Book picks similar to
Wild Dog City by Lydia West


animals
animal-fiction
xenofiction
sci-fi

The Unfortunate Expiration of Mr. David S. Sparks


William F. Aicher - 2018
    Dick, William Gibson, Kurt Vonnegut and Michael Crichton.Discover why readers are calling The Unfortunate Expiration of Mr. David S. Sparks "an intricate and evocative sci-fi triumph," "a feat of impossible imagination," and "a complete science fiction masterpiece." Who is David S. Sparks? Where is David S. Sparks? When is David S. Sparks? In the aftermath of The Chemical Wars, nature has reclaimed humanity's infrastructure. This world, lush with life - yet dangerously uninhabitable for mankind - houses the remaining population who ekes out an existence in quarantined cities anchored off the mainland.David S. Sparks awakens into the chaos of this future world, unsure of his place in a reality wildly different from his fragmented memories. As the desire to retake the planet swells, so too does the question of how. Will the same mistakes be repeated? Can technology beat nature, or is it time for another approach? And what is David Sparks' role in it all?Dive into a wild, mind-bending journey as one man chases the ultimate question of self, discovering the truly illusive nature of reality.--------------------------------------------------------- What Readers are Saying About The Unfortunate Expiration of Mr. David S. Sparks "Most, if not all of Aicher's stories feature characters and situations that inspire confusion, curiosity, exploration of the self, and exploration of reality. This one is no different, and it reaches new heights of tension and originality." - Peak Story Reviews"A futuristic post-apocalyptic, dystopian, mind-bending thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seats. A completely wonderful sci-fi novel that overwhelms the senses. A feat of impossible imagination and a triumph of the sci-fi genre." - Alliereads Book Blog"... you find yourself thinking about your choices in life and the way the world is headed. Is there something that we should be doing differently to stop this from happening? What's more, this world was unique from many I have read in the post-apocalyptic genre (which is increasingly hard to find any more.)" - Official Onlinebookclub.org Review"If you like futuristic mystery, this one is definitely worth your time." - Sci-Fi & Scary"... a book with multiple levels of interpretation and the author manages to awake the ancestral and subconscious fears of the human being, in the best tradition of science fiction." - Eva Garcia Fornet, author Keep Ithaka Always In Your Mind"A thought-provoking, intellectual book about our environment, digitally obsessed society, and need for self-preservation, Aicher sneakily creates an ingenious modern day satire with David Sparks.

Wolf: The Journey Home


Asta Bowen - 1997
    Told believably from Marta's point of view, the story takes the reader deep into a wolf's world, as Marta's determination to protect her pups and find their way home takes her on adventures that are by turns heart warming, perilous, and ultimately tragic.

Red Rising


Pierce Brown - 2014
    "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.""I live for you," I say sadly.Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Wolf of Shadows


Whitley Strieber - 1985
    In the terrible aftermath of a nuclear holocaust, a wolf and a human woman form a mysterious bond that brings each close to the spirits of the shattered earth.

Meat


Joseph D'Lacey - 2008
    Its people depend on meat for their survival, meat supplied by the processing plant on the edge of town.Meat is sanctified in Abyrne, a precious commodity eaten with devout solemnity by everyone except for a handful of people who won't, who suspect that the town is evil, rotten to its core.A feud smoulders between the town's religious and secular powers - whoever controls the meat supply controls everything,But the townsfolk are hungry, they must be fed...They must be fed.

The Passage


Justin Cronin - 2010
    government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. Wolgast is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors, but for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—toward the time an place where she must finish what should never have begun.With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterly prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

The Pawn in the Portal


Nick Cole - 2016
    Ward, a tier-one operator turned mercenary, has just flung himself off the cargo deck of a doomed C-130. Now he’s out of the Drop Zone and evading the undead as a terrible new breed of hunter enters the Wyrd. But these new, faster predators might not be the only thing to fear in an apocalypse beset by zombies, nukes and killer A.I.’s. One of the last warriors of a collapsed government is planning on putting up some big numbers in this final, ultimate game of Survivor, until he finds a mysterious new companion... a stranger dressed in black.

