The Hand of Dinotopia [Hardcover]

Alan Dean Foster (Author), James Gurney (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Dinotopia (HarperCollins)

A long-lost legend is found...

Will is a skybax rider, one of the elite couriers of Dinotopia, a land apart from time where humans and dinosaurs coexist in harmony. Protected for centuries by raging currents that wreck any ship that comes too close to its shores, this strange land is cut off from the outside world. When headstrong Sylvia disappears in search of the legendary Hand of Dinotopia, a landmark that points toward clear sea passage to and from the island, Will follows her, accompanied by his four-footed Protoceratops companion, Chaz. Their quest for the Hand takes them to a startling destination where they're met with a choice as unexpected as the journey.

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Following up on Dinotopia Lost (HarperCollins, 1998) with this doorstopper sequel set in the idyllic land of intelligent dinosaurs created by Gurney, Foster sends his intrepid protagonists Will and Sylvia from harsh desert to steamy rain forest in search of the fabled Hand-rumored to be a key to the sole safe passage between Dinotopia and the outside world. As can be expected from this veteran author, it's a smoothly crafted tale with an entertainingly contentious supporting cast, grandly formal language ("You claim there is something out there, Sylvia. Let us go and find it"), and replete with jawbreaking dinosaur nomenclature and a plot urged along at a steady, if deliberate, pace by well-timed adventures and discoveries. What makes this effort practically unique among epic fantasy is its lack of an evil adversary. Aside from an encounter with a threatening band of painted, spear-bearing deinonychids, the weaponless expedition faces only the occasional flash flood, giant centipede, or other natural hazard. Ultimately, the quest is successful, but with the revelation that the Hand's passage was concealed after an ancient war with human invaders, Will, Sylvia, and their scaled companions turn back in dismay-until the next sequel, perhaps. The story's (mostly) gentle dinosaurs and underlying pacificism make a rare break from the swords-and-monsters routine.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6^-up. In Foster's second Dinotopia adventure based on James Gurnry's books, Will and Chaz, the reluctant protoceratops translator, follow Sylvia through the Great Desert and remote Outer Island as she searches for the Hand of Dinotopia, the key to a sea route that would link reef-bound Dinotopia to rest of the world. The trio battle physical hardships, vicious meat eaters, scary nomads, and primitive carnosaurs, and join forces with a reclusive saurian explorer, before discovering the secret of the Hand. The dinosaurs are more interesting than the humans in the story, and the dialogue is occasionally stilted, but Foster does a good job of expressing Gurney's original vision of Dinotopia, re-creating the cities, deserts, and jungles, along with their exotic inhabitants in vivid detail. Readers may find it helpful to consult the maps and illustrations in Gurney's books. Chris Sherman

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (April 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060280050
• ISBN-13: 978-0060280055
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Dean Foster's work to date includes excursions into hard science-fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He has also written numerous non-fiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as having produced the novel versions of many films, including such well-known productions as "Star Wars", the first three "Alien" films, "Alien Nation", and "The Chronicles of Riddick". Other works include scripts for talking records, radio, computer games, and the story for the first "Star Trek" movie. His novel "Shadowkeep" was the first ever book adapation of an original computer game. In addition to publication in English his work has been translated into more than fifty languages and has won awards in Spain and Russia. His novel "Cyber Way" won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first work of science-fiction ever to do so.

Foster's sometimes humorous, occasionally poignant, but always entertaining short fiction has appeared in all the major SF magazines as well as in original anthologies and several "Best of the Year" compendiums. His published oeuvre includes more than 100 books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good story line, June 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hand of Dinotopia (Hardcover)

"The Hand Of Dinotopia" has a good story line, but I did not care too much for the writing style; it was a bit too dry. The story is about two young humans, and a dinosaur, who go questing for something called the Hand of Dinotopia that supposedly points the way to a safe sea route in and out of Dinotopia, which is surrounded by deadly currents and reefs that can smash boats to pieces. The trio soon find something amazing in the middle of 'The Great Desert,' which is unexplored and unknown to all but a very few dinotopians. Before too long the group becomes larger as the humans and dinosaurs continue their quest in search of the Hand of Dinotopia, but the question is: do they find what they're looking for . . .? An entertaining book, good story line, and rather suspenseful, providing a mystery to curious and willing readers.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a good overall book, February 13, 2003

By 

a student (Versailles, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hand of Dinotopia (Hardcover)

This book overall was a good book for any favorite Fanticy lover.
this book is about a young man who is a mail diliver in the land of Dionotopia. He dilivers mail on the back of a skybax. A sky bax is a dinasaur. it can fly long distancsis.
The young man goes on a joueney to find his feonca. Along ther way he meets up with carnavorious dinasaurs, grumpy hermits, and some nomadic tribes of humans and dinosaurs.
I recomend this book to those who can read well. their is some chalanging gramer and some going frome one person to another.
For the most part the book really held my attention. i didn't want to put teh book down. i kept telling telling my self just one more chapter, but i ended up reading 3 more chapters.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alan Dean Foster adds marvelously to the world of Dinotopia, June 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hand of Dinotopia (Hardcover)

It was a great book and I have only one complaint: I really, really wish it had a map at the beginning showing all of Dinotopia and including all the place names mentioned in the story. I loved the story itself though and Alan Dean Foster's unique ability to describe fictional settings and people is what makes this book great. An awesome addition to the world of Dinotopia.