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Primitive War 2: Animus Infernal
As the Cold War reaches an infernal end... A particle accelerator has been sabotaged in the dark heart of Angola's war-torn wastelands. Primeval horrors re-enter the savanna, claiming countless lives as they forge a new ecosystem. Zosimus Kaikara and Josef Gustavo, a pair of Angolan bounty hunters, are tasked with leading the elite dinosaur-tracking team Stalker Force and the mysterious paramilitary contractors of Quad Equitum to the abandoned particle accelerator in the southern highlands. As the men devolve in their struggles to survive the inhospitable lost world, the landscape of the earth is changed forever by...the Primitive War. Disclaimer - This novel is set during Angola's War of Independence and as such features heavy language, graphic violence, drug use, mentions of rape and sexual assault, as well as other reinterpretations based on the harsh realities of war. All of the dinosaurs within this novel are mentioned by their modern names, regardless of when they were discovered, for the sake of clarity. All references within the work to other existing works are done so for the sole purpose of paying homage to the author's inspirations mentioned on the title page within the book.
413 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 18, 2020
149 people are currently reading
419 people want to read
About the author
Ethan Pettus
8 books78 followersEthan Pettus is a didgeridoo-playing degenerate from the green hills of Kentucky. He spends most of his free time day-dreaming.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 16, 2021
Amazing
Ethan Pettus has done it again, absolutely amazing. I read this book quite slow as I didnt want it to end but everytime I put it down i just wanted to pick it back up and finish the whole book.
I look forward to what Ethan has in store for future books.
Ethan Pettus has done it again, absolutely amazing. I read this book quite slow as I didnt want it to end but everytime I put it down i just wanted to pick it back up and finish the whole book.
I look forward to what Ethan has in store for future books.
July 8, 2025
If I’m being honest, this book wasn’t that great until the last 100 pages. I loved the last 100 pages. The author set himself up for failure after Primitive War 1, but he somehow succeeded. I couldn’t imagine that this book would be good when I started it, but it turned out to be great. He did way better with this book than I expected him to. I liked Ethan Pettus’s replacement for Cyclops but it wasn’t as good as Cyclops. That being said, it simply cannot live up to the insanely good book that was Primitive War 1. Ethan Pettus’s Primitive War 1 is so good that it can rival the one and only “Jurassic Park” book by Michael Crichton. When the movie comes out on August 21st 2025, it may even rival the newest Jurassic World movie (“Jurassic World Rebirth”) because it’s supposed to be a pure horror movie with lots of gore. The “Primitive War” movie is going to be a rated R movie with intense gore and intense language. Now, will they make a sequel based on this book? If the first one is successful, then absolutely, but in my opinion, I say that they absolutely need to no matter what. This book is built to be a movie, not a book. It’d be a great movie. Now that I’m done with my yapping, here’s my rating: 3 stars.
March 26, 2025
Breathtakingly tense with excellent dinosaurs but holy editing errors
So I'll start with my main thoughts on this. I really enjoyed this book! Breathtaking is not an exaggeration with how the tension is raised and maintained. Each threatening scene is terrifying, and the way the characters bounce off each other is written in such an engaging way!
However I did have a few issues with the book. The most obvious being the amount of editing errors. It may just be the Kindle copy, but the amount of errors is insane.
There's no indent at the start of paragraphs, half the time the paragraphs aren't even on separate lines, there's a good amount of randomly skipped lines throughout the book, and the first part felt like the author was at war with their enter key.
My other issue is how some of the dinosaurs are written. There's a more to say than the character limit will allow, so I'll stick to the glaring issues. Of course you have dinosaurs roaring while hunting, which they wouldn't do since roars are a threat display and not a hunting display, random application of pack hunting, random changes in dinosaur durability, and all territorial battles being to the death. None of those are accurate to include.
The most glaring dino however is carnotaurus. In this book carnotaurus had osteoderms, is first introduced by having 3 of them working in an organized pack, and easily kept up with a car that went 90+ mph. None of those are accurate.
There's a good amount to say about Charcharodontosaurus too. It's emphasized how this dinosaur was "larger than the father rex" of the previous book, which would be understandable but still incorrect if were talking about giganotosaurus instead of charcharodontosaurus. And both territory battles that were fought were to the death. The baby charchar randomly deciding to attack Xipetotec also felt a bit like a copout so everyone could get to the helicopter.
Another pretty glaring issue was the parental behavior of giraffatitan. Giraffatitan in the book puts a lot of effort into raising its calf, while in reality sauropods just laid massive clutches of eggs and then abandoned them to fend for themselves.
