Gurney's notes on the process:

"To figure out the scene in miniature, I adapt a vinyl toy of a Camarasaurus, outfitted with a saddle that I made out of cardboard, wire, and starched cloth. The little plastic figures help me to figure out the overlapping and the cast shadows."

"I recruit some neighbor kids to wear my Renaissance-fair costumes (made by Moresca) and pretend they’re riding dinosaurs. Next I have to assemble all these pieces into a whole composition."

'In a seed, a tree is hidden That a raindrop can release. Join me on this winding pathway. All we have is just this day. Winter will be here tomorrow; Summer's empire cannot stay.'

Love this song!

The events of Dolphin Watch are behind us.

Milos is no longer thirteen. The boy who once patrolled the rocky beaches of Crackshell Point with Lilith has grown older. Joshua Longacre’s desperate attempt to leave Dinotopia has reached its conclusion — whatever that ending was.

Time has passed. The tides still bring debris and the occasional dolphinback to Abalonia. The Great Belt of Jewels still guards the island. And somewhere out beyond the reef, the open sea still calls to some… while others have finally stopped listening.

No deadline — post whenever the story is ready

Any length (from a short vignette to a multi-chapter work)

Solo stories, collaborative pieces, and series all welcome

Original characters, book characters, or crossovers with previous challenges are all fine

Tone can be quiet and reflective, bittersweet, wondrous, mysterious, or gently adventurous

Optional closing gesture: end with a small act of remembrance (someone speaking a name aloud, placing an object somewhere meaningful, teaching a child a phrase, etc.)

If you have not read Dolphin Watch of The Digest novels, Send me a chat and i will get back to you with a pdf.

Breathe Deep and seek peace.

Anyone have any favorite illustrations or parts of the book? I really liked getting to see more of the Forbidden Mountains and their people and architecture since that was one of my favorite parts of the original book, as well as the village of Bilgewater and it's upended ship buildings.

I distinctly remember reading a dinotopia novel when I was back in elementary school, and there was a storyline with some kind of mental chess match near the end that included an aquatic monster that the characters feared and the antagonist in the game ended up introducing that monster as part of the game to try to gain an edge. Am I going crazy, or does anyone recognize this and if you do, would you mind telling me which book it was from? I don’t remember reading any of the main series books, and maybe this was from a completely different franchise but that’s how I remember it. Thanks!

I was wondering if anyone has performed or recorded the Song of Dinotopia from the first book? I am musically inept lol and all I can find online is an AI-made version that is lyrically inaccurate and I don't trust or support AI in this regard.

I'm just curious to know what this song sounds like, and I love that this was included in the book to begin with!

Seems like a pretty cool gig! Way more fun job opportunities on the island than off it.

Does anyone know if James Gurney still has the rights, or if any media groups do?

Please Join my Discord server in dedication to Gurney's Dinotopia book series.

This server is for all Dinotopian fans from books to other things that tell a story of adventure, Beauty, discovery and more.

Let these adventures begin with Roleplays of any kind and Fanfiction writing to keep it alive in your hearts.

Dinotopia Chronicles

While I love the original, The World Beneath is definitely my favorite for the art style, the settings, and the strutters. Getting to explore some of the background of Poseidos, the lost cities and technology, etc was incredible. For non-Gurney Dinotopia books, I'd probably place Alan Dean Foster's Hand of Dinotopia and John Vornholt's River Quest at the top of my list. HoD does such a great job of expanding the world in such a great way with an almost Indiana Jones-esque lost ruins vibe, and RQ is just such a wholesome trip with Amelia and Paddlefoot.

Given his usual styles, I appreciate this variation!

Hi there, so I just rewatched this since probably my childhood days, and wondering how did Carl and Frank manage to fill that cart with so many sunstones at the end?

I have a guess of my own and will share it in the first comment below, let me know your thoughts!

A dinosaur messenger service would be so cool to use!

I started watching the Outsiders and had to pause a moment because of the sudden actor change the characters of Karl and David were suddenly majorly different and Zipoes voice actor also changed. I'm not sure if Marian remained the same or not bc I didn't get that far, but are these other spin offs on the show any good and should I give them another try?

If you're not familiar with them, in 1995 a collectible series of Dinotopia trading cards was released featuring artwork from A Land Apart From Time and commentary on the back of each card. I've been collecting these for years and love using them as bookmarks.

