15 Dino-Mite Sci-Fi Thrillers for Fans of Jurassic Park

What to read while you wait for Jurassic World: Rebirth

The next Jurassic World movie is slated for release next summer. Set five years after the events of Jurassic World: Dominion, the film will be called Jurassic World: Rebirth and it will star Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali. Johansson will play covert operations expert Zora Bennett who's been tapped to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world's three most massive dinosaurs. As fans of the previous films may anticipate, the mission does not go exactly as planned.

The Jurassic World franchise began with Michael Crichton's 1990 novel, Jurassic Park. The story centers on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park populated by cloned dinosaurs. In 1995, Crichton published a sequel, The Lost World, which continued the original story.

Building on Crichton's premise, the film franchise has taken on a life of its own with six movies released so far:

• Jurassic Park (1993)
• Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997)
• Jurassic Park III (2001)
• Jurassic World (2015)
• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
• Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)

We can barely wait to see the newest Jurassic Park blockbuster! But luckily, there's plenty of dino-mite literature we can enjoy in the meantime.

What to read if you're a fan of Jurassic World

Some of these are classics that laid the groundwork for Crichton's winning formula of technological and scientific experiments that spiral catastrophically out of control. Others are contemporary titles offering fresh new takes on this particular strain of man vs. monster tales. And some are just stories about dinosaurs.

The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
Originally published in 1912, this tale features intrepid reporter Edward Malone who meets Professor Challenger, a strange and brilliant paleontologist who claims to have found dinosaurs deep in the Amazon. Malone joins Challenger and several others as they embark on a dangerous quest to find the creatures.

Extinction Island by Janice Boekhoff
Reptile expert Oakley Laveau loves thrills like wrestling 'gators for her job at the swamp tour. But when she's charged with her best friend's murder, a crime she doesn't remember, she's sentenced to a secluded isle, where she must battle violent criminals and genetically modified dinosaurs to uncover the truth.

Contact by Carl Sagan
When a signal is discovered that seems to come from far beyond our solar system, a multinational team of scientists decides to find the source. What follows is an breathless, eye-opening journey out to the stars to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who is out there? And what do they want with us?

Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
This 1963 novel is another classic that launched an ongoing franchise of film and television series.  The story centers on interstellar explorers from Earth who happen upon a planet where a civilization of highly intelligent, cultured great apes dominate over the humans, who live as savage beasts.

The Troop by Nick Cutter
As he does every year, scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads his troop on a camping trip into the Canadian wilderness. But when an intruder stumbles upon their campsite, they encounter something far more frightening than the usual fireside ghost stories. Stephen King called this "old-school horror at its best."

Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker
A pair of fierce but beautiful eyes look out from the undergrowth of conifers. She is an intelligent killer. The time is 120 million years ago, the place is the plains of prehistoric Utah, and the eyes belong to an unforgettable heroine. Her name is Raptor Red and this is the story of her brutal struggle for survival.

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
A military space probe, sent to collect extraterrestrial organisms from the upper atmosphere, is knocked out of orbit and falls to Earth unleashing an inexplicable and deadly phenomenon that wipes out a sleepy Arizona town. Now a team of scientists must race to uncover the cause of the contagion before it spreads.

Claw by Katie Berry
After a powerful earthquake jolts British Columbia, a small mountain town is hit by a string of savage animal attacks. Newly stationed after the disappearance of her predecessor, Conservation Officer Christine Moon must calm the jangled nerves of the locals, while trying to uncover the source of the attacks.

Under the Dome by Stephen King
On a beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field, causing mayhem and panic. A handful of tenacious citizens must stand off against a power-hungry local politician to save themselves before time runs out.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Held prisoner on The Nautilus, a fantastic submarine, Professor Aronnax, his faithful servant Conseil, and Canadian harpooner Ned Land are forced to accompany the enigmatic and charismatic Captain Nemo on a treacherous voyage, from the lost city of Atlantis to the South Pole.

The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs
After capturing a German U-Boat in World War I, a motley crue of soldiers and their German prisoners set out in the Atlantic Ocean only to land on a mystical island. In their desperate quest to get back home, they come across early man in every stage of development, a saber-toothed tiger, and even dinosaurs.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events. Shelley's timeless gothic novel presents the epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch.

Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston
A scientist with ambition enough to kill. A monk who will redeem the world. A dark agency with a deadly mission. The greatest scientific discovery of all time. These are some of the disparate forces that come together in this stunning archaeological thriller set in a remote cleft in the southwest U.S.

Dinosaur Tales by Ray Bradbury
Dino-philes will enjoy this volume from America's preeminent author of short science fiction and horror. The collection includes favorites like "A Sound of Thunder" and "The Fog Horn." The enigmatic stories are punctuated with thought-provoking poems and gorgeous illustrations.

The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone
As a series of confounding and seemingly unrelated incidents begin to sweep the globe, a mysterious package from South America arrives at a Washington, D.C. laboratory. Something wants out. The world is on the brink of an apocalyptic disaster. An ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake.

As always, we love to hear from you. Let us know if you have any favorite sci-fi thrillers to add to this list. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram to connect with a community of readers like you and get daily book recommendations, literary tidbits, and more.

Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon