# Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky



## Vertigo (Sep 2, 2019)

“My name is Rex. I am a Good Dog”

Rex is an augmented bioform based, mainly, on dog genes with a lot of cyborg thrown in. He is the leader of a Multiform Assault Pack along with a bear bioform, a chameleon one and a bee swarm one(s). He is programmed to unquestionably love and obey ‘Master.’ But what, if anything, can he do when ‘Master’ makes him perform atrocities especially if he doesn’t really realise that is what he is doing?

This is a brilliant book; Tchaikovsky is rapidly moving up to the ranks of my favourite authors, it’s just a shame he has written far more fantasy than science fiction. His writing is superb and the first chapter of this book, written from Rex’s perspective, had me riveted from the word go and if it hadn’t been seriously necessary to get some sleep I would have devoured all two hundred and fifty pages in one sitting. Tchaikovsky demonstrates an awesome ability to get inside the heads of animals that have been elevated to higher intelligence, colouring their thinking with the nature of the original animal. Whether that is the spiders of Children of Time, the octopuses and bizarre alien of Children of Ruin, or the various creatures in Dogs of War, they are totally believable and convincing; each with their own set of motivations and characteristics.

In some ways this is not an easy read; it is a very dark book that does not shy away from some of the truly horrifying sides of human nature and our need to find scapegoats for that horror. Especially if those scapegoats can’t really do anything to defend themselves. Against that background Tchaikovsky sensitively develops Rex’s character as he struggles to a better understanding of what he is and, more importantly, what his place in human society is or, at least, could be.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It is without doubt another of my top reads of 2019. And, for those arachnophobic science fiction readers put off by the spiders in the Children of Time books, there are no spiders here just chimera designed to fight violently, ruthlessly and efficiently and yet still, away from battle, be believably vulnerable. I loved the Children of Time series but they didn’t make me stop and think in the way this book has and still does.

5/5 stars


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## The Judge (Sep 2, 2019)

I read this back in May and agree wholeheartedly with everything you've said and the 5 stars you've given it.  

In case anyone needs further confirmation, here are some thoughts I scribbled at the time -- *SPOILER ALERT!*:

Rex is a bioform, a cross between a man and a dog with technology implants allowing him to operate weaponry by mind-power and “talk” to the rest of his group, a dragon, bear and Bees.  He want to be a Good Dog, so obeys his master in killing enemies; but his master is a Kurtz figure in the messy world of South American private armies, and he uses the group to kill all and any witnesses to his war crimes.  When Rex is removed from the hierarchy, he’s forced to make decisions for himself and begins to understand that Good and Bad aren’t reliant on obeying Master.  



Spoiler



“Kurtz” is tried at the ICC, but acquitted for lack of evidence when Rex is too distressed to testify against him, but when he tries to take Rex back, and orders him to kill Honey the bear, Rex is able to rebel, and then builds a life for himself and other bioforms.


  Clever writing, that creates sympathy for Rex even as he’s killing women and children, and shows his gradual ascent in vocabulary and sentence structure from a Dog-Man, through to a man with doglike qualities, to a hero 



Spoiler



who sacrifices himself to destroy Kurtz’s lab.


 Allusions to The Island of Dr Moreau, The Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now.  Discussions of law and ethics, public policy.  Very good.

I wasn't so taken with the interjecting chapters, which for me took away some of the power of Rex's story (I hate that kind of puppet-master thing in any event) but the power of the courtroom episode stays with me, and Rex's final chapter had me in tears.


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## Vertigo (Sep 2, 2019)

The Judge said:


> and Rex's final chapter had me in tears.


Me too! 

Agree with you though I quite enjoyed the alternating chapters. At least it was nearly always clear whose head you were in.

Oh, and I wondered about making mention of the Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness references but decided against it. I like that he actually mentioned them in the book especially having the more thoughtful lawyer refer to the book and the more... superficial one refer to the film!


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## The Big Peat (Sep 2, 2019)

You both make it sound excellent; its somewhere on my kindle, along with a number of other Tchaikovsky stories. In fact, he has the dubious distinction of having authored the most books that I own without having read (and he does that by far). I'll have to start making good on that after the current wave of reads is done.

Would this be a good introduction to him, or should I go for Children of Time?


