First Flight Edition Released

Hohepa, astride his tyrannosaur, wades across the shallows of Buckthorn Creek to parley with an invading force of shield strutters. His action prevents the destruction of the hatchery at Moss Valley, but leads to the Armakians breaking off their alliance. Hohepa later becomes the mentor of Blake Terrapin. Watercolor on board by James Gurney, 2012.

An emissary riding a T. rex faces off against a phalanx of robotic strutters. This is one of the new paintings featured in the expanded edition of Dinotopia: First Flight, which releases today.

The book tells the story of Dinotopia's origins, with dramatic stories and artwork from its Age of Heroes. It begins with an unabridged republication of my 1999 book.

The second half of the book includes a bonus of over 45 new images, including never-before-published storyboards, concept sketches, and production paintings, plus new characters, backstory notes, and a cinematic treatment all downloaded from my creative archives.

You can preorder a copy on Amazon if you like. But if you live in the USA and would like to order directly from me, you can cancel the Amazon order (as long as it hasn't shipped yet) and I'll send you a personally signed copy. I'll also be doing a quick sketch in every copy. 

As an additional incentive, the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 100th copy ordered from me will receive a tipped-in original storyboard, such as the one above, which I drew in 1997 when I was planning the book.

Preorder a copy on Amazon or order Dinotopia: First Flight Anniversary Edition now from JamesGurney.com or Dinotopia.com. (USA orders only, because it costs too much to ship overseas. International customers: what most people do is to order a book to be sent to a friend at a US address.)

Previously: First Flight edition coming in April