Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur

Bejeweled, dinosaur-riding buckaroos are the stars of the show in this equal-parts rollicking and poignant sci-fi novella from Hugo Award winner McDonald (The Wildling). Latif “Tif” Tamim loses his job as a wrangler at the dinosaur rodeo Dino!Dino! when he accidentally lets a Timursaur loose, inciting a high-speed chase that ends in tragedy. Forced to leave, he sets out on his own with only an ocarina, a musical instrument used to play dinosaur-charming songs, and a state-of-the-art bike that can’t be stolen, a gift from one of the rodeo’s mysterious clowns. As he travels through a post-apocalyptic Southwestern landscape looking for dino work, a private collector guilts him into taking an abused, aging carnotaur back in time to the Cretaceous where he belongs. Tif and his “carno” join up with Memphis Red’s Tatterdemalion Circus, a disreputable traveling circus that ferries dinos to and from a time portal. As they journey, Tif grows to know and love all four members of the circus: expert wrangler Matilda, fearless leader Memphis, wise Silver Clown, and dazzlingly handsome buckaroo Prince. McDonald makes their trek exciting, thoughtful, immersive, and faintly absurd in the best way. It’s a joy to watch Tif come into his own and the found-family elements delight. Dinosaur lovers and sci-fi fans are sure to fall for this inventive coming-of-age story. (Feb.)