Raptor Ray by Brent Reilly

Raptor Ray by Brent Reilly is an eccentric show of imagination. It opens on the strange birth of Ray, the poor scaly dino-kid doomed to ridicule, and it gets stranger and stranger from there on out, telling a story that blends together a huge number of sci-fi tropes (time travel, space travel, dinosaurs, cataclysms, the list goes on), as well as non-fictional elements, for a completely inventive read.

The book is rich in information, with facts from the real world and the author’s imaginative fictional world giving the atmosphere of the novel a wholly unique texture. This strange pastiche of fiction and fact makes for a fun read, in part because Reilly clearly had a lot of fun writing it, which is infectious for the reader.

There are times, however, when Reilly is aiming to tell too much, so certain moments read like a textbook. The book also would have benefited from a cover redesign, as the front cover does not do the story justice – and on first glance could seem like a children’s book, especially with the title. Since the book is exploding with color and madness, the cover should have reflected this.

All in all, Raptor Ray doesn’t always work as fiction, but it’s always interesting, as you never know exactly what’s going to happen around the corner. It’s not the most polished book, but it is unlike anything else you’ll read, and in the world of science fiction, that’s really saying something.

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