The Heart of Dog by Doranna Durgin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Apologies for the late posting, but the BaldMan had an appointment at the hospital today, and I had to be there to drive him home. Nothing serious, just one of those preventive things you must get done now and again, but he was knocked out for it, and that means no driving!
I’ve had this book on my Kindle for a good while, but what tends to happen with me is that as I add more and more books to the device, some just get pushed so far out of sight, I tend to forget about them. I was looking for something I could put on my bedside table to read before settling in to sleep and I wanted something that wouldn’t necessarily tempt me to keep going “just a few more pages.” Ah ha! Short stories fill the ticket very nicely.
The book was originally published to help defray the cost of tests and treatment for Durgin’s competition sport beagle, Connery. He has a mystery illness, probably immune system related, the manifests in multiple forms, and testing and medication and all that goes with trying to track down a non-specific issue is not cheap. So, Durgin collected some of her backlist dog stories into a volume, and when the word got out about Connery, more of her dog-loving author friends also contributed to the collection.
The result is a set of sci-fi and fantasy based short stories, all featuring dogs in one way or another. Well, one is not technically a dog as we know dogs, but who’s to say what a dog will become in the future? All are well-written and make for good reading. Some will make you laugh, some will tug at your heartstrings, some will have you holding your breath. All showcase the very essence of dogs and their human (and other) companions.
Readers should be aware that some of Durgin’s stories in the collection are set in worlds belonging to her novels and other works, so there may be some context missing if you aren’t familiar with those. But each story is self-contained and if you can set aside not knowing all the details of the background, you can enjoy each for its own tale.
These stories will appeal to anyone who loves dogs and stories about dogs, and, really, animal lovers everywhere. As ConneryBeagle himself would say, these stories are “Bawhsome!”
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Available now :
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And So On... 