Mammoth

By John Varley

Not content with investing his fortune and watching it grow, multibillionaire Howard Christian buys rare cars that he actually drives, acquires collectible toys that he actually plays with, and builds buildings that defy the imagination. But now his restless mind has turned to a new obsession: cloning a mammoth…

In a barren province of Canada, a mammoth hunter financed by Christian has made the discovery of a lifetime: an intact frozen woolly mammoth. But what he finds during the painstaking process of excavating the huge creature baffles the mind. Huddled next to the mammoth is the mummified body of a Stone Age man around 12,000 years old. And he is wearing a wristwatch.

It looks like Howard Christian is going to get his wish—and more…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: May 30, 2006
• ISBN: 9781440624469

John Varley

John Varley is the author of the Gaea Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, and Demon), the Thunder and Lightning Series (Red Thunder, Red Lightning, Rolling Thunder, and Dark Lightning), Steel Beach, The Golden Globe, Mammoth, and many more novels. He has won both Nebula and Hugo Awards for his short fiction, and his short story “Air Raid” was adapted into the film Millennium. Varley lives in Vancouver, Washington. For more information, visit varley.net.

Reviews for Mammoth

[atdcross · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A couple of people mysteriously go back in time and then mysteriously come back to the present...with Mammoths in tow! Sounds weird? It is. But that's what makes good sci-fi.Must admit, the first half of the novel did have some tedious reading but the plot made it interesting enough for me to keep reading. Must say, I was not disappointed. Good, unexpected ending!

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Multi-billionaire Howard has a “thing” for elephants and mammoths. When he gets his hands on a frozen excavated mammoth, he hires elephant trainer Susan to help impregnate an elephant to create an elephant-mammoth hybrid. Also with that frozen excavated mammoth was found a Stone Age man – with a wristwatch! And a box. Howard figures the box is a time machine and he hires genius mathematician Matt to figure it out. I really liked this. It started off fast paced, and there were plenty of other fast-paced events in the book to keep things really going. And a few surprising events. I also really liked the way the book ended. I wasn’t sure how it was going to wrap up, but I thought it was done quite well.

[stephkaye-923485 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Now THIS is well-written time-travel fiction! PLUS amazing action scenes that leave your heart pounding.

What if a frozen mammoth were found up north -- with a frozen man huddled up against him, sitting on a BRIEFCASE? This sci-fi thriller combines time travel and cloning with plot twists and love. The only reason I don't give it five stars is that the relationships develop a bit too quickly -- but they have to, to keep up with the plot. A great read from a master of action sci-fi, John Varley.

[jldarden · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like time travel stories and have read many. This one is pretty good though the method of travel is never satisfactorily explained. I did feel the exploitation of the results of the travel was cheesy. A rich guy getting richer and not seeing the problem. There is a twist at the end which is a little predictable if you're paying attention. A good read for time travel fans.

[amphipodgirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I spent most of the book annoyed at the author. Varley used to write fascinating stuff about gender and life, and now this is just, hum, implausible silliness. I heartily disliked the billionaire mammoth collector, didn't believe in his girlfriend at all, found the acccounts of what wealth and privilige can achieve... spotty, and was lukewarm about the other two characters. The story was redeemed a bit by the ending which was a nice twist, even though someone's change of heart was "told not shown". The ending was a nice fake-out and somewhat redeemed things, earning the book its second star.

[dragonasbreath · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A team working on cloning a mammoth run into a mystery - behind their latest mammoth find is a frozen corpses...waring a watch.This leads to developing a method of going back in time to visit that mammoth alive and try to solve the mystery of the people.Interwoven is a short juvenile story about the life and times of a mammoth called "Temba"Still haven't been able to do more than start this book. It's an interesting premise, but just couldn't get into it - and the juvenile story interweaving is... distracting. It does have a website for more of the story, though!

[theodosia_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An engrossing and quick read -- not Varley's best, but under control and very much concerned with the characters. I found myself wishing that Little Fuzzy -- the titular mammoth -- had been more of a character in it.

[plappen_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Multi-billionaire Howard Christian is an eccentric sort who likes to actually play with his toys. His latest obsession is to clone a woolly mammoth. During an expedition in northern Canada, an intact, but mummified mammoth is found. Huddled in the mammoth's fur is a Stone Age man approximately 12,000 years old...wearing a wristwatch.Matthew Wright, science prodigy, is brought in to figure out what is in the metal suitcase clutched in the Stone Age man's arms. It's some sort of time machine, involving what look like many glass marbles. One day, Matt gets it to work, and takes himself, Susan Wright, who is taking care of a herd of elephants involved in the cloning plan, the elephants, and a Santa Monica warehouse, about 12,000 years in the past. After several days in the past, Matt gets the time machine to work again, and brings himself and Susan back to the present, along with a herd of half a dozen mastodons that happened to be nearby at the time. A baby mastodon, nicknamed Little Fuzzy, and Big Mama, his mother, are the only survivors when they appear in the middle of L.A. traffic.Five years later, Little Fuzzy is the star of a multi-media extravaganza of a circus in Oregon. Susan is still his handler, because Little Fuzzy won't work with anyone else. She comes up with the idea of kidnapping Fuzzy, and freeing him in the wilds of northern Canada, where he could have something resembling a normal life. But Howard Christian is not about to let that happen.Does any circus, no matter how progressive, automatically equal mistreating of animals? That's one of the questions explored in this fine piece of storytelling. It is more than just a really good time travel story, and it's well worth reading.