Introduction to Dinotopia

Dinotopia began as a series of art prints and illustrated books by James Gurney about a lost island shared by human and dinosaurs. Gurney has written and illustrated four volumes in the Dinotopia series—Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time, Dinotopia: The World Beneath, Dinotopia: First Flight and the newest volume Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara.

People and Dinosaurs

In Dinotopia, people and dinosaurs live in peaceful interdependence. The humans come from all places and times—shipwrecked men and women rescued by the dolphins and carried to the shores of this land apart from time. The dinosaurs appreciate the skills and liveliness of Homo sapiens, while humans benefit from the dinosaurs' experience of more than 100 million years of survival. (It should be noted that not all dinosaurs participate in this harmonious exchange. There are a few meat eaters on the island.) All of the dinosaurs in Dinotopia correspond to actual fossil species.

Dinotopia's Deep History

Arthur Denison's journals give evidence of civilization going back more than 5,000 years in Dinotopia. There have been periods of advanced technology, warfare, and empire building, all of which have left their traces on the architecture and culture of the present-day island. Among the few who have succeeded in escaping the island is a saurian architect-scribe named Djhuty, who navigated through Dinotopia's protective circle of storms and reefs, and in his retirement established the Egyptian civilization.

Chandaran and Regular Alphabets

The early Dinotopian dinosaurs left footprint messages in the form of three-toed dinosaur tracks on muddy and sandy riverbanks. These combinations of tracks became the official dinosaur language, used to communicate with humans. In Chandara, Footprint Amphitheatres allow dinosaurs to write stories for the amusement of an entire audience.