Dinotopia, First Flight

I loved this book a child and relished the adventure all over again when sharing it with my two boys who are begging for more. That takes a lot. This book is fast paced and lots of fun. It has history without making the story long for no reason. I will recommend this book to all my friends and to our base library. WOW JUST WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I read this as a child and loved the opertunity to come back to it as an adult. I still find it has the ability to enchant me with its mix of machines and dinosaurs, and the world that was created.

I have loved this world and characters since my parents read it to me. And now getting to read this 20th Anniversary Edition to my nephews it all came full circle. My nephews went wild for this story, I had to read parts of it over and over. No book has gotten them so excited in a long time. I would recommend this to any age if you just want a good story with characters you grow to love and never forget.
I know when this one is published in the new edition I'll be at the book store buying 2 copies.

This book contained beautiful pictures and wonderful, engaging writing. I love the world of Dinotopia, so I very much enjoyed this book.

I picked this book up because I have fond memories of Dinotopia from when I was a child. I remember the fantastical images of humans and dinosaurs coexisting and marching in fanciful parades.

Unfortunately, this book doesn’t have much of that. The story focuses more on a society near Dinotopia that uses dinosaur-shaped machines. James Gurney’s paintings are still incredible, but the pictures tend to be of robotic contraptions, with relatively few dinosaurs (don’t worry though, they’re still there).

The story of First Flight is pretty simple. At times, it borders on simplistic. A young man, Gideon Altaire, rebels against the technological society and helps a nest of pterosaurs find a ruby. That’s it really. Unfortunately, Gurney’s writing never manages to bring the story to life. There’s very little dialogue and much more telling than showing.

This 20th anniversary edition includes some bonus material, but I’d really only recommend it for hardcore fans. There’s another story about Dinotopia history, featuring Blake Terrapin, but like First Flight the writing is pretty stale. I think it’s supposed to be as if a historical legend, but it doesn’t quite reach the level of legend. At one point, in describing the hero and another girl, the narrator even says “there’s some chemistry” – something not apparent to the reader.

Sadly, I don’t think this is a great introduction to Dinotopia (which is what the marketing material claims). It’s more like historical supplementary materials for the original Dinotopia books. There are some beautiful pictures, but others in the Dinotopia series are much better. Recommended for hardcore fans only.

NOTE: I received an advance review copy kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I always feel that I'm running behind, playing catch up when an anniversary edition comes out, and I've never read the original. So I come to James Gurney's Dinotopia, First Flight: 20th Anniversary Edition as a first time reader. I did see the Dinotopia mini-series; infact I have the DVD and have watched it several times, so I'm basically familiar with the world and the inter-relationship between humans and dinosaurs.

Dinotopia, First Flight introduces the rich and varied world of Dinotopia to readers. Gideon is being trained as a drone pilot, but one day he encounters and is intrigued by a group of dance artists who dress to portray dinosaurs. On his island, there are no animals and very little vegetation, by legislation and the design of the ruler. Before he realizes what is happening, he's befriended this troupe of players and is involved in freeing captured dinosaurs and becoming a terrorist in the eyes of his government. It's through his work with dinosaurs that the skybax riders are born -- he was the first.

A second story line follows Blake Terrapin, who through various adventures comes to lead the rebellion on the ground that parallels Gideon's battles in the air.

There's also pages and pages of concept drawings, character studies, landscapes and architectural drawings of countryside and buildings. This is a beautiful book with lovely artwork that is worth spending some time studying and just enjoying. Gurney's work is lovely -- the color palette and subject matter lend themselves to the stories, adding depth and context.

I read the electronic version of this book and found it easy to read and navigate. The book should already be in your bookstores so, if you're a fan of Dinotopia and James Gurney's artwork, you should check it out.

This is the edition to own. A must-have for the Dinotopia collector. Overflowing with stunning illustrations.

A number of years back (I'm not sure precisely when) I reviewed this book on Goodreads -- not the 20th Anniversary Edition, but the original edition.  At the time, as a bookseller, I was very impressed with the Dinotopia series of books and recommended them often.  However, this particular book was my least favorite, getting three of five stars.

