Are you looking for some summer reading?  Are you looking for something that promises psychic dinosaurs, world-conquering gorillas, Atlantis, two fisted action, and pulpy goodness?  Then do I have a recommendation for you.

Dinocalypse Now is the first foray into fiction by Evil Hat Productions.  They enlisted the talents of Chuck Wendig to create a story based on the game Spirit of the Century.  The game’s setting is a brighter version of the pulp novels of the early twentieth century.  The predecessors to this story are illustrious and include; The Shadow, The Rocketeer, Sky King, Doc Savage, Wu Fang and many others.

The book opens in grand pulp style with Jet Black hurtling to the earth contemplating how this is going to appear to Sally Slick.  He had been given the easiest job in protecting FDR during his speech here in New York City and now he is the one plummeting to his doom.  In addition to these two, the cast of characters includes Mack Silver, Professor Khan, and several other members of the Century Club.  We follow the exploits of these stalwart heroes as they struggle to save the world from the conqueror gorilla Khan and his army of dinosaurs.

The action in this novel is quick and light with plenty of cliffhangers as one would expect from something so rooted in pulp fiction.  The prose flows easily and keeps you moving quickly from chapter to chapter.  The characterization is done with a deft touch giving you enough about each of the many characters to keep you interested without overburdening you with information.  With so many characters, one would think that character depth would be the first thing that was lost.  One would be incorrect.  Instead of providing depth to everyone, true character progression is left for the four main characters of Sally Slick, Jet Black, Mack Silver, and Professor Khan.  Their personal progression was interesting and fit well with the pulp paradigm presented.

Before I picked up my copy of Dinocalypse Now, I really wasn’t a fan of the pulp style.  The style always made me feel that it was gritty, dark, and stilted towards a time that I didn’t really care to remember.  Now, I cannot wait for the next installment of the Dinocalypse trilogy!  I recommend picking up this book as you will be highly entertained.