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## Vertigo (Sep 2, 2019)

The Big Peat said:


> You both make it sound excellent; its somewhere on my kindle, along with a number of other Tchaikovsky stories. In fact, he has the dubious distinction of having authored the most books that I own without having read (and he does that by far). I'll have to start making good on that after the current wave of reads is done.
> 
> Would this be a good introduction to him, or should I go for Children of Time?


I have only read three of his and all of those are his science fiction books. Of those I think this is better than Children of Time and Children of Ruin. Interestingly this one was written, or at least published, between those two. As to which to read first I'm really not too sure. I would hate you to read this and then be disappointed by the others. Also, I know you enjoy fantasy and I can make no comment on his fantasy work. Though I believe the Show of the Apt books have received considerable critical acclaim.


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## The Big Peat (Sep 2, 2019)

Vertigo said:


> I have only read three of his and all of those are his science fiction books. Of those I think this is better than Children of Time and Children of Ruin. Interestingly this one was written, or at least published, between those two. As to which to read first I'm really not too sure. I would hate you to read this and then be disappointed by the others. Also, I know you enjoy fantasy and I can make no comment on his fantasy work. Though I believe the Show of the Apt books have received considerable critical acclaim.



If I read one of his Sci-Fi books first and like the style but bounce off the Sci-Fi themes, I'll be heading to his fantasy books (of which I've got four just hanging around). Just curious as to whether this or Children of Time seems more accessible.

Incidentally, I think Cage of Souls, one of his Sci-Fis, might be cheap on kindle at the moment.


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## Vertigo (Sep 2, 2019)

The Big Peat said:


> If I read one of his Sci-Fi books first and like the style but bounce off the Sci-Fi themes, I'll be heading to his fantasy books (of which I've got four just hanging around). Just curious as to whether this or Children of Time seems more accessible.
> 
> Incidentally, I think Cage of Souls, one of his Sci-Fis, might be cheap on kindle at the moment.


I think this one might be a little more accessible and having no space opera component I would say the science fiction aspects are a little less pronounced. It's far more about the psychology and morals than about the science. Though that's obviously there, it's more of a vehicle than the whole picture.

Oh and thanks for the tip on Cage of Souls as I was planning to buy it.


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## The Judge (Sep 2, 2019)

For me, it's definitely this rather than Children of Time, but I'm an arachnophobe so the whole premise of the latter put horrors in me and I only got a chapter or two in before I couldn't take any more!

If you're OK with spiders, I'd still go for this since it's a lot shorter and quickly read, and although it's not "soft" SF, to my mind it's more accessible than the beginning of CoT -- it's set in the near future and everything's pretty recogniseable.  It also has more heart from the get-go than I found in the bits I read of CoT, though obviously I've no idea how much that was developed in the later chapters of the latter.


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## Vertigo (Sep 2, 2019)

The Judge said:


> It also has more heart


Very much agree with this.


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## Danny McG (Sep 2, 2019)

The Big Peat said:


> Would this be a good introduction to him, or should I go for Children of Time?


Deffo this   
Children of Time will eventually get you snarling at the humans....."Stop messing about and get to the planet FFS!"


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## Rodders (Sep 2, 2019)

Damn you Vertigo! Not another one.


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## Rodders (Sep 3, 2019)

Based on Vertigo's review, I downloaded it for my Kindle. Rather delighted to learn that it was only £2.99. 

I also downloaded Children of Ruin. (Adrian has been on my radar for some time now, so this is just the excuse I needed to get involved.)


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## Vertigo (Sep 3, 2019)

Rodders said:


> Based on Vertigo's review, I downloaded it for my Kindle. Rather delighted to learn that it was only £2.99.
> 
> I also downloaded Children of Ruin. (Adrian has been on my radar for some time now, so this is just the excuse I needed to get involved.)


I'm sure you do but... do you know Children of Ruin is the sequel to Children of Time and only makes sense after reading CoT?


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## Rodders (Sep 3, 2019)

Yeah, sorry. I had Children of Time from an earlier download.


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## williamjm (Sep 3, 2019)

The Big Peat said:


> Would this be a good introduction to him, or should I go for Children of Time?



I think either would be a good choice. I really liked them both, I think I might say Dogs of War was better because I can't really find much to criticise in it, whereas in Children of Time I found the human characters a bit dull compared to the spiders.

I also enjoyed his Shadows of the Apt series a lot, but it was noticeable that his writing improved a lot over the course of the ten books so I'm not sure I'd suggest that as the best introduction to him.

