Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again.
Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world's last elephants from the brutal ivory trade. Now, her digitized consciousness has been downloaded into the mind of a mammoth.
As the herd's new matriarch, can Damira help fend off poachers long enough for the species to take hold? Or will her own ghosts, and Moscow's real reason for bringing the mammoth back, doom them to a new extinction?
A tense SF thriller from a new master of the genre.
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Explorations of non-human consciousness, marine biology, ecological collapse, and artificial intelligence form the core of speculative fiction exploring the boundaries of communication. Ray Nayler gained widespread recognition with his debut novel The Mountain in the Sea, which examines near-future First Contact scenarios between humans and an emergent, conscious octopus species off a remote archipelago.
Through deeply researched science fiction grounded in global diplomatic experience and environmental policy, Nayler brings a distinct international perspective to modern speculative literature.
Ray Nayler was born in Quebec, Canada, and raised in Fremont, California, speaking French before English. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in modern literature with a focus on genre fiction and film noir from the University of California, Santa Cruz, followed by a Master of Arts from SOAS University of London and a PhD from the University of Essex. Before establishing himself as a science fiction writer, Nayler spent two decades living and working abroad across Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Asia, and the Balkans as a Peace Corps volunteer, Foreign Service officer, and international development worker. His diplomatic service included posts as Press Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He also served as an international advisor to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.
Nayler's fiction integrates systems theory, linguistics, ecology, and cybernetics with political intrigue. Drawing directly on his background in international relations and marine conservation, his narrative approach combines analytical detail regarding scientific and ecological mechanisms with empathetic character development. His work routinely investigates how humans interact with non-human intelligences—ranging from cephalopods and resurrected megafauna to complex cybernetic systems—while probing the ethical and political implications of technology and environmental stewardship.
