Editing Dinotopia (section)

==Main books==
The plot of the main ''Dinotopia'' books concerns Arthur Denison and his son, Will, and the various people they meet in their travels in Dinotopia. In the fashion of authors such as [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]], the first and fourth books are written as if they were Arthur's [[diary|journal]]s, with Gurney going so far as to explain in the introductions how he happened to come across the old, waterlogged volumes.

===''A Land Apart from Time''===
In ''Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time'' (1992),<ref>{{cite book |last=Gurney |first=James |author-link=James Gurney |title=Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time |date=17 November 2011 |isbn=978-1-60660-022-1}}</ref><ref name=Dinotopia>{{cite web |url=http://www.dinotopia.com/index.html |title=Dinotopia |publisher=Dinotopia |access-date=8 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807202738/http://www.dinotopia.com/index.html |archive-date=7 August 2011  }}</ref> the Denisons are shipwrecked near Dinotopia and, after making it ashore, are found by the people of the Hatchery. The [[Hatchery]] is a place where dinosaurs are born, tended by both dinosaurs and humans. The Denisons then set out to explore the island, hoping to find a means of returning to their old lives.

Arthur and Will undergo a broad journey, circling the island, as they endeavor to learn the customs and culture of their new neighbors. Arthur in particular develops an interest in the scientific accomplishments of the natives, which far exceed that of any human culture. Among the subjects he studies are the flora of the island, the partnership of its inhabitants, and the [[existence]] of a place known as the World Beneath. This World Beneath is an explanation for Dinotopians surviving the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|saurian extinction]]; according to the story, most of the Earth's dinosaurs were destroyed, whilst a few hid in vast caverns. These few became the original Dinotopians. No one has entered the World Beneath for centuries, but Arthur intends to do so.

His son Will, on the other hand, has chosen to train as a messenger of the sky; a Skybax rider, who lives in [[symbiosis]] with his mount, the great ''[[Quetzalcoatlus]]'' (nicknamed [[Skybax]]), a species of [[pterosaur]]. Training alongside Will is a girl called Sylvia, with whom Will falls in love.  Arthur, for his part, travels into the World Beneath, at the same time that Will and Sylvia are learning to fly with the Skybax. When he returns, he is fascinated by the ancient relics found there and is convinced that they may be key in enabling him to leave or explore the island. Will is at the time too young to marry Sylvia, but it is promised that they will. Arthur recognizes that his son has grown up, and they each accept the changes that are results of their new lives on the island.

===''The World Beneath''===
[[File:Dinotopia-twb.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''Dinotopia: The World Beneath''.]]
The first sequel, ''Dinotopia: The World Beneath'' (1995)<ref>{{cite book |last=Gurney |first=James |author-link=James Gurney |title=Dinotopia: The World Beneath |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-60660-033-7}}</ref> focuses mainly on Arthur Denison's return expedition to the World Beneath and opens with Will fly testing an invention of his father, the Dragoncopter – a [[steam engine]] [[ornithopter]] modeled on the [[dragonfly]]. The Dragoncopter fails and Will is narrowly saved by Cirrus, his Skybax mount, before the Dragoncopter plummets into a waterfall.

After returning from his first expedition in ''A Land Apart From Time'', Arthur presents two items he discovered – a sunstone and half of a key – to the council at Waterfall City in an attempt to get a second expedition into the World Beneath.

===''First Flight''===
[[File:First Flight.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''Dinotopia: First Flight''.]]
''Dinotopia: First Flight'' (1999) was a prequel published by Gurney and included a board game.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gurney|first=James|title=Dinotopia: First Flight|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|year=1999|isbn=978-0-06-028798-6}}</ref>

The main [[protagonist]] of the story is Gideon Altaire, a flight school student living in the capital city of Poseidos off the Dinotopian mainland, in which all organic life (save for humans) has been replaced by mechanical counterparts. After discovering an injured ''[[Scaphognathus]]'' named Razzamult, Gideon discovers that the city is planning to launch an attack on the mainland and conquer all of Dinotopia and that they have stolen the ruby sunstone from the pterosaur home of Highnest. Gideon is presented as the first ever Skybax rider, although the species he rode wasn't a ''[[Quetzalcoatlus]] northropi''.

===''Journey to Chandara''===
[[File:Journey to Chandara.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara''.]]
A fourth Dinotopia book by James Gurney, ''Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara'', was published in October 2007.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gurney |first=James |author-link=James Gurney |title=Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara |date=24 July 2017 |isbn=978-1-60660-100-6}}</ref><ref name=Dinotopia/> In it, Hugo Khan, the mysterious and reclusive emperor of Chandara, an empire long since isolated from the rest of Dinotopia, has heard of Arthur Denison and Bix's exploits and sends them a personal invitation to his court.