Dogs of War: Dogs of War, Book 1
By Adrian Tchaikovsky
Head of Zeus Publishing
ASIN: B06XXJ4P9H
Kindle version; file size 7308 KB; © 2017
Paperback, 352 pages; © 2022
Bear Head: Dogs of War, Book 2
By Adrian Tchaikovsky
Head of Zeus Publishing
ASIN: B08DJJBQ1M8
Kindle version; file size 3695 KB; © 2021
Paperback, 400 pages; © 2023
Before this duology, I’d read only one Adrian Tchaikovsky book (Cage of Souls). I loved every page of it, but I loved these books even more. I admit I was a bit dubious going in, knowing that the main character in each book was not exactly an animal, definitely not human, but what the author calls “bioforms.” I mean, the last time I read a book where the main character was a dog—and enjoyed it—I was probably reading at the mid-grade level. These books are high-level, science-y narratives, even while remaining accessible. Rex (in Dogs of War, book 1) and Honey (in Bear Head, book 2) were completely relatable. I empathized with their plights, felt their fear, followed their dreams, and loved every minute.
Bioforms aren’t the only point-of-view characters here. The human ones are just as relatable, if for different reasons. The tech throughout the stories is “headware,” or modifications to animals’ brains to allow for stronger physiques, greater stores of intelligence, data storage, and—yep, you guessed it—controllability by humans, not all of whom have the animals’ best interests at heart. Human sentiment, in the beginning, is in favor of that control until something changes things, swings their sympathies over to stand in support of a “collared” bioform dog. But of course, humans being humans, the science doesn’t stop there. Other humans are animals, too, and those in high places can find thousands of reasons to “collar” human workers.
I won’t share more, as I don’t want to include spoilers. Just know that this is a deep dive into some shadowy places, and the scariest part is that it feels totally plausible—maybe not today, or next year, but possibly in the foreseeable future. Only the story doesn’t dive directly into that well. No, Tchaikovsky leads you down, little by little until you are totally enmeshed in the plot and wanting to see the characters through. He definitely grabbed me by the shoulders and wouldn’t let me go; I could not get enough, and by the time I hit about 65% of the way through each book, it was impossible to put down. Tasks got shunted aside. Chores were delayed. Phones and emails were ignored. It was that good.
This is genetic engineering science fiction at its best. Most highly recommended.