ichael Swanwick takes readers to the universe of his Hugo-winning short story "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" in Bones of the Earth, a new novel about dinosaurs, time-travelling paleontologists and creationist
terrorists who hound them.
Dr. Richard Leyster is one of the first scientists allowed to visit the past, a gifted researcher whose wildest dreams come true when he is recruited to travel, via time funnel, to the Cretaceous. For Leyster, nothing can mar the thrill of observing dinosaurs in their born environment. He is happy to endure government secrecy surrounding his work and the competitive atmosphere generated by his fellow scientists. The potential for conflict is intense: with researchers from three generations working in the field, Leyster is thrown in with youngsters plucked from his own future. Already familiar with results he has not yet published, they have had leisure to think out refutations of his work.
This challenge pales, though, beside the threat posed by radical religious factions opposed to the study of the past. In Bones of the Earth, creationists believe that the time funnel has deposited the scientists not millions of years ago, but in fact just a few decades before the flood of biblical legend. Distressed at the scientists' ongoing additions to the body of evidence that supports the theory of evolution, they will stop at nothing to destroy or discredit the project.
As a result, Richard Leyster is a primary target not merely of academic vitriol but of a plot which will seek to maroon him in the past, hiding him in one year out of the millions the past encompasses, and daring the project's founders to somehow locate him.
A nail-biting, politically savvy ride
Bones of the Earth is a complex novel with the grace of a ballet dancer and the power of the dinosaurs which inhabit it. It intrigues and engages on every front, with heartfelt characterization, a high-stakes adventure storyline and a lovely solution to the scientific mystery at its heart. Time-travel novels, more so than other SF forms, are exercises both in structure and non-linear thinking, and this one is beautifully intricate without ever becoming over-complicated. Its story is very thoughtfully put together and comfortable, like a well-tailored garment.
One of the great strengths of this book is that Swanwick is a master of blending realism with the fantastic. Time travel in Bones of the Earth is problematic as much because of human factors as the danger of temporal paradox. Once the author has set out the rules for the research safari, his characters strive mightily—and all too believably—to bend and break them. The fact that this could ultimately cause the project to be erased does not deter them in the slightest. The solution is no deus ex machina either—just because people can move through time doesn't mean they have become omnipotent; instead, they are forced to rely on cops and bureaucrats to enforce the rules.
The utter brilliance with which he pulls this off will come as no surprise to Swanwick's fans. What may catch readers off guard, though, is that Bones of the Earth is surprisingly gentle. It offers plenty of tragedy and violence, to be sure, but those familiar with earlier works like Jack Faust will be pleased by this novel's ending. It mixes delight with just a trace of sadness, leaving in its wake a reminder that the massive and astounding creatures who once ruled the earth are now gone forever.
