The Lost World (novel)

Infobox Book
name = The Lost World
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Michael Crichton
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction, Techno-thriller
publisher = Ballantine Books
release_date = September 1995
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback) Audio
pages = 416 (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 0-679-41946-2 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by = Jurassic Park
followed_by =

"The Lost World" is a techno-thriller novel that was written by Michael Crichton and published in 1995 by Ballantine Books. A paperback edition (ISBN 0-345-40288-X) was issued in New York in 1996. It is a sequel to his earlier novel "Jurassic Park".

Like Arthur Conan Doyle's novel of the same name, Crichton's novel concerns an expedition to an isolated Central American location where dinosaurs roam - though in this case, the dinosaurs were recreated by genetic engineering, rather than surviving from antiquity.

Plot summary

Six years after surviving the disaster on Jurassic Park, eccentric mathematician Ian Malcolm and spoiled, rich genius Richard Levine are researching InGen's mysterious "Site B", and its exact location, after learning of its existence. The island, named Isla Sorna, was the secret "production factory" for Jurassic Park, where dinosaur stock were hatched and grown, before shipment to Isla Nublar. Levine mysteriously disappears, and Malcolm fears he might have discovered the location of "Site B", and in his impatience already set out for it without letting Malcolm know. Custom field vehicle creator Doc Thorne and his assistant, Eddie Carr, who have provided much of Levine's equipment, deduces the location of Site B with help from Malcom and Levine's schoolkid helpers, computer whiz R.B "Arby" Benton and Kelly Curtis, his friend . They organize a rescue operation and take with them two highly customized RV's modifed for scientific purposes, as well as a solar powered Ford Explorer, Motorcycle and an observation platform called a 'high hide'. Stowed away with them are Arby and Kelly, who plan to rescue Levine as well.

At the same time, Lewis Dodgson, geneticist at Biosyn - InGen's archrival - and two colleagues head to Isla Sorna with the intention to steal dinosaur eggs for their own company. Sarah Harding, a wildlife observer who had a previous relationship with Malcolm, accompanies them to the island, and eventually meets up with Malcolm's team. Dodgson's team throws Sarah overboard, thinking she will drown, and continues with their plan. Dodgson locates a nest of the "T. rex" and walks right up to the eggs with a mysterious box in his hand that makes ultrasonic frequencies , fending the grown "T. rex" away. He brings with him two others from his company, named George Basleton and Howard King, and tells them to grab the eggs while he holds the "T. rex" off with the box, but Basleton freezes in fright once he sees the parents. Dodgson is forced to do it himself. While walking closer to the eggs, he steps on a hatched "T. rex", breaking its leg and the power cord for the box falls out. It takes the "T. rex" a while to notice that its stopped, but they move cautiously forward and grab Basleton and kill him. Dodgson makes a run for it to the SUV, but one "T. rex" pushes the SUV part way off the hill before he and King can drive away. Dodgson falls out of the vehicle but survives. King is later killed by "Velociraptors."

Coming across the baby "Tyrannosaurus rex", Eddie brings it back to the base camp where Malcolm and Harding fix its broken leg. Unfortunately the absence of the infant is noted by its parents, who track their offspring down by smell, leading them directly to the base camp. The T-Rex then pushes one of the trailers of the cliff, with Malcolm and Sarah inside. But, thanks to Thorne they were able to survive it. Meanwhile the group at the high hide are attack by "Velociraptors", resulting the death of Eddie and abduction of Arby. Thorne and Levine rescues Arby and the survivors take shelter in an abandoned gas station set up by InGen for the island's workers when the island was still in use. There they encountered two "Carnotaurus", but were able scared them away with flashlights.

Once daylight came, Harding attempts to get the Explorer back. There she encounters Dodgson, attempting to get the Explorer too. But he is later pushed into the mouth of a "Tyrannosaurus rex" by Harding as revenge. He is then taken to the "Tyrannosaurus" nesting site whereupon his leg is broken and he is left for the babies to eat. After Harding failed to reach the Helicopter in time, Kelly was able to locate a abandon building, with a still working boat inside. After making a quick get away from a group of "Velociraptors", the survivors were able to reach the boat and escape the Island. While on the boat, Malcolm and Harding tells Levine that, to his dismay, that some of the carnivores, including the "Velociraptors" and the Procompsognathus, are effected with prions and any animal bitten by them are effected, meaning that all the Dinosaurs are all fated die because of this. With that said, Thorne finally declares that is time for all of them to go home.

