“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
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
