Strange Dogs: An Expanse Novella
by James S.A. Corey
I think
The Expanse short fiction has largely fallen into two categories: that which is kind of interesting if you already have buy-in on the characters and setting (
The Butcher of Anderson Station,
Drive) and that which isn't even that interesting then (
Gods of Risk,
The Churn). But I felt the last one,
The Vital Abyss, was pretty good, and
Strange Dogs is the best yet. It's the first I would say stands completely alone, in that I would recommend it as a piece of solid sf even to someone who hasn't been reading
The Expanse. It's set on one of the extrasolar colonies, the one the rebel Martians fled to after
Nemesis Games, and focuses on a young girl who lives there. Though she was born on Earth, it's this planet that's really her home, and unlike her parents, she doesn't mind that the Martian military won't let them return to Earth through the gate. The book follows her experience as a child on this planet, especially with the planet's strange wildlife-- the "dogs" of the title. (I thought the title was going to be a metaphor, but no, this book is literally about strange dogs.) It's really well written and well observed and very off-putting in a good way, a great slice of how children think and process grief. And if you've read all the other
Expanse stories, it's even better, giving you some idea of what Admiral Duarte is like. It has sort of an open ending, and I can't decide if I want to see it pay off in one of the novels later on, or if it works just fine as is, a weird little side jaunt in this big old universe.
I read an Expanse story every eighty-ish days. Next up in sequence: Persepolis Rising
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