I also wasn't a big fan of the newest Utahraptor color variation. It's described as being similar to a peacock in coloration, which is cool but doesn't work for a predator that relies so heavily on ambush predation. Those blues would give it away before it was close enough to even hope for a meal. I also found it unbelievable that they'd all just randomly gang up on the mother charchar.
There were a couple things I liked though! The parental behavior of maiasaura were accurate, the giraffatitan ignoring most predators for simply being too small to be a threat was a good touch, and I LOVED the pachyrinosaur winning the 1v1 with the charchar. We love herbivores that are actually competent.
I also liked that Andrei is literally the singular character that survives from the start to the end of the series. Poor guy has been THROUGH it but still keeps surviving.
And the message of "fight to protect instead of to destroy" is pretty good. It acknowledges that staying entirely peaceful doesn't help, but makes sure to emphasize how fighting for the wrong reasons can cause tons of pain.
So I'll start with my main thoughts on this. I really enjoyed this book! Breathtaking is not an exaggeration with how the tension is raised and maintained. Each threatening scene is terrifying, and the way the characters bounce off each other is written in such an engaging way!
However I did have a few issues with the book. The most obvious being the amount of editing errors. It may just be the Kindle copy, but the amount of errors is insane.
There's no indent at the start of paragraphs, half the time the paragraphs aren't even on separate lines, there's a good amount of randomly skipped lines throughout the book, and the first part felt like the author was at war with their enter key.
My other issue is how some of the dinosaurs are written. There's a more to say than the character limit will allow, so I'll stick to the glaring issues. Of course you have dinosaurs roaring while hunting, which they wouldn't do since roars are a threat display and not a hunting display, random application of pack hunting, random changes in dinosaur durability, and all territorial battles being to the death. None of those are accurate to include.
The most glaring dino however is carnotaurus. In this book carnotaurus had osteoderms, is first introduced by having 3 of them working in an organized pack, and easily kept up with a car that went 90+ mph. None of those are accurate.
There's a good amount to say about Charcharodontosaurus too. It's emphasized how this dinosaur was "larger than the father rex" of the previous book, which would be understandable but still incorrect if were talking about giganotosaurus instead of charcharodontosaurus. And both territory battles that were fought were to the death. The baby charchar randomly deciding to attack Xipetotec also felt a bit like a copout so everyone could get to the helicopter.
Another pretty glaring issue was the parental behavior of giraffatitan. Giraffatitan in the book puts a lot of effort into raising its calf, while in reality sauropods just laid massive clutches of eggs and then abandoned them to fend for themselves.
I also wasn't a big fan of the newest Utahraptor color variation. It's described as being similar to a peacock in coloration, which is cool but doesn't work for a predator that relies so heavily on ambush predation. Those blues would give it away before it was close enough to even hope for a meal. I also found it unbelievable that they'd all just randomly gang up on the mother charchar.
There were a couple things I liked though! The parental behavior of maiasaura were accurate, the giraffatitan ignoring most predators for simply being too small to be a threat was a good touch, and I LOVED the pachyrinosaur winning the 1v1 with the charchar. We love herbivores that are actually competent.
I also liked that Andrei is literally the singular character that survives from the start to the end of the series. Poor guy has been THROUGH it but still keeps surviving.
And the message of "fight to protect instead of to destroy" is pretty good. It acknowledges that staying entirely peaceful doesn't help, but makes sure to emphasize how fighting for the wrong reasons can cause tons of pain.
November 11, 2025
**Atrocious formatting remains**
But first, the good points. Any moment with dinosaurs were glorious, be them walking around, fighting with one another, or consuming humans to their hearts' content. Pettus has a splendid imagination when it comes to bringing dinosaurs to life in all their glory and is definitely not shy about what he has them doing. As per usual, I love the clever ways he gives nods to Jurassic Park, forced as those moments may be.
There were plenty of times I was enjoying myself, and I thought certain plot directions taken by Pettus were inventive and intriguing. I love knowing that things are going crazy little by little, and that he isn't shy about making it happen. Sadly, though, all of these aforementioned pluses occurred only in short-lived spurts. They were not heavily present. It took me entirely too long to get through this book because frankly, there were too many aggravations to deal with.
Assuming any physical copies of these latter books are presented with organized formats, I feel like we Kindle readers are getting the shaft. Much like the last entry I read, my appreciation of this story was SEVERELY tainted by its horridly BAD presentation. It was a massive chore staying connected to things, something that was already difficult enough with the onslaught of new characters and messy storyline, when the mere WORDS of this story aren't neatly arranged.
Do you realize how exhausting it is reading stuff formatted like THIS for an entire book?:
Smooshed words, dialogue, and paragraphs make for an annoying read. I hated every minute of it. Any moments that weren't the enjoyable spurts I already mentioned were riddled with problems: sluggish pacing, convoluted plot points, plot holes up the wazoo, unsatisfying resolutions. There were so many scenes that made sense at first, and then just didn't, or scenes in which something significant happen only to have it be overshadowed by something else. This story is a damn MESS.
