Review: Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know

Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know by David Hone
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Graham Mack
Presented by Highbridge Audio

Aw man, there were a lot of big words in this book!

I'm a dino enthusiast, and I thought the narrator was fantastic, and yet somehow I still found it a little too hard to follow.

Very thorough, though.

This is more of a reference for people who work in a relevant field, so lots of technical terms for the uninitiated. I found it quite difficult to absorb the information because there were too many scientific names and terms to navigate before arriving at the point. Those who understand such terms, however, will find some interesting ideas.

Another thing that bothered me was its readiness to fence sit. I think reiterating the point that we can only speculate on many things related to dinosaur behaviour allows freedom TO speculate. Yet rather than do so, this book works its way AROUND things rather than drawing any possible conclusions in the face of no support.

Basically? I wish this book had more courage.

The narrator did a great job of pronouncing everything and differentiating between parentheses etc, though unfortunately I did find his voice a little monotonous at times. Once again, it was all about straight up technical details - no room for frivolity here. The audio does a decent job of referencing pictures and diagrams in the print and e-book editions, though, so I wonder if seeing those images would alter a reading of this one and add a little more curiosity to the reading.

Some really interesting ideas here, but I think the author has designed it more to be a resource, rather than an interesting exploration that might appeal to all fans of uncovering dinosaur behaviour. I recommend it for those with a closer scientific knowledge, but casual dino fans might be a little underwhelmed.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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