Deadly Kingdom: The Book Of Dangerous Animals (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
What an incredibly disappointing book after the fantastic Red Hourglass, which I gave five stars to. This book is little more than chapter after chapter of descriptions of animals that could attack humans, how they could do so, and how they have done so. It's repetitive and reads like a one dimensional collection of excerpts from encyclopedia entries. Some of the chapters are somewhat interesting, but those are the ones that go deeper and read more like The Red Hourglass--delving into more than just fangs, predatory tactics, and attack anecdotes.I really can't recommend this book, which saddens me. Even where it is personal--such as when the author outlines his personal history with one of the predators via an anecdote from his youth--it comes across as forced. That said, please don't let this turn you off of Grice as a writer. The Red Hourglass is fantastic. He just somehow lost his way between that book and this one. Grice's first book, The Red Hourglass, is one of my favourites, so I had high hopes for this book -- and I wasn't disappointed. This is an exhaustive recounting of the dangers posed to humans by practically every animal you could think of, including several I would never have imagined were dangerous! (Seriously, I may never interact with animals ever again!) The chapter on primates is particularly horrific. I preferred the smaller scope of The Red Hourglass, which focused on fewer subjects, allowing the author to provide more information & insights on each animal -- but for scary good fun this one is a definite winner.
What do You think about Deadly Kingdom: The Book Of Dangerous Animals (2010)?
Superb bbok about some of the most dangerous animals on the planet and what goes on with them.
—alexis
Excellent! Full of facts, anecdotes, trivia and personal experiences.
—kuroneko19922
