Outland by Dennis E. Taylor

 "When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, it's up to six university students and their experimental physics project to prevent the end of civilization."

The plot:  It's Richard's and Kevin's applied physics project, Matt's computer system, and Bill's engineering skills that bring Kevin's theory of an interdimensional portal into existence. What they find on the other side is another earth, one where humans never evolved and mammoths and dire wolves still roam. They bring in geology student, Erin, and zoology major, Monica, to help explore this new world. They have dreams of finding enough gold in this other world to fund their experiment and the rest of their education...and also of winning a Nobel prize. But then the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone erupts, changing all their plans. Now they and several hundred university students are just trying to survive in this other Earth, the one they call Outland.

My thoughts:  Disaster/survival reads have always been favorites of mine, and the premise of this one sounded so fun I couldn't resist checking it out. And it was entertaining, with humorous dialogue, funny movie references, and enough science to believe in the characters without getting bogged down in all the technological details. It's a go-with-the-flow kind of novel. And Taylor keeps the story moving at a good clip. But in juggling so many characters, not all of them are fully fleshed out. There were times I completely forgot Kevin was even in the room; and I felt Matt's martial arts skills should have been used in the story at least once. But the main characters had enough personality and hints of backstory to make them likable and interesting. I did think some of their survival preparations got glossed over, and their stay in Outland felt a little too easily managed, with a lot of the details happening off page. So it's not perfect, but I enjoyed it. A fun popcorn kind of read. And one I gave 4 stars.

Happy Reading!