In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity—unseen, unheard.
Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free audiobook was provided for an honest review.
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| June 2026; Macmillan Audio; 9781250446121 audio (12h 50m), ebook, print; science fiction |
I enjoyed listening to Adrian Tchaikovsky's Service Model two summers ago. So I was excited to see he had a new book out this summer. It seems in the last few years I've read several Xenofiction books. Xenofiction is when a story is about animals or the main narrator is an animal.
In Green City Wars, Tchaikovsky blends a hard-boiled noir with solar- and bio-punk. I'm not a huge fan of hard-boiled detective novels, but I still wanted to give this one a try.
In some ways, this book reminded me of Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton, but Scotch, the raccoon narrator, does not have the wit of ST. Scotch also reminded me of Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy (again, not as witty) with his gray area moral code and attitude.
I struggled with this book. I wanted to like Sotch, but he wasn't very likeable. I did feel sorry for him, as I did for all the mutagenic animals, as they are all drug-dependent slaves. I follow a couple of people who are doing augmented language buttons with their cats, and it is fascinating to see the intelligence of the animals to communicate in a language like English. So it was hard to believe the level of intelligence that the animals in the novel have. But I did struggle with the worldbuilding.
It might be because I was listening to the audiobook and it wasn't holding my attention well, but I felt lost in the worldbuilding aspects of the book. It could have also been how the story unfolded. At one point towards the latter half of the book, I remember thinking I wish that had been explained earlier in the novel. I'm not saying I wanted an info dump at the beginning, and perhaps had it been explained earlier it would have given the mystery away. It might also have been the pacing of the book that I disliked, now that I think about it. I felt it dragged in places.
In his quest to find the mouse with the world-altering secret, he visits several "classes" of animals. Some were interesting, like the pigeons; others I don't really remember.
Basically, though, humans are living in a Star Trek (I'm not sure they have exploration, though) while all the animals are consigned to do the menial tasks that keep the city running. They are dependent on a manufactured drug that gives them human-like qualities.
Tchaikovsky does well in creating the dark, gritty noir vibe - I kept picturing dark, grimy subway-like tunnels. It was similar to what I pictured when reading Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I think there were attempts at humor, but it fell flat for me.
I liked the narrator, John Pirhalla. He gave all the characters a distinct voice, and it was easy to tell the characters apart.
If you are looking for a gritty noir novel with animals as the primary characters, then you should check this one out.
Buy Green City Wars at Amazon
Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.
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