'Serpent Catch' (419 pp) was published by Bantam Spectra in May, 1991. The cover art is by Paul Youll and the interior art by Derek Hegstead.
A sequel, titled 'Path of the Hero', was published in 1993.
Author Wolverton (b. 1957) has published a large number of sf and fantasy novels (many under the pseudonym David Farland), including some for the Star Wars franchise.
'Serpent' is set two thousand years into the future. The Federation has turned the moon Anee into a kind of gigantic Jurassic Park, with animals, plants, and humans from different geological eras assigned to separate continents. The complex ecology of Anee is supervised, and corrected as needed, by a network of scientists.
However, for centuries Anee has been left to its own designs, due to an interstellar war that has prevented the Federation from contact with its outposts. There are signs that this prolonged neglect has caused things to go awry; one potentially disastrous manifestation being the die-off of the bioengineered sea-serpents that prevent dinosaurs from the continent of Hotland from swimming across the ocean and colonizing the continent of the Rough.
As 'Serpent Catch' opens, in the seaside village of Smilodon Bay, the innkeeper Scandal proposes a remedy to the loss of the sea-serpents: an Expedition to transport a makeshift aquarium overland to the territory of Denai, home of the spawning grounds of the serpents. There the expedition will capture juvenile serpents from the river system, bring them back to Smilodon Bay, and release the serpents into the ocean to replenish the dwindling stocks.
Tull, a young half-human, half-Neanderthal man, is intrigued by Scandal's proposal, all the more so given that the Neanderthal shaman has judged the Expedition to be critical to the survival of the Rough and its people. Tull resolves to join Scandal's expedition, despite his apprehension over the fact that the route will take the small team of humans, Neanderthals, and genetically engineered humanoids through the lands of the Craal.......where lurk the sadistic Slave Lords and their brutish armies...........
In juxtaposing humans and prehistoric animals, 'Serpent Catch' emulates the themes and concepts of Harry Harrison's 'West of Eden' trilogy, along with the emphasis on action and conflict with which Harrison imbued the 'Eden' novels. However, Wolverton's approach to storytelling is not as crisp as Harrison's. In essence a seemingly straightforward Quest novel, 'Serpent Catch' tries to do too many things at once, and as a result unfolds at a sluggish pace.
For example, the Expedition that serves as the centerpiece of 'Serpent' takes its time getting underway (the party doesn't actually leave town until page 99). Once the Expedition does get underway, there is an overabundance of exposition on Neanderthal psychology, sociology, and mysticism, that tends to drain momentum from the narrative. To give another example, a confrontation with a tribe of homicidal Sasquatches rambles over the course of 18 pages, as the author expounds on the temporary paralysis induced in Neanderthals by acute fear and 'bad' vibes (kwea, in the book's Neanderthal lexicography).
As well, 'Serpent' suffers from over-plotting. While I recognize that there wouldn't be much dramatic tension should the quest go as smoothly as planned, author Wolverton can't help throwing so many challenges and obstacles into the path of the Expedition that the narrative too often becomes contrived and unconvincing. Removing many of these plot developments, and reducing the book's length by a good hundred pages, would have made 'Serpent Catch' more engaging.
The verdict ? If you like 'Caveman' sci-fi, fortified with some Jurassic Park, then 'Serpent Catch' may be a rewarding read. Just be prepared for an 'anything goes' approach to storytelling.
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