She Treads Softly: Mammoth

Thursday, November 5, 2026

Mammoth

Mammoth by John Varley
6/7/05; 353 pages
Ace

Mammoth by John Varley is a very highly recommended thriller with science fiction and time travel plot elements. Seriously, why did I wait so long to read this fun, engaging science fiction story? I bought a copy years ago and finally read it now...

Multimillionaire Howard Christian's head of mammoth recovery has just found a frozen, perfectly persevered specimen of a mammoth in Nunavut. The only problem is the two bodies by it. One body is of a man wearing a wristwatch with a metal suitcase who is over, protecting another the body of a woman. While trying to keep everything secret, Christian's troubleshooter Warburton is sent to bring in professor Matthew (Matt) Wright, the top man concerning the physics of time, to see if he can get the time machine working again. He also brings in Susan Morgan DVM and elephant specialist because he plans to start a mammoth cloning project. What he plans and ends up getting results in a seriously entertaining adventure.

Included in between the chapters of the novel is a children's story about a family of mammoths, including Big Mama and Little Fuzzy. The children's story will be important to the upcoming plot. Also, readers need to note that the novel starts with chapter five. Don't look for the missing chapters. They will be there at the end of the novel where they intentionally belong.

This is a well-written, entertaining, engrossing story. The plot was attention grabbing right away and kept me immersed in the action from start to finish. It was quite easy to suspend all disbelief and simply be entertained while enjoying the narrative. I liked the wide variety of characters, who were all portrayed realistically as individuals with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Mammoth is a great choice for those who enjoy science fiction thrillers that include some time travel (and some discussion of what UFOs are.)

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.