Strange Dogs

The Expanse novellas that Corey releases between books are a fun little expansion of the universe. As they've gone on, they've moved from filling in the background of interesting characters to foreshadowing the future of the series. The last one and this one provide a tantalizing taste of the threat to come in the final third of the series.

Strange Dogs in particular is a fantastic little horror story that relies on the innocence of childhood to move the scary bits along. Cara has grown up on an alien world, so things that seem strange and unnerving to her parents are just commonplace for her. She takes things in stride and neglects to report on strange or new things because nearly everything she experiences is strange and new and that's just part of life.

When she discovers some dog-like creatures that restore a dead bird to life, she doesn't tell anyone because she's scared of getting in trouble for breaking her mom's drone. And when her little brother dies in an accident, well, it's no mystery where the story is going. The only mystery is how this will play out in the books to come.

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