Dogs of War (2017 novel)
Dogs of War is a dystopian sci-fi, cyberpunk novel by UK author Adrian Tchaikovsky, published in 2017 by Head of Zeus. It forms the first part of the Bioforms trilogy, and is followed by Bear Head and Bee Speaker.
Background
The title, Dogs of War, refers to a phrase spoken by Mark Antony in Act 3, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war."Tchaikovsky acknowledges that Dogs of War came directly from his reading of H.G. Wells’ novel, The Island of Dr Moreau. He also mentions the influence of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men in relation to Rex, his main protagonist. Although Tchaikovsky says in interview that he had a childhood phobia of dogs, he goes on to say that his research into the science of domestication and the study of how dogs' brains work led him to "like dogs in the abstract."
Plot
The novel is set in the near future, in a world in which warfare has evolved to include bio-engineered, non-human soldiers.The main protagonist and first-person narrator, Rex, is a human/canine Bioform, heavily armed and genetically engineered to be a weapon of war. Along with his companions, Honey, Dragon and a swarm of sentient, electronic Bees, he exists to serve his master as part of a Multiform Assault Pack in war-torn Campeche, in southeastern Mexico. His responses controlled by biofeedback implants, all Rex wants is to be a Good Dog for his master. But when his master, a mercenary, is put on trial for the massacre of civilians, Rex and his companions find themselves directionless, and are forced to reassess their understanding of morality and their role within the world.
Further complications arise when it becomes clear that in the context of their master's war crimes, the Assault Pack are perceived by humans as weapons of war, rather than individuals with the capacity to learn. Faced with calls for their destruction, the team must not only survive, but persuade their human masters that they are sentient, autonomous beings who deserve to exist, rather than a dangerous experiment that needs to be erased.
The novel is followed by Bear Head, which continues Honey's story as she re-emerges as part of a data download in the mind of a human, and by Bee Speaker, published in 2025.