Review by Booklist Review
More than a century after the brutal, exploitative ivory trade drove the elephants to extinction, Dr. Damira Khismatullina, one of the elephants' fiercest defenders, is uploaded from a backup into the brain of a mammoth. Russian scientists are hoping that they can reform a new ecosystem on the steppe, but their genetically resurrected mammoths aren't forming herds or making needed social connections. The scientists are hoping Damira can teach the mammoths the ways of elephants, helping them learn to survive and self-sustain. But what they aren't betting on is just how angry Damira is--or just how intelligent their mammoths have become. This short, suspenseful novella is action-packed while asking complex, tough questions about humanity: Is a person or creature resurrected from a backup really the same? And what truly is human compared to animal? In just under 100 pages of narrative, Nayler writes a compelling, thought-provoking sf tale inspired by the brutal reality of the modern-day ivory trade. Fans of biology-inspired sf will enjoy this short book about human greed, the beauty of mammoths, and one human's consuming fury.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
After exploring octopus intelligence in 2022's Locus Award--winning The Mountain in the Sea, Nayler peers into the vast brains of the extinct woolly mammoth, brought back to life by futuristic gene-splicing techniques, in this impassioned and impressive sci-fi novella. The story follows the late Dr. Damira Khismatullina as her memories and expertise on elephants, backed up on a hard drive after her death, are implanted into a mammoth, giving its captivity-raised herd a chance to survive in the wild. ("We propose to make you a matriarch," the scientist in charge tells Khismatullina before her death. "We propose to transfer your mind into one of theirs. You will lead them. You will teach them how to be mammoths. Under your leadership, they will thrive.") Tracking the herd are a team of hardscrabble ivory poachers and a wealthy philanthropist who harbors dark hopes of bagging a mammoth. The conflict between herd and humans is tensely portrayed, even if the ending is unsurprising. Nayler makes clear which side readers should be on, though he is fair in presenting both the lure of ivory riches to indigent locals and the pressures on scientists to fund conservation through elite indulgence. The result is an uncompromising climate fiction that strikes like a spear to the gut. (Jan.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
This science-fiction thriller captivates with its quick pace and its ecological message. Once, Dr. Damira Khismatullina was the world's foremost expert on elephants--until she was brutally murdered by poachers. Later, her digitized consciousness is downloaded into the body of a woolly mammoth recreated in a Russian lab. Now Damira is the matriarch of a recreated mammoth herd that has learned how to survive this new world. There are still hunters looking for mammoth trophies, however, and she is more than willing to protect her herd. Nayler (The Mountain in the Sea) moves this fast-paced story quickly and efficiently between the viewpoints of humans like Vladimir, who accompanies his lover Alexander on a mammoth-hunting trip, and Damira, now residing in a massive mammoth and slowly unlearning her human life. The stellar voicework of both Gabrielle de Cuir and Stefan Rudnicki emphasizes the contrast between Damira fighting back in a way she couldn't when she was alive and humans like Vladimir who are slowly, and with some dawning horror, awakening to humanity's arrogance. VERDICT This novel is made for fans of character-driven ecofiction like Lee Mandelo's Feed Them Silence and Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower.--James Gardner
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