Bone Wars: Fossil Robbers from Outer Space--Sitting Bull to the Rescue

I liked this book. It was well written and an enjoyable read. I think I expected to read about a few more dinosaurs than just a monoclonius and a lizard man. Compared to Thomas Hopp's new Dinosaur Wars, this one comes off as a little lacking in the thing I read dino-fiction for: Dinosaurs! Still, it is long on charm, with space ships and wild indians. It might be a little dated by its view of dinosaurs as cold-blooded lizards, because scientists have recently learned that the beasts were warm blooded and covered with feathers, as in Hopp's two new dino-novels. Well, I suppose even dinosaur fiction is evolving.

_____________________________________________ There's not a great deal of geological science-fiction extant, so I'm pleased to report that Bone Wars is worthy of your attention. Montana Territory, 1876: Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope are both digging in the Judith River fossil beds, with no great success, and spying on each other's camps. They learn of another bone-digger, who shields his camp behind a "ghost wall," and has found some truly magnificent dinosaur specimens. A *fourth* paleontologist appears, an odd-looking fellow who claims to be from Iceland, and wants help to save the prize bones from being shipped off to "Sweden".... Stir in a cowboy who's really a girl, a Sioux who's a Yale graduate, a deserter from the Little Big Horn, and a wild ride on a ceratopsian -- all done in impeccable late-19th century prose -- and you have a most entertaining confection. Recommended, with the usual caveat that others' reaction to (alleged) humor is notoriously unpredictable. Brett Davis, whose writing I haven't previously encountered, has clearly done his historical homework. He writes in a spritely mock-Victorian style that's just right for the tale. This is a very amusing book. Fluff, but *good* fluff. I picked this one up on a whim, having heard of neither author nor title. I'm glad I did. Happy reading-- Pete Tillman Consulting Geologist, Tucson & Santa Fe (USA)