Chris B. reviewed The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
Review of 'The Tusks of Extinction' on 'Goodreads'
I wish there was more Ray Nayler to read.
Hardcover, 98 pages
English language
Published by Tordotcom.
The Tusks of Extinction
by Ray Nayler
4 stars
(13 reviews)
When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.
Moscow has resurrected the mammoth, but someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out, again.
The late Dr. Damira Khismatullina, the world’s foremost expert in elephant behavior, is called in to help. While she was murdered a year ago, her digitized consciousness is uploaded into the brain of a mammoth.
Can she help the magnificent creatures fend off poachers long enough for their species to take hold?
And will she ever discover the real reason they were brought back?
A tense eco-thriller from a new master of the genre.
Soh Kam Yung reviewed The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
Mammoths have been revived: now they have to survive.
4 stars
A fascinating story of a scientist and passionate elephant conservationist whose consciousness was scanned and later put into the mind of the matriarch of a group of revived mammoths, in the hope that she can teach the group how to be mammoths again in the steppes of Siberia. As the story begins, she discovers the deaths of several male mammoths from hunters. Thus, begins her own vendetta against the hunters to protect her group.
As the story develops, we learn the backstory of the scientist and the state of the world, where elephants have been hunted to near extinction for their ivory and other body parts. While mammoths are protected by the huge wilderness they wander in, they are no longer safe from hunters, unless the scientist, and the mammoth body she inhabits, can push the group into doing something they have never done before: becoming the hunter.
A story …
A fascinating story of a scientist and passionate elephant conservationist whose consciousness was scanned and later put into the mind of the matriarch of a group of revived mammoths, in the hope that she can teach the group how to be mammoths again in the steppes of Siberia. As the story begins, she discovers the deaths of several male mammoths from hunters. Thus, begins her own vendetta against the hunters to protect her group.
As the story develops, we learn the backstory of the scientist and the state of the world, where elephants have been hunted to near extinction for their ivory and other body parts. While mammoths are protected by the huge wilderness they wander in, they are no longer safe from hunters, unless the scientist, and the mammoth body she inhabits, can push the group into doing something they have never done before: becoming the hunter.
A story full of thrills, suspense, and a look at what a passionate person can do if given the chance the inhabit the body of her passion. But now, her choice is to decide what to do with body she has been granted.
Alph reviewed The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
Review of 'The Tusks of Extinction' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
The author's first book, The Mountain in the Sea, led me to read this, and I wasn't disappointed. This light novel, in a short span of under 100 pages, packs quite a punch.
The main events deal with poachers, elephants, and their ancient cousins the mammoths. It speculates on de-extinction and narrates cruel events in a human greed impacted future. I was a bit confused at the start, which always happens to me when there are POV changes or time shifts, but by page 30 I was settled in the story and enjoyed a direct ride until I finished it.
The writing feels very well researched, it brings fictional events to a very near feel of reality –of what is and what could be.
Loved it 🧡
The author's first book, The Mountain in the Sea, led me to read this, and I wasn't disappointed. This light novel, in a short span of under 100 pages, packs quite a punch.
The main events deal with poachers, elephants, and their ancient cousins the mammoths. It speculates on de-extinction and narrates cruel events in a human greed impacted future. I was a bit confused at the start, which always happens to me when there are POV changes or time shifts, but by page 30 I was settled in the story and enjoyed a direct ride until I finished it.
The writing feels very well researched, it brings fictional events to a very near feel of reality –of what is and what could be.
Loved it 🧡
The main events deal with poachers, elephants, and their ancient cousins the mammoths. It speculates on de-extinction and narrates cruel events in a human greed impacted future. I was a bit confused at the start, which always happens to me when there are POV changes or time shifts, but by page 30 I was settled in the story and enjoyed a direct ride until I finished it.
The writing feels very well researched, it brings fictional events to a very near feel of reality –of what is and what could be.
Loved it 🧡
Moving SF Thriller
5 stars
(em português: sol2070.in/2024/05/The-Tusks-of-Extinction )
American Ray Nayler wrote one of the best science fiction books I've read in recent years: “The Mountain in the Sea”. That's why I've been waiting for the release of “The Tusks of Extinction” (2024).
It's a 105-page novella — something between a short story and a novel — about extinction, biotechnology and consciousness transplantation.
In the future, mammoths are genetically recreated in a reserve in Siberia, but as the species depends on a culture passed down for generations, they don't survive as there is no one to teach them. The solution is to transplant the consciousness of a murdered elephant human guardian, in the hope that the pachydermic culture will be useful to the resurrected species. The complicating factor is that to finance the research, mammoth hunts are offered to billionaires willing to pay millions for the privilege of killing one. And illegal hunters are …
(em português: sol2070.in/2024/05/The-Tusks-of-Extinction )
American Ray Nayler wrote one of the best science fiction books I've read in recent years: “The Mountain in the Sea”. That's why I've been waiting for the release of “The Tusks of Extinction” (2024).
It's a 105-page novella — something between a short story and a novel — about extinction, biotechnology and consciousness transplantation.
In the future, mammoths are genetically recreated in a reserve in Siberia, but as the species depends on a culture passed down for generations, they don't survive as there is no one to teach them. The solution is to transplant the consciousness of a murdered elephant human guardian, in the hope that the pachydermic culture will be useful to the resurrected species. The complicating factor is that to finance the research, mammoth hunts are offered to billionaires willing to pay millions for the privilege of killing one. And illegal hunters are also starting to go after the valuable tusks.
I have a grudge about the cliché of consciousness transference, but the book is so good that I didn't care. The dive into the minds and culture of these animals is particularly moving.
It's not as good as the previous book only because of the smaller number of pages and the more limited focus of the story. But I agree with the publicity for the book, which presents Nayler as a ‘new master of science fiction’.
Otts reviewed The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
Gimme, gimme more Nayler
5 stars
“The Mountain in the Sea” was my favorite novel of 2023, so I jumped on this. A novella this time—of course I wanted more. Still, Nayler is able to tell a compelling story involving animals, technology, and humanity’s immense capacity for destruction and cruelty. For all the book’s brevity, or maybe because of it, the betrayals are deeper between these characters. The ending is not without hope though.
