"In the Morning of Time" Topic

Yet another example of early "Paleo-fiction" by Canadian author Charles G. D. Roberts. Published in 1919 it reveals what was then known regarding prehistory up to that point. It is a bit unusual in that the first two chapters occur millions of years before the rest of the book and are each several millions of years from each other. Chapter 1 is a self-contained story about a Sauropod in the Jurassic. Chapter 2 jumps ahead to the Cretaceous/Eocene boundary where a pair of late-surviving Triceratops battle a herd of Dinoceras/Uintatherium. Chapter 3 has another massive leap in time to the Pleistocene and is the start of the meat of the novel concerning a band of cavemen trying to survive while threatened by various waves of migrating hominids and beasts.

In general terms the world portrayed is broadly accurate.It is unclear where the novel takes place as there is a mix of Ice Age animals from the Americas and Eurasia that would never have interacted in real life- For example, while Megatherium would have come across terror birds in South America, neither animal would have come upon a Woolly rhino from the Eurasian steppe.

The novel has a certain epic quality as the subhuman
'bow-legs" migrate out of the east and threaten to overrun the lands of the cave folk.
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Are you enjoying the read?

Charles G. D. Roberts is considered the father of Canadian poetry.

Free download from Project Gutenberg: gutenberg.org/ebooks/28936

79th PA,
Yes, I enjoyed it. A "ripping yarn" in the finest Late Victorian/ Edwardian tradition. It is somewhat a precursor to Burroughs/Howard and the other authors of long lost times.

Yes, you can tell all kinds of stories…

I'll see if my local library can get a copy.