The Dog Stars is a post-apocalypse story by Peter Heller, billed as a novel about the end of the world that makes you feel glad to be alive. The book focuses on the daily existence of a man named Hig, and his dog Jasper, after the events of a global pandemic (written pre-COVID) which has killed off the majority of the world's population.
It will be immediately obvious to anyone who has read a Cormac Mccarthy book that Heller is very impressed with that style of writing and is doing his best to mimic it. The problem is that CM is a very rare type of writer, who has pioneered a style that is so unique to the stories he is telling and himself as a writer, that any attempt to adopt it for yourself can only come across as a poor impression. It’s also a difficult style to adopt when you’re trying to tell a story that’s much more expansive, with multiple action scenes and character interactions (not that CM’s books don’t have these as well).
With that in mind though - it is a very easy book to read. The writing has a laconic, almost laid-back approach which helps with the sense of multiple days/weeks/months rolling by without much. The book exists in the same genre as something like Richard Matheson’s ‘I am Legend’ (but missing a ‘big reveal’ which forced a reevaluation of the entire thing) – In which we follow the daily activities of one of the last men alive (and his dog).
Throughout the first half of the book, we travel along with Hig on a day-to-day basis, taking reconnaissance of his land (both through hikes and flights), managing food stock (hunting and farming), interacting with his gun-nut neighbour, and now and then fending off attacks from roaming groups of survivalists. It’s only through a major change in his circumstances, mid-way through the book, that forces him out into the larger world to seek out any additional signs of life.
It's an enjoyable book that strolls by at a leisurely pace, even if, by the end, it doesn't really feel like it's amounted to much. The writing style can be a bit frustrating at times, but you should enjoy this look at a more quiet apocalypse than the ones we are used to seeing in tv and films.
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