Raptor Red
 Cover of the book's first edition by Robert Bakker | |
| Author | Robert T. Bakker |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Bantam Books |
Publication date | October 1995 (hardcover) September 1996 (paperback) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) Audiobook |
| Pages | 250 (paperback) |
| ISBN | 0-553-10124-2 |
| OCLC | 32429989 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3552.A43814 R3 1995 |
Raptor Red is a 1995 American novel by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker. The book is a third-person account of dinosaurs during the early to middle Cretaceous Period, told from the point of view of a female Utahraptor. Raptor Red features many of Bakker's theories regarding dinosaurs' social habits, intelligence, and the world in which they lived.
The book follows a year in Red's life as she loses her mate Judy, finds her family, and struggles to survive in a hostile environment populated by dinosaurs thought to be extinct forever on Earth. Bakker drew inspiration from Ernest Thompson Seton's works that look at life through the eyes of predators, and said that he found it enjoyable to write from a top predator's perspective. Bakker based his portrayals of dinosaurs and other prehistoric wildlife on fossil evidence, as well as studies of modern animals. The book was released in hardcover, paperback, and audiobook formats.
When released, Raptor Red was generally praised: Bakker's anthropomorphism was seen as a unique and positive aspect of the book. Criticisms of the novel included a perceived lack of characterization and average writing. Some scientists, such as paleontologist David B. Norman, took issue with the scientific theories portrayed in the novel, fearing that the public would accept them as fact, while Discovery Channel host Jay Ingram and others defended Bakker's creative decisions as provoking debate and bringing science to a wider audience.
Plot
[edit]In the book's opening, during the middle Cretaceous, the main character of the title and her mate ambush a herd of Astrodon. The Astrodon are surprised, thinking that their bulk deters smaller hunters. Utahraptor, however, is much larger than any killer raptor, and proceeds to kill a female Astrodon with teamwork. When Red's mate Judy climbs onto the dead female Astrodon, the corpse rolls in the mud, trapping Judy under the bulk of the animalistic herbivore. Despite Red's best efforts, Judy suffocates to death. Despondent, Red wanders around the floodplain, nearly starving since a Utahraptor cannot successfully hunt big game on its own.
Red follows a familiar scent and is reunited with her sister Amber, with three young. The two hunt together and bring food back to the nest for the young. A white Comodactylus, one Red has seen since she hatched, helps the two by finding carrion and prey in exchange for a helping of meat. On one hunting expedition, when the two adult Utahraptor are stalking a herd of Iguanodon, Red spies a young male Utahraptor named Casey that is watching their prey. He begins a courtship dance for Red, but Amber chases him off, hissing. Her growls agitate the Iguanodon, who stampede; Casey hastily leaves. After climbing into a tree to escape a flash flood, Red encounters Casey again, who performs a courtship dance while hanging onto the tree branches. Amber begrudgingly allows Casey to stay with them, provided he steers clear of her chicks.
For a while, Red and her pack are happy, feeding off the plentiful carrion left by receding flood waters, but the pack's way of life is upset by an invasion of Acrocanthosaurus. The added competition for food puts strain on the pack, as does the unexpected death to one of the chicks, Isildur. A fight erupts between the male raptor and Red's sister. Red, torn between a prospective mate and her kin, tries to defuse the situation. Two Acrocanthosaurus watch the commotion and take the opportunity to attack the Utahraptor. Meanwhile, a female Kronosaurus ambushes one of the chicks, Peter, on a beach. Seeing the horror of that realization, Red lures an Acrocanthosaurus into deep water where she is dragged under by the female Kronosaurus. Red saves her family, but her consort is forced away by Amber.
Facing continued threats from the Acrocanthosaurus gang, Red, Amber and the chicks are forced up into the mountains. They encounter ice and snow for the first time, and kill a Segnosaurus in a cave, turning the den into their nest. The older chick, Coop, accompanies the two adults on hunting expeditions. One day, the raptors encounter a strange creature they have never seen before—a whip-tailed Diplodocus, who inflicts wounds on Red and Amber; Coop is forced to set off alone and find the pack's food. This calamity coincides with the arrival of a large pack of Deinonychus. They surround the nest and wait for the wounded raptors to become weak enough to attack.
Red's sister dies, and Red is crippled and defenseless against the smaller dinosaurs. The Deinonychus close in but are driven back by the sudden arrival of Coop and Red's consort, who defend the nest. Some time later, the old white Comodactylus circles over Red's mountain stronghold, and finds the pack has grown considerably. Red and her niece have chicks of their own, who are having fun rolling down a hill. The satisfied Comodactylus leaves, having found a mate as well.
