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A review by kateywumpus
The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Okay. Wow. So this book kind of defies genre. It's a... post-apocalyptic speculative fiction with the narrative structure of urban fantasy. The apocalypse came, and society rebuilt itself, and now another kind of apocalypse is on the horizon that only a few people know about, and it's set in a city that, ten years after a revolution, has eschewed traditional technology, replacing as much as they could with bioengineering. And then there's a kind of hidden world of magic, which is where the urban fantasy part comes from, and all of this is wrapped around a core of Maori culture. It's very bizarre, very unique, and I love the hell out of it.
The main character is bi in a very religious society where any kind of same-sex stuff is considered 'degenerate,' so when they caught her, instead of firing her, since she was only half-degenerate, they demoted her instead. She finds her way to a pirate ship filled with 'degenerates' and other outcasts crewed by a lesbian captain and her trans femme first mate/lover, and a whole host of queer characters of one sort or another. There's only one cishet guy that we follow, but he can be forgiven because he's an interesting character. Oh, and most of the cast are PoC in one way or another.
My only real complaint is that the book is kind of short (at least for me), and the ending was a bit abrupt. It could have used a bit of fleshing out, but as far as complaints go it's relatively minor. But, yeah, other than that it's a solid book that's worth reading, though I will advise before you dig in that there's some pretty gruesome body horror in it. If that's not your jam, then you might want to skip this one. Easy five stars.
The main character is bi in a very religious society where any kind of same-sex stuff is considered 'degenerate,' so when they caught her, instead of firing her, since she was only half-degenerate, they demoted her instead. She finds her way to a pirate ship filled with 'degenerates' and other outcasts crewed by a lesbian captain and her trans femme first mate/lover, and a whole host of queer characters of one sort or another. There's only one cishet guy that we follow, but he can be forgiven because he's an interesting character. Oh, and most of the cast are PoC in one way or another.
My only real complaint is that the book is kind of short (at least for me), and the ending was a bit abrupt. It could have used a bit of fleshing out, but as far as complaints go it's relatively minor. But, yeah, other than that it's a solid book that's worth reading, though I will advise before you dig in that there's some pretty gruesome body horror in it. If that's not your jam, then you might want to skip this one. Easy five stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexual content and Transphobia