ICEBONES takes the story into the far future. Transported as embryos to Mars as part of an effort to revive the species the mammoths were left behind when the Mars colony failed. With mankind gone and relying only on their story cycle for guidance in their battle to survive the mammoths must leave behind their ties to man and inherit their own world. Baxter brings the story of the mammoths to a heroic conclusion, showing the species in its most dignified light and warning US not to dismiss the lessons other inhabitants of earth can teach us. His mammoths personify the grand sweep of nature; his Mars a stunning piece of world building.