As with the first book, the characters have to fend off attacks from "Tyrannosaurus" and "Velociraptor", as well as "Carnotaurus", which are described as having chameleon-like abilities. Throughout the novel, Malcolm and Levine talk about various evolutionary and extinction theories, as well as the nature of modern science and the homogenizing and destructive nature of humanity. The book also discusses the role of prions in brain diseases, which has been at the root of concerns over Mad Cow Disease.

Film adaptation

"The Lost World: Jurassic Park" is a 1997 science fiction film and sequel to "Jurassic Park" both of which were directed by Steven Spielberg. After the success of the first film, fans and critics alike pressured Michael Crichton for a sequel novel. Having never done one before, Crichton originally declined, but when Spielberg joined in urging him, a sequel novel was announced. As soon as the novel was published, a film was in pre-production, with a target release date of mid-1997. The film was a commercial success, breaking many box-office records when released. The film had mixed reviews, similar to its predecessor in terms of characterization. The film's title is slightly different than the novel's, adding "Jurassic Park" at the end to refer it to the original Jurassic Park film.

The film centers on the island of Isla Sorna, an auxiliary site for the main Jurassic Park island, where dinosaurs have taken over and live in the wild. Ian Malcolm leads a team to document the dinosaurs in their native habitat, while an InGen team attempts to capture them for a second Jurassic Park in San Diego, California.

Differences between the and the novel

The 1997 film adaptation's plot differs significantly from the novel; most significantly, at the end of the film, a "Tyrannosaurus rex" attacks San Diego.

