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Of Ants and Dinosaurs

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Of Ants and Dinosaurs

By: Cixin Liu
Narrated by: Bruno Roubicek
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About this listen

In a sunlit clearing in Central Gondwana, on an otherwise ordinary day in the late Cretaceous, the seeds of Earth's first and greatest civilisation were sown in the grisly aftermath of a Tyrannosaurus' lunch. 

Throughout the universe, intelligence is a rare and fragile commodity - a fleeting glimmer in the long night of cosmic history. That Earth should harbour not just one but two intelligent species at the same time defies the odds. That these species, so unalike - and yet so complementary - should forge an alliance that kindled a civilisation defies logic. But time is endless and everything comes to pass eventually.... 

The alliance between ants and dinosaurs, was of course, based on dentistry. Yet from such humble beginnings came writing, mathematics, computers, fusion, antimatter and even space travel - a veritable Age of Wonder! But such magnificent industry comes at a price - a price paid first by Earth's biosphere and then by all those dependent on it. And yet the dinosaurs refused to heed the ants' warning of impending ecological collapse, leaving the Ant Federation facing a single dilemma: destroy the dinosaurs, destroy a civilisation...or perish alongside them?

©2020 Cixin Liu (P)2020 W F Howes Hard Science Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Fiction
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It's a fun concept - what if there was a civilisation in the Cretaceous, founded on a partnership between ants and dinosaurs? Of course, we know how it all ended - the dinosaurs wiped out by a huge rock from space slamming into the Yucatan Peninsula; the ants surviving, but only as mindless insects. The trouble is, Liu doesn't quite pull it off, for two main reasons.

One is that anyone with sufficient interest to want to listen to this story probably has some baseline knowledge about dinosaurs - that they came in a large variety of shapes and sizes, were probably warm-blooded, and died out as described above. But the story doesn't fit with these known facts. Maybe I'm nit picking, but it offended my inner four-year-old - Stegosaurus and T. rex didn't exist at the same time, and without wanting to give the end away, it doesn't fit with the space rock thing.

An even bigger problem though is the lack of nuance. There are only five characters: Arrogant Leader (dinosaur); Slightly Less Arrogant Leader (ant); Gung Ho Military Leader (dinosaur); Gung Ho Military Leader (ant); Honest Scientist (ant). No corresponding dinosaur scientist, honest or otherwise. The ants are a lot more sympathetic than the dinosaurs, though neither come out looking that good by the end.

Yes, I know it's an allegory, an instructive fable. But it would work a lot better if it reflected the reality that disasters happen even when there are people of good will and intelligence working on both sides.

Doesn't quite work

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I wasn't expecting that, I thought it was a very good, original story that wasn't to long, kept me interested.

Very Good

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an interesting and playful sci-fi, nice premise, with some funny elements and a nice allegory behind it. it's strange to see dinosaurs portrayed like that, or ants, but, it's true, there is a battle between what is small and what is big, each side with its own characteristics, and it does not necessarily go as expected.

interesting playful sci-fi

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This is another great book to get people into Liu's work. Thought provoking and detailed yet lightweight and fun. He hints at the story in other works, but delivers a riveting story you can finish in one afternoon.

Poetic license on history with a lesson for now

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The idea is interesting, but the execution of the story itself less so. Unlike his excellent Three Body Problem trilogy, this is written in the style of a fable, with little sense of individuation of characters.

Part of my problem might be that I’m already fully in agreement with the moral of the story (don’t wreck the planet), so there wasn’t any kind of ‘aha’ moment for me.

I think this might have been better as a short story rather than as a short novel.

An interesting idea rather than an interesting story

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