Bones of the Earth

Bones of the Earth is a 2002 science fiction novel by Michael Swanwick. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2002, and the Hugo, Campbell, and Locus Awards in 2003. Expanded from his Hugo Award-winning story "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur," Bones of the Earth spans geologic time, not just centuries but millennia, from the pre-historic past to the distant and unknown future. Most of the novel's events take place in the age of the din... more

Bones of the Earth is a 2002 science fiction novel by Michael Swanwick. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2002, and the Hugo, Campbell, and Locus Awards in 2003. Expanded from his Hugo Award-winning story "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur," Bones of the Earth spans geologic time, not just centuries but millennia, from the pre-historic past to the distant and unknown future. Most of the novel's events take place in the age of the dinosaurs. The "bones" of the title refer to the time traveling team players described in the story that study throughout Earth's history and pre-history. Paleontologist Richard Leyster has reached the pinnacle of his profession: a position with the Smithsonian Museum plus a groundbreaking dinosaur fossil site he can research, publish on, and learn from for years to come. There is nothing that could lure him away - until a disturbingly secretive stranger named Harry Griffin enters Leyster's office with an ice cooler and a job offer. In the cooler... less