Hey, I Think I Will Give Away an ARC of Lock In

Posted on June 27, 2014    Posted by      762 Comments

Tor has sent along to me seven ARCs of Lock In. Six of them are already claimed by various people I need to send a copy along to. One of them isn’t. So, I’ll give it away here, now. Here’s how to get it:

I’m thinking of an animal right now. Tell me which one it is. 

I’m looking for a specific species. Just saying (for example) “bear” will not help you.

The first person to correctly identify the animal I am thinking of wins the ARC. I will also sign, personalize and ship the ARC to anywhere on the planet.

Any hints about the animal? Yes! It’s a chordate. Any non-fictional chordate, alive or extinct, is within the realm of possibility.

How long do we have to guess? Until 11:59:59pm Eastern time today, June 27, 2014.

How do we know you won’t lie about which animal you’re thinking about? Because I told the animal to my daughter just before I posted this, and she’d let you all know if I lied to you. Also, after telling her the animal, she said “no one’s going to get that.” But she doesn’t know you like I do, oh Whatever readers.

What happens if no one gets the right animal? Then I will randomly select a winner. So no matter what someone’s getting out of here with an ARC.

So: What animal am I thinking of right now? Give your best guess in the comments.

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762 Comments on “Hey, I Think I Will Give Away an ARC of Lock In”

  1. Note:

    Comment thread for guesses only. Other comments will be excised.

    Also, specific guesses will win over very general ones. So “Sun Bear” will win over “Bear.” Don’t be trying to lock up entire families of species, folks.

    Also also, one guess per person, please.

  37. “No one’s going to get that,” eh? So either something exotic, or something “hide in plain sight” banal, like a specific person.

    I’ll go with the second option, because you’re sneaky, and guess that it’s yourself, John Michael Scalzi.

  53. “Any non-fictional chordate, alive or extinct,”

    So, not Francis the Talking Mule, then? That’s what I think of whenever anyone says, “Think of an animal, any animal.”

    The voice of Chill Wills haunts my dreams.

  92. My son, a big fan of anything that is the fastest in the world, wants me to vote for peregrine falcon. He notes that even if it isn’t your choice, it should be!

  181. Are we allowed to guess more than once? If so, my second guess is Jumbo the elephant. If we’re not allowed to guess more than once, I offer up my excellent Jumbo guess to anyone else who hasn’t yet taken a crack at it. :)

  193. I believe it’s the quokka (Setonix brachyurus), the small marsupial known affectionally as the “waste recycler” for their adorable habit of caecotrophy.

  228. Jaguar, even more specifically, the melanin-rich “black panther” Well, that’s what I’m thinking of, anyway.

  235. Because you had to type it out, clearly you were thinking about “Sun Bear”. You may have ALSO been thinking of some other animal, but Helarctos malayanus is almost by definition the correct answer. ;-)

  239. Bullockornis planei – the Demon Duck of Dooooooooom!

    You know those south American terror birds from about 10 million years ago? 10-foot-tall flightless eagle apex predators? Well, this is the Australian version of that, except that it’s most closely related to ducks and geese.

  251. Deinonychus (for anyone who doesn’t know, it’s a dinosaur, which totally counts!)

  257. Rubbing my crystal ball… rubbing, rubbing… rubbing more. I see… I think I see a… it’s a bit foggy… a tiger shark.

  305. Chuckwalla. (A lizard in Death Valley. I’ve been there and seen them.) But I did think Aardvark first. Someone got there ahead of me though.

  319. Salmon, specifically a Jack, not a hooknose. (Or possibly Przewalski’s horse.)

  321. (Any one of the dogs who played) Lassie (in the several Hollywood films.)

  330. Don’t know what you were thinking of then but right now you are thinking of a tree horse. And, if you are not, you should be.

  336. Red panda? (Checked after I typed that – I wouldn’t have expected red panda guesses to outnumber the regular panda 5:1…)

  345. I am a fan of mustelids, so let’s go with the greater grison for alliteration’s sake.

  366. I meant {June 27, 2014 at 11:23 am} Putin as an animal, and the Uruguyan striker whose cannibal teeth are about to be pulled out by an Italian dentist. Both animals.

  372. I’m going to go with the Iberian ribbed newt, because we should all be able to puncture our ribs through our sides as a defense mechanism.

  374. Peregrine Falcon.
    I’m probably wrong as it is too obvious, but I’m a sucker for them!

  395. Bombay duck (bummalo). You did ask for the specific species: Harpadon nehereus. In case you’re wondering, it’s actually a fish, not a duck. I suggest looking up a picture – it’s creepy.

  419. In order to tell Athena the animal that you were thinking of, you must have been thinking of her. As she is a chordate, she seems to be the obvious guess. So… uh… Athena.

  421. How about the Green-Crested Scalzibird of North America? It’s known for it’s long and interesting songs that somehow sound like ukelele music.

  428. I’m glad I read the comments, because I was going to say elephant shrew (because they’re hilarious looking!) only to find that someone had already said it. Which kind of blows my mind.

    So intead: humuhumunukunukuapua’a, AKA the reef triggerfish, and the official state fish of Hawai’i.

  429. Came here to say “White Polar Bear,” per canon, but too late. You folks who guessed it first, consider yourselves favorited.

  467. Hypsypops rubicundus – aka the Garibaldi, the official state fish of California

  472. PANGOLIN. (I haven’t read all the other 467 comments so I don’t know if anybody already guessed that. And I don’t quite know why *I* guessed that.)

  474. Eastern pipistrelle (tri-colored bat). ‘Cause “pipistrelle” is so fun to say.

  475. I DON’T CARE! I just finished reading Unlocked and I think you should give me an ARC because I will not make it until August without reading the book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  484. I feel wrong that I’ve never commented on your blog until there was potentially something in it for me……. but pushing that aside…. a springbok.

  485. A bush baby……(remember, that’s what Heywood Floyd’s daughter wanted him to bring her back from the moon in “2001: A Space Odyssey”)

  487. Bos grunniens (the Yak, of course). I’m going to feel really stupid if the answer is Bos mutus, though.

  500. I’m going Trilobite, too. But more specifcally Olenoides. Because I think that is the one in that time travelling movie where a group of kids go back to see a live one (that I can’t remember).

  506. Aye Aye. I’m thinking of the one who lives at the Cincinnati Zoo, but you probably are not. Amazing critters.

  507. Cygnus buccinator, the Trumpeter Swan.

    (Because Dimetrodon was already taken.)

  508. [Deleted because slagging on people for participating in a giveaway is silly, Guess – JS]

  523. Hoping you were setting this up at dinner or while watching a certain episode of Futurama, I’m going to guess anchovy.

  529. the False Catshark ( as recently found around Pitcairn Islands)
    as opposed to the too obvious Lemonpeel Angelfish (which is quite photogenic)

  542. Ok, I know you gave us a hint but I still am going to go with my first thought.. namely the Naked Mole Rat!

  558. Hairy-eared dwarf lemur. Not because I think that’s what you’re thinking, but because it’s a fantastic name for an animal.

  575. You were thinking of your cat, Fluffy. (Yes, I’m too lazy to look up that Welsh-or-whatever spelling.)