Thomcat
10/4/2022
Half submarine adventure story, half unbelievable lost island adventure, all pulp. Probably draws a lot from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, published four years earlier and given much more acclaim. Both were originally published in magazines.
Judging it as pulp, the rough plot works and is plenty exciting. The tropical "island" is too unbelievable, with 3 or 4 species of early man in addition to scattered dinosaurs, and all just north of Antarctica. Worse, the dinosaurs aren't the menacing villains we would expect, and play a very minor part of the plot.
Perhaps early man (and his voyage "north") is meant to be a metaphor here? The jujitsu wielding main character works well, and his paramour is quite capable - perhaps more so than most of the time.
Overall rating, 3 stars. I'll read the sequels, especially if they are as quick as this, but I especially want to read Doyle for comparison.