Title: A BOY AND HIS DOG AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Author: C.A. FLETCHER
Genre: FICTION, POST-APOCALYPTIC FICTION, DYSTOPIAN FICTION, SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
Length: 336 PAGES
Publisher: ORBIT BOOKS
Received From: NETGALLEY
Release Date: APRIL 23, 2019
ISBN: 9780316449458 (Hardcover)
Price: $26.00 USD (Hardcover)
Rating: 5 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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DESCRIPTION:
My name’s Griz. My childhood wasn’t like yours. I’ve never had friends, and in my whole life I’ve not met enough people to play a game of football.
My parents told me how crowded the world used to be, but we were never lonely on our remote island. We had each other, and our dogs.
Then the thief came.
There may be no law left except what you make of it. But if you steal my dog, you can at least expect me to come after you.
Because if we aren’t loyal to the things we love, what’s the point?
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MY REVIEW:
“A man stole my dog, I went after him. Bad things happened. I can never go home.”
In a potential far future, humanity has reached the brink of extinction not with a bang, with a whimper. “It was a soft apocalypse.”
Something happened so that the majority of the population was no longer able to have children. With none, or very few, children being born, the people grew older and eventually died. With few progeny to follow after them, the world was reclaimed by nature.
Griz, a young teenager, is one of very few children left alive. He lives with his family on a remote island “… off the Atlantic coast of what used to be Scotland.”
The mainland is said to be empty of people, but his family stays away from it anyway. They have everything they need to survive on the islands surrounding their home.
Griz is lucky – he has siblings. This is rare in a world where few children are born. Griz has an older brother and sister and should have one more sister, but she died tragically a few years before Griz’s diary entries begin.
Besides his family, the only things he truly loves are his two terrier dogs; Jip and Jess.
When a jovial trader arrives on their island, he does something that changes Griz’s life forever after.
This wonderfully vivid story grabbed my attention and held it through it’s entirety. In fact, I was so engrossed in the story that I read the entire 336 pages in a single 24 hour span.
This is a coming-of-age tale like no other. Told in the style of diary entries, this book offers a unique perspective on the world as seen through the eyes of a young adult who has spent his entire life sheltered not only by geography, but also by his parents and older siblings.
A major theme of this book is the love between man and dog. It explores exactly how far someone might go to rescue their pet. As a ‘dog-person,’ I completely understand the depth of Griz’s relationships with both Jip and Jess.
Griz faces many adventures and experiences sights and sounds that previously he had only ever read about in books.
The descriptions of his travels and the wonders he sees and experiences are so vividly described that readers will feel like they are discovering the world alongside Griz.
I do not want to provide any spoilers for this story. To do it justice it needs to be read and enjoyed on your own.
Griz writes that “… no one knows the end of their story…” and I felt this quite keenly at the end of the book.
Although the loose ends are all tied up at the end of the book, and questions are answered, the author leaves open the possibility of more books starring Griz and his loyal canine companion. I, for one, cannot wait. I very much look forward to reading them.
I am rating this young adult book as 5 out of 5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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***Thank you to the Publisher and to #NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book.***
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Charlie’s a screenwriter and a novelist and he lives on the edge of Edinburgh.
He’s been lots of other things too – temperamentally unsuitable bar staff (grumpy, not talkative), temporary laundry manager in a big London hotel, detail-shop car-wash jockey in Reno, Nevada, despatch runner for a film company in Soho, food critic (not a very good one, basically never met a meal he didn’t like. Or at least eat too much of), national newspaper columnist (Scotland’s a nation, right?) and a film editor at the BBC.
He studied Literature at St Andrews University, and later took a grad degree in Screenwriting at USC.
He swims a lot, keeps thinking of taking up cycling, likes forgotten books, summers on the Outer Hebrides, terriers, his wife and his children – not necessarily in that order.
To learn more about this author, visit the following links:
Photo by Stuart Kelly
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ABOUT THE PUBLISHER:
Orbit is a leading publisher of Science Fiction and Fantasy, with imprints in the UK, US and Australia. We publish across the spectrum of Science Fiction and Fantasy – from action-packed urban fantasy to widescreen space opera; from sweeping epic adventures to near-future thrillers. Launched in 2007, Orbit US is the Science Fiction and Fantasy imprint at Hachette Book Group USA.
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MORE BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR:
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