A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World
4.4
18
5
1
Hardcover
USD
21.29
$21.29
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780316449458 |
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| Publisher: | Orbit |
| Publication date: | 04/23/2019 |
| Pages: | 384 |
| Sales rank: | 31,415 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d) |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World
4.4 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
18 reviews.
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Shocking twist!
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i+enjoyed+this+story+and+the+writing+of+it.+it+has+a+happy+ending%2C+and+is+hard+to+put+down.
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A page turner. A fully developed main character. Love and loyalty. Adventure. Suspense. Surprises.
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loved+the+book
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Very+well+developed+end+of+the+world+story+line.+Characters+that+one+can+connect+with.+Great+discriptive+writing.+Hard+to+put+down.
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I ended up really enjoying this book. As soon as I saw the title and read the description for this book, I knew that I absolutely had to read it. I looked forward to reading this book for months. Unfortunately, I had a really hard time getting into this book. I really think that this had more to do with my life than the book but I did have some doubts. I did hang in there with the book and am so glad that I did but this was a book that I couldn't put down before it was all over.
I love a good end of the world story and I also love stories that involve dogs. This book had both of those elements so it had a whole lot going for it before I even got too involved in the story. I loved this take on the end of the world. It was a little different than other books that I have read and I thought that it was one of the most realistic explanations that I have seen. I really felt like this could happen which really added to the impact of the story.
Griz was a great character and I found him really easy to relate to from the start. I didn't always understand everything he was doing but I was behind him on his main quest. Without a doubt, I know that if someone took my dog, I would do whatever was in my power to get her back and Griz felt exactly the same way. It was really interesting to see Griz navigate parts of the world that he has never seen as he tracked down his beloved Jess. I loved his descriptions of what was left of the world and found that I was easily able to visualize what he was seeing.
This book is told by Griz as he writes in his journal. I think that I had a bit of difficulty with Griz's voice at the start of the book but eventually warmed up to it. There were a few times were words were spelled as Griz heard them instead of the proper spelling which I would have preferred but I think that this was really the best way to tell this story.
I do recommend that readers go into this book as blindly as possible. There were a few twists that I didn't see coming which made this book really enjoyable. I do highly recommend this book but strongly suggest that readers avoid any possibility of coming across a spoiler.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Orbit Books via NetGalley.
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I absolutely love a good end of the world story and this one was absolutely wonderful! It's probably the most beautifully described post pandemic world I've ever read. The story is written from the viewpoint of Griz who lives with their family on an isolated island near what I imagine was once Ireland. Griz's family lives alone on this island and their closest neighbor is a family who lives several islands away from them. So needless to say when a stranger sails to their isle claiming to be a trader they are both cautious and excited. Unfortunately they were not cautious enough because Brand, the red bearded trader, drugs the family with exotic marmalade. To the horror of Griz's family the trader has stolen one of their precious dogs. A female terrier named Jess. Griz immediately jumps in a boat with their other family dog Jip to track down the thief and reclaim the family dog.
What then follows is a trip of discovery and test of determination when Griz faces obstacles and wonders that were only read about in the books the family had "a-vikinged" (salvaged) from trips to other islands where there were homes or towns.
This book was really wonderful. I'm the type of person who roots for the dog before I root for the human so I was a little scared to read this on account of the dog but I am so glad I did. This will definitely be a long time favorite. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review such an amazing story.
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Just as the author requested at the beginning of the book, to keep reviews spoiler free, I will give you a short introduction into the book.
Griz lives with his parents, his brother Ferg, and his sister Bar, oh and their two dogs Jip and Jess, on a remote island called Mingulay off the coast of Scotland. They are the only occupants on the island, in fact, the whole world is sparsely populated due to something called the Gelding. No-one really knows what caused the Gelding, but people stopped having children, well all but 0.0001 percent of people did.
The family rarely see any other people, so when a stranger called Brand sails up to their island they invite him in and listen to his stories of what the world is like. After eating the marmalade that Brand brought with him the family take ill and fall asleep. In the morning Griz realises that that Brand has left without a goodbye or trading any items, he soon realises it’s much worse than that though, the man had stolen Griz’s beloved pet dog, Jess.
