin’s in one house gets confusing). He is an avid collector of tattoos, wolf art and considers P!nk his patronus. Feel free to follow his adventures on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to his mailing list for regular updates

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

A group of young reptilians are doing the John Hughes movie thing in Australia, when the Anu-Naki, reptilians ousted from this earth open a portal. The group is sucked in, and the protagonist meets his soul mate in this other world.

Interesting premise executed with some excitement.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember that feeling of teenage angst, the feeling of having the weight of the world on your shoulders, the feeling of maybe not being good enough? Odin Gray really takes the time to understand the teen mentalities and struggles of self and cleverly incorporates them into a fast moving novel, where the character learns about his abilities as well as his inner struggles. The plot twists are unexpected, and keep you enthralled, as well as the humour and camaraderie between the characters makes for some great light hearted moments. A truly delightful read and I cannot wait for the next instalment!!

[Jan Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dinomorphs: Back to the Beginning is pure magic filled with all the elements required for an excellent young adult book. In Dinomorphs we meet Kellen and his pack of surfing buds who are more than what they seem. In fact, they are a race of half Dino half human from a parallel earth when Dinos evolved as well as humans. The mythology of it all is explained in the book and is easy to follow.

Gray’s writing is spot on capturing the perfect tone of the teenage characters. His detail and descriptions are finely tuned, and it’s like you can actually taste the salt water in the opening surfing scene. I adored this book and would definitely rate it as a top-notch book for YA readers. Kids will dig the Dino teens.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5⭐ I loved this book. I adore the plot I do feel like it could have been a bit simpler because it felt more like a middle school story with a high school reading level and it was hard to keep up with everything but this was heavily inspired by my favorite series of all time and I could feel it without it being too much like it it still felt like a story on its own which is something I was very worried about by the title but this read over all was incredibly fun and I adored it!

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not the intended audience for this book.
The beginning is explaining why our group of heroes are so much better than everyone else: they are stronger, politically correct, popular--and they have a really good reason to be elitists-- they are part dinosaur from an alternate universe.
The story doesn't really start until page 50 and it doesn't get interesting until page 80.
I can't help but imagine this being one of the old movies with the Claymation monsters or the even older movies with dressed up lizards. If the story had just been allowed to be what it was it would have been a fun story. The author had to over explain everything as if trying to explain everything would make it scientifically plausible. (I know a paleontologist I can't wait to tell about large dinosaurs travelling by tree canopy.) Also, every teen book does not have to have social commentary. This wasn't as obvious as some books but it was still a checklist book. It slowed the book down.
When the book started talking about dinosaur shape-shifters being all the human's gods, I just couldn't go on. There was so much B.S. added that was making the story longer that didn't seem relevant and I was just so bored reading it. I skipped to see if it got better but decided reading this had become more a chore then fun.
DNF 50% done.

[Kish Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic almost not human, Kel and his friends like surfing and are from Australia. Kel and his friends are teenagers who has issues as any other teenagers. The bloodlines worked together in the larger cities trying to keep the bloodlines a secret from the humans. Kel and his friends were unique, they could do magic (yes I said MAGIC), they were shape-shifters remember I said in the beginning (almost not human) …. they morphed into Dino’s…. Odin Gray the author gives you the thrill of a lifetime, this read is action packed, thrill seeking, and humorous and it’s also a fantasy. With each turn of the pages you’ll keep wanting more. I’ll surly encourage everyone to purchase this book and I can’t wait for the next volume.