Story Details
Categories Fantasy Contemporary Fantasy Adventure
"Living Fossils" follows Bishop, a newly minted dragon vet, as he responds to a late-night emergency involving a mid-air collision between a dragon and a plane. The story explores efforts to save an endangered species while dealing with the practice of dragon veterinary medicine. The author masterfully combines elements of fantasy with themes of conservation and the challenges of veterinary medicine.
Author Details
Christopher Blake Living Fossils
Christopher Blake is a physician by day and a writer by night. He is a dad (cat and human), by his back of the napkin calculations, approximately 32 hours a day. His short fiction has appeared in Galaxy’s Edge, Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, Stupefying Stories, and Zooscape. STORY NOTES FOR "LIVING FOSSILS" As I recall, the title came first. I was reading about Coelacanths, ancient lobe-finned fish known extensively to the fossil record but thought to have gone extinct in the late Cretaceous. Except, in the end, they weren't extinct, and were discovered off the coast of South Africa in the early 20th century. And so I wondered, what if dragons weren't imaginary, what if they were only extinct? Or maybe not extinct, just waiting to be rediscovered? So, there be the dragons. Now, as for the humans in the story, I drew on my work as a Palliative Care Physician, realizing that the worldbuilding gave me the opportunity to explore some of the same big questions my patients face. Namely, how do we find meaning, purpose, and even hope in the face of death? A pretty idiosyncratic fusion of ideas, which makes Living Fossils probably the most personal story I've written. And that makes me all the more thankful to readers like you. Happy reading!
Living Fossils, by Christopher Blake
Author Details
Christopher Blake Living Fossils
Christopher Blake is a physician by day and a writer by night. He is a dad (cat and human), by his back of the napkin calculations, approximately 32 hours a day. His short fiction has appeared in Galaxy’s Edge, Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, Stupefying Stories, and Zooscape. STORY NOTES FOR "LIVING FOSSILS" As I recall, the title came first. I was reading about Coelacanths, ancient lobe-finned fish known extensively to the fossil record but thought to have gone extinct in the late Cretaceous. Except, in the end, they weren't extinct, and were discovered off the coast of South Africa in the early 20th century. And so I wondered, what if dragons weren't imaginary, what if they were only extinct? Or maybe not extinct, just waiting to be rediscovered? So, there be the dragons. Now, as for the humans in the story, I drew on my work as a Palliative Care Physician, realizing that the worldbuilding gave me the opportunity to explore some of the same big questions my patients face. Namely, how do we find meaning, purpose, and even hope in the face of death? A pretty idiosyncratic fusion of ideas, which makes Living Fossils probably the most personal story I've written. And that makes me all the more thankful to readers like you. Happy reading!