At any rate, it looks like this is the last book of the series. I accidentally skipped entry 3, apparently, but eh...it's whatever now. It's all just as well, since I honestly don't think I would've had it in me to traverse one more poorly formatted Kindle version, no matter how intriguing the story might be. Despite the many disappointments I experienced, I'm still glad to have dived into this world and look forward to trying out more dinosaur stories.
But first, the good points. Any moment with dinosaurs were glorious, be them walking around, fighting with one another, or consuming humans to their hearts' content. Pettus has a splendid imagination when it comes to bringing dinosaurs to life in all their glory and is definitely not shy about what he has them doing. As per usual, I love the clever ways he gives nods to Jurassic Park, forced as those moments may be.
There were plenty of times I was enjoying myself, and I thought certain plot directions taken by Pettus were inventive and intriguing. I love knowing that things are going crazy little by little, and that he isn't shy about making it happen. Sadly, though, all of these aforementioned pluses occurred only in short-lived spurts. They were not heavily present. It took me entirely too long to get through this book because frankly, there were too many aggravations to deal with.
Assuming any physical copies of these latter books are presented with organized formats, I feel like we Kindle readers are getting the shaft. Much like the last entry I read, my appreciation of this story was SEVERELY tainted by its horridly BAD presentation. It was a massive chore staying connected to things, something that was already difficult enough with the onslaught of new characters and messy storyline, when the mere WORDS of this story aren't neatly arranged.
Do you realize how exhausting it is reading stuff formatted like THIS for an entire book?:
The junglewas filled with a lot of aggressive dinosaursthat were intenton killingthem. Bob had his weaponready to fight. He looked at Dave and said, "You ready forthis?" "Ready as I'll ever be," Dave answered. "How about you, comrade?" "Just pointme in the right direction," said Roberts. Bob nodded at both men. "We'll get outof this." "Of course we will." "Let's do it."
Smooshed words, dialogue, and paragraphs make for an annoying read. I hated every minute of it. Any moments that weren't the enjoyable spurts I already mentioned were riddled with problems: sluggish pacing, convoluted plot points, plot holes up the wazoo, unsatisfying resolutions. There were so many scenes that made sense at first, and then just didn't, or scenes in which something significant happen only to have it be overshadowed by something else. This story is a damn MESS.
At any rate, it looks like this is the last book of the series. I accidentally skipped entry 3, apparently, but eh...it's whatever now. It's all just as well, since I honestly don't think I would've had it in me to traverse one more poorly formatted Kindle version, no matter how intriguing the story might be. Despite the many disappointments I experienced, I'm still glad to have dived into this world and look forward to trying out more dinosaur stories.
May 20, 2023
Great story, Kindle version needs work
First of all, just like The Hunting of Stalker Force, the Kindle version is in desperate need of a proofread. I don't know if the physical version is like this, but the Kindle version is full of formatting errors and combined words likethis and the like, which can make it somewhat difficult to read at times.
That said, the story is so good that it kept me going. Just like the first book, PWII is a PAGE TURNER full of intense action and horror, shocking twists, some genuine emotion, and great character work. Very little happened like I was expecting it to, and I loved it. And as much as I loved the Vietnam setting, war-torn Africa is an equally fantastic setting (and gave me huge Far Cry 2 vibes, which is a very good thing as far as I'm concerned).
Overall, Kindle version needs an update, but the story itself is fantastic. Roll on Primitive War III!
First of all, just like The Hunting of Stalker Force, the Kindle version is in desperate need of a proofread. I don't know if the physical version is like this, but the Kindle version is full of formatting errors and combined words likethis and the like, which can make it somewhat difficult to read at times.
That said, the story is so good that it kept me going. Just like the first book, PWII is a PAGE TURNER full of intense action and horror, shocking twists, some genuine emotion, and great character work. Very little happened like I was expecting it to, and I loved it. And as much as I loved the Vietnam setting, war-torn Africa is an equally fantastic setting (and gave me huge Far Cry 2 vibes, which is a very good thing as far as I'm concerned).
Overall, Kindle version needs an update, but the story itself is fantastic. Roll on Primitive War III!
November 21, 2020
The spellbinding narrative and powerful vivid imagery I’ve come to know and love in these books carries one through the beautiful and terrible country of Angola. Described so well it makes me homesick for Africa.
This is a whole new field of horrors, more than just the fear of dinosaurs and beasts, peering into the far more brutal nature within man.
Where the first Primitive War was all consuming, this one had me bound from start to end in a complex web of action and horror, while richly layered with symbolism.
