I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday. Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog!
Today’s theme is “animals in books,” and I would normally go for a list revolving around dog companions. But I haven’t read a lot of those lately, so I decided to focus on books I’ve read that have unusual animals in them, and by “unusual” I mean animals that are hard to classify as “familiar.” In some cases, these aren’t animals at all, but I thought they had animal characteristics that reminded me of animals. Here are ten examples of recent reads, and I’m listing them alphabetically by title.
The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory
I haven’t posted my review of this yet, but I absolutely loved Gregory’s clever take on an old horror classic, The Island of Doctor Moreau. In this updated version, a famous boy band called the WyldBoyZ are made up of human/animal hybrids, genetically modified creatures with both human and animal characteristics. Oh, and they can sing in harmony.
All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter
Slatter’s beautifully written dark fairy tale is populated with creatures from the sea, both real and mythological. I especially loved a kelpie—a water horse—who becomes friends with the main character on her journey.
Birds of Paradise by Oliver K. Langmead
This beautifully written and highly imaginative story about Adam (of Adam and Eve fame) is full of wonderful creatures, the original animals and birds from the Garden of Eden, who are friends with Adam and help him with a project: to gather all the scattered bits of the Garden and bring them together again. I loved Magpie, Crow, Butterfly, Pig and Owl as they changed from animal to human form and back again.
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
This intricate fantasy includes, among it’s many fascinating human characters, a creature called Mephi, a sort of mix of a cat and an otter, who becomes the companion of one of the main characters. Mephi has an air of mystery to him, and I’m hoping to learn more in the sequel.
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
Borne isn’t animal or plant, but something perhaps in between—or something manufactured. What we do know is that Borne is extremely intelligent and keeps growing. Rachel finds Borne as a small, sea urchin-like creature and brings it home with her. Soon an unbreakable bond develops between Rachel and Borne, but Rachel’s friend Wick wants to find out what Borne is made of…
Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker
Norah and Arthur are lucky. They have been accepted into an exclusive club called Easton Grove, which promises to provide health care to all its members. Now these two strangers must live together and take care of their new bundle of joy, Nut, a cat-like creature who is the answer to all their problems.
The Gulp by an Baxter
Full of Lovecraftian influences, Baxter’s collection of novellas describes a very strange and dangerous town called the Gulp, where odd things happen every day and strangers are never welcome. In one story, a fisherman catches a very strange fish one day and brings it home with him, only to discover that the creature has plans for him…
The Hive Queen by Robin Kirk
Kirk’s brilliant science fiction series has several interesting animal-like creatures, especially in this sequel to The Bond. First, we have 12, a bioengineered war dog who is deadly but loyal. Next, the queen Odide’s attendants are human-sized bee creatures! And finally, there are the drafts, animal/plant/insect/human hybrids who are little more than failed experiments.
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
Wonderful animal creatures abound in this imaginative zombie fantasy! OK, so Shit Turd (a crow), Dennis (a Bloodhound) and Onida (an octopus) are just animals—no genetic engineering in sight—but they all communicate with each other in very anthropomorphic ways.
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden
Ogden’s beautiful and strange story takes place on a planet where humans have adapted to different environments in order to survive. Those from the Sea Clans are fish-like creatures able to breathe underwater and swim with a flick of their tails.
I haven’t read any of these yet, but I want to. Thanks for sharing!
I recommend any of them:-)
What an interesting list! I enjoyed this unique take on “animals” so thank you for sharing 🙂
Thanks Liz!
Well, of course ST is on my list this week too! I have Dr Moreau, Composite Creatures, and Murmuring Bones all sitting on my TBR pile. Looking forward to them!
I’ve seen ST on lots of lists, and I’m not surprised:-)
It sounds like I need to read The Album of Dr. Moreau. 🙂
Yes, it’s really worth it!
I’ve not read any of these, but several are on my TBR and the one I’m most likely to read first is Hollow Kingdom. First off, you’ve said so many good things about it at so many different times I have to learn for myself what it’s about. And second, Shit Turd? ‘Nuff said! 🙂
You should read Hollow Kingdom. I’ve talked several of my friends into reading it and they were very grateful afterward:-)
I’ve been wanting to read a few of these but haven’t gotten to them yet. Animal stories that stick out to me include Cujo, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Racing in the Rain.
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…The Odd Writer
Cujo is a good one! Not sure I’d classify him as a “favorite” animal though;-)
Every time I see All the Murmuring Bones and Birds of Paradise I’m reminded that I really wanna read those.
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Book Blitz: Grave Robbing and Other Hobbies by Jayce Carter + Giveaway (INTL)
I loved both of them:-)
I haven’t heard of most of these books and they sound pretty intriguing!
My post for this weeks’ TTT: https://books.thetechchef.net/top-ten-tuesday-56-animals-in-books/
They are all pretty good! Thanks for stopping by:-)
The Gulp has an intriguing premise, and anything tagged as Lovecraftian never fails to attract my attention… 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…THE NEVER HAVE I EVER TAG
Ooh The Gulp was so good!
Oh man! These covers look so awesome! Great list!
Ronyell (a.k.a Rabbitearsblog) recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday #88: Top 10 Creepy Animal Book Covers (or Covers that have the Creepiest Animals Ever)!
Thanks Ronyell!
What a fun list! I am looking forward to reading Bone Shard Daughter for sure.
It was really good:-)
Now that seems like a really cool take on Moreau!
Greg recently posted…To Love Is Human #6
It was, you should read it:-)
Birds of Paradise and Borne are gorgeous covers, with intriguing creatures indeed. And those covrs!
Those are two of my favorite covers too:-)
Oh yes, the kelpie! I loved that character from All the Murmuring Bones. Birds of Paradise sounds so interesting. Composite Creatures is one I keep seeing pop up and would really like to check out. What a great list!
Thanks Jordan!
I love your gentle bend on “animals” here, Tammy. Fun to take a good look at each interesting cover! I really enjoyed Shit Turd and friends in Hollow Kingdom, and I love that the author really has a pet crow!
Thanks Jenni! I love Kira’s Instagram account, it’s fun to see her crow:-)
I really want to read Birds of Paradise, specifically because of the animals, lol. And yay for S.T., Dennis and Onida. 🙂
Birds of Paradise was such a nice surprise:-)
Oh Mephi sounds so cute. I’ll be reading The Bone Shard Daughter soon!
Annemieke recently posted…Five Animal Companions | #TopTenTuesday 286
I hope you enjoy it:-)
I was saving this because I thought, “I’M interested in unusual animals” and I finally scroll down and — The Hive Queen! Thank you!
The Hive Queen was one I immediately thought of for this list!!
Lovely list and happy to see All The Murmuring Bones too – I wouldn’t have thought of that.
Lynn 😀
Lynn recently posted…Can’t Wait Wednesday : Paper and Blood (Ink and Sigil #2) by Kevin Hearne