Bones of the Earth

by Michael Swanwick

First published 2002

Richard Leyster has everything a paleontologist could want at the Smithsonian Museum. He runs his own fossil site and publishes papers that advance his career. Then Griffin walks into his office carrying an ice cooler. Inside sits the severed head of a recently killed Stegosaurus. Griffin offers Leyster something impossible: time travel technology borrowed from unknown beings. Leyster and his colleagues can now study living dinosaurs in their natural habitat millions of years ago. The technology allows people to meet their younger selves at different points in history. One mistake could destroy the project and endanger the world. Griffin must ensure events unfold as intended, regardless of who gets hurt or killed. Dr. Gertrude Salley complicates everything. She serves as Leyster's rival, colleague, enemy, and lover across multiple time periods. Salley pushes against natural law and creates paradoxes without regard for consequences. Her reckless experiments with the largest predators in Earth's history threaten everyone involved.

Genres: science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, thriller

Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, time-travel

Setting: Smithsonian Museum

Period: Millions of Years Ago

335 pages · Hardcover · Harper Voyager

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