Dragon Teeth
2017
- archaeological expeditions
- collection and preservation
- fossils
- dinosaurs
- paleontologists
- history
- fiction
- west (u.s.), fiction
- fiction, westerns
- fiction, historical
The story
The year is 1876. Among the warring Indian tribes and lawless gold-rush towns of America's western territories, two paleontologists pillage the Wild West. They are hunting for dinosaur fossils, while surveilling, deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars. Into this treacherous territory plunges the arrogant and entitled Yale student William Johnson. Determined to survive a summer in the west to win a bet, William has joined world-renowned paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition. But Marsh becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis, Edwin Drinker Cope, so he abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a locus of crime and vice. Soon William joins forces with Cope and stumbles upon a discovery of historic proportions. The struggle to protect this extraordinary treasure tests William's newfound resilience, and pits him against some of the West's most dangerous and notorious characters.
What it’s like
Brisk, dialogue-heavy prose with a documentary edge, the kind that stops to explain how a dig works or how a fossil is wrapped and shipped by mule. The sensory world is dust, sagebrush heat, cold prairie nights, smoke-filled saloons and rough railway towns, rendered in quick, practical detail rather than lingering description. Its vibe is wry and restless, a sunburnt adventure with a sardonic streak, best read in long stretches on a summer afternoon or during a late-night stretch when you want something that keeps moving. The pacing is fast and chapter-driven, with short scenes that cut between camps, sabotage and chase sequences. The emotional register is playful with flashes of danger, and the central arc follows a privileged, prickly young man who is forced to rely on others and slowly learns some humility. Violence is present and fairly direct: gunfights, brawls, and the risks of frontier life, with some bloodshed but no lingering gore. Sexual content is minimal. It suits readers who enjoy historical adventure, the science of paleontology, and the rivalry between two sharp-tongued scientists, and it works for anyone wanting a lively, unsentimental western with a scholarly bent.
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