When I asked for Prehistoric Park last Yuletide (not to mention the Yuletide before), my hopes were not high. Although it's a marvellous series, the amount of fan fiction is slight—and basically on ff.net, with all that implies.

My birthday came, my birthday went. Last Friday, to be exact. I received, among other things, a bag of presents from my sister Flo (better known in these parts as fawatson), who had left them with our mother when she came over here last Christmas. She did say in an e-mail that there was another present to come....

Well, I just received it! Officially, it is a New Year's Resolution (i.e., part of the small ancillary fanfic collection for stories written to Yuletide prompts during the following year). However, it is also my birthday present! I exult!

"Sea World" brings Prehistoric Park into the present, accounting nicely for the gap in time since the series was cancelled. Now under new management, having survived the recession (!), it is ready to expand its collection of prehistoric creatures with specimens from yet another era. This time, Nigel and his team go to the mid Jurassic in search of sea monsters. Meanwhile, back at the park, the head keeper, Bob, and the veterinarian, Suzanne, have to prepare for...who knows? (For as fans know, Nigel never brings back only what he set out to catch.)

For all that, when I first asked for Prehistoric Park two Yuletides ago, Flo had never heard of it, she has clearly done a lot of homework since. Not only does the story have a new Mesozoic menagerie, with all the adventures one could hope for, but the original cast is back for more, with all quirks intact.

Do check it out. It's a delightful sequel to the series.