Welcome to my regular Thursday feature, Turning off the TV! In this feature I recommend books similar to TV shows or films you may have enjoyed, both series and specific episodes.
The TV series this week is: Primeval.
When strange anomalies in time start to appear all over England, Professor Cutter and his team have to help track down and capture all sorts of dangerous prehistoric creatures from Earth’s distant past.
BECAUSE DINOSAURS!!! DINOSAURS!!!
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is one of my favourite books, and the 1993 film adaptation also happens to be one of my favourite films. The book is a whole lot more technical than the film, but in general it’s pretty faithful. It’s just such a clever and thrilling story, plus who doesn’t love the idea of a park filled with actual, real life dinosaurs? Unless perhaps you’re being chased by a T-rex or something…
The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may be known for his Sherlock Holmes series of books, but they weren’t the only thing he wrote. Another of his series followed a character called Professor Challenger, and the first book, The Lost World, tells the story of a discovery of a remote area of the Amazon rainforest. The most astonishing part of the discovery however, is the fact that prehistoric creatures are living there.
Dinosaur Planet by Anne McCaffrey
Anne McCaffrey doesn’t just write about dragons. The creator of the well-loved Dragonriders of Pern series has also written about dinosaurs. Dinosaur Planet follows the crew of ARCT-10 as they head to Ireta (the titular dinosaur planet), in order to catalogue its flora and fauna. However, it doesn’t seem like the inhabitants of the planet are particularly welcoming…
Dinosaur Tales by Ray Bradbury
Until I started researching books for this post, I had no idea that Ray Bradbury had written a book about dinosaurs. Dinosaur Tales gathers together a collection of short stories that Bradbury wrote on… well you guessed it, dinosaurs.
Rinn Reads 
What a great concept for a blog post. I’d probably include Greg Bear’s Dinosaur Summer as a recommendation, since it’s a sequel to The Lost World.
I like dinosaurs, but there’s also the time travel aspect to Primeval. There are so many books on that theme I wouldn’t know where to start. The time travel is exactly why I stopped watching Primeval, though. It doesn’t take many trips back and forth before you run into one too many grandfather paradoxes, and the characters have too many easy ways out of whatever trouble they’re in.
Thanks Ros 😀
Oh yeah, I have a huuuuge long list of time travel books for the Doctor Who version of this feature 😛
Ah! I loved Primeval when it was on! Good rec’s! 🙂
Thanks Amanda 😀
Did anyone else watch the god awful daytime TV adaption of The Lost World ‘based’ on Doyle’s story? Lord it was awful.
I could still read Jurassic Park twice a year, when my Grandma bought it for me I read and reread it about ten times strait.
Nope, when was that on? Or rather, where? 😛
I love Jurassic Park. I’ve read it a few times, though not yearly. Did you read the second book?