The Great Zoo of China
 The first edition cover | |
| Author | Matthew Reilly |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | IRONGAV |
| Country | Australian |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller, Science fiction[1] |
| Set in | Guangdong Province, China |
| Publisher | Macmillan Publishers |
Publication date |
 10 November 2014[2] 27 January 2015[3] |
| Media type | Hardback, eBook, Audiobook. |
| Pages | 515 |
| ISBN | 1476749558 |
The Great Zoo of China is a 2014 novel by Australian author Matthew Reilly. It was published in November 2014.
Plot
Dr. Cassandra Jane "CJ" Cameron is an alligator expert working as a freelance journalist when she is contacted by National Geographic for an assignment.[4][5] She is selected to attend a preview of a secret project deep in rural China known as the "Great Zoo of China", and enlists her brother Hamish as a photographer. After being escorted to the Zoo in a private jet with blacked-out windows, CJ discovers the secret nature of the Zoo: it houses living, breathing dragons, and the project is intended to be China's answer to Disneyland.
While the dignitaries attending the tour are impressed with the Zoo, CJ is less enthusiastic, and questions the safety of the project. The tour operators reveal the extensive protective measures put in place, including electromagnetic shield generators, and implants in the dragons designed to tame them by emitting painful electric shocks. CJ's fears prove correct when, during a tour of the Zoo, a horde of dragons attack. Realising that some of the dragons have learned how to counter their implants, CJ is able to rally the survivors together and escape from the dragons. They regroup in a private enclosure intended as a dragon hunting ground for elite VIPs, joining with the Zoo's internal security. However, rather than activate the Zoo's self-destruct mechanism, Bao, the head of security, arranges for the survivors to be executed and the accident covered up as he fights to regain control of the Zoo.
CJ and the survivors outwit their would-be executioners, and plan to locate the self-destruct mechanism themselves. The plan is short-lived as they come under attack from the dragons again, and CJ is separated from the main group. There she meets Lucky, a tame dragon from a dragon sub-species that are less aggressive than their relatives. CJ discovers that she can communicate with Lucky through a device developed by the Chinese, and with Lucky's help, comes to the conclusion that the dragons have a plan.
CJ and Lucky cross the Zoo to the Breeding Centre, where the Chinese have been housing the "super-emperors" of each sub-species, an enormous dragon that can breathe acidic fire. The aggressive super-emperors are freed, and immediately attack one of the electromagnetic shield generators that are keeping them in the Zoo. Meanwhile, Bao has amassed his forces and is preparing to fight the dragons head-on, making his stand at the second shield generator, unaware of the dragons' plan. They quickly come under attack from the combined might of the dragons, who abandon the first generator long enough for CJ to try and repair it. Although they successfully destroy the second generator, CJ succeeds, but not before a solitary dragon escapes. CJ and Lucky give chase, following it to an enormous nest of dormant dragons that the Zoo had been harvesting for dragon embryos. CJ destroys the nest before the dragon can awaken its hibernating brethren.
Returning to the Zoo, she finds that Bao intends to activate the self-destruct mechanism, covering up the disaster and restarting the Zoo at a new site. After fighting with Lucky, he falls to his death and the survivors escape before the self-destruct device detonates, wiping out the Zoo and most of the dragons. The only remaining dragons are Lucky and her family, who CJ leads to an abandoned military base in the Philippines, where they settle down. CJ takes a position working with saltwater crocodiles in Australia, but takes regular leave to visit them.
Success
It was second on the bestsellers list for the week ending November 22, 2014 in Australia,[6] and was a top three contender at Christmas.[7]
Ideas
Reilly claims he came up with the idea from a dragon museum in Switzerland,[8] and says that a zoo full of dragons first occurred to him in 2003.[9] He says he was aiming to make the book a "gleeful monster movie on paper",[10] and described it as "out there".[11]
References
- ↑ "Matthew Reilly back to his best with The Great Zoo of China". Sydney Morning Herald. 2014-11-22. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
- ↑ "The Great Zoo of China: Pan Macmillan Australia". Pan Macmillan Australia.
Pub. Date: 10-11-2014
- ↑ Sharona Lin (24 January 2014). "Review: The Great Zoo of China". Pop Culture-Y.
The Great Zoo of China comes out on 27 January, 2015.
- ↑ "Matthew Reilly and the problem with China". Sydney Morning Herald. 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
- ↑ "Weekend Bookworm: The Great Zoo of China". ABC News. 2014-11-21. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
- ↑ "Top 10 bestsellers for the week ending November 22". Sydney Morning Herald. 2014-12-06. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
- ↑ "Battle of the Christmas books". Sydney Morning Herald. 2014-12-06. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
- ↑ "Matthew Reilly's The Great Zoo of China". ABC News. 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
- ↑ "Matthew Reilly delving into a world of dragons". The Morning Bulletin. 2014-11-27. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
- ↑ "Matthew Reilly back to his best with The Great Zoo of China". Sydney Morning Herald. 2014-11-22. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
- ↑ "Reilly sketches China zoo". Yahoo! News. 2014-11-11. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
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