Analysis
[edit]Bakker anthropomorphizes the dinosaurs in Raptor Red; the raptors and other wildlife are depicted as demonstrating intellect and emotion.[1] Doctor Patricia E. Chu classified Raptor Red as a cinematic and modern "animal story" in the vein of previous works such as Jack London's White Fang.[2] While the animals in Raptor Red are heavily anthropomorphized—Bakker has one dinosaur aware of its own mortality—they are also described in highly technical or technologic terms, such as describing a raptor's brain like a computer, or its imprinting through descriptions of biochemistry.[2]
Reception
[edit]Raptor Red was favorably received by critics and the mainstream press. Much praise was given to Bakker's anthropomorphizing of the dinosaurs;[3][4][5][6] a reviewer for the Toronto Star said that "Raptor Red does for dinosaurs what some nature writing does for creatures alive today: it turns data into stories. And stories are what all of us need to make these animals—even dinosaurs—come alive."[7] Mark Nichols of Maclean's said that Bakker's success lay in making the reader hope that the dinosaurs were indeed creatures as Bakker portrayed.[8] James Gorman, writing for Natural History, compared Bakker's heroine to a "bloody-minded Jane Austen character—bound by family ties, thoroughly responsible, yet longing for independence and love."[9] A review in The Psychological Record recommended the book as a "conceptually-rich and controversial" explanation for dinosaur behavior.[1]
While the Library Journal's review praised Bakker's sympathetic characterization for never becoming cartoonish,[5] other critics felt that the anthropomorphizing of the dinosaurs veered too far into exaggeration.[10] Other criticisms included a lack of character needed for truly engrossing fiction.[11] Reviewers described Bakker's work as genuine, despite flaws such as inconsistent writing.[8][9][12] Billboard praised Megan Gallagher's narration of the audiobook, with its continuous sound effects and dramatic music to creating an "aural picture".[13] Entertainment Weekly gave Raptor Red its "Best of Breed Award" for a "captivating novel about animal life".[14]
Many critical reviews of the work came from scientists who objected to Bakker's dramatic license and departure from established facts.[15] The paleontologist Thomas Holtz noted that Bakker combined fauna in ways not directly supported by the fossil record; for example, several of the dinosaurs featured in the books lived millions of years after Utahraptor died out.[16] Michael Taylor, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the National Museums of Scotland, panned the book, saying that "Raptor Red is an accurate portrayal only within the context of uncertainties over the reconstruction of fossil animals as living forms ... Bakker's postscript never really admits these uncertainties."[7] David B. Norman criticized the book as "no more than a children's adventure story—and a rather poorly written one at that ... The merging of science and fantasy is at its worst in books like Raptor Red because none but the experts can disentangle fact from fiction; this type of nonsense turns an uninformed reader into a misinformed one."[17] Jay Ingram, from the Discovery Channel, published a rebuttal, saying, "The most important point is that Bakker's portrayal of the dinosaurs in Raptor Red is vivid—vivid in a way few museum displays or factual accounts can be. And if it turns out in the long run that some of the speculation is unwarranted, who cares? Bob Bakker has given us a unique window onto the era of dinosaurs."[7]
According to Bakker, the novel's success led to interest in a movie deal from Hollywood.[4] Producer Robert Halmi Sr. made deals with Jim Henson's Creature Shop for film adaptations of Animal Farm and Raptor Red in 1996.[18] No official project has been announced.
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Chiszar, David; Smith, Hobart M (1996). "Raptor Red: A Novel". The Psychological Record. 46 (2): 397–402.
- ^ a b Chu, Patricia E (March 2007). "Dog and Dinosaur: The Modern Animal Story". Mosaic. 40 (1): 79–94.
- ^ Naughton, John (September 5, 1995). "At home with a Jurassic monster". The Times.
- ^ a b Chander, David (November 13, 1995). "In his field, Robert Bakker walks alone". Boston Globe. p. 29.
- ^ a b Johnson, Eric (September 1, 1995). "Book Reviews: Fiction". Library Journal. 120 (14): 205.
- ^ Lemonick, Michael (September 18, 1995). "Picks & Pans: Raptor Red". People. Vol. 44, no. 12.
- ^ a b c Ingram, Jay (October 15, 1995). "Paleocrats pan heretic's vivid fiction". Toronto Star. p. F8.
- ^ a b Nichols, Mark (October 25, 1995). "Romantic Raptors". Maclean's. 108 (40): 64.
- ^ a b Gorman, James (October 1995). "Crichton's Jurassic replay; Bakker's utahraptor romance". Natural History. 104 (10): 22.
- ^ Staff (August 16, 1996). "Book Review: 'Raptor Red'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
- ^ Udovitch, Mim (October 1, 1995). "Leapin' Lizards!". The New York Times. p. 9.
- ^ Noe, Dennis (February 6, 2008). "Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker: A novel through the eyes of a dinosaur". Men's News Daily. Archived from the original on August 16, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2008.
- ^ Staff (October 14, 1995). "Reviews; Audio Books". Billboard.
- ^ Lyons, Gene (January 1996). "A Civil Action: 1995 Best and Worst". Entertainment Weekly. Vol. 1, no. 307–308. pp. 126–130.
- ^ Kanipe, Jeff (February 1996). "Dino Redux". Earth. 5 (1): 66–68.
- ^ Holtz, Thomas R. (September 12, 1995). "Raptor Red: a review (long)". Archives of the DINOSAUR Mailing List. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
- ^ Norman, David (April 1996). "Nature read in tooth and claw". Scientific American. 274 (4): 108–110. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0496-108.
- ^ Archerd, Army (April 22, 1996). "Simon, Halmi plan long partnership". Daily Variety.