Paleonauts: First Flight

by T.J. Pallett

In 2074 a mysterious anomaly orbits the Earth, so far disappearing every probe that has been sent into it. But after a string of failures one finally returns, bringing with it images of a planet on the other side.
Astronaut David Walker pilots a shuttle through this wormhole, landing a team on the alien planet. Its land surface is bare and lifeless, but the ocean contains a fascinating variety of alien life.
But then fellow astronaut Michael Bluford notices a striking resemblance between the creatures they collected and fossils from the very earliest eras of Earth’s prehistory. He comes to the revelation that they haven’t landed somewhere else at all. They’ve landed somewhen .
A second anomaly is soon discovered, and David leads an expedition through this wormhole into what turns out to be the Mesozoic era, the age of the dinosaurs. But disaster soon strikes when their shuttle is swept downriver following a landslide, leaving the stranded ‘paleonauts’ in a desperate battle for survival as they try to find a way back to the twenty-first century.

Paleonauts is the end result of a lifetime’s fascination with all things prehistoric. It is the first of a planned five-part series detailing what happens when humans discover ‘time tunnels’ linking them to numerous periods of prehistory.

367 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2023

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic science fiction read. Wow, I didn’t want to put it down, it was so good. This action packed, time travel, space travel, dinosaur book has so much on offer. The author did a fantastic job describing the science behind everything without getting too technical. The descriptions of all the dinosaurs encountered was just so vivid you could actually picture them without ever having heard of them, as well as the landscape of the different time periods they land in. He really did his research on them. I learned much more about dinosaurs and the geologic periods than I thought I would.

Exciting and entertaining, I can’t recommend this book enough to any sci fi fans out there. And if you’re a fan of space/time travel or dinosaurs, then you definitely need to read this. Great book!

[David Øybo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally I am so not into dinosaurs - I mean absolutely not … I don’t think I ever had that dinosaur phase in my life (honestly I don’t think my kids had a real one either… am I a terrible parent now ??). But let’s forget about my personal failings for some time, and focus on T.J. Pallett’s wonderful book Paleonauts: First Flight. It was such a pleasure to read this book [I did mention that I’m not into dinosaurs - didn’t I?], because well, I just never got the feeling I was reading a ‘dinosaur’ book. The author very smartly combines a science fiction / time travel story (both ‘genres’ which I personally love) with dinosaurs (there are a lot of them and - in contrast to me - T.J. Pallett is really into dinosaurs and a real dinosaur expert). The immersive writing style really gives you the feeling that you are wandering amid those giants - who can be quite dangerous at times, which makes the book a real page-turner. Because of the description of the culinary habits of some of the pre-historic creatures encountered, I would perhaps caution against this being a read for the very young readers … but for anyone ten years and above, this is a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED read. As this is the first book of a planned series of five, I am already eagerly looking forward to the adventures T.J. Pallett has in store for the PALEONAUTS in the next book.

[Toby Skaggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal novel with a science fiction, dinosaur and time traveling storyline. It was believable and a fun read. No spice or romance at all but obviously violent considering the story.

A satellite disappears and scientists discover it disappeared into a wormhole. A decision is made to travel through said wormhole. A decorated astronaut takes the first of several trips through. In one trip, prehistoric life is discovered and brings up the question of whether this planet at the other end is just ours at the beginning. To answer that, several paleontologists, biologists, other scientists and a TV host take a trip back. They end up in the probable jurassic Era and fight for their lives and hope to not change history too.

Highly recommend!!!!!

[T.C.C. Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the chance to read this book over the winter break, and it was a nice, fun read. I read a lot of inspiration from the likes of Bradbury and Heinlein in the text of this. And who doesn't want to see modern scientists meet up with stegosauruses and allosaurs? It's engaging both as an action piece, and as thought-provoking sci-fi.