Dinotopia, by James Gurney, has enchanted readers for a decade now. This book has spawned a loyal fandom and inspired other authors to write their own parts of the island where humans and saurians coexist.
John Vornholt is one of the authors James Gurney invited to explore Dinotopia with words. He has previously written two other Dinotopia books, River Quest and Sabertooth Mountain, and is very familiar with how Dinotopia works. His latest book, Dolphin Watch, is one of the more exciting digest novels.
The dolphins are the Habitat Partners of Beaches and Bays and bring new dolphinbacks to the Island. However, they have help with dolphinbacks in the form of a young man named Milos, from the floating village of Abalonia. Milos scours the beaches every day for new Dinotopians with his partner, a Cryptoclidus named Lilith.
The Dolphin Watch must be made every day, regardless the weather. Milos starts his rounds on a stormy morning, ready to enjoy some time with the local dolphin pod, the Sky Jumpers. Human, dolphins, and marine saurian play together for several hours, then a ship is spotted and the dolphins have their mission. Milos and Lilith follow the dolphins, all the way past the Belt of Jewels protecting the island and see a ship, where a young man is knocked off in the raging storm. The dolphins rescue this man and he is brought to Abalonia. However, he knows that it is possible to leave, he saw Milos in the ocean, and is determined to make it home at all costs.
Just how much damage can one person who knows that it is possible to leave do? Stealing a Sky Galley, traveling through sunken Poseidos, and running in with Pirates, this boy will stop at nothing.
Throughout the novel, Mr. Vornholt forces any Dinotopian fan to question the possibility of leaving the island. And, it leaves you wondering just what a saurian would do in the outer world.
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