Product Description

When strange anomalies in time start to appear Professor Cutter and his team have to help track down and capture a multitude of dangerous prehistoric creatures from Earth's distant past...and distant future.An Entelodon goes on the rampage down Oxford Street in central London causing untold damage and loss of life, and Cutter decides a new approach to tackling the anomalies is needed. When a mysterious Russian scientist arrives at the ARC, Cutter thinks he might have found the answer...In this brand new original never-seen-on-TV Primeval adventure Cutter and the team are forced to travel to Siberia to confront an anomaly problem on an epic scale...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61037 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Review
"....an enjoyable romp... This is a novel which will surely please fans of both Savile's writing and Primeval." Sci-Fi Online"

About the Author
Dan Abnett is a prolific writer of both novels and comics. He has written for a diverse range of characters in comics, including the X-Men, Batman, Superman, Mr Men and Dr Who. He has written 25 novels for Black Library. His Black Library novel Horus Rising and his Torchwood novel Border Princes were both national bestsellers. Dan was voted Best Writer Now at the National Comic Awards in 2003.

Customer Reviews

Bite off a big chunk of Primeval action
Primeval is one of the best science fiction action series on British TV, with well-developed characters and a great central premise. Whilst I normally stay clear of TV tie-in novels, the cover photo of Abby and the T-Rex made me conveniently forget that rule and give Extinction Event a try.

I soon cast off any reservations. I've never read anything by Dan Abnett before, but it's clear from the outset that he's as much a fan of Primeval as his audience and clearly knows the characters inside out - he captures their voices perfectly. When Cutter speaks, it is Cutter - no question. When Connor makes a particularly bad joke, you don't doubt that it's him. Abby, Lester and Jenny all act exactly as you'd expect them to (bar the occasional moment of not knowing something scientifically very well known so that another character can explain it for the audience). And without the cost of special effects to worry about, there are dinos aplenty. Add to that a Siberian setting and a building realisation as you read the book that the title could be more ominous than you first suspected, and you've got all the ingredients for a worthwhile companion to the TV series.

On the downside, the book feels a little too long, whilst some sequences seem too quick and devoid of tension. Yes, there are numerous encounters with dinosaurs, but for the most part they are over too quickly and some of the later encounters feel like rewrites of encounters that happened earlier on in the book. The comical "bad English" of some of the Russians is annoying, and some of them could easily have been plagiarised from The Big Book of Russian Stereotypes. Look past that and the plot - the overall plot at least - is a good one. As for the subplot involving Helen... Well, it just didn't ring true and it felt to me like she was written in for the sake of it. She's a great character on the TV screen, but the book would have been far better for leaving her out and finding a way of getting Jenny and Hemple into the action on their own initiative.

If you love Primeval, you'll excuse all of that though for the chance to - like Baba Yaga the Tyrannosaurus - bite off a big chunk of Primeval action. You won't be able to eat it all in one sitting, but it's unlikely to give you indigestion.

By the way, the Tunguska event as described in this book was real and has been the subject of many conspiracy theories and fiction (look up "Tunguska event" / "Tunguska event in fiction" on Wikipedia).

Diabolical Dinosaurs
Before reading `Primeval: Extinction Event' I wondered if the TV series would constrain the narrative, but in fact my advance awareness of characters and the overall sci-fi time-warp theme of `Primeval' with dinosaurs, anomalies etc. helped make the book easily readable and enjoyable. The spirit of the book remains faithful to the TV series, and though prior knowledge may make parts of the plot predictable the story is new and nothing spoils what is essentially a `ripping yarn' with exciting fast-paced plot, well defined heroes, and graphic descriptions. Tension is built up immediately and it is action all way through, with short crisp chapters that swap effectively between different people and places. Dan Abnett writes well with skilful use of allusions to historical facts and parodies on today's society, but most importantly he injects enthusiasm and humour. His written form gives free rein to readers' imaginations, inventiveness and interpretations. This is particularly so for the climax when the end comes quickly, and explanations evaporate somewhat. Perhaps the sheer scale and energy of the chosen scenario in Siberia with a massive anomaly and so many diabolical dinosaurs will prevent Dan Abnett's book ever becoming a `Primeval' TV episode - but it makes a great read.

Top Notch Time-Travelling Dinosaur Science Fiction!
When Cutter, Abby, and Conner are kidnapped, Jenny and Hemple go to search for them with the help of Helen, Cutter's estranged wife. Helen appears to know more than she is letting on, but they have no choice than to trust her if they are to get their crew back in one piece. Plus, they are running out of time, if normal operational activity is not resumed soon, the MOD will step in and cancel the entire research project.

It's a dangerous mission and they discover themselves in Siberia, face to face with what the Russians call the Baba Yaga, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Not only that, but the anomalies appear to be more frequent and open for longer, which allows all sorts of visitors from sixty-five million years ago to enter our time period causing destruction and mayhem along the way. Someone must know the truth about what is happening, but who?

British TV has never had it so good with this science fiction series, with the exception of Dr. Who, of course. So, I was pleased to review this book to see how they compared. It didn't disappoint. The main characters keep true to their TV roles, although I could have done without Helen being in it. She just seemed to be a spare part. It's also a monster of a story, nearly three hundred pages long with very small print, which took some time getting through. Despite this, it's packed with time-travelling dinosaurs, and has a fast-paced, riveting plot that concerns an impact point similar to that of the Tunguska asteroid strike in 1908. I would definitely recommend this to all science fiction fans who should be stampeding towards the shelves for this and the rest in the Primeval series quicker than one can say "Ceratopsian".