dogs (and cats) in SFF

Carolyn Hill

Carolyn Hill

Brown Rat, wandering & wondering
Joined
Apr 8, 2006
Messages
1,038
Location
California
Maybe this is a dumb question, but where are all the dogs in SFF? I've got the uncomfortable feeling that cats outnumber dogs.

I've been trying to think of dogs (not wolves or doglike aliens) that play significant roles in SFF--a character role, or at least reappearance of the same dog throughout the text, doing something meaningful rather than just establishing background atmosphere. I'm not coming up with many examples, and half of those are a stretch.

Dogs:

  • Toto in Oz
  • The dog in Harlan Ellison's "A Boy and His Dog"
  • K-9 in Doctor Who (OK, so K-9 is a robot dog)
  • Montmorency in Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog (but see my comment below, about the cat)

Are there more cats in significant roles?

Cats:

  • Austin and other cats in Tanya Huff's The Keeper's Chronicles series
  • The cat in Heinlein's Door into Summer
  • Cat in Red Dwarf (OK, no longer really a cat)
  • Princess Arjumane in Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog (more of a character than the dog Montmorency that I mentioned above)
  • Various cats in Andre Norton's novels

What do you all think? Can you recall other dogs, other cats?
 
There's a Dog named "Dog" in George R.R. Martin's "Feast for Crows."

Maybe there's no dogs in Sci-fi because we ate them all when things got bad on earth :p

Oooh there was a robot dog in the original Battle Star Galactica named Muffet. I think the man's best friend roll was handed to robots in the future.
 
I think there was dog in Assassins Apprentice and related books by Robin Hobb. Nighteyes he was called. He was technically a wolf, but then K-9 was technically a robot....
 
Frederik Pohl "The coming of the quantum cats"

I read this book six years ago, and don't remember what it was about (not something that would sweep me off my feet, clearly, but the title indicates there were cats involved) :)

And one with dogs:

Dean Koonz "Watchers"
It's that golden retriever Einstein.

There's more cats because (as Chris once said) we're mostly cat people. We like independent animals.

EDIT:Maybe you should just ignore that cats book, sice I really have no idea what it was about. I know there was a guy, and something like police, but no cat rings a bell. So if you've read the book, please give me a hand here.
 
Cordwainer Smith's "instrumentality of mankind" series and C'Mel, his cat Melanie, and D'Joan
Staying with the apostrophes, S'Kitty, from Mecedese Lackey
Many Hounds- I'll cite the ones in Ericsons "gardens of the moon" as talking, individual personalities, but as a symbol in great hunts all over.
Schrodingers cat, who would turn up, but is still trapped in that blasted box.
Pixel, the cat who walks through walls.
Cats are frequently goddesses- it suits their character- I'll just put Eddings.
 
alex22 said:
I think there was dog in Assassins Apprentice and related books by Robin Hobb. Nighteyes he was called. He was technically a wolf, but then K-9 was technically a robot....
Click to expand...

Nighteyes was a wolf:)

The dogs in this series were Nosey and Smithy if that helps Brown Rat
 
Gaspode the magic talking dog appears in a few Discworld books, and there are a few dog characters in the packs in the Shades.

There are about a million cats in Tad Williams' 'Tailchasers Song', which I like even though I don't like cats. Literary cats are better than real cats.
 
There's a Dog in Red Dwarf as well - the parallel universe episode with a female Lister, Holly & Rimmer in it.

And as far as fantasy goes, there are any number of werewolf stories which are arguably 'doglike' in a savage way.

Dr Moreau has all sorts of beasties in it too :)
 
Yes, yes, these are good examples! You people have excellent brains.

I've thought of another dog and cat, both in Jody Lynn Nye's Taylor's Ark.
 
Dont forget the cats Grebo in Terry Pratchetts 'Witches' and Shia and Khanu in Maggie Furys 'Aurian' saga.

Yes cats do outnumber dogs in my experience of Fantasy, I dont know why, personally I prefare dogs myself.

I am including a wolf in the book im currently writing.:p
 
I can't think of any dogs or cats in science fiction or fantasy off the top of my head. Well, there's Data's cat on ST:TNG, but that's tv, not literature.

Honestly, the only animal that I can think of in sf/fantasy literature right now that really impressed me was the condor in Kage Baker's Mendoza in Hollywood. Named Erich von Stroheim, if I recall correctly. Wonderful character; quite vocal, and impossible to consider as "just background".
 
alex22 said:
I thought i mentioned that?....must have been mistaken.
Click to expand...

No, you were not mistaken. You did say that and yes, I did notice it the first time. I simply said it again for Brown Rats benefit as you started off your sentence with ' i think there was a dog....'.
 
There's the hani in C.J.Cherryh's Chanur series; maybe not actually cats, but with a lot of their characteristics, and the cover art definitely shows them as feline.




 
Kootnz's Fear Nothing and Seize the Night, also has a dog Orson, who is a significant character.
 
Brown Rat said:
Yes, yes, these are good examples! You people have excellent brains.
Click to expand...

I'll take that compliment for myself and say thank you.:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
Extollager Jupe and Juno -- dogs? Story for kids, 1960s Book Search 7
M Dogs manipulating people Science & Nature 3
Cat's Cradle Doctor Dogs Science & Nature 3
S Story about inteligent cats and dogs Book Search 2
