The Dinosaur Lords

Author: Victor Milán
Release Date: July 28, 2015
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: The Dinosaur Lords #1
Genre(s): Fantasy
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There is one thing about Victor Milán’s upcoming book The Dinosaur Lords that really sticks out to me every time I hear someone talking about it or I read something new about it. No, it’s not the promise of knights astride dinosaurs, though that’s admittedly really, really cool.

What sticks out the most for me is the excitement. People are excited about this book. Other authors are excited about this book.

I mean, when you can put  down that George R.R. Martin himself said, “It’s like a cross between Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones” then that’s kind of a big deal. That is a huge endorsement and it’s not a misplaced one either.

The Dinosaur Lords could be the start of one of fantasy’s greatest new series.

It blends a lot of themes you might not expect to find together in one book. That, I think, is one of it’s greatest attributes. The Dinosaur Lords takes a lot of common, familiar elements and builds up a world around them that just happens to be inhabited by dinosaurs.

What would the world be like if creatures like the one above lumbered around still? What would our history have been like? What strategic advantages could you have gained using certain dinosaurs in battle?

These are the sort of questions Victor Milán is taking on.

I want to share the synopsis of the book with you all because I think it helps explain why so many people – myself included – are excited or this book’s release.

Intrigue, beauty, brutality, and dinosaurs – welcome to Paradise.

A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often cruel place.  Men and women live on Paradise but dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden – and of war.  Colossal plant-eaters like Brachiosaurus; terrifying meat-eaters like Allosaurus and the most feared of all, Tyrannosaurus rex rule the land.  Armored knights ride dinosaurs to battle legions of war-trained Triceratops and their upstart peasant crews. Seeking to centralize real power in his figurehead Fangèd Throne, Emperor Felipe of Nuevaropa sets off a chain of wars that may blaze up to consume the continent called the Tyrant’s Head. But is Imperial ambition the only spark, or are more sinister forces at work?

And so we have as our players in the tale: Fallen hero Karyl Bogomirsky, who wants to escape from constant headaches and nightmares and gets lured into the quixotic task of raising an army from a province of pacifists. Part-time Dinosaur Master and minstrel, and full-time rogue Rob Korrigan, who wants to get paid and laid—but he follows the man he’s written and sung about into what looks like certain disaster. Princess Melodia, who is eager to escape the shadow of her indulgent but neglectful father the Emperor but is faced by consequences she never anticipated. And Imperial Champion Jaume, Count of the Flowers, the Empire’s most celebrated swordsman and poet, who wants to serve Beauty and the right. But what can he do when faced with two equally wrong and ugly choices?

Lush, exotic and utterly chaotic, Victor Milan’s splendidly weird world of The Dinosaur Lords is a fantastical creation, a mirror image of 14^th century Europe with its dynastic rivalries, religious wars, and byzantine politics…and the weapons of choice are dinosaurs. 

I mean, doesn’t that sound awesome?

It gets better. The story is thoroughly supplemented throughout by Richard Anderson‘s fantastic artwork. The guy has had a fantastic career and his illustrations only promise to make this book even more spectacular. He’s going to be drawing battle-bred dinosaurs and knights astride them, guys.

I mean, c’mon. What more do you need?

Much like Jurassic World was the hit summer blockbuster The Dinosaur Lords is well poised to be one of the fantasy blockbusters of the season. It’s a visual – and narrative – adventure that I honestly believe shouldn’t be missed.

In the end, I think S.M. Stirling – one of my favorite authors – sums up The Dragon Lords and why you should read it very well:

“Lords, ladies, castles, swords, eldritch Gods, not-quite-zombies, a not-quite-earth, pirates, jungles, and a world that isn’t but should have been. And there are dinosaurs. Knights riding dinosaurs! Prepare to be entertained!”

Don’t just take his word – or mine for that matter – for it, though. Check out this excerpt for yourself! And check out The Dinosaur Lords when it hits shelves on July 28th.

Images, materials, advanced praise, and a review copy of The Dragon Lords were provided by Tor Books for our consideration. Our thoughts are our own. A full review of the book will be coming in the near future.