---

Rate: 4/5

---

Medium: ARC Kindle

---

Overview (No Spoilers):

Making my list of most anticipated releases for 2017, I was ecstatic to receive an ARC for The Dinosaur Princess, which is due out August 15^th 2017. I have to admit, for some unspecified reason, I had it in my head that this latest installment in The Dinosaur Lords series was the third and final in a trilogy, however upon making it approximately 75% of the way through this novel, it dawned on me that my preconceived notions must be misguided, as such The Dinosaur Princess is actually number three in a six part series! I loved stepping back into this delightfully detailed world that in many aspects is medieval based with the added twist of incorporating dinosaurs into the fray. Unfortunately, large swaths of this novel did suffer from the proverbial middle book slump in a series where our beloved key characters are moved about similar to that of pawns in preparation for bigger and better battles to come in later books. With that being said, the long stretches of, let’s call it character growth, did not deter from my enjoyment of this book as new characters were introduced and we continued to learn more regarding this unique literary realm in exquisite detail, specifically the mysterious Grey Angels and Fae. To a certain extent, I’m beginning to think that Milan is relying a bit heavily on the sexual shock factor, especially with regard to Falk’s conniving mother. Overall, while The Dinosaur Princess was less action packed than it’s predecessor, it laid significant groundwork both developing characters and the literary realm that the following novels will continue to grow from, especially after the shocking plot twist that Milan left us with! I, for one, am left in a state of curious, suspense as to the fate of Nuevaropa and the many human pawns at play in the ancient battle between Grey Angels and the Fae.

---

Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):

Check back for spoilers after the release date!

---

Vocabulary Builder: Milan has a delightfully large vocabulary! When reading it is common that I encounter words that I’m not privy to the exact definition, however it is easy to infer the meaning of the aforementioned word based on the context of the sentence and story. As such, new to the Critiquing Chemist, you’ll find an additional section that includes vocabulary words that I encountered upon reading the book being reviewed and either had to look up the definition or it is a word in which I would like to add to my repertoire. This endeavor is easier when in the Kindle format, and potentially impossible with audiobooks, however I’m going to attempt to continue this section for all future book reviews. I’ll be using the definitions from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Capricious: impulsive, unpredictable

Limned:  to draw or paint on a surface

Perfidy: the quality or state of being faithless or disloyal

Parsimony: the quality of being careful with money or resources

Arbalest: a crossbow especially of medieval times

Insouciance: lighthearted unconcern

Supine:  lying on the back or with the face upward

Riposte: a fencer’s quick return thrust following a parry

Thoroughgoing: marked by thoroughness or zeal

August: marked by majestic dignity or grandeur

Ensorcelled: bewitch, enchant

Truculent: aggressively self-assertive; scathingly harsh

Cavil: to raise trivial and frivolous objection

Opprobrium:  something that brings disgrace

Patronymic: a name derived from that of the father or a paternal ancestor usually by the addition of an affix

Paucity: smallness of number

Calumnies: a misrepresentation intended to harm another’s reputation

Obdurate: stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing

Lassitude:  a condition of weariness or debility

Extirpate: to destroy completely

Equerry: an officer of a prince or noble charged with the care of horses

Sallet: a light 15th century helmet with or without a visor and with a projection over the neck

Suborn: to induce secretly to do an unlawful thing

Mendicant: someone (such as a member of a religious group) who lives by asking people for money or food

Juxtaposition: the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast or to create an interesting effect

Folderol: a useless ornament or accessory

Finials: a usually foliated ornament forming an upper extremity especially in Gothic architecture

Sedition: incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority

Protuberant: thrusting out from a surrounding or adjacent surface often as a rounded mass

Surreptitiously: done, made, or acquired by stealth

Avuncular: suggestive of an uncle especially in kindliness or geniality

Gainsaying: to declare to be untrue or invalid

Facile:  easily accomplished or attained

Aplomb: complete and confident composure or self-assurance

Alacrity: promptness in response :  cheerful readiness

Fetid:  having a heavy offensive smell

Sumptuous: extremely costly, rich, luxurious, or magnificent

Ancillary: subordinate, subsidiary

Albeit: even though

Ostensibly: to all outward appearances

Simulacrum: an insubstantial form or semblance of something

Ignominious: marked with or characterized by disgrace or shame

Malignant: evil in nature, influence, or effect

Mycelium:  the mass of interwoven filamentous hyphae that forms especially the vegetative portion of the thallus of a fungus and is often submerged in another body

Fluting: having or marked by grooves

---