The plot thickens for Sandor, the hound dog, and his human, Jesse, as they attempt to make their way across the country to reunite Jesse with her half-brother.

“Jesse is growing up, and signs of it frighten Sandor more than they even frighten her. Sandor fears, so much, that he will be unable to protect Jesse from all pain, all terror, aware that he will not be there for her adulthood.”

Now that all of the animals are sentient, the lines between human and animal, predator and prey have blurred. Certain species are starving to death. Other species are being farmed for their meat. It’s a dark story, but still fascinating in the way it flips reality on its head.

“The honeybees have retreated to some secret place, and the ants threaten blistering violence for the paw that reads the wrong mound, yet each seem unusual in their clannishness to their own kind.”

Along with their new sentience, some of the animals are considering the state of their souls… do they have one, and where do they go when they die? Others are banding together to fight against the humans or each other. And still others are protecting the only person or thing they care about, like Sandor.

My favorite part of this issue was the series recap at the end where the author, Marguerite Bennett, gives a brief glimpse into what’s going on in every state and country since the animals “woke”. Highlights include my home state of Illinois trying to figure out how to regulate the new reality (you know they would) and her description of the new Mongolia: “Little has changed.”

Honestly, this book is worth reading if only for that section. I can’t help but be impressed by the imagination it took to combine the cultures, unique creatures and people of each corner of the world and provide its own mini-story.

The artwork, as you can tell from the cover, is haunting in places. You see animals wielding human weapons and wearing clothing. But it’s not cute, the overall effect is very disturbing. I won’t soon forget a deer lobbing a hand grenade into a group of shadowy figures in the forest and I think that’s probably the point.

Recommended for fans of dark science fiction graphic novels. Thanks for reading!

To read more of my reviews of graphic novels, go to
https://thehelpdeskbookblog.wordpress.com/category/comic-or-graphic-novel/page/1/

• The Ballad of a Small Player: a Metaphysical Movie Review
• Otherwhere: A Field Guide to Nonphysical Reality for the Out-Of-Body Traveler by Kurt Leland
• Psychic Dreamwalking: Explorations at the Edge of Self by Michelle Belanger
• Archetypes on the Tree of Life: The Tarot as Pathwork by Madonna Compton
• The Goddess and the Shaman: The Art & Science of Magical Healing by J.A. Kent