The Mammoth Trilogy

Last updated

The Mammoth Trilogy is a series of books by hard science fiction author Stephen Baxter. The books in it were published between 1999 and 2001. It contains the novels Silverhair, Longtusk and Icebones.

Contents

An omnibus volume containing all three novels was released in 2004, with the title Behemoth.

Silverhair

Silverhair, the first book, was published in 1999. This story is about Silverhair, a female mammoth. On an isolated Russian island near the Arctic Circle, a clan of intelligent mammoths have survived the ice age and into the modern day, though their numbers are dwindling as the climate warms. A group of humans come ashore and start hunting the mammoths. The herd tries to escape and then it fights back. The mammoths are depicted as having near-human intelligence and an oral culture that goes back millions of years.

Longtusk

Longtusk is the second book, published in 1999. Set in the far past, when the glaciers are retreating, Longtusk tells the story of the mammoths' early encounters with humanity.

Icebones

Cover of the first edition, published Gollancz. Art by Peter Barrett. Icebones.JPG
Cover of the first edition, published Gollancz. Art by Peter Barrett.

Icebones is the third book, published in 2001. The novel is set in 3000 AD. After colonizing Mars some time ago and planning to populate the terraformed planet with ancient animals from Earth, humans had disappeared. One of the animals now left to fend for themselves is Icebones, daughter of Silverhair, who as the only adult mammoth taken to Mars also has responsibility for the herd.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews said in their review that it is "impossible not to cheer for Baxter's plucky pachyderms: a saga that, even at its most improbable, engages the reader's heart and mind." [1] Jackie Cassada, in her review for Library Journal , wrote, "Baxter brings the great creatures of Earth's prehistory to life." [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars in fiction</span> Depictions of the planet

Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. Trends in the planet's portrayal have largely been influenced by advances in planetary science. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s, when it became clear that there was no life on the Moon. The predominant genre depicting Mars at the time was utopian fiction. Around the same time, the mistaken belief that there are canals on Mars emerged and made its way into fiction, popularized by Percival Lowell's speculations of an ancient civilization having constructed them. The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells's novel about an alien invasion of Earth by sinister Martians, was published in 1897 and went on to have a major influence on the science fiction genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Baxter (author)</span> British writer

Stephen Baxter is an English hard science fiction author. He has degrees in mathematics and engineering.

<i>Phase Space</i> (story collection) Book by Stephen Baxter

Phase Space is a 2003 science fiction collection by British writer Stephen Baxter, containing twenty-three thematically linked stories, in which the human relationship with the universe is explored: whether humanity is truly alone in the universe, if there are other intelligent species, if these have turned their backs on us, or if expansion itself is destined to fail.

<i>Evolution</i> (Baxter novel) 2002 anthology by Stephen Baxter

Evolution is a collection of short stories that work together to form an episodic science fiction novel by author Stephen Baxter. It follows 565 million years of human evolution, from shrewlike mammals 65 million years in the past to the ultimate fate of humanity and its descendants, both biological and non-biological, 500 million years in the future.

<i>Space</i> (Baxter novel) 2000 novel by Stephen Baxter

Manifold: Space is a science fiction book by British author Stephen Baxter, first published in the United Kingdom in 2000, then released in the United States in 2001. It is the second book of the Manifold series and examines another possible solution to the Fermi paradox. Although it is in no sense a sequel to the first book it contains a number of the same characters, notably protagonist Reid Malenfant, and similar artefacts. The Manifold series contains four books, Manifold: Time, Manifold: Space, Manifold: Origin, and Phase Space.

David Herter is an American author. His first novel was Ceres Storm (2000), chosen as one of the ten best books of 2000 by the Elliott Bay Book Company, followed by Evening's Empire in 2002. Ceres Storm is a far-future space opera, telling of a boy's quest across a solar system ravaged by a nano-plague. Evening's Empire, set on the Oregon coast, concerns a bereaved opera composer drawn to the small town of Evening, and to mysteries that accord strangely with his current project, an adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

<i>Battleaxe</i> (novel)

Battleaxe is a fantasy novel by Australian author Sara Douglass, the first book in the Axis Trilogy.

<i>Obernewtyn</i> (novel) 1987 novel by Isobelle Carmody

Obernewtyn is the first novel in the Obernewtyn Chronicles series by Australian author Isobelle Carmody. Carmody began writing it at the age of fourteen, and reworked the novel through high school and university. Much of the inspiration for the protagonist, Elspeth Gordie, comes from her own life experiences. It was published by Penguin Books in Australia in 1987 and shortlisted for the Book of the Year for Older Readers in the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards.

