"I possess a remarkable memory, Palaeo, though I will admit to the occasional romanticism of the narrative."

What a charming read! Awaiting sale at an auction of antiquities, a 13,000-year-old mammoth skeleton tells the story of his life to his motley crew of companions: a haughty Bavarian pterodactyl, a ghetto tyrannosar, a super-laidback archaic penguin, and a vengeful Ancient Egyptian Queen. It is a story of the old times, of the impact of first humans to arrive in the paradisal Americas many thousands of years ago, as well as a unique vantage point on human history, as the mammoth witnesses the arguable progress of modern humanity.

Sweet, funny, and captivating, Mammoth made me really rather happy. It is also a book in the eco-warrior vein, with an appeal to those of us wondering when - or if - humankind will realise we are part of something larger than ourselves. ( )

A really interesting story told in a very different way. ( )

Started listening to this on an ardent recommendation. Could see it was novel but didn't get past the first hour - must come back to it.

Narrated by a long dead mammoth in discussion with other museum fossils - great storytelling. Very modern humour took some patience as a reader - sometimes laugh aloud, sometimes just grating. Based on real people (hominids) and events. ( )

Mammoth does what great literature should. It causes readers to pause and consider important issues in ways they had not previously.

I was aware of the controversy surrounding the auctioning of various fossil artefacts in the US, particularly T. bataar specimens illegally extracted from Mongolia, having read journalist Paige Williams’ fascinating book The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, betrayal and the quest for earth’s ultimate trophy. But Chris Flynn’s novel’s scope and ambition is much broader, and his highly original approach to considering the lessons of history, far more impactful.

The bulk of the narrative is delivered from the sage perspective of Mammut, an extinct woolly mammoth. One instinctively feels for the plight of this character, both his and his species’ original demise and his more recent fossilized consciousness. Continue reading >> https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2020/05/mammoth-by-chris-flynn-fresh-perspe... ( )