With this 20th Anniversary Edition (has it really been that long!?) I was delighted to take the journey again, and Gurney and the publisher offer up a few bonuses as well.

First, I stand by my initial thoughts of the story.  I love the idea of man and dinosaurs living and working together in Dinotopia, but the addition of modern mechanical devices, making this a dino-steam-punk story, just spoils the work for me.  That said, however, I should point out that this complaint of mine is in comparison to the other Dinotopia books.  The story still stacks up well against other children's and YA books, and NOTHING compares to the incredible art.

I enjoyed the board game in the initial edition, but the bonus material here, celebrating the 20th Anniversary, is a great collection.  We start with a thirteen-page story by James Gurney, "The Story of Blake Terrapin."  Blake Terrapin leads the resistance on the ground while Gideon (the protagonist in the earlier portion of the book) takes to the air.  Please note that the Goodreads description of this story is that it is "a cinematic treatment."  This is important because it reads like a cinematic treatment, rather than a story.  How is it different?  Think of it as a detailed outline to prepare someone to draw the pictures.

There are ten new pictures included with the story, and these too aren't necessarily completed paintings.  Some are quite detailed, nearly fully finished works, and some are clearly rough sketches.

Next, in the bonus materials section, is a "Portfolio: Images from Dinotopia's Age of Heroes" -- eighteen pages of new art (again ranging from nearly completed paintings to sketches) including thumbnail storyboard sketches and character sketches from different angles.  It's fun to see how the creative mind prepares for the work.  Seeing how James Gurney sets up the books and how he plans the characters, looking at them from all sides, even if they may never appear that way in his paintings, really shows the care Gurney has for the work.

And just as Gurney prepares for his art with a variety of sketches, he also has developed a history of the land and the people of Dinotopia, as is evidenced by "Backstory Notes," the final portion of the bonus material.  From a description of the four ancient empires of Dinotopia (Poseidos, Chandara, Armakia, and Pelladrine) to the human characters, animal characters, and the vehicles and tech, Gurney has given much thought and attention to this land ... and it shows.

And of course there's the art.  The art is gorgeous.  Have I said that yet?  In fact, I often file these books in with my collection of art books, instead of with the children's picture books or even the story books.  The books are worth the price for the art alone.

I've increased my rating, in part because I'm reading this without having just read any of the other Dinotopia books for comparison, and because the bonus material really is a treat.

Looking for a good book?  Dinotopia: First Flight: 20th Anniversary Edition by James Gurney is a book that should be in your home if you have children under the age of 20 or if you just like good dinosaur fantasy or if you just enjoy really great art.

I was given an advance copy of "Dinotopia: First Flight 20th Anniversary edition" by James Gurney through Netgalley.com for me to be able to review it. My copy was an ebook version, which caused some problems in the viewing of the pictures, but there won't be that problem in the actual print book.

I have heard of the Dinotopia books before, but haven't read any of them since they came out after I was out of college. "First Flight" starts with Will Denison reading the "Scroll" that tells the story of Gideon Altaire and then proceeds to tell the story of how the first flight came about and ending with Will finishing reading the scroll. I thought the story was good and my 8 year old daughter really enjoyed the book as well. It was an interesting idea having humans and dinosaurs alongside modern mechanical machines. The pictures were big and colorful and helped to bring the world of Dinotopia to life.

The Bonus features include a complete story that tells of Blake Terrapin and his fight for Waterfall City alongside Nina Griggs and Toby Ostrander. There were more in depth descriptions of the major empires of Dinotopia, locations, animals, important human characters, and vehicles and tech. There are also many pages of concept art and story boards.

I love the world of Dinotopia, and this book brings to light some of the fun aspects of human interactions with dinosaurs. The gorgeous illustrations really complements the utopia set up by author James Gurney. My brother, who is not much of a reader, also enjoys the Dinotopia series.