I can’t wait to read this again! But for now I need stiff drink, maybe a nice bottle of Amarula
November 7, 2025
I liked the first book better. As I continued to read "Primitive War 2," I noticed that a few random lines were similar to quotes used in Jurassic Park movies and books. They were changed around a bit, so it couldn't be call out as plagiarizing. I think Ethan could've paid tribute to Michael Crichton's novels by simply staying with creating the characters Malcolm and Grant being killed off at the beginning of the book. Not take random lines like, "Stick Stupid, get the stick," and "There's nothing in heaven or hell, will get me out of this chopper." Otherwise, the book was action packed and filled with twists and turns.
November 29, 2024
Personally enjoyed this more than the first book. I loved the new setting and protagonist as well as the return of some excellent characters from the first book… the ones that made it at least. More breakneck action (literally in some cases) and satisfying character developments until the very end. 100% recommend this one
I haven’t read the spin-off novella and had some questions at the start that may have been answered in that book, but otherwise had a great time reading this and am highly anticipating the next entry in the series.
I haven’t read the spin-off novella and had some questions at the start that may have been answered in that book, but otherwise had a great time reading this and am highly anticipating the next entry in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2022
Excellent follow up and a no games dive right off that bat into the story. Returning characters and new characters to look forward to, both to root for and despise. One problem I did have however was the reliance on the usual raptors and despite having more dinosaurs in, it felt like there was less. As many are reference quickly as part of herds and so on. Still a good one and I'd certainly recommend for sci fi or dinosaur enthusiasts.
March 14, 2021
Not as good as the 1st
The story arc was fine, but the writing style seems to have dropped off from the 1st book- there are multiple unfinished sentences and instances were paragraphs have each sentence starting with an unnecessary repeated name. Made for choppy reading. And alot of the dialog on the subconscious felt shoe horned in.
The story arc was fine, but the writing style seems to have dropped off from the 1st book- there are multiple unfinished sentences and instances were paragraphs have each sentence starting with an unnecessary repeated name. Made for choppy reading. And alot of the dialog on the subconscious felt shoe horned in.
October 20, 2024
Very Flawed
The story was ok, but very slow where they tried more character development to unlikeable characters. There were so many issues with the formatting to where there were combined or jumbled words almost twice a paragraph. Maybe this was just the Kindle format and the other formats are ok.
The story was ok, but very slow where they tried more character development to unlikeable characters. There were so many issues with the formatting to where there were combined or jumbled words almost twice a paragraph. Maybe this was just the Kindle format and the other formats are ok.
January 18, 2025
Now this book I highly recommend to any fans of Jurassic Park, or dinosaurs in general. Cause while it is set in a war in Africa, it is cool to include dinosaurs that lived in Africa at the time such as carcharodontosaurus. Now what I also like is that one of the soldiers that originally was an ally in the first two books, turns out to be a double agent. Talk about a plot twist.
January 7, 2021
Excellent storytelling
The amount of detail and dedication is incredible, paleontology has always been dear to me and the almost seamless blending of my childhood love and the modern world was wonderful to read
The amount of detail and dedication is incredible, paleontology has always been dear to me and the almost seamless blending of my childhood love and the modern world was wonderful to read
February 17, 2025
Stalker force? Seriously? Who writes this stuff? I’m a glutton for punishment. Read the first book (it was trash), wrote a review, now I’ve decided to dive into book 2. Running commentary to follow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2023
An enjoyable read. The action scenes were very well written and the dinosaur scenes were very intense. Sadly the book wasn’t as good as the first, but still well worth reading.
August 7, 2023
Even better than the first!
Read
October 29, 2024Loved it! Bring on the next installment!
March 26, 2025
Very good
Between the action, the character building was very good and the nod to jurassic park at the end was classy 👌
Between the action, the character building was very good and the nod to jurassic park at the end was classy 👌
April 19, 2025
Oh, I love the Utahraptors' colonies and how they interact between them!! Poor Prometheus, I almost cried! This second book was Intense! Now, definitely going to read the next one! Dispatches.
June 7, 2025
Not as good as the first book. But one thing worth exploring is humanity, we so easily lose our minds these days. We need to keep both our conscious minds and our conscience.
December 30, 2025
Not as peak but cool dinosaurs
April 17, 2021
Gripping story, so many twists and turns.
Shocking and amazing. Loads dinosaurs , action and adventure . One of my fav series.
Shocking and amazing. Loads dinosaurs , action and adventure . One of my fav series.
March 10, 2022
Honestly not as thrilling as the first one but I honestly grew to love it as I read on. The book gets better and better as we as I dived into our characters minds and story unlocking more as I read along
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews