Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another strong work from someone who is quickly becoming my favorite author. I'm only three books deep into Tchaikovsky's works, but I already feel like I say that I'm in safe hands with anything he's put his name on. His works have been so diverse and thoughtful and he has a special talent for exploring all of the concepts that make up his stories as deeply as possible, all of which come together to make an incredibly satisfying reading experience. I'm being vague to refer to all of Tchaikovsky's works that I've read so far, but it goes without saying that Dogs of War is no exception to my praise.
One of my favorite subgenres of sci-fi is "artificial intelligence learning about the world and pondering its existence," so this book was great for me. I loved it even more because it took avenues to explore those questions that I haven't seen taken before. For example, there was a scene in the book where a Muslim character described non-human intelligences from the perspective of what is written in the Quran. In these kinds of stories, you see a lot of Christian-centric positions talking about how AI is an invalid form of life because it violates God's will. It was interesting to see other religions invited into this conversation, especially because the Muslim perspective actually validated AI for being capable of attaining God. It's little details like that that make this book so satisfying to read. Compared to Tchaikovsky's other works, Dogs of War is very short, but every one of its 346 pages contains thoughtful discussions about its core moral conundrums all the way through. The worldbuilding is also fantastic, and you really get to see the technology at the core of this story pushed to its absolute limits. I loved being surprised by how many ideas could be extracted from the core concept of bioforms and brain augmentation. Add to that a colorful and lovable cast of characters, and you have all the makings for a very good read.
If you're looking for a book about cyborg furries committing war crimes and dealing with the legal and ethical consequences of that, then please look no further than Dogs of War.
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