For a fantasy reader the standalone Guns of the Dawn might also work well as an introduction, although it's a bit different to his other books so maybe not really representative.


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## Parson (Sep 3, 2019)

Would you believe *Dogs of War *by *Adrian Tchaikovsky *is not available as a Kindle version in the U.S. and Amazon calls it a "rare" book. What's going on here anyhow?


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## Cat's Cradle (Sep 4, 2019)

@Parson, I couldn't find it on Audible US (Audible.com), either, a few times in the past when I wanted it (even though I live in Europe, I get my Audible books from Audible US...long story).

I found it yesterday - directly at the Audible site, for one credit (so, I didn't use that handy trick of yours of going to Amazon.com, and buying a greatly discounted Audible book in conjunction with the Kindle version; I've saved so much money using that technique, BTW, thank you).

I bought _Dogs of Wa_r yesterday after reading this thread, so thanks, all, for the postings.  Here's the link to the book at Audible US:









						Dogs of War
					

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. My name is Rex. I am a good dog.... Rex is also seven feet tall at the shoulder, bulletproof, bristling with heavy-calibre weaponry, and a deadly weapon in a dirty war. He's part of a Multiform Assault Pack operating in the lawless anarchy of Campeche...




					www.audible.com
				




edit - weird thing - even though the title of the link above says Audible UK, the link takes me directly to Audible.com, not Audible.UK, which are - at least for me - two different sites. Hope this works for you.


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## Brian G Turner (Sep 4, 2019)

Cat's Cradle said:


> edit - weird thing - even though the title of the link above says Audible UK, the link takes me directly to Audible.com, not Audible.UK, which are - at least for me - two different sites. Hope this works for you.



If you're in the UK, it tries to redirect you to the Audible UK homepage - but there's a link at the top asking if you really want to continue to Audible.com.


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## Parson (Sep 4, 2019)

@Cat's Cradle Someone is supplying me with the ebook so all is very well here. Thanks for the idea. I wouldn't have thought to look for an Audible version. 

BTW I'm doing much, much, less book listening. I've started listening to pod casts on my several times a week walk, and I severely curtailed book listening in the car. I found that I was often not paying enough attention to my driving.


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## Brian G Turner (Sep 6, 2019)

It's a Kindle daily deal on Amazon UK today - only 99p:




__





						Dogs of War: from the winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award eBook : Tchaikovsky, Adrian: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
					

Dogs of War: from the winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award eBook : Tchaikovsky, Adrian: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store



					www.amazon.co.uk


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## Vertigo (Sep 6, 2019)

Brian G Turner said:


> It's a Kindle daily deal on Amazon UK today - only 99p:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Why does that so often happen soon after I've already bought a book!


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## Parson (Sep 6, 2019)

Vertigo said:


> Why does that so often happen soon after I've already bought a book!


I think they wait for you to spring, and then they pounce.


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## HareBrain (Sep 7, 2019)

Vertigo said:


> Why does that so often happen soon after I've already bought a book!



I think I can top you -- I bought it the evening before Brian posted, for £2.99!

So far, I loved Rex's first chapter, but wasn't bowled over by the next two, which I found slightly by-the-numbers. Glad I persisted with it, though (lack of reading material on a flight helped) as it's now picking up again.


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## HareBrain (Sep 16, 2019)

Hmm, just abandoned this at 90% (having skimmed from about 70%).

I generally enjoyed the first 2/3 (parts of which were very compelling and exciting, though others less so), but after the ICC bit the story seemed to lose focus, or maybe that focus shifted to something less interesting to me. Rex's chapters also became annoyingly verbose, with near-endless repetitions of his basic characteristics.

Anyway, I'm not really a SF reader, so it's probably unsurprising that I didn't have the strong positive reaction that some of you have.


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## Rodders (Oct 2, 2019)

I’ve just finished this. Rex was a good dog. 

Like many of you, Rex’s final chapter drew a tear from me, too. Beautifully and Interestingly written, this is definitely my favourite book of the year.


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## Parson (Oct 2, 2019)

I posted this on the What I'm reading thread for September, but believe for future use it might be good to put this here as well.

I've finished *Dogs of War* by *Adrian Tchaikovsky*, and I'm really in a quandary about what to say about it.

