Today, we have an excerpt from the recently-published new novella by Ian McDonald: Boy, With Accidental Dinosaur. The book has a pretty intriguing pitch, which, having read the book, is rather accurate: “How to Train Your Dragon meets Mad Max”. Huge thanks to the publisher for letting CR share this short excerpt from the start of the book. First, though, here’s the synopsis:
The story of an orphan in a fractured Southwest who just wants to ride a dinosaur under the lights.
Come one, come all to the dinosaur rodeo!
Tif Tamim wants nothing more than to be a dinosaur buckaroo. An orphan in search of a place to rest his head and a job to weigh down his pockets, Tif has bounced from circus to circus, yearning for a chance to ride a prehistoric beauty under the sparkling lights of a big-top.
To become a buckaroo, Tif needs to learn the tools of the trade, yet few dino maestros want to take a scrawny nobody from nowhere under their wing. But when Tif frees a dino from an abusive owner and braves the roving gangs of the formerly-American west to bring the dino to safety, he catches someone’s eye. And boy, how those eyes dazzle Tif from the back of a bucking carnotaur.
Fans of McDonald’s other novellas and novels will find plenty to like in this latest book. Recommended.
And now, on with the excerpt…
Civilian Reader 