by T. Scott Randolph

Created on: May 23, 2009

I was at one of my favorite spots in the little college town that I call home. That's right, I dig the library. I was running my finger down the shelves of books and glancing at the titles. We have all done it. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, just needed a little break from the heavy book I'm in the middle of right now (Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace). Little did I know my attention would stop on a novel I had never heard of, yet I couldn't stop reading it. I blew through the nearly 500 pages in two days. If you haven't read it, I recommend you do so as soon as possible. It is West of Eden by Harry Harrison.

The basic enviornment that the good Mr. Harrison is basically this: The great meteor that most of the scientific community now agrees smashed into the Earth off the present day coast of Mexico and killed the beloved dinosaurs never happened. Since this mass extinction didn't happen, our forefathers those little gerbil type mammals had some competition.

At the time of the meteor, reptiles (and specifically dinosaurs) were the dominant life form on the planet. In the novel, the humans still evolved, but the reptilian society had several million years head start on us. Basically we didn't make it past the stone age civilizations. Most humans were still of the hunter gather type.

The Yilane, which is what the reptilian people call themselves, have great cities in Africa and have sent explorers to modern day Florida to start a new city. The ustuzou (the name of the humans in the reptilian language) are pretty much in the way of the Yilane every step of the way.

I would rather tell you about the mechanics of the book, and the work that Mr. Harrison put into it, instead of a lot of the story line and ruin it for you.

The humans call themselves the Tanu. There name for any cold blooded animal is marag. One of the humans is taken prisoner by the Yilane and learns their language and customs. When he gets away he has invaluable information for the Tanu. If you want more of the story you will have to read it. I don't want to ruin it for you, but it is definitely worth it.

The Yilane don't use any machines. Over the millions of years of evolution, their scientists have learned to bio-engineer animals in such a way that our scientists today would be green with envy. They have a monitor lizard that will shoot a poison dart. It's accuracy is diminished as it gets tired. Since they are cold blooded they are very susceptible to temperature changes. A bio-engineered manta ray is used as a blanket to keep them warm at night. One last example for you. Your basic plesiosauras (think loch ness monster) has been altered so cargo and people can ride in its hump across the ocean. A key point to the story is the reptiles have no knowledge of fire. For the most part they live in tropical rain forest where it is not a danger. That point plays a key role in the story.

Is all this information confusing? Well don't you worry about that. Harry Harrison in his thoughtfulness, gives you sections that cover several topics. Both English to Yilane and English to Tanu dictionaries. You also get a small sampling of the encyclopedia of zoology that the reptilian society have genetically altered. Last but not least, he gives you the history of the world from both civilizations point of view.

I am a sci-fi fan. This book will be one that i definately purchase for my personal library to read again and again

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