Living Memory by David Walton

Living Memory
by David Walton

Pages/Format: Kindle Unlimited 240 pages
Publication: October 18th 2022
ISBN: B09RW81ZRJ
Goodreads /  Amazon

Publisher Information:

We always thought we were the first.

When paleontologists Samira and Kit uncover dinosaur skeletons in northern Thailand, they also find the remains of an ancient genetic technology that nations will kill to control. Catapulted into a web of murder and intrigue involving the Chinese Ministry of State Security, a powerful Asian crime syndicate, the CIA, and a beautiful Thai princess, Samira and Kit don’t know who they can trust. Torn apart by competing factions and stranded on opposite sides of the world, they race to discover the truth before the world goes to war. Can they bring the past to life before it kills them all?

Living Memory is the first book of a globe-spanning thriller series by the author of The Genius Plague.

“Walton has brought hard sci-fi roaring back to life.” —The Wall Street Journal

“The literary heir of Michael Crichton . . . David Walton consistently delivers exciting thrillers packed with likable characters and big ideas.” —Craig DiLouie, author of THE CHILDREN OF RED PEAK

“David Walton is one of our very best writers of science-fiction thrillers.” —Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Quantum Night

 

Abstract

When a team of paleontologists on a remote site in Thailand discovers what appears to be a fossiled graveyard 66 million years old, they don’t know it yet, but mankind’s place in the evolutionary order is about to be challenged. Amidst international tensions, two teams work to uncover the secrets the incredibly well-preserved dinosaur fossils hold, and their impacts on two civilizations separated by millions of years. Fast-paced action for dino-fiction fans, along with some thought-provoking ideas about interspecies communication and social dominance.

Review

A team of American paleontologists working on a dig in Thailand uncovers the find of a lifetime, not only a new species perfectly fossilized in the sedimentary rock but what looks very much like a graveyard, with fossil after fossil buried in neat rows.  Could this be evidence of something as incredible as sentience among the creatures who dies out 66 million years ago? The researchers aren’t going to have time to find answers to that, and other burning questions, because a coup has replaced the Thai government that sanctioned their work, and the new, China-backed government wants them out of the country in just days. Their local colleague, Kit, has mixed feelings about that. He would very much want the fossils to remain in Thailand so he can study them, and grow his country’s scientific reputation, but the hasty departure means that careful excavation is being thrown out the window as the Americans grab what they can. To be fair, they feel really bad about it.

But it’s not to be, because the fossils have a secret that the scientists appear to be the last to discover. Along with the bones, there are traces of a green liquid whose smell evokes a wide range of emotional and hallucinogenic responses…only, hallucinogens don’t convey actual information, do they?

What follows is a thriller that takes place across deep time and the ends of the Earth. Walton has come up with a story that requires the reader to jump a megalodon or two to accept his scientific premise about how much information can be encoded in a scent.  Still, science fiction readers take more outrageous things in stride all the time, and the surrounding paleo-science is all spot on, as are the real-world political tensions.

The success of the story rests on the shoulders of the characters, and they carry the burden well. The American team is led by two sisters fiercely determined to get to the bottom of not just the scientific mystery, but why both the CIA and Chinese intelligence is so keen on their research. The Thai team has to balance their drive to do actual research with the military’s demand for them to isolate the green goo from the remains.

The author plays with some interesting ideas;, sentient dinosaurs that communicate by scent (does that make them scentient?), advanced technology based on biological constructs rather than machines, physical and social sexual dimorphism, both human and dinosaurian, and communication across species lines and deep time. It’s a lot to take in, but he’s made it a fun ride.

David Walton is often compared to Michael Crichton, and the Jurassic Park elements of Living Memory will certainly attest to the likeness, but he’s also got a fair amount of Rob Sawyer in him, especially apparent to anyone who read that author’s brilliant early work about intelligent dinosaurs going through an age of enlightenment: The Quintaglio Ascension.

Living Memory is supposed to be the first in a series. I don’t know how many books Walton is hoping to add, but I think it would make a solid trilogy. The first book has both a solid story arc and a definite hook into the sequel. It’s out in Kindle and Audiobook form, and if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber you can read it for free.