The strong points:
It's very original.
The main character (Rex) is one of the most original in fiction.
It's closer to hard science fiction than science fantasy.
It's plot turns are not predictable.
It has important things to say about:
(1) human nature,
(2) where the line is between sophisticated tools and intelligent beings,
(3) the likely direction of human warfare.

The weak points:
The concluding chapters seemed rather anti-climatic.
Why Rex's team thought so highly of him at first is baffling.
I would have liked the story to have focused on Honey or Bees, much more than Rex.
There always seems to be a key player off stage that is never truly revealed, only hinted at.

Overall, I would have to recommend this book. It is a book that I believe is an important addition to the SF genre. But I just think that such original ideas should have come together in a book somewhat better than this.


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## The Judge (Oct 2, 2019)

Parson said:


> The concluding chapters seemed rather anti-climatic.


I'd agree with you about the very last chapter, Parson, but for me the chapters dealing with Rex and the assault on the facility were very necessary to end his story.  I can see why that very last chapter is there, because it could be argued the novel isn't about Rex at all, but about the wider battle in which Humos is the protagonist -- that's certainly Humos's view, of course.  As I mentioned above, I didn't like its chapters (nor the other intervening ones at the end with the extracts from Maria Hellene's book), but again I can see they're there to give the wider picture. 



> Why Rex's team thought so highly of him at first is baffling.


I don't know that they did.  Dragon is openly contemptuous of everyone else, Bees doesn't seem to think on an emotional level, at the beginning at least, and Honey seems to treat him as someone she's fond of, but who is nowhere near her intellectual equal, much like we might treat a clumsy child who is a distant relation, or an old friend who is decent and honourable, but is a friend simply because you've been through so much together.  However, the others are all bound by the hierarchy system that's an integral part of their programming -- they have to obey Rex because he's higher up the chain of command.  At one point Honey says something to the effect that she will tell him what she's doing/thinking if he orders it, but she would prefer him not to ask, and because he recognises that she is more intelligent than he is, he doesn't ask.  Plus his orders are correct for the situations they're in and in accordance with their training/programming, albeit Honey manipulates him when she can so those orders are more humane/palatable to us, so there's no reason for them not to go along with his wishes.  But to my mind that doesn't equate to thinking highly of him.



> I would have liked the story to have focused on Honey or Bees, much more than Rex.


I don't think I could have coped with Bees!  As the least human of them, she/they would have made things very difficult to follow -- I had problems enough understanding her communications!  And Honey, I think, would have made less of a story, in that she doesn't grow in the way Rex does.  She learns more of what is going on, so confirming her suspicions, but she doesn't develop -- she's intelligent and manipulative at the beginning, and is intelligent and manipulative at the end.  So as a protagonist, she'd have no character arc to speak of.  Plus she knows more of what is going on so the Humos mystery would be over and done with far sooner, unless she was also withholding information, and too much of that can be very annoying in a story.



> There always seems to be a key player off stage that is never truly revealed, only hinted at.


That "always seems to be" is, I think, a real understatement!  There's definitely a key player manipulating everyone, but although the early chapters are cryptic, I thought Humos was pretty much revealed by the end, even if we can't be sure exactly what form it takes.  I don't like that kind of puppet-master stuff, so actually I'd have been happier without his appearance and just left with nothing more than hints of something going on in the background.

But I'm glad you think it's worth recommending, even if you didn't like all of it.


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## Vertigo (Oct 2, 2019)

The Judge said:


> unless she was also withholding information, and too much of that can be very annoying in a story.


That is something I find intensely annoying. The recent book I read from Emma Newman - Planetfall - was like that. The narrator know pretty much the whole story from the beginning but only drip fed it to us. I don't mind if there's a good justifiable reason for the withholding but if it's just because there would be no narrative suspense then the whole thing starts feeling manufactured and fake.


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## Parson (Oct 2, 2019)

The Judge said:


> I don't know that they did. Dragon is openly contemptuous of everyone else, Bees doesn't seem to think on an emotional level, at the beginning at least, and Honey seems to treat him as someone she's fond of, but who is nowhere near her intellectual equal, much like we might treat a clumsy child who is a distant relation, or an old friend who is decent and honourable, but is a friend simply because you've been through so much together. However, the others are all bound by the hierarchy system that's an integral part of their programming -- they have to obey Rex because he's higher up the chain of command. At one point Honey says something to the effect that she will tell him what she's doing/thinking if he orders it, but she would prefer him not to ask, and because he recognises that she is more intelligent than he is, he doesn't ask. Plus his orders are correct for the situations they're in and in accordance with their training/programming, albeit Honey manipulates him when she can so those orders are more humane/palatable to us, so there's no reason for them not to go along with his wishes. But to my mind that doesn't equate to thinking highly of him.



