The Best "Lost World" You've Never Heard of Cryptozoica By Mark Ellis

I love "Lost Worlds", Inner Earth Tales, Edgar Rice Burroughs,Conan Doyle, and every cheesy late night Sci Fi movie that comes on at 1:00 am. Enter into my life another Mark Ellis creation. 

There is a huge amount to take in with this book Ellis does an excellent job of weaving through the ideas of a "lost world " hidden from the view of man by a history weaving conspiracy only to be unraveled by modern adventurers. 

Cryptozoica Trailer 

Cryptozoica book trailer from Melissa Martin-Ellis on Vimeo.
 The Plot according to Amazon 
Lost World - Lost Souls Deep in the jungled hell of Big Tamtung, a forgotten island in the South China Seas, a miraculous ancient substance is found that will unlock the secrets of life on Earth-- Prima Materia, a fabled material that has been whispered about since Biblical times. Two centuries before, Charles Darwin discovered the last pool of Prima Materia on Big Tamtung but his discovery was suppressed by The School of Night, a secret society of scholars founded by Sir Walter Raleigh. Now, when a small group of scientists and fortune hunters explore the jungles of Big Tamtung, they must endure frightening tests of their ingenuity and courage, as they struggle against ancient terrors--a lost world of dinosaurs and a miracle older than time. With a non-human language spoken by Biblical patriarchs and coded secrets scribbled in the suppressed log of Darwin as their only clues, "Tombstone" Jack Kavanaugh and his partner, Augustus Crowe, discover secrets linking Prima Materia to the hidden history of humanity. Kavanaugh and Crowe lead a pair of cynical scientists and the notorious Madame Bai Suzhen through the seething cauldron of a bizarre ecosystem--the remnant of an Earth that was and might be again. Pursued by a crew of bloodthirsty Triad assassins and frighteningly intelligent monsters spawned by a twisted evolution, Kavanaugh and Crowe are no longer interested in seeking a fortune, but merely in staying alive. Deep in the broiling jungle, amid ruins half as old as time, they plunge into the heart of humanity's greatest mystery--and to a violent confrontation with a misshapen madman who lusts after a miracle but will settle for murder. Lavishly illustrated by Jeff Slemons.
Review 
Cryptozoica isn't a perfect book by any means but its great entertainment in the pulp tradition. The book moves at a great pace and switches through its scenes quickly and effeciently with some lag in between the middle of the book and the final chapters.
On the whole its a rollercoaster ride of 40 miles of bad ass adventure road with dinosaurs ready to eat the entire group of adventurers. I was amused, entertained, and it sustained my interest for 3.00 and a download.
The world is really the key here. Ellis knows how to detail a good solid background and pick the pace while giving you bang for your buck. 

Part II of the series. According to Mr.Ellis Facebook page, there's a part II coming out and I've got the images and post exclusively! 

But I think the premise will work best as an illustrated novel, like CRYPTOZOICA.

A second expedition to the Lost World was hinted at on the last page of the original novel. On the even of World War I, Lord John Roxton, Edward Malone and Professor Challenger returned to the plateau in the Amazon--Professor ENID Challenger, that is...who goes native.

My concept is that there was a whole lot more to the Lost World than just dinosaurs...like cyborg Mahars, up from Pellucidar.

Jeff gives an idea of what's up there on plateau in this great illustration. He and the Lost World go together like he and CRYPTOZOICA go together.

Using CRYPTOZOICA as an OSR game setting

The book is quick, the background crisp and interesting. The action is very fast  and there's a lot here to mine. All a DM really has to do is grab his favorite old school system add in the dinosaurs he wants and let the party rip. The book has an Isle of Dread vibe going on in the background. 
I haven't gamed this location or the characters in the book. So this is all going to be a thought exercise really. 
The Island and its secrets are big almost a bit too big for the inexperienced group of PC's who will soon find themselves in over their heads. 
The characters in the book might make excellent NPC's for the party as a series of flashbacks and there are a number of hooks that allow a DM to cleverly weave the Big Plot of the book into several campaigns worth of material here.
The book's world is very pulptastic or men's adventure style over the top action. The book's world would be right at home in a modern pulp game.
The art is very inspiring for a game.
There is a metric ton of support on line for the setting of CRYPTOZOICAThe truth is that the setting might be a bit too big. A Dm could set a game from any age in human history. Imagine a group of Arabian sailors ala Jason and crew coming across the horrors of the island and its environs. 
Knights Templar or even a group of AD&D adventurers. The possibilities are endless
 The book 's setting is somewhat lethal though for an inexperienced party and this place might simply be a total party kill. 
 The setting demands different things from different retro clones,OD&D, or Advanced Dungeons and Dragons first edition. Some of the early issues of Dragon magazine had some amazing articles on using dinosaurs and jungle encounters.
Labyrinth Lord and the Advanced Companion both have stats for dinosaurs. Swords and Wizardry also has in the monster books stats for the styles of dinosaurs used. 
Osric is perhaps one of the best having the all the stats you need to run with this style of game. 

The novel can be gotten right over HERE
 The novel's web page is right over HERE and has a metric ton of support for the books and you can even read a chapter or two on line to get a feel for this book.
Mark Ellis is also available on Facebook right HERE