Of Ants and Dinosaurs

Of Ants and Dinosaurs, Cixin Liu, Amazon Digital Services Inc., 2012

This novella is about an unlikely partnership, between ants and dinosaurs, that started many centuries ago, during prehistoric times.

Fast forward tens of thousands of years. With much help from the ants, the dinosaurs have developed quite a technological civilization. The ants have the capacity to make the required fine electrical connections, while the dinosaurs contribute intellectual curiosity to the partnership. There are now dinosaur-sized automobiles, computers and spacecraft.

The two dinosaur "countries," Gondwana and Laurasia, have also developed nuclear weapons, with the ability to launch them at their opponent. The ants really don't like this. An ant general strike is crushed, literally. The ants hatch an audacious plan to take out the top levels of both dinosaur societies, not just the political and military leaders, and destroy all of their computers, all at the same time.

The plan works, but, then the ants learn that the dinosaurs had a version of Mutual Assured Destruction in place, to keep either side from "pushing the button." It involves the transmission of a certain electronic signal, every day. Can the ants fix the dinosaur transmitters, and convince some very upset dinosaurs that they sincerely want to help, before it's too late?

It's a really interesting science fiction fable that has something to say about life in the present day. Young people will enjoy it, and so will adults.