Not thinking straight, Griz grabs a weapon and his dog and jumps into the families boat and chases after Brand. This is the story of what Griz learns about the world, the past and himself whilst trying to get his dog back.
A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World is a post-apocalyptic novel following Griz as he tries to rescue his dog Jess from a stranger who has stolen him. The way the world has come to have such few people is nothing new in the post-apocalyptic novel world, in fact, I read a book early this year which used infertility as to how the world was coming to an end, and Dan Brown used it in one of his books too.
The book is told from Griz’s point of view as he looks back over what happened to him and what he learned on his adventure trying to get his dog back. He is mainly talking to a photograph of a boy he found in an abandoned house, but it does feel like he is talking to the reader as he mentions what it must have been like before the Gelding. Afterward, the world not only lost people it also went back in time as technology disappeared and food became sparse and people had to hunt for their food.
I don’t really want to give any more away than what I have. What I will say is that the book is an adventure. There aren’t many characters in it, just like there aren’t many people left in the world. It has plenty of poignant moments and moments which might make you look at your own life and the world we currently live in.
The book is extraordinary. You can tell how much heart, blood, sweat, and tears went into creating this story. It is quite simply beautiful. It is not so much about life in a post-apocalyptic world but more about Griz, his dog, and the people and places he encounters. If you are an emotional person you might want to keep tissues at the ready throughout too.
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This book pulled me right in from the first page and I felt as if I was on the journey with Griz. The story takes place after the Gelding, a post-apocalyptic society. Griz lives with his parents, two siblings and his two dogs, Jip and Jess, on an island near what was formerly Scotland. They have some books and find it interesting to read the authors who wrote in their time about what it would be like at the end of the world. One day a man appears in their camp, Brand, offers them some marmalade which was laced with a drug and sent them all unconscious, except for Griz who ate very little of it. Griz realises that Brand has taken most of their food and stole his dog Jess. Griz resolves to set out, find Brand and rescue Jess. His journey is amazing and this book is a must-read, not just for fans of science fiction or fantasy, but for anyone who enjoys a very good read. There are many surprises during this book!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Griz's family live on an island in the Outer Hebrides, about a century after most humans have become infertile. They survive by fishing, farming and scavenging what they can from other islands and the mainland. Griz has never seen more than a handful of people.
But then a trader arrives, charms the whole family - and steals one of their dogs on the way out. Griz isn't going to stand for that. Dogs are family, after all. But the long journey over the mainland will turn the whole world upside down.
In one of those strange coincidences that often show up in publishing, this is the second book I've read recently featuring apocalypse by infertility. The other is a quieter meditation on what being human means; this is much more action packed and covers a wider area, allowing us to see the effects a lack of humanity would have on the world more clearly. I loved the little comments here and there from Griz, wondering whether we found things strange and exciting or were just used to them - things like cars and music players.
None of the other characters really stood out for me, but they weren't the point of the book anyway. There was an excellent twist near the end, one that really took me by surprise. However, I didn't like the formatting; speech isn't marked out at all, no quotation marks or even dashes, and sometimes one character's dialogue runs straight on from another's so I had to go back and reread a couple of times to untangle it. It took me right out of the story every time. Luckily, Griz is alone for huge swathes of the story, so I was able to ignore it.
This story will stay with me for a long time.
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I started by reading just the first chapter of A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World to see if it was something I would enjoy. I then spent every waking moment where I wasn’t driving, working, or taking a shower, reading it until it was over.
The world is ending with a whimper. Seventy years previously, mankind stopped being fertile and multiplying. Griz is one of the few teenagers left. Living with his family on a remote island off the coast of Scotland, Griz’ friends are his two dogs, who are siblings Jip and Jess. Jess is a rare female dog in a world where dogs were eaten for food.
Griz’s family includes his father, his brain-damaged mother, his older sister and brother. When a stranger, world-traveler Brand, lands on their island, he is welcomed suspiciously for the possibility of trading food for a much needed windmill motor. However, when Brand leaves like a thief in the night, he takes Griz’s beloved dog, Jess, with him. Griz decides that that act is his line in the sand that no one should cross. He takes the family’s boat to give chase to Brand and bring Jess home.
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is more Homer and less Walking Dead. There are no zombies in sight (thank goodness). It is a first-person coming of age quest novel. While I mentioned Homer, it can also be compared to several of the superhero movies so popular right now. There are clear heroes and villains. Griz is focused on his goal and is willing to put up with any challenge to achieve it. The ending is excellent too. While this has a rather slow pace, it is never boring. However, it has more of a literary fiction vibe and so may not be a good fit for thriller fans. In addition, the foreshadowing was annoyingly obvious. But it is definitely worth the time invested. 4 stars!
Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
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A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher is a very highly recommended story of a quest set in a dystopian world. Great novel!
Griz and family live on an island off the west coast of Scotland. They are part of only a few thousand people left in the world. The world has suffered a soft apocalypse that is called the Gelding, a global epidemic of infertility that left the vast majority of the world's population unable to have children. Griz's family sees no one else, so it is just them and their beloved dogs. Griz's dog are are Jip and Jess. When a red haired stranger shows up, saying he is a trader, he seems friendly, but when he leaves, he steals food and Griz's dog, Jess. Griz jumps into a boat along with Jip and they give chase, because you can't steal a person's dog and if you aren't loyal to those you love, what's the point?
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is an excellent, compelling, un-put-down-able story and I know this will be a contender for one of the best books of the year. It is written through Griz's voice via journal entries written after the fact. There is foreshadowing expertly interwoven in the tale of survival and courage in a strange world full of ruins. Griz is devoted to Jip and Jess and will do anything to rescue Jess from the stranger. The suspense and tension is palatable as danger abounds everywhere.
No spoilers, as I want to respect Fletcher's wishes to allow readers to experience the journey as it unfolds, so I'm not going to say too much more. The writing, though, is exceptional, and the tension and suspense is kept high. This is a classic story of an epic quest. Griz is a great character, well-developed and believable in this very different world. There are some plot twists that you will not see coming and they will shock and astound you.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Orbit.
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Many Thanks to NetGalley, Orbit Books and C.A. Fletcher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.
There is a note from C.A. Fletcher that says, and I’m paraphrasing, that is would be a kindness to other readers that the discoveries you make while you follow Griz’s journey remain a secret between us, meaning the reader and Fletcher. Who am I to go against an author’s wishes, and after reading, I understand why he is making this request. I almost think this is a disservice to categorize it as science fiction/fantasy genre, because there are readers, yes I know hard to believe, that will discount a book simply because they don’t “enjoy” that genre. I am telling you, this book is a must read, for everyone, no matter what genre you think you read. It is about love, family, loyalty, doing the right thing even when it is hard and all sorts of other things that make it so much more than a stereotypical science fiction/fantasy novel.
If you haven’t gathered, I loved everything about this book. I really found it compelling, suspenseful, touching, endearing and everything else you might want in a novel. It has adventure and heart. I think kids of all ages will enjoy this but there are scary parts, so sensitive kids and the young should wait to read this one. There are so many ways I could use this in a classroom setting, I would pick this as a classroom novel and do a whole unit on this. It is so rich. There are so many themes to explore, and it brings up so many questions, I would love to do this with a classroom of kids and hear their ideas. Griz is a noble character with great qualities and equally great flaws. The pacing of the book is tense and exciting. The story is one that will stay with me and I will be sorry to say goodbye to the characters.
Do yourself a favour - child, young adult, or adult and pick this one up.
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I've always loved apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic tales. In this story, Griz is a teen surviving well on an island a few generations after the end of the world as we know it. The world didn't end with a bang, but slowly, because of a lack of new babies. Only a VERY small percentage of people can have children so the world is empty now and everything is in ruins. The same thing happened to the dogs so those are also very few and far between. But Griz's family are the lucky ones and can have kids and have dogs who can have pups.
Enter Brand, a traveling trader who delights the family with his story telling and then makes off in the night with Griz's beloved dog, Jess.
Griz sets out after Brand to get Jess back and ends up on a journey of a lifetime.
The story is told by Griz as written in a letter format. It's told slowly. Very slowly. But the end makes up the wait to see what will happen next. Overall, I did enjoy this book.
*Thank you to NetGalley and to Orbit Books for the advance copy!*
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I was absolutely consumed by C.A. Fletcher's new book, A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World. I literally couldn't put it down, and when I did, it was only because the tension was killing me and I had to walk away before I peeked ahead!
To honor the author's request..."It'd be a kindness to other readers - not to say this author - if the discoveries made as you follow Griz's journey into the ruins of our world remained a bit of a secret between us....", I'll be circumspect.
A event has taken most of the people from the Earth. But decades later there are still pockets of survivors that have made lives for themselves. Griz and his family are one of those, living on a remote Scottish island. (it really exists) But everything changes when a stranger arrives by water. And steals Griz's dog. And, for Griz, there is no choice - he's going to get his dog back.
"There may be no law left except what you make of it. But if you steal my dog, you can at least expect me to come after you. Because if we aren't loyal to the things we love, what's the point?"
Oh, what's not to love! What is Griz going to find outside of the parameters of his island? Who is still out there? What remnants of our civilization remain? Does he get his dog back? An author's imagining of a world after ours fascinates me every time. And Fletcher's vision of a future world is fantastic.
I love that Fletcher chose a young protagonist. This journey is a coming of age story for Griz. His determination and courage will endear him to readers. His thoughts and observations as he writes in his journal give this character even more depth. And food for thought for the reader.
The dog. Ahh, readers who are dog lovers (me included) are going to appreciate the canines in this tale. It's so easy to understand why Griz is determined to find his.
Fletcher is a dastardly master of foreshadowing and cliff hanger chapter endings. A sentence dropped into a paragraph that telegraphs a clue, an impending happening in Griz's quest. This is where I wanted to peek ahead so badly. (But don't!) Griz's journey is action-packed and will have the reader on the edge of their seat.
As Griz says - "I said I especially like the ones about apocalypses and dystopias because it's always interesting to see what the Before thought the After would be like."
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is going to a be a favorite read of mine for 2019. C.A. Fletcher - if you're listening - more please!
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This book is all together introspective, post-apocalyptic and full of cute puppers. I mean that’s the trifecta, right?
Griz, is a boy who has grown up after the end of the world as we know it. His parents can recall the old days, back when the world was crowded. When dogs were plenty. When everything was electric. Now it’s mostly quiet. Griz has grown up on an island in the North of England, just him, his family and his two dogs. The island is hard to find and secluded (translation: safe), until a traveler shows up unexpectedly. He repays the family’s hospitality by drugging them and stealing their goods, including one of Griz’s beloved dogs.
Griz, for all his quiet thoughtfulness, is also bright, bold, courageous and loyal. He chases after his pet, knowing that the possibility of return to his home is slim. What follows is an adventure through a world that is familiar to us but nearly devoid of people, disused and falling apart. It gives the landscape an almost otherworldly quality, interesting to see how quickly things fall apart when we aren’t there to use them.
This is an excellent book. The main character is truly a delight and the puppers are, as will surprise no one, quite wonderful. If you liked Station Eleven, or books of that sort you will enjoy this one. I fully recommend it.
I’m really starting to love Orbit Books. I have not been disappointed once with the books I’ve gotten from them on Netgalley. They are one to watch!
Song for this book: The Call by Regina Spektor
Disclaimer. I received this book free from Netgalley
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The world has ended. However, this post-apocalyptic story does not occur as the world is ending, or immediately after the world ends. Instead, the story follows the descendants of those survivors; these people are living in what remains of the world 100 years later. And yes, the novel is about a boy who goes on a journey to recover his stolen dog. Before you judge the plot of this book, recall the plot of the movie, "John Wick."
Griz is the protagonist and we follow the events of his adventure after they happen. Griz lives with his family—parents and brother and sisters—on an island. There are other people who live in this big world, including their neighbors with whom both families make supply runs together. As mentioned in the summary, a thief—named Brand—“stops by the island” and takes one of the family’s dogs. Griz, who believes in family and doing the right thing, takes off after Brand in order to get the dog back. Throughout Griz’s journey, he explores what remains of our world: buildings, wildlife, landscape, etc. Griz learns more about the world because he must survive alone with his knowledge and his instincts to guide him. The few people Griz meets throughout his journey presents both the struggle and the complications surrounding each individual, including Griz.
Anyone who is a fan of post-apocalyptic stories will enjoy Fletcher’s novel. As I mentioned before, there are no zombies or first wave attacks in this story; and, this does not happen immediately after the events at the end of the world. And, that’s the appeal of "A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World," the aftermath of the apocalypse! Given the approximate age of Griz (16?), adolescent readers will find this novel appealing as well. I can see this novel becoming an assigned book in schools.
"A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World" is an entertaining dystopian bildungsroman novel that puts a lot of emphasis on the atmosphere of the Earth over the characters. Readers learn from Griz’s experiences that both knowledge of survival and knowledge of people go hand-in-hand. My only issue with this novel is that while Griz learned and accomplished much on his journey, he doesn’t seem changed by it that much. It could be because Griz is telling the story in his journal. The “story doesn’t end with the journey” notion that left me wondering whether or not Griz and his family has more to tell us about their world. Other than that this novel was fun to read.
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Ahoy there me mateys! I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .
The title, cover, and dystopian nature is what made me want to read this book. I love end-of-the-world stories. While I enjoyed many parts of this book, it didn't completely float me boat. It ended up being only an okay read due to me personal preferences.
I really did find the premise to be interesting. The end of the world has come and gone and humans are headed for extinction. There are only about 7000 of them left scattered across the globe. Griz lives on an island in Scotland with his mother, father, two siblings, ponies, and dogs. Their closest and only neighbors are on another island quite a bit away.
The family is seemingly content in life but one day another ship with red sails is spotted on the horizon. The trader comes to swap tales but uses trickery to steal from the family. Only one of the stolen items is Griz's dog, Jess. Griz is determined to follow and get his dog back.
The introduction to the world was lovely and unusual. The book is written in the style of a journal where the intended reader is a long-dead person Griz only knows via a photograph. It sounds odd but it does work. I was interested in how the world worked and the explanations of how the apocalypse happened. Getting into the novel took a minute because of the unique structure but I was engaged up until the moment Griz decides to go after the trader and his dog.
That is when the book began to lose its me. The boy decides to sail after the trader with very little preparation or thinking. Stupid choices are made over and over again and seemed unrealistic. The mainland is a dangerous place and yet those dangers seemed muted so that Griz could survive. It seems like 150 years would not have been enough time for the environmental damages to have been mitigated. Plus structures have been breaking down and are strewn across the landscape and yet Griz climbs on and around them with very little problem. I just didn't really feel that Griz was in actual danger.
Because this journal has been written after the events they portray, there are some foreshadowing moments that perk interest. But there is also a lot of attempted philosophizing about what the world used to be like and how long-dead-reader would have felt about things in both the past and present. A lot of it was repetitive. So the action stalled and very little distance was actually travelled. I got a bit bored.
It got better when Griz meets his first person on the mainland. Even though they don't speak a common language, the bond they form is wonderful. I loved almost the whole section. Once the two humans split up, the book took another turn that was not to me taste. I thought Griz was going to track down the trader and have a reckoning. But other spoilery things happen that seemed too ridiculous and I didn't buy it. There were just too many arbitrary coincidences and the resolution just seemed too perfect. The happy ending seems to have warmed the hearts of the crew though. I am in the minority about not liking the twist.
I have no regrets about reading this book and it has lovely characters, thoughts, and ideas. I would have just preferred a different take on the whole situation. But I do think that most readers will love it just as it is. Arrrr!
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