<i>The Ganymede Club</i> 1995 novel by Charles Sheffield

The Ganymede Club is a science fiction novel by American writer Charles Sheffield, published in 1995. A mystery and a thriller, the story unravels in the same universe that Sheffield imagined in Cold as Ice. Shortly after humanity begins colonisation of the Solar System, a trade war sets off vicious civil war that kills billions. The book received favorable reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews, as well as in the science-fiction press. It was ranked #14 in SF novels in the 1996 Locus awards. The novel has been translated into Italian and was published as Memoria impossibile in 1998 in the magazine Urania. In 2009 Bastei Lübbe published a German language edition in Germany.

<i>Far Horizons</i> Science fiction anthology edited by Robert Silverberg

Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction is an anthology of original science fiction stories edited by Robert Silverberg, first published in hardcover by Avon Eos in May 1999, with a book club edition following from Avon and the Science Fiction Book Club in July of the same year. Paperback and trade paperback editions were issued by Eos/HarperCollins in May 2000 and December 2005, respectively, and an ebook edition by HarperCollins e-books in March 2009. The first British edition was issued in hardcover and trade paperback by Orbit/Little Brown in June 1999, with a paperback edition following from Orbit in July 2000.

<i>Baseball Card Adventures</i> Novel series by Dan Gutman

The Baseball Card Adventures is a novel series written by Dan Gutman. There are 12 books in the series, published by HarperCollins between 1997 and 2015. The books feature a boy, Joe Stoshack, who can travel through time when he touches old baseball cards. When he holds a baseball card, he feels a tingling sensation, and when it gets strong, is transported to the year that card was made and somewhere near the ballplayer on the card. Later he discovers that this power also works on very old photographs. He tries to use this power wisely, and he attempts to change history several times, but the result is always something different from his original goal.

<i>Axis</i> (novel) 2007 novel by Robert Charles Wilson

Axis is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer Robert Charles Wilson, published in 2007. It is a direct sequel to Wilson's Hugo Award-winning Spin, published two years earlier. The novel was a finalist for the 2008 John W. Campbell Award.

<i>The Elysium Commission</i> 2007 novel by L. E. Modesitt, Jr

The Elysium Commission is a science fiction novel by American writer L. E. Modesitt, Jr., published in 2007. Set in the far future, the novel follows private investigator Blaine Donne as he investigates several different cases.

<i>Odyssey</i> (novel) 2006 novel by Jack McDevitt

Odyssey is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack McDevitt. It was a Nebula Award nominee for 2007. It is set in the 23rd century and "explores the immorality of big business and the short-sightedness of the American government in minimizing support for space travel."

<i>The Coachman Rat</i> 1989 book by David Henry Wilson

The Coachman Rat is an alternative account of the classic fairy tale Cinderella. It was published in 1989 and written by children's author David Henry Wilson.

<i>The Dragon of Despair</i> 2004 book by Jane Lindskold

The Dragon of Despair is a 2003 fantasy novel by Jane Lindskold. The book is the third in the Firekeeper Saga, happening about a year after Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart.

<i>Nebula Awards Showcase 2001</i>

Nebula Awards Showcase 2001 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Robert Silverberg. It was first published in hardcover and trade paperback by Harcourt in April 2001.

<i>The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011</i>

The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by American writer Kevin J. Anderson. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Tor Books in May 2011. The first British edition was published in trade paperback and ebook by Robinson in February 2012 under the alternate title The Mammoth Book of Nebula Awards SF.

<i>The Fresco</i> 2000 novel by Sheri S. Tepper

The Fresco is a science fiction novel by American writer Sheri S. Tepper, published in 2000. It describes Earth's contact with a confederation of intelligent alien races. The Fresco was on the shortlist for 2001 James Tiptree, Jr. Award

<i>The Bards of Bone Plain</i>

The Bards of Bone Plain is a fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover and ebook by Ace Books in December 2010, with a book club edition issued simultaneously with the Science Fiction Book Club and a trade paperback edition following December 2011. The first British edition was published in ebook by Gateway/Orion in December 2015.

References

  1. "ICEBONES (Book)". Kirkus Reviews. 70 (6): 372. 15 March 2002. ISSN   0042-6598.
  2. Cassada, Jackie (15 June 2002). "Icebones (Book)". Library Journal. 127 (11): 100.