Stumbling upon a perfectly frozen wooly mammoth in the northern wilds of Canada, a mammoth hunter is stunned when he finds the mummified body of a Stone Age man, dating from around 12,000 years ago, next to the mammoth, a corpse wearing a modern-day wristwatch. Over the past three decades, Varley has won almost every SF award. Called "The New Heinlein" and described by the San Francisco Chronicle as "a far better science fiction writer than [Michael] Crichton," Varley has written a captivating time-travel thriller. Although he delves deeply into scientific and metaphysical principles, Varley never loses sight of his characters, who, like the engaging baby mammoth Fuzzy, keep the book alive. Besides its great humor, intelligent prose, spiritual discovery, and great emotional range, critics also praised the novels clever structure: it begins with chapter five. "The result," writes Shaun Farrell, "is a unique piece of work: a book that makes you think critically while keeping it enjoyable and fun." Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. Howard Christian, the world's reigning multibillionaire computer genius, has a passion for collecting vintage automobiles, action toys, and now, mammoths. Although his mammoth menagerie is just beginning, Christian hits the mother lode when his operatives discover a fully preserved woolly mammoth in Canadian backcountry. Making the discovery even more revolutionary is the presence of an equally well preserved couple, one of whom clutches what appears to be, astonishingly enough, a suitcase-sized time machine. Wielding his considerable financial resources, Christian hires Matthew Wright, the world's greatest physicist, to unlock the time machine's secrets. Then, during a sudden temporal shift, Wright jumps back in time, only to return with a herd of rampaging mammoths that terrorizes downtown L.A., and Christian's troubles begin to snowball. Varley's latest indulges all the ploys of a Michael -Crichton-style blockbuster as it pitches to the reading public's passion for prehistoric beasts, throws in flashy time-travel paradoxes, and sets up a feud between eccentric geniuses, one of whom, not coincidentally, resembles Bill Gates. Varley's fans won't be disappointed. Carl Hays Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved John Varley is the author of the Gaean Trilogy ( Titan , Wizard , and Demon ), Steel Beach , The Golden Globe , Red Thunder , and Mammoth . He has won both the Nebula and Hugo Awards for his work.