The Lost World (novel)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle moved from detective stories to more fanciful fare with this 1912 novel of adventure and discovery.

Pugnacious Professor Challenger claims that he's found a place in the Amazon cut off from the rest of the world and housing all kinds of species previously believed to be extinct. He sets off on an expedition to prove his find, accompanied by the skeptical colleague, Professor Summerlee; the cool-headed sportsman Lord John Roxton; and the narrator, young reporter Edward Malone. They soon find Professor Challenger's lost world, an isolated plateau inhabited by dinosaurs, primitive humans, and savage ape-men, but when the bridge back to the outer world collapses, their journey of discovery becomes a fight for survival.

Inspired a bunch of films and TV series, one of which was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.


 * Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Ned Malone is rejected by the girl he loves because he's never done anything adventurous, so he joins the Challenger expedition to prove himself; she marries someone else while the expedition is away.
 * Adventurer Archaeologist: Professor Challenger.
 * Anachronism Stew, explained in that various species found their way up at different times.
 * Ascended Extra: Challenger's servant Austin. In the novel he's a One-Scene Wonder. In the 1925 movie, he accompanies the expedition.
 * Awesome McCoolname: Professor. Challenger.
 * Doubles--certainly in how he's first described--as a Name To Run Away From Really Fast. And he doesn't disappoint.
 * Bridge Logic
 * Bring It Back Alive: A Pterodactyl in the original book and a few film adaptations, a Brontosaurus in the 1925 film, and a juvenile T-Rex in the 60's version.
 * Cannibal Tribe
 * Canon Foreigner: Maple White was given a daughter in the 1925 film, as a love interest for Roxton (and then Malone who unintentionally steals her from him). She contributes almost nothing else.
 * Gentleman Adventurer: Lord John Roxton
 * Great White Hunter: Lord John Roxton
 * Have a Gay Old Time: Describing a semi-inflated hot air balloon as a "flaccid organ" probably falls under this.
 * The explorers are described as tossing "fags" onto their campfire.
 * Heroic Albino: Maple White
 * Ho Yay: A bit of this between Malone and Roxton.
 * Intrepid Reporter: Edward Malone
 * Last-Name Basis: Professor Summerlee is the only main character whose first name is never mentioned.
 * Lost World: The Trope Namer
 * Mighty Whitey
 * Redheaded Hero: Lord John Roxton is known as "The Red Chief" in South America.
 * Science Marches On: In dinosaur anatomy, the discrediting of various eugenic theories (Professor Challenger first shows off his genius by identifying Malone as Irish through some stunningly racist means), and the full geography of South America.
 * Stock Dinosaurs
 * You Killed My Brother: Gomez wants revenge on Roxton for having killed his brother Pedro Lopez.