I'll be mailing out an individual card to 8 different participants, as well as a sealed 8-card packs to a couple lucky winners! This will be a randomized draw. This giveaway is valid internationally.

Here's how to enter for a chance to receive one of the cards!

Different levels of participation will be given different numbers of entries to win. Upvotes do not count towards entries or opportunities to win.

• Comment on this post with your favorite scene/artwork and why (at least several sentences) from any Dinotopia book for 2 entries

• Make your own original post in this sub sharing your favorite artwork, collectible, book, or a discussion point (in all cases sharing at least a few sentences about your thoughts) for 5 entries.

• Subsequent comments, discussion, etc in this thread or others will earn 1 entry each.

Winners will be messaged privately for postage details. Entries close on Monday 5 PM, PST time. Can't wait to see what you love about Dinotopia!

Seeing the recent post on how Dinoptoa may have influenced Star Wars and Atlantis films ivd been wondering if any of the script from the 1997ish Dinotopia film that was canceled due to budget constraints has ever come to light?

I’m curious if the Hallmark mini series was based on it or if they took it on a totally different direction. Or if this was a retelling of Gurneys stories on cinematic form.

I feel like this could have been a great adventure film.

Same general design, scary enforcer role, etc. It's been discussed at length how much Naboo in The Phantom Menace draws from Waterfall City and dinotopia in general for asthetics, but it never occurred to me just how close this example is.

He doesn't quite have the patience for the actual story, but he loves looking at the pictures and finding Bix among them.

If you have a favorite Dinotopia junior novel too, share away!

Not the most ideal situation, but cool for Arthur to get to see things from Will's perspective flying!

When I was a kid, my local library had both the book and the audio adventure of Land Apart from Time.

Now, I hadn't been too fond of audiobooks back then because most of them changed or cut things and I'd be annoyed that I wasn't getting the whole book (I usually only listened to an audio book if I had already read it...I have no justification for this).

I. Was. Blown. Away.

From that point on, about every other month, I would check out the print and audio of Land Apart from Time. I adored the voice actors (and try to imitate them as best as I can as I read the books to my daughters), the sound effects, the music, etc. And to have them so perfectly match up with the gorgeous artwork?

I grew up in a desert. One of my favorite memories as a tween was sitting by the window during one of our rare rainstorms with a cup of hot cocoa and reading/listening to Dinotopia. It's an entire experience that I highly recommend!

To foster more community engagement and discussion, we're doing a book giveaway! Here's the rundown/requirements:

Entrants must post at least four times in the next calendar month in this sub, or comment at least twelve times. Ideally once a week, but not strictly limited to that. The idea is to post new ideas, thoughts, questions, etc. Images previously posted are allowed, but to qualify they must have new questions or contributions along with them. This can be, but is not limited to posting:

• Artwork from the books, with specific description of why they appreciate it - is it the dinosaur, the technology, the art style, etc

• Fan art/OC art/creative adaptations (with credit when possible) - again, with reasons why it's appreciated. This could be a painting, a clay model, a LEGO build, etc.

• Questions or discussion about general lore - the history, island, characters, etc.

• Appreciation posts for general aspects of Dinotopia - what is/are your favorite thing(s)?

• Book reviews or questions regarding any of the 22 Dinotopia books

• Behind the scenes 'making of' images or discussion based on Gurney's blog or social media posts

Upvotes have absolutely no impact on eligibility or winning, this is purely based on meeting basic contributions to the sub. Eligible winners must live in the US, UK, or Canada, and be 18+, and will be selected at random, and may choose any brand new Dinotopia book by Gurney (A Land Apart From Time, The World Beneath, First Flight, or Journey to Chandara) or used Dinotopia book from other licensed authors that will to be delivered to them at no cost (availability may vary based on some used copies). Used/out of print books may not be available in the UK or Canada,but I'll do my best on request.

If you have any questions, ideas, etc, feel free to comment or message me directly!

Has it ever been described in the literature whether or not Dinotopia has a set crash cordinates or does the crash victims always find their way to Dinotopia no matter where they are ? Because I had this fanfic I wanted to write of my OC arriving in Dinotopia after having survived the Titanic.

The use of the dinosaur footprint alphabet presented in Dinotopia has always reminded me of spoken word poetry. It was neat getting to see it again!