* In the book, Ian Malcolm still suffers greatly from his wound in the first book and film, though in "The Lost World" film adaptation, he suffers little pain from the wound.
* Malcolm came to Isla Sorna to rescue Richard Levine (Sarah Harding in the film), but stayed to study how Dinosaurs got extinct. But in the film, Malcolm wanted to leave as soon he found Harding.
* In the novel, Malcolm receives an "other" leg injury during the trailer incident, which he is extremely drugged for, but doesn't in the film.
* In the film, Ian Malcolm publish a book about the incident on Isle. Nublar, but the story isn't widely believe, destroying his reputation. In the novel, Malcolm start having speeches about the extinction of Dinosaurs, improving his reputation.
* In the film, Sarah and Ian have a relationship. In the novel it is said that their relationship ended with Sarah's trip to Africa.
* The characters of Richard Levine, Jack Thorne, Lewis Dodgson, Howard King, George Baselton, Arby Benton, and Martin Guitierrez do not appear in the film. The main antagonist of Dodgson is replaced with Peter Ludlow, the 'know-it-all' figure of Baselton is replaced by Robert Burke, and the henchman of King is overtaken by Dieter Stark.
* The "Great White Hunter" figure of Roland Tembo from the film has no real equivalent in the novel.
* In the novel, five people arrive on the island along with the trailer and Ford Explorer: Malcolm, Thorne, Carr, Kelly, and Arby. Harding swims to the island after being thrown overboard from a ship by Dodgson, who arrives with King and Baselton. In the film, Malcolm, Carr, Nick Van Owen, and Kelly arrive in an attempt to rescue a missing Harding. The second team consists of Tembo, Ajay Sidhu, Ludlow, Burke, Stark, and the rest of a rather extensive InGen team.
* In the novel, Dodgson attempt to steal Dinosaur eggs, and use the Dinosaurs as experiments for Biosyn. He only brings two people with him, Howard King and George Baseltone. In the film, Peter Ludlow attempt to capture some of the Dinosaurs, and bring them to San Diego to create an other Jurassic Park for InGen. He brings a very large team with him that includes Tembo, Ajay Sidhu, Burke, Stark, and Carter.
* In the novel, Malcom's team arrives on the island with one Ford Explorer, but in the film, the group brings two Mercedes M-Class SUVs.
* In the novel, Kelly is Caucasian, but in the movie she is portrayed as African-American and of Jewish descent.
* In the novel, Kelly is a middle school student that became an assistant for Levine. In the film, she is Ian Malcolm's daughter. Malcolm has no children in the novel.
* Kelly is a skilled Gymnastic in the film, despite being cut from her school's Gymnastic team.
* In the novel, Sarah Harding is a brunette; in the movie, she is a redhead.
* The film's Sarah Harding is a mixture of her own character in the novel, and Richard Levine's, a character who didn't appear in the film.
* In the novel, Levine is the first person on Isla Sorna that Malcolm's team goes to rescue - yet in the film it is Harding.
* In the novel, the character of Eddie Carr was much younger than that in the film. The film's version is instead based on Dr. Jack Thorne, and is only given Eddie's name. Likewise, the film's character Nick Van Owen is based on the novel's version of Eddie.
* Malcolm doesn't mention chaos theory in the film, and if did was very sort and brief.
* In the novel, InGen has gone bankrupt and does not play a pivotal role. Instead, a team from rival company BioSyn seeks to exploit the island. The film replaces this with a divergent group within InGen that has broken off from Hammond's ideals.
* In the novel, there were two infant "Tyrannosaurus", as well as a clutch of unhatched "rex" eggs. In the film there is only one infant.
* In the novel, only one of two of the trailers fall over the cliff, and it doesn't explode upon impact.
* The novel does not feature an adult "Tyrannosaurus rex" rampaging in San Diego, unlike in the film. Because of the Rex's rampage, Isla Sorna's existence is now known, leading to the events of "Jurassic Park III".
* The Tyrannosaurus rex appears more times in film, this includes the above sequence, the Tyrannosaurus rex attacking the camp, the Tyrannosaurus rex attempting to get several characters behind a waterfall (a part that was in the original novel) and the Tyrannosaurus rex being tranquilize.
* As a result of the earlier sequence, Peter Ludlow does not die like Dodgson does in the novel. Although he is still killed by the infant "Tyrannosaurus" and his leg is still broken by the adult "Tyrannosaurus", he was not killed in the "Tyrannosaurus" nest but is instead killed in the cargo ship's hold as he tails Malcolm and Sarah who are trying to trap the rampaging adult. He follows the Baby "rex"'s howls into the hold, failing to notice the adult "Tyrannosaurus" approaching from behind.
* Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Dennis Nedry, and Donald Gennaro are mentioned in the novel, but not the film (however, Gennaro is referred to along with Robert Muldoon and John Arnold in one of the deleted scenes).
* Characters John Hammond, Tim Murphy, and Lex Murphy make cameos in the film, but are merely mention in the novel.
* The novel also mentions that Jurassic Park was destroyed along with all of the dinosaurs by the Costa Rican military, though in the film, the park's fate is never mentioned (in a deleted scene on the DVD it was briefly explained that the Jurassic Park facility was destroyed). This could explain the film's tagline "Something has Survived."
* In the novel, the team investigates InGen's main research facility containing a vast laboratory and offices. The film only features InGen's Operations Center, however, the laboratory is featured in "Jurassic Park III".
* The survivors take shelter in an abandon gas station in the novel, but don't in the film.
* In the novel, Carr is killed by a group of "Velociraptor". In the film, he is killed earlier, as two "Tyrannosaurus rex" adults devour him while he rescues Ian, Sarah, and Nick.
* "Carnotaurus" did not appear in the film.
* Several parts with Velociraptor that happen in the novel, didn't appear in the film. This includes the group being attack by Velociraptors while in the high hide, the Velociraptor's nest, the group being chased by the Velociraptors, Sarah and Kelly chasing a Velociraptor to get the key back from it, and the group being attack by Velociraptors while in the gas station, before making a last minute exit thanks to Kelly's quick thinking.
* The only part that feature Velociraptor in the film, was towards the ending when the survivors attempt to reach a station across the Velociraptor nest. All but Malcolm's group were killed by the Velociraptor, but Malcolm's group was attack by three Velociraptor, before they were able to escape.
* The scenes in the film featuring the compy dinosaurs are not in the book and are adapted from similar scenes in the original "Jurassic Park" novel. The pre-credit sequence of the film is closely adapted from the original "Jurassic Park"'s Prologue chapter. The death of Dieter Stark mirrors closely the death of John Hammond in the original novel.
* All evolutionary and extinction theories that Malcolm proclaim in the novel didn't happen in the film.
* Prions and the DX disease don't make any reference in the film.
* At the conclusion of the novel, all of the dinosaurs are fated to die off due to the uncontrolled spread of prions (the result of using ground-up lamb as dinosaur feed). In the film, Hammond turns the island into a preserve so that the dinosaurs can live free of human interference.

Dinosaurs featured in the novel

* "Apatosaurus"
* "Carnotaurus"
* "Gallimimus"
* "Hypsilophodon"
* "Maiasaura"
* "Mussaurus"
* "Pachycephalosaurus"
* "Parasaurolophus"
* "Procompsognathus"
* "Stegosaurus"
* "Triceratops"
* "Tyrannosaurus rex"
* "Velociraptor"
* Unknown Tree Herbivore: Possibly "Othnielia" or "Microceratops"
* Levine examined a beached specimen, his best guess was a "Ornitholestes". He was not able to make a precise identification, but the lab discovered chromatophores in the tissue sample he sent to Malcolm, possibly suggesting the "Carnotaurus".

External links

* [http://michaelcrichton.com/lostworld/index.html "The Lost World" official website]
* [http://www.jplegacy.org/ Jurassic Park Legacy - A JP Encyclopedia]