Megalodon Hardcover – 24 Aug 1981

Very unusual and entertaining novel about things which live in the sea ...Robin Brown is an expert on marine biology, particularly that of cetaceans such as whales and dolphins, and uses some of his knowledge to create this fascinating story.The Megalodon was an immense prehistoric shark which is known to have existed millions of years ago; fossils of its enormous teeth have been found in rocks which are now on land but formed part of the seabed long before man existed.The premise of the story is that a small group of these enormous creatures, currently believed to be extinct, have survived like the coelacanth in the depths of the oceans. The first that humans know of something very large and powerful in the sea is the unexplained loss of a nuclear submarine. When a giant shark's tooth is found in the wreck, a team of marine biologists are brought in to investigate. The real heroes of the book are the cetacean members of the team - dolphins Doris and Macho, and a killer whale called Morgan.Strongly recommended.Postscript: Perhaps the publishers ought to bring out a new edition of this and label it "The original and best" - a number of other novelists have subsequently used the same essential idea which Brown used first in this book as the basis for their own novels: and some of them sold a lot more copies than Brown appears to have done, even though in my opinion his is the best treatment of this idea.For example, some time after writing this review I came accross the "Meg" series of books by Steve Alten which were also based on the premise that Megalodon still exists somewhere in the depths of the sea.The first of these, "Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror" was written about a decade after "Megalodon" and was followed by, to date, four sequels.Both books explore some of the same ideas and themes. In my opinion Robin Brown's book is greatly superior, but the "Meg" series was a bestseller so obviously a lot of other people liked it. A number of other people have also used the idea of surviving megalodons as the basis for their books.I suspect that most people who enjoyed the "Meg" series would also like "Megalodon" and vice versa.

It’s exactly what I ordered. And the book is so good and it is good condition.

So...yea. This wasn't a great read.I've always been fascinated (and petrified) by sharks. Megalodons, in particular, have long been a favorite research topic of mine. In fact, I consider myself an extremely amateur "expert" on Megs...I've been studying them, and their distant cousins, the Great White, for more than two decades. Megalodon took everything I've learned about these apex predators and crapped all over the information. I'm not sure this author got much of anything right...this novel is a total hot mess express.First, the the Megs aren't really even a part of this story. They're secondary at best. Biologically, this book focuses more on dolphins, orcas, and sperm whales...but even they're secondary to 80s politics (i.e. the Cold War).Second, the information about Megs in this novel goes against everything I know to be true after years of research. For example, we know that Great White sharks are cousins to the Megalodon. Great Whites are apex predators who hunt alone and who utilize ram ventilation. This means they must be constantly moving to force water through their gills...it's how they breath. It's safe to assume, since Great White sharks have these characteristics, so too do Megs. However, Robin Brown has these giant sharks living in family units, hunting together, and burrowing in a cave on the sea floor for warmth. The misinformation drove me crazy.Third, while I do consider dolphins to be one of the most intelligent creatures on Earth, the fact they're able to talk in this book really forces the reader into some serious suspension of belief. This book was written in the 80s. It's currently 2019, heading into 2020. We still can't communicate with sea creatures like they do in this book...even with our far advanced and superior technology. While it was sort of fun to read the thoughts of these amazing creatures, it also made the novel seem cartoonish.Further, there were a million plot holes, story lines that went absolutely nowhere, characters with agendas I frankly didn't understand, and an immensely unsatisfying conclusion. Bottom line, fellow readers...if you want to read about Megalodons, check out Steve Alten's Meg series of books. Although still mildly implausible, they're much more entertaining, and stick far closer to the science of predatory sharks.

The navy is doing research in a trench 300 miles from Hawaii when their Ohio-Class sub is hit by something and disabled, killing the crew. The something was picked up by the sub's equipment but was not seen from the surface. Thus a private research tem is brought in to help with the sensing and a second sub has an accident. The private researchers think there may be a giant megalodon shark at work but have to keep quiet about their unsupported ideas.As the Navy continues to hold a presence in international waters, they attract the attention of the Russians (it is still the Cold War). Now we have the Navy, the Russians, the researchers, a dolphin and whale team, and a family of giant sharks all coming together in a not-quite thriller where the story really happens in the final ten pages.Although this may be the first megalodon novel, it is not the first story as one by Alan Dean Foster inspired Peter Benchley to write JAWS. It may lack some of the shark action of EXTINCT or MEG but it does a better job of trying to insert the sharks into reality. So while the action is less, the world realism is greater and you will have to decide for yourself which is more important.

So, you've waited a full five years for the JAWS craze to pass, and you think you can do better, so what do you do to make your own super-shark book original? Simple! Multiply the shark's length by 8, add a very different setting, and let the carnage begin! This was actually the first of the fictionous MEGALODON books ever around, and it really isn't a bad one. Its got this really big research boat over this really deep ocean. The americans on the really big boat see a gold mine at the bottom, and have decided to send their Ohio-class submarine down for a look-see. Unfortunatly, they find not gold but a bloated, mossy shark that proceeds to kill them all. The trouble with the Americans is that they just don't know when to quit, as more and more people go down in metal things and find themselves dead or in very deep trouble. In the first chapter, you are led to believe that believing in the megalodon will be a quick, easy process, but really, nobody believes it till the final pages. All in all, if you even marginally like these books, pick it up if you can find it at a book fair something. I can guarentee you it won't cost that much

Very unusual and entertaining novel about things which live in the sea ...Robin Brown is an expert on marine biology, particularly that of cetaceans such as whales and dolphins, and uses some of his knowledge to create this fascinating story.The Megalodon was an immense prehistoric shark which is known to have existed millions of years ago; fossils of its enormous teeth have been found in rocks which are now on land but formed part of the seabed long before man existed.The premise of the story is that a small group of these enormous creatures, currently believed to be extinct, have survived like the coelacanth in the depths of the oceans. The first that humans know of something very large and powerful in the sea is the unexplained loss of a nuclear submarine. When a giant shark's tooth is found in the wreck, a team of marine biologists are brought in to investigate. The real heroes of the book are the cetacean members of the team - dolphins Doris and Macho, and a killer whale called Morgan.About a decade after this book was published, another writer called Steve Alten began to write the "Meg" series of books with a similar premise to this one.It begins with MEG: A Novel of Deep TerrorThe "Meg" series sold very well, but in my opinion Robin Brown's original is far superior.Strongly recommended. MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror