Triassic Planet

by Michael R. Cole

Staff Sergeant Akira Sakai leads his squad of battle-hardened marines into action. The kill the threat and rescue the hostages. Little did they know another enemy awaits them—an enemy more vicious and ruthless than anything they’ve ever encountered. The marines quickly discover that the region is overrun with prehistoric predators. Giant pterodactyls attack the dropship, eliminating any possibility for immediate escape. Raptors, hungry for human flesh, stalk the team and pick them off one by one. To escape, the team must trek through thick forest and sludgy marshlands, where field of view is limited, and bloodthirsty predators await at every turn.

Genres: Horror, Dinosaurs

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 20, 2020

About the author

Michael R. Cole is an author of creature horror and science fiction. He was born in Toledo, Ohio and grew up in lower Michigan. He has a profound love for monster movies and book as well as the action genre. In addition to writing, his hobbies include martial arts and fishing.

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads is such a wonderful concept. And after all these years, you’d think .5 stars would be available. The reason I’m bringing this up is that I so desperately wanted to rate this story 3.5 stars. But I tend to round up in most instances, especially when I see that the author had fun making their story and there is also a certain level of quality in the writing style, which were both evident here. Now I’ve only read one other Michael R Cole book before this, and I don’t want my reviews on this author to come across badly. His books are a good time, and a smooth way to burn a few hours. Now this story had literally no depth to it whatsoever. You had space pirates and soldiers and dinosaurs and that was about it. The story just never gives the reader time to breathe and is a nonstop action thrillride. It felt like I was playing Turok: Dinosaur Hunter all over again. And there is just constant running, gunfire, and dinosaur gore. Like almost every page. And some people are into this type of thing, but I waivered. I just couldn’t get into it much, found myself skimming quite a bit, and honestly lost track of who was a pirate verses soldier. There was very little character development, if at all, and a ton of people to follow, which was difficult. I was also confused why there were so many futuristic elements, yet the soldiers were still using MREs, standard guns and vehicles, etc. Logically, they would have had like Starship Trooper sort of gear with lasers, demoleculizers(?), Men in Black guns, and maybe pills that fed you, ala The Jetsons. But aside from those critiques, if you like video game inspired adventures that are extremely surface-level, this is for you.

[Jon Von · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Space marines on an alien planet find themselves in an epic chase of dino action overload.

[Adam Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, a good palette cleanser.

Overall I enjoyed Triassic Planet, spaces Marines battling pirates and dinosaurs, how can you go wrong?

The action was fast and intense with gory descriptions and intense fights throughout. The characters we're fairly flat, your typical team that's checks all of the boxes and you know their fates instantly.

The biggest complaint I have was the use of current pop culture references and modern vehicles in the far future, Earth is colonizing the universe, why are they still driving Jeeps and talking about King Kong?

It was a fun and fast read though so I give it a three.

[Addam Dallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

To start off I would say that I really enjoyed Triassic Planet by Michael Cole. The story starts off a little slow but once it gets going trust me it gets going. I did like the overall plot and found that other then the first chapter it flows really nicely. As for the characters I really liked them and thought they were well written being in the military myself I found that I could relate to the Marines in the story. The dinosaurs themselves were quite brutal and dangerous. The narrator Mark Harrietha did a fantastic job bringing each character to life as well as telling the overall story. All in all I would recommend Triassic Planet to anyone who likes creature features or just a good dinosaur story.

[Andie Meddaugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read a lot of Michael Cole books, and honestly? This one I’d say is not one of his better works. The explanation for why there are dinosaurs on this planet is horrendously stupid. I didn’t feel bad about any of the deaths in this not just because we hardly got to know the characters, but also because no one else in the book seems to care at all about the tragic deaths of their friends! Someone dies horribly and no one mentions it later or seems to care at all. Triassic planet is also a misnomer- none of the dinosaurs mentioned are even from the Triassic period. They’re from the Jurassic and late Cretaceous, which makes it WORSE the explanation later as to why they’re all here. There’s no way in Hell all these dinosaurs shared the planet at the same time.

[Rita hecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new read for the Jurassic fans.

This was a complete variant on Jurassic period creatures that I truly enjoyed. This put a different spin on the past and possible future of dinosaurs past and present. I enjoyed the various characters and their backgrounds. I look forward to reading more books by this author

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alien Dinosaurs 🦖 vs Space Marines, what could go wrong?

Sometimes I like to read something totally different from my normal fare, this certainly filled that role! First the Space pirates get eaten, then on to the scientists and Marines on this alien planet. I rated it 4 stars because there are a lot of typos!

[Preethi Kannan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book in terms of the action and dinosaurs, but the typos were difficult to get past. At one point someone who had died 3 pages prior was apparently the one doing something. This was such a glaring error in addition to the several typos.
I'll probably try another book but I find it difficult to read published authors who clearly haven't proof read.

[Tim Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it

It was a good monster book with a lot of suspense. A good read in my opinion. I enjoyed it.

[Dinesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

Book was awesome, action packed with loads of dinasaurs and space marines. What more can you ask for 10/10 must read

[Norm S · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

Action packed prehistoric thriller. At least the dino's are the same that ruled Earths prehistoric past during the Triassic period. But the action takes place on a distant planet in the distant future. Pirates have took over a mining project on the planet Malet. A group of Space Marines are sent to liberate the prisoners. What they run into is deadly creatures who don't care if your a pirate or a Marine. Lots of action hard to put this one down.