Ah, but to me Honey is the key. She is smarter in that she understands the wider picture added to the fact that she and Bees are able to defeat their programming. Why would they then follow Rex so rigorously? Also Dragon clearly is not controlled to any major degree at all, he does what he "feels" like when that corresponds to his orders, and sometimes even when it does not. They all see him as a kind of puppet. So why allow themselves to be so controlled? The logic escapes me.

Rex, on the other hand, is shown to be very nearly compelled by his programming. It is only with considerable difficulty that he deviates and that is usually only when he's able to bend the deviation into some more overriding command or twist of the regular command. I thought A.T. was at his best when working with Rex and his "Good Boy" addiction.



The Judge said:


> I don't think I could have coped with Bees! As the least human of them, she/they would have made things very difficult to follow -- I had problems enough understanding her communications! And Honey, I think, would have made less of a story, in that she doesn't grow in the way Rex does. She learns more of what is going on, so confirming her suspicions, but she doesn't develop -- she's intelligent and manipulative at the beginning, and is intelligent and manipulative at the end. So as a protagonist, she'd have no character arc to speak of. Plus she knows more of what is going on so the Humos mystery would be over and done with far sooner, unless she was also withholding information, and too much of that can be very annoying in a story.



Interesting to think about.

Hm, I can see where you are coming from there. But Bees could have been a stand in for the way society makes decisions. I didn't feel that there was anything off about her decision making; that was both noble and understandable. Her communication lacked some comprehensibility from our human point of view, but I think if we were in on the way shey (see what I did there?) made her decisions we would begin to understand her communication more fully. I think it would have been terrific, if perhaps a bit on the difficult side.


The Judge said:


> That "always seems to be" is, I think, a real understatement! There's definitely a key player manipulating everyone, but although the early chapters are cryptic, I thought Humos was pretty much revealed by the end, even if we can't be sure exactly what form it takes. I don't like that kind of puppet-master stuff, so actually I'd have been happier without his appearance and just left with nothing more than hints of something going on in the background.
> 
> But I'm glad you think it's worth recommending, even if you didn't like all of it.



I guess if "we can't be sure what form it takes" is true, then I am left feeling that the character has not been revealed. But I definitely agree with you about leaving Humos completely in the background, and I'm not even sure about the hints, would have made this a better book.

*But please don't misunderstand, even if I think there are weaknesses it does not mean that I don't believe it is well worth reading. I believe that it is a possible classic. *If there is a sequel, a possibility which approaches certainly, I will read it. If I can get a hold of it. I needed Vertigo's help to get this one.

(I keep typing "Humps" for "Humos" so maybe that will be my name for this character)


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## Vertigo (Oct 3, 2019)

It's actually interesting to wonder if Tchaikovsky will do a sequel to Dogs of War. It certainly feels like there is more story that could be explored, but there is no indication anywhere that I can find that he has any plans to do so.


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## Parson (Oct 3, 2019)

Vertigo said:


> It's actually interesting to wonder if Tchaikovsky will do a sequel to Dogs of War. It certainly feels like there is more story that could be explored, but there is no indication anywhere that I can find that he has any plans to do so.


Interesting. It is then not as likely to be in the near future as I thought; and leaves the possibility of this being a stand alone. --- A rarity these days.


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## Vertigo (Oct 3, 2019)

Parson said:


> Interesting. It is then not as likely to be in the near future as I thought; and leaves the possibility of this being a stand alone. --- A rarity these days.


Well there were four years between Children of Time and Children of Ruin and he wrote a bunch of books, including this one, in between. So I guess a sequel is a possibility but I don't know of any plans.


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## Rodders (Jan 10, 2020)

I think a sequel would cheapen the book. Although I must confess that I'd buy it in a heartbeat.


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## Rodders (Oct 6, 2020)

Cancel my last. Just pre-oredered Bear Head from Amazon.




*"In a sequel to the much-praised Dogs of War, Honey the genetically engineered bear takes a ride in Jimmy the Martian's head and starts a revolution on the Red Planet.*

Mars. The red planet. A new frontier for humanity: a civilization where *humans can live in peace*, lord and master of all they survey.

