Sauria Monstra: Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, and Other Fossil Saurians in Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy

by Chad Arment (Editor)

This anthology collects a wide range of early stories involving dinosaurs and other fossil reptilians come back to life. The short stories include The Last of the Vampires, The Lizard, The Monster of Lake LaMetrie, The Slaying of the Plesiosaurus, The Pterodactyl, The Monster of "Partridge Creek," The Diplodocus, The Last Haunt of the Dinosaur, The Great Beast Of Kafue, The Lizard God, The Beast of the Yungas, The Paradise of the Ice Wilderness, The Ancient Horror, and Report on the Status Quo. Also included is Arthur Conan Doyle's classic, The Lost World.

420 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2009

About the author

Two of the first "real" authors I read when I was young were Alistair MacLean and Rex Stout, and those remain favorites. Today, for personal reading, there are several mystery authors I enjoy; for non-fiction, I jump around a bit depending on what I'm interested in. (At the moment, suiseki and dragonflies, go figure.)
In 2004, I self-published my first print-on-demand book, on cryptozoology. Since then, I've added several other of my own titles, a fair number by other authors, and a whole lot of reprints (both public domain and licensed). Titles can be seen at www.coachwhipbooks.com.
I currently live in Ohio.

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, ostensibly a collection of stories involving "Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, and Other Fossil Saurians in Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy" is a thick one, printed on good quality paper, with few typographical errors and several illustrations, and reasonably priced (these are the features of every book published by the Coachwhip Publications). Nevertheless, after the reader goes beyond these things and try to extract some 'fun' value from the stories themselves, a big letdown happens. Out of the 14 stories and 1 novel, nearly all are unreadable (their inclusion being justified by only the authors going out-of-copyright) except the following: -
1. "The Ancient Horror": a solid tale by Hal Grant, the idea being recycled many times since then by Hollywood;
2. "Report on the Status Quo": a pseudo-historical account by Terence Roberts about an apocalyptic "what if" scenario.
3. "The Lost World": the ultimate dinosaur novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which simply can not be praised enough!
Thus, a book whose last three works redeem it to some extent, and the rest disappoints!