Groundbreaking, rebellious biopunk epic

The Dawnhounds is weird. Set in post-apocalyptic secondary world and a biopunk city full of fungal houses where soldiers are armed with guns that shoot "grubs" that eat the bodies they hit and cops are armed with rapidly growing vines and many folk have strange body modifications, like cuttlefish skin or eyes that are bee hives.

The Dawnhounds does not hold your hand. It does not explain itself. The world is rich and complicated, the affairs of its gods are mysterious, the knotted tangle of another world's history shapes the story but greatly exceeds the narrative of the first book's bounds. Much of what happens is set up for future books in Endsong. Re-reading The Dawnhounds after reading The Sunforge allowed me to better put together the pieces of what is happening in the world and with the gods.

The Dawnhounds is unapologetically queer from beginning to end. It is also unapologetically political. Don't let the cop protagonist fool you, this book is not copaganda. This is a story of queer rebellion and queer love and the necessity of these things in resistance against the state, the police, the military, and the rising tide of fascism.

Stronach's brilliant imagination makes her a fantasy author to pay attention to. Do yourself a favour. Read this book. Read the next one, which is even better. The Endsong series has all the makings of a groundbreaking work of imaginative fantasy; dark, political, and deeply, foundationally queer.

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