Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future [Paperback]

Mike Resnick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2007

In the year 6303, when earth is bare of anything larger than an insect or a mouse and most people have left for the stars, Duncan Rojas receives a most unusual visitor. His name is Bukoba Mandaka, and he is the last of the Maasai. Mandaka wants Rojas, senior researcher for Braxton's Records of Big Game, to find the tusks of the Kilimanjaro Elephant, tusks that weigh over 200 lb. each. Why? Mandaka will not say, but he will pay enormous sums for them. And Rojas cannot resist the challenge of tracing something lost for 3000 years. Back and forth through time, in card games, wars, and rivalries, Rojas searches. But as he begins to glimpse the elusive, lost power of ancient Africa, he is seduced, and before long the quest has become his own. With "Ivory", Mike Resnick has created a powerful novel spanning worlds and centuries, an exploration of the nature of history and legend, and a riveting parable for our times.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First published in 1998, this episodic novel showcases Hugo-winner Resnick's strengths and weaknesses. Thousands of years in the future, after most wildlife on Earth is extinct and humans have spread to distant stars, the last descendent of the Maasai tribe hires a researcher to locate the massive tusks of the Kilimanjaro Elephant. The search dominates the book, showing the passionless scholar's growing identification with his employer's quest as it echoes the elephant's spiritual journey toward the sacred mountain, but most of the book consists of vignettes about the various entities who have possessed the tusks. Resnick's fluent writing and respect for African cultures and wildlife make for some smoothly ironic glimpses of people who imagined they "owned" the ivory, but several pieces are facile little gimmick stories, clever enough for fast reading but essentially just filling gaps in the tale's chronology. Overall, this is a very pleasant read that just misses being truly memorable.
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About the Author

Mike Resnick has won an impressive five Hugos and been nominated for twenty-seven more. He has sold fifty-two novels and almost two hundred short stories. He has edited forty anthologies. His work ranges from satirical fare, such as his Lucifer Jones adventures, to weighty examinations of morality and culture, as evidenced by his brilliant tales of Kirinyaga. The Kirinyaga series, with sixty-six major and minor awards and nominations to date, is the most honored series of stories in the history of science fiction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: Pyr; Reissue edition (August 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159102546X
• ISBN-13: 978-1591025467
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,124,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY Interesting..., February 15, 1998

By 

"rukhus" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future (Hardcover)

Okay. This book takes you for a ride. In a way,It's remenisent of the "Star Wars" books because of all the wierd alien species. In other ways it reminded me of "the Fifth Element", though I have no particular reason why. The only reason I didn't give this book a 10 is because Its jumping around from present to future gets confusing and repetitive. I noticed that Amazon.com doesn't have a description of Ivory. Well, here's one for you: "It is the year 6303 of the Galactic Era, and Duncan Rojas, Senior Reasear -cher and authinticator for Braxton's Records of Big Game,has recieved a most unusual visitor. He is Bukoba Mandaka-the last of the Maasai. He searches for Malima Temboz,the Mount- ain that walks...known to the world as the Kilamanjaro Elephant.His bones are but dust. His spirit remains, restless and incomplete-his spirit, and somewhere in the vast reaches of the Galaxy, his tusks..." " Bukoba Mandaka must find those tusks, and find them soon. Rojas can- not resist the challenge. And the quest soon becaomes his own,as he begins to catch a glimpse of the elusive power of ancient Africa and the magic surrounding the greatest hunting tropy ever taken." That about wraps the book up. It's a VERY good book;recieving praise from Analog,the Cincinnati Post, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Locus, and the L.A. Times. Analog says: "A marvolous satisfying SF novel...A definite 'Don't miss!'" L.A. Times says: "Thought-provoking, imaginative,mordantly funny, and-above all-galactically grand." - Karli L., Raptor Girl

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Breaking out of the ghetto, December 11, 2007

By 

Steven Saus (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future (Paperback)

Sci-fi's ghettoization is a well-known and discussed problem. Often that ghettoization is because of the characterization - or lack thereof. Concentrating on plot and splendid worlds is great for fans - but makes the work inaccessible to others.

_Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future_ does not have this flaw.

Do not take me wrongly - this novel sweeps across time and space, flashing from the past to the far-flung future light-years away. Both the grandeur and the skill with which these worlds and societies are painted. Neither, however, is what drives the book.

Instead, the characters - both the ones in the encompassing story arc and those in each of the fascinating vignettes that tie it together - draw you in. They are tightly written, and I found myself engrossed in them, the overarching mystery, and each little story as well.

You may notice that I do not tell much of the plot. Like many stories, any brief summary will sound flat and stale - perhaps even improbable. But it is not the plot that draws us in here - it is the engrossing characters interacting in this dazzling world. Summarizing the plot would be like saying that a Frank Lloyd Wright building has four walls and a roof - technically true, but totally missing the point.

This novel is the literary equivalent of an architectural marvel rising from a ghetto. It is something that all people should experience - even if you have to travel across the tracks to get there.

And once you have, maybe you'll find it's not so bad over here after all.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A unsung classic of Science Fiction, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future (Paperback)

This books deals with heart wrenching aspects of honor as seen by two men from entirely different societies. It tries to illuminate for the reader such differences as are seen between the way American Anglo-Saxons view the world (a total disregard for the past), and the way others view it (holding the past in great sanctity). On the way, you'll be in for a treat of a story and some great writing.

The whole tie-in about Mountain that Walks is pretty good, to.