Ray Nayler (The Mountain in the Sea) blends science fiction and eco-fiction in his brief but compelling thriller The Tusks of Extinction, imagining a world in which mammoths have been resurrected from extinction but are unable to reconnect with the behaviors necessary for their survival. In something of a desperate move to help the mammoths, the digitally stored consciousness of Dr. Damira Khismatullina, a world-renowned expert on elephant behavior who was recently murdered by poachers, is uploaded into the body of a mammoth to become their matriarch, showing them the lost ways to forage, feed, and defend themselves.
Parts of The Tusks of Extinction can become a bit difficult to navigate as Damira's consciousness as a mammoth merges with her memories as a human who desperately fought to protect the species she had dedicated her life to studying and understanding. Is she an elephant? A human? A mammoth? All of the above? But as Nayler's futuristic science imaginings blend with what he calls the "ugly reality" of elephant poaching in the 21st century, the distinction becomes immaterial, inviting readers to challenge and question status quo practices. "We rise up out of our memories, and once there are enough of those memories to stand upon, we move forward with their support beneath us, drawn toward the future they allow us to conceive."
The Tusks of Extinction is a moving tribute to the beauty of beasts too often taken for granted and a musing on the gifts of nature; human's propensity toward violence and greed; and the hidden layers of meaning found in human interactions with the wild. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer