Hunter, Erin. (2012). Survivors: the empty city. New York: HarperCollins.
[After surviving a catastrophic natural event that has left the city in ruins and caused all humans (a.k.a. longpaws) to evacuate leaving the city desolate, Lucky escapes from the cage in the “Trap House” where he found himself and sets out to fend for food and shelter. Lucky eventually comes across, and grudgingly agrees to “lead”, a diverse pack of wayward dogs who were all pets before The Big Growl and now don’t know how to survive on their own, and ends up training his long-lost sister to become the leader of the group. In this dystopian dog story (dystopian stories aren’t just for humans anymore!), the Erin Hunter consortium (in this case, Gillian Philip) turns its eye to canines after its success with cats (Warriors) and bears (Seekers). This one continues to spread the messages of Earth preservation and spirituality found in the other series, but the plot wanders as aimlessly as the pack of dogs, a lot is left unexplained (What caused The Big growl? How did all of the human evacuate so quickly? Why was Lucky in the the “Trap House” to begin with?), and there are some ridiculous exchanges between the pups. For instance, when one of the dogs suggests putting the food they have scavenged into the cold river and calling it a “cold-box”, one of the other dogs remarks, “But can we call it our ‘river-store’? Instead of a cold-box?” The first replies, “Well, I don’t see why not. That’s a much better name anyway. More… more doggish.” Sure, because it seems more “doggish” for an animal to have a complicated system of bartering goods than to be able to recognize a basic sensation and a simple shape… That said, it is interesting to get to see Lucky turn from staunch loner to reluctant leader over the course of his journeys (as seems to be par for the course for Hunter’s protagonists) and ultimately try to get the former “pet dogs” to be self-sufficient. A cliffhanger ending ensures that Hunter enthusiasts will pick up the next installment when it is released this coming spring.]
STARTED:
Meloy, Colin. (2012). Under Wildwood. New York: Balzer + Bray.
[Reviewing for ACL... but this doubles as a pleasure read because I loved the first book...]
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