Another wonderful story out of the distant past, this one set in what is now California about 15,000-10,000 years ago. Mammoths, dire wolves, saber tooth tigers, lions, and other large animals are still around, but dying out as the glaciers melt, and again, the people are faced with trying to survive in the face of climate change. Add in culture clash between matriarch cultures and patriarch cultures, which results in an intriguing story. As usual with books by these two, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I have now started 3001, The Final Odyssey. Talk about culture clash! 15,000 years ago, then flash to 1000 years in the future. Frank Poole (from 2001) has been found on a trajectory that is finally taking him out of the solar system after 1000 years in orbit (evidently around the sun). This makes no sense to me since, it seems to me, he would have been in orbit around Jupiter which would have taken him in to crash into Jupiter (now a sun) long ago. But, if he had been in orbit around the Sun, wouldn't that orbit have deteriorated inward toward the sun, rather than outward beyond the solar system? I know there is a force causing the universe to enlarge, but, if that is what caught Frank, isn't it probable that his outward motion have kept pace with the planets around him and that he would still be in relatively the same position that he started (relative to the planets around him)? But, ok, discarding that and accepting the story as told (suspending disbelief), Frank had been frozen at the optimum temperature to preserve his body and technology now exists to revive him. Now he has a severe culture shock of his own to deal with...
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