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McGowan never lets up in the trauma either. Once one foe is dealt with, another soon comes upon our dogs. Your heart isn't allowed to relax, and the scenes of animal violence can be quite graphic at times. With ever-present threats from wolf, bear and lynx, much of the action is visceral and bloody, reflecting lives lived on the edge where life and death choices are a daily challenge. Quite the unusual read, this – an unexpected drama set in a unique situation. The plot is split between Natasha, a young girl who has only just been given a brilliant white puppy when Chernobyl goes belly-up and her home is evacuated, and dog forced to stay behind, and Mother, a feral mistress of the hunt and the two survivors of her latest litter. To be fair, Natasha only crops up every few chapters as a reminder she's there, and we see the hole in her heart the abandonment of Pripyat and her pup created. The core thing is watching Mother, Misha and the semi-lame Bratan grow together as a family unit. And while they have each other they don't have it all their own way – lynx, bear and wolves are definite threats, and Bratan's hind legs hampering his speed don't help either. Her joy turns to heartbreak, however, when she is dragged from her bed in the middle of the night and evacuated to a safe place after a cataclysmic nuclear disaster: with her family but without her beloved puppy, Zoya.
Dogs of the Deadlands eBook by Anthony McGowan | Official
The inhuman and human perspectives on the tragic tale come full circle in a bittersweet way. The sense of place is excellent, the characterisation perfect, and the plot is an utterly compulsive cover-to-cover. It has many twists and turns; some chapters are nail-biting, some will make you smile, and some will give you tears. Keith Robinson's illustrations are beautiful, making you want to imitate the “awww factor” once you see those adorable dogs. This gripping and unusual tale imagines how life might have evolved for the domestic animals forced to become wild in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster and the repercussions for their owners. Ultimately, it’s quite an adventure story and unique when it comes to dog stories. I salute McGowan’s efforts to create an exciting, realistic, and heartfelt story that keeps the reader guessing and gasping! I would certainly recommend for 10 and up, with some content advisory involving (natural but graphic) violence among animals. It certainly earns its place among the more engrossing animal adventures.Overall, Dogs of the Deadlands is a magical tale of love, loss, loyalty, hope, survival, separation, and reconciliation. It not only teaches us a lot about the animal kingdom but also gives us deep insights into humanity. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. People who love dogs and tales of survival would especially enjoy this book. Book Details Zoya is one such puppy, a Samoyed left behind by a traumatised little girl, taken away to the city and promised a swift return which never comes. It also shows us Misha, born in the wild to a dog and raised among savagery and Darwinian 'survival of the fittest' principles.
Dogs of the Deadlands | BookTrust Dogs of the Deadlands | BookTrust
The story then follows Zoya, who finds life in the woods, starts a family, and then we see her son and his journey. It is a book about struggle, some of it very harsh as Misha tries to survive. It’s also about coming home and making a life even in the midst of hard times. We also see Natasha grow up and become a focused and sullen scientist, but one with deep wounds. Those wounds can only heal if she can take a step outside of herself and build the relationships she desperately needs. McGowan's ambition to write a realistic survival story about dogs in Chernobyl paid off. Writing a story with animals as main characters, with the only dialogue coming from human characters, and having it be just as heartfelt, engaging, and anxiety-inducing as if it were humans is no easy feat. Yet McGowan pulls it off. He conveys different personalities from these animals, and I could easily distinguish them from one another, despite them not speaking any words. I sped through this though, caught up in visually arresting scenes of destroyed forests, starving and brutalised animals but also comradeship and loyalty, love and trust.As with any great animal story, there is a degree of anthropomorphism, as it’s hard not to see the dogs’ personalities through human characteristics but the wild behaviour of the animals is not sugar-coated though and comes across as very realistically animal in nature.
Dogs of the Deadlands review — surviving Chernobyl
The night in Oxford was the most beautiful event I have ever done. Not just the spectacular setting (of the Sheldonian), but an unforgettable evening.
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Dogs of the Deadlands will not be for everyone, but for those who are willing to go on this journey, it will be well worth the reading. Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
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