Cowboys, dinosaurs, mammoths, and Legos

I like cowboys. I like dinosaurs. So I was happy to hear that fellow blogger Eccentric Cowboy is working on a Weird West novella set in an alternate American West populated by prehistoric beasts. He has some cool cover art, and here is what he has to say about the upcoming book, titled Primal Frontier, on his blog:

Primal Frontier is a Weird West alternate history setting in the 1860's and 1870's on a massive continent that is populated by all sorts of exotic creatures from our past, the most prominent being dinosaurs. It is a primitive and savage land, bristling with dangerous animals and hostile natives. This land of mystery and peril has been only scarcely explored. But brave men and women will venture into the unknown and encounter all manner of adventures.

Magna Terra is a monster continent occupying the space that North and South America used to take up, and even with all of the dangers that are present, the allure of adventure or starting a new life brings all sorts of people from the lands of Europe and Asia to explore its depths.

Enterprising hunters glide through the woods for dangerous prey in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Prospectors probe the hills and mountains for precious gold and opals. Miners dig into the earth for iron and copper. Railroads begin snaking across the countryside with their puffing locomotives. Bounty hunters and lawmen try to find deadly criminals. Militia try to fend off hostile tribals who thirst for blood. Daring sailors and river boatmen brave the murky waters that are alive with fierce water beasts and pirates. There are criminals hoping to escape organized law in the scattered lands while governments vie for control and expansion.

This series will have everything from men fighting man-eating dinosaurs to train robberies, miners fighting off bandits to sea reptiles attacking pirates, natives riding domesticated dinosaurs to archeologists discovering lost civilizations. Folks, I've thrown everything but the kitchen sink into building up this world and I hope it will be as immersive as I find it to be.

Cowboys and dinosaurs are not as strange a combination as you may think. Some of the first major dinosaur discoveries were made in the "Wild West" by Gilded Age paleontologists O.C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope in a fossil rush now known as the "Bone Wars." Anyway, check out Eccentric Cowboy's blog for more details about his book.

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Readers tired of dinosaurs who want something a little different can check out the self-published novel Mammoth Isle by Philip Linder. Here is the cover blurb:

For some it it the great race against many competing teams to bring the extinct ice age megafauna like the woolly mammoth, back from the dead; for others it is a race against time to stop them in their tracks. A group of scientists and students from St. Jude College intersects with all the factions on Mammoth Isle, somewhere north of Siberia. Their fates are inextricably entwined like strands of DNA. What is learned and experienced on Mammoth Isle during those few weeks in 2011 will forever change lives.

I haven't read the book so I can't comment on it, but it is nice to see some more recent prehistoric animals get some love from writers of paleofiction.

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And for something that has absolutely nothing to do with paleofiction, here is a remake of the Jurassic World trailer using Legos. I just thought it was so well done I had to share it.