But this isn't Space City from those old science-fiction books. It's more like *Hell City*, built into and from a huge crater. There's a big silk canopy over it, feeding out atmosphere as we generate it, little by little, because *we can't breathe the air here*.

I guess *it's a perfect place to live*, if you want to live on Mars. At some point I must have wanted to live on Mars, because here I am. The money was supposed to be good, and how else was a working Joe like me going to get off-planet exactly? But I remember the videos they showed us – guys, not even in suits, watching robots and bees and Bioforms doing all the work – and *they didn't quite get it right*..."

Actually, I am surprised that Tchaikovsky doesn't have his name in the Featured Author section of the Chrons.


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## Brian G Turner (Oct 6, 2020)

Rodders said:


> Actually, I am surprised that Tchaikovsky doesn't have his name in the Featured Author section of the Chrons.



Not many discussions specifically about his writing: adrian tchaikovsky


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## Vertigo (Oct 6, 2020)

Rodders said:


> Cancel my last. Just pre-oredered Bear Head from Amazon.
> 
> *"In a sequel to the much-praised Dogs of War, Honey the genetically engineered bear takes a ride in Jimmy the Martian's head and starts a revolution on the Red Planet.*
> 
> ...


Well I guess I'm going to have to add that one to my list!


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## Rodders (Oct 6, 2020)

I, for one, can't wait for your review, Vertigo.


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## .matthew. (Oct 6, 2020)

Just added it to my Goodreads list and noticed his bio.


> ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology



That explains a lot of his writing, from Shadows of the Apt, to Dogs of War


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## mistri (Dec 6, 2020)

Just read the new one (via NetGalley) and it's very very good. You definitely want to read the Dogs of War first, though.


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## Rodders (Aug 28, 2021)

I finished Bear Head this morning and I very much enjoyed it. As with DoW, it was an easy read but I found Thompson quite a frightening in places.


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## .matthew. (Aug 28, 2021)

Rodders said:


> I finished Bear Head this morning and I very much enjoyed it. As with DoW, it was an easy read but I found Thompson quite a frightening in places.


I gave up on Bearhead, it creeped me out too much. Me putting off finishing it also led me to not read a proper book for two whole months afterwards lol.


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## Rodders (Aug 28, 2021)

Wow, sorry to read that .matthew. What put you off?

I struggled emotionally with the chapters involving Thompson's secretary, Springer as the conflict between her collared obedience and her revulsion was really well done. I'm glad she got a happy ending, she deserved it.


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## .matthew. (Aug 28, 2021)

It was pretty much those bits myself. He really did write them well but dammmn if it wasn't just the creepiest. That and the Mars chapters didn't really interest me


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## Vertigo (Aug 28, 2021)

I have this one due up in about 3 books time.

I've just recently finished his novella The Expert System's Champion which together with The Expert System's Brother make a nice pair of intriguing shorts. It will be interesting to see if he's going to give us more in both of these series.


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## Rodders (Aug 29, 2021)

I can't wait for your review. 

I have Children of Time and Children of Ruin in my Kindle ready to read and i think that Tchaikovsky may be the author to fill a Banks sized hole in my life.


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## Vertigo (Aug 29, 2021)

Rodders said:


> I can't wait for your review.
> 
> I have Children of Time and Children of Ruin in my Kindle ready to read and i think that Tchaikovsky may be the author to fill a Banks sized hole in my life.


I don't quite put him up there but he has certainly joined my top four SF authors to make it five; Banks, Asher, Hamilton, Reynolds and now Tchaikovsky. Interestingly all Brits! Don't know if that's because they are actually better or just more suited to my British sensibilities! These are pretty much the only authors that I will automatically buy anything new they put out (sadly not Banks, of course) without even needing to read what they are about.


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## Rodders (Aug 29, 2021)

I say Banks because there is something about his writing that always made me feel the need to stop and think each time i read one of his books. Of the Tchaikovsky books I've read (and i have to confess to only reading two), I've felt the same need to pause and digest what I've read.


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## Fiberglass Cyborg (Aug 29, 2021)

I really, really love this book. Both conceptionally and emotionally, it's spot on. Never have I felt so much sympathy for a killer dogborg.... Seriously, the narration from Rex's viewpoint is next-level stuff. (I have a signed hardback copy with a little sketch of a dog!)


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