Now to sum this novel up in one easy sentence – this is the story of a pair of elephant tusks, and the search one archivist undertakes in the far distant future in order to find them. Sound an odd subject for a science fiction novel, and not one that would allow for much in the way of action. But for all that this is pretty much Mike Resnick's finest novel – and for a multiple Hugo winner this is certainly saying something.

The year is 6303 G.E., and the archivist in question is Duncan Rojas, a researcher at Wilford Braxton's a publisher specialising in catalogues of animal species. He is contacted and hired by a Bukoba Mandaka, the last remaining member of the Maasai, to track down and purchase for him the tusks of the Kilimanjaro Elephant, the largest set of elephant tusks in history.

This book is really a set of interconnected short stories, more than a novel, for every time Rojas tracks down another reference to the tusks in some period in time, we are treated to a little vignette featuring the tusks' owners.

It's a format I rather like, for it allows a novel to be absorbed in friendly pieces, allowing for the busy lives we all must live these days. For rather than having to dedicate time to the book on a regular(-ish) schedule, this can be enjoyed in instalments read whenever you have the time.

It fitted perfectly in my life of late for I was required to undertake several visits to my local Doctor's Surgery (the perils of getting older) and would take this book along with me to read sections form in the waiting room.

And, given the shortness of each section, Resnick manages to engage you with each set of characters, but as any regular Resnick reader will already know this is one of his strengths. He has a clean easy to read style, and an instinctive knack of filling his characters with life and gusto in a minimum of words.

Okay some may say that a lot of Resnick's characters are the same, and in some ways this is true, but the majority of his regularly visitors are so engaging and subtly flavoured to suit their environs that this really doesn't matter. Likewise the African themes are quite common in his novels (as in this one) but given the obvious passion and sorrow he feels for the continent, this is more a strength than a weakness.

Resnick is a feel good writer, but one who can also input a powerful message into his stories. And this is no exception, and in this the message is one of loss. The great elephants that roamed Africa (And are so threatened in our time) are long extinct in this time, and their loss is keen felt, so much that the last Maasai is willing to give everything for them.

When I heard that this book was to be re-issued having been long out of print, I was overjoyed. This is a book that should never be unavailable, and one that should be widely read.

This book has an unusual but extremely enjoyable structure. The last of the Masai is searching for the tusks of the legendary Kilimanjaro elephant and a large part of this novel is the smaller stories of various owners of the tusks throughout future history.

This was another of those books that I wanted to get back to whenever I had to be away from it. I found it utterly addictive and would not be surprised if you find it the same.