Dogs of War packs all you could want from your Science Fiction, along with everything you didn’t realise you wanted for good measure. It’s is not what you think. It’s more. Dogs of War is a work of art.
Rex is a Bioform – part dog, part AI. Along with Dragon, Honey and Bees they form a Multiform Assault Pack. A team of Bioforms created by humans to work in life threatening scenarios. These same humans happen to be interested in making money.
What could possibly go wrong?
The Blurb:
My name is Rex. I am a good dog.
Rex is also seven foot tall at the shoulder, bulletproof, bristling with heavy calibre weaponry and his voice resonates with subsonics especially designed to instil fear. With Dragon, Honey and Bees, he’s part of a Multiform Assault Pack operating in the lawless anarchy of Campeche, south-eastern Mexico.
Rex is a genetically engineered Bioform, a deadly weapon in a dirty war. He has the intelligence to carry out his orders and feedback implants to reward him when he does. All he wants to be is a Good Dog. And to do that he must do exactly what Master says and Master says he’s got to kill a lot of enemies.
But who, exactly, are the enemies? What happens when Master is tried as a war criminal? What rights does the Geneva Convention grant weapons? Do Rex and his fellow Bioforms even have a right to exist? And what happens when Rex slips his leash?
Tchaikovsky delves deep into the ethical questions around AI as the Bioforms rip into human assigned targets. The near future military beginning of Dogs of War is frighteningly plausible. The emotions evoked by these man made beasts are tangible as they learn from their tactical deployments.
Suitably like the AI within Dogs of War, the plot develops and grows. Insidious legal and social drama steps up the pace and expands on the issues surrounding Rex and the many Multiform Assault Packs used in the well developed and thought out environments. Those who are familiar with Tchaikovsky’s work wouldn’t expect anything less.
The multiple points of view used to share their story further enhances an already tense read, without burying either the plot or reader in warnings of morality. It is beautifully done, and not a sign of a soapbox lecture anywhere. Caution whispers through Rex’s desire to be a Good Dog and looks to establish ground around Asimov’s three laws. Philip Larkin noted that parents can mess you up, and Tchaikovsky raises the point that so can your programming.
Provocative, action packed, articulate, heart breaking… and on top of that, it’s a book I could read in a weekend.
If you’ve been put off reading Tchaikovsky and haven’t yet picked up anything else by him, start here because Dogs of War is absolutely recommended and a must read.
© Shellie Horst – SFFWorld.com August 2018
Author Site: http://shadowsoftheapt.com/
Twitter: @aptshadow
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: Nov 2017
