34 - Wednesday, March 20, 1891 - North Shore News Leaping Lizards! Michael Crichton does it again with his latest techno-thriller [ faster!”’ Grant squinted, looking forward. The river was still narrow and dark, but farther ahead he cculd see the trees ended, and there was bright sunshine beyond, and a distant roaring sound... The raft was going still faster, rushing forward. Grant grabbed for his paddles. “What is it?’’ “It's a waterfall,” Grant said. The raft swept out over the overhanging darkness into brilliant morning sunlight, and raced for- ward on the swift current toward the lip... The roar was loud in their ears. Grant paddled as strongly as he could, but only succeeded in spinning the boat in circles. It con- tinued inexorably toward the lip. Lex leaned toward him. “I can’t swim!” Grant saw that (the little girl) did not have her life vest clasped, but there was nothing he could do about it; with fightening speed, they came to the edge, and the roar of the waterfali seemed to fill the world. Grant jammed his oar deep into the water, felt it catch and hold, tight at the lip; the rubber raft shuddered in the current, but they did not go over. Grant stzained against the oar and, looking over the edge, saw the sheer drop of fifty feet down to the surging pool below. And, standing in the surging poo! waiting for them, was the tyrannosaur.” Leapin’ lizards, it’s another cliff-hanger from Michael JAPANESE LANGUAGE Courses = Canadian international College STUDY IN A JAPANESE ENVIRONMENT « Communicative Approach * Japanese Language Partners (resident Japanese students) © Pronunciation Coaching ¢ Small Classes * Courses Begin — September, January, April New Spring Program: Japanese for Youth and Children 2420 Dollarton Highway North Vancouver V7H 2¥1 Tel: 929-1544 (Fax: 929-2074) EX YELLED, holding onto the gunwhale. ‘Faster, Mike Steele BOOK REVIEW Crichton, bestselling author of such techno-hits as The An- dromeda Strain and The Termi- nal Man. This time around, Crichton has wedded “something old and something new’ by combining fossilized dinosaur DNA (dating back at least 150 million years) with modern genetic engineering technology. The result is Jurassic Park, a thrill-filled, gasp-a-rninute novel of the ultimate in weird science. It seems that a ruthiess billionaire (fictional billionaires always have a marked “‘ruth’’ deficiency) has assembled a biogeneiic engineering team on an island just off the Costa Rican coast. Their mission? To recreate the flora and fauna of the Jurassic period, including the dinosaurs. Why? To construct the ultimate theme park and make still more megabucks out of megalosaurs and their contemporary kin, that’s why. LOOK FOR US WE’RE COMING TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD 1254 LYNN VALLEY RD. NORTH VAN ® In fact, Jurassic Park is to be the first of three dinosaur Disneylands: completely isolated, self-contain- ed, ecologicatly viable and yet perfectiy safe for rich, jaded tourists. So why, shortly before the open- ing of this supposedly secure, prehistoric prototype, are babies and young children dying of mysterious bites in the Costa Rican mainland? Surely it couldn't be a virulent case of Jurassic indiges- tion? Or could it? Jurassic Park (Random House; 399 pp.; $26.00) isn’t perfect. It’s Particularly annoying to find sup- posedly gifted researchers overlooking obvious flaws in their premises, especially in light of the importance of their work. But, that said, | have to tell you that Crichton’s numerous scenes of impending doom and deadly confrontation will keep readers anxiously flipping pages well into the wee hours of the morning. And while we're on the subject of things scaly, dinosaur devotees will be interested to hear that a new, nonfictional book on the subject is now out: Red Deer Col- lege Press's The Last Great Dinosaurs - Ar: filustrated Guide To Alberta’s Dinosaurs (184 pp.; $29.95). Written by Monty Reid and il- lustrated by Jan Sovak (his artwork depicting prehistoric animals hangs in over 40 museums around the world), The Last Great Dinosaurs... is a coffee table- format title that should serve ad- mirably as an introduction to Alberta’s ancient past. Reid has provided readers with map keys indicating the former range of the numerous dinosaur species that once roamed the pro- vince in addition to the locations of major fossil finds of each group. sme as a Valuable Coupon amt Sam am smeece Mew ame Gm Valuable Coupon mean mmm ama Grand Opening Day FREE SLICE! 11:00 am ~ 3:00 pm March 26/91 « Tuesday a ¢ ; a (©) Little Cacsaxs 5 1254 Lynn Valley Rd. en es es es 2 ee es ee oe t Two Medium Little Caesar Specials $1399 plus tax Toppings include: pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, onions & ham Li 1254 Lynn Valley Rd. Da cee eee es a en we vs MICHAEL . CRICHTON ALTHOUGH [T has shortcomings Crichton provides jurassic Park with enough bite to satisfy his legion of readers. Also indicated are brief sections relating to the origin and extinc- tion of dinosaurs, references to the climate of the period, what they ate and how (generally raw and messy) and the evolution of wonderfully bizarre defensive/ aggressive features. It’s quite obvious that Reid had a general readership in mind with The Last Great Dinosaurs... as the language has been deliberately kept to a simple level, one that shouldn’t prove daunting to all those kids with a penchant for things that go crunch in the night. So, if you're thinking about pointing your Winnebago in the direction of the Albertan Badlands around Drumheller and Dinosaur Provincial Fark this year, add a copy of The Last Great Dinosaurs... to your list of essential camping supplies. RIDAYS Ny comes wicolesiaw Dai Lunc Specials Home-made Soups Daily FRESH - DAILY HOME-BAKED GCODS on PREMISES gan ene mes Valuable Coupon cm sana am CRAZY BREAD 8 pieces i I a | 99° HOURS: 5 i i i MON.FAI. 7am-4pm SATURDAY Sam-3pm 152 Pemberton, N.Van. 988-8162 , Phone 988-6540 for daily specials Warm bread sticks brushed with butter, topped with parmesan 1254 Lynn Valley Rd. J a i a g H NOW OPEN SATURDAY E i a a i 5