The Bees


Laline Paull - 2014
    Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen. Yet Flora has talents that are not typical of her kin. And while mutant bees are usually instantly destroyed, Flora is reassigned to feed the newborns, before becoming a forager, collecting pollen on the wing. Then she finds her way into the Queen's inner sanctum, where she discovers secrets both sublime and ominous. Enemies roam everywhere, from the fearsome fertility police to the high priestesses who jealously guard the Hive Mind. But Flora cannot help but break the most sacred law of all, and her instinct to serve is overshadowed by a desire, as overwhelming as it is forbidden...Laline Paull's chilling yet ultimately triumphant novel creates a luminous world both alien and uncannily familiar. Thrilling and imaginative, The Bees is the story of a heroine who changes her destiny and her world.

Sand


Hugh Howey - 2014
    A new one has been forged atop the shifting dunes. Here in this land of howling wind and infernal sand, four siblings find themselves scattered and lost.Palmer has never been the same since his father walked out twelve years ago. His elder sister, Vic, is trying to run away from the past; his younger brothers, Connor and Rob, are risking their lives to embrace it. His mother, left with nothing but anger, is just trying to forget.Palmer wants to prove his worth, not only to his family, but to himself. And in the barren, dune-covered landscape of his home, there is only one way to earn respect: sand-diving. Plunging deep below the desert floor in search of relics and scraps of the old world. He is about to embark on the most dangerous dive of his young life, aiming to become the first to discover the rumoured city below.Deep within the sand lies the key to bringing his family together – and tearing their world apart.

Angelic, Vol. 1: Heirs & Graces


Simon Spurrier - 2018
    But for one young winged monkey the repressive tribal routines are unbearable. Her name is QORA. She yearns to explore, to discover... to fly free.Eisner nominee SIMON SPURRIER (The Spire, CRY HAVOC, X-Men Legacy) and star artist CASPAR WIJNGAARD (LIMBO, Dark Souls, Assassin's Creed) unite for an all-ages-friendly fable about teenage rebellion and animal antics amidst the ruins of civilization.Collects ANGELIC issues 1-6.

Burn Bright


Marianne de Pierres - 2011
    Retra is a Seal – sealed minds, sealed community - no craving for parties or pleasure. What are the Night Creatures Retra can see in the shadows? What happens to those who grow too old for Ixion? Without Joel, is her eternal bond with a Riper guardian enough to save her? Listen well, baby bats. Burn bright, but do not stray from the paths. Remember, when you live in a place of darkness you also live with creatures of the dark.

Forest of Memory


Mary Robinette Kowal - 2016
    Her clients are rich and they demand items and experiences with only the finest verifiable provenance. Other people’s lives have value, after all.But when her A.I. suddenly stops whispering in her ear she finds herself cut off from the grid and loses communication with the rest of the world.The man who stepped out of the trees while hunting deer cut her off from the cloud, took her A.I., and made her his unwilling guest.There are no Authenticities or Captures to prove Katya’s story of what happened in the forest. You’ll just have to believe her.

The Iron Breed


Andre Norton - 2012
    But when a star ship arrives carrying Johnny’s original species, humans–humans who seek to exploit the People for their own ends–Johnny is forced to choose between loyalty to the creatures he considers his family, and the need to reconnect with his long lost heritage.Breed to Come:  On a distant future Earth, humans have polluted the planet and departed, leaving their pets behind to inherit a blasted world.  But from that devastated past, a new breed of intelligence arises: the catlike People.  Now humans return and the People are in no mood to deal once again with the “demons” who abandoned them to fate so long ago.

Raptor Red


Robert T. Bakker - 1995
    She is an intelligent killer...So begins one of the most extraordinary novels you will ever read. The time is 120 million years ago, the place is the plains of prehistoric Utah, and the eyes belong to an unforgettable heroine. Her name is Raptor Red, and she is a female raptor dinosaur.Painting a rich and colorful picture of a lush prehistoric world, leading paleontologist Robert T. Bakker tells his story from within Raptor Red's extraordinary mind, dramatizing his revolutionary theories in this exciting tale. From a tragic loss to the fierce struggle for survival to a daring migration to the Pacific Ocean to escape a deadly new predator, Raptor Red combines fact and fiction to capture for the first time the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of the most magnificent, enigmatic creatures ever to walk the face of the earth.

Children of Time


Adrian Tchaikovsky - 2015
    Humanity's last survivors escaped earth's ruins to find a new home. But when they find it, can their desperation overcome its dangers?WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age—a world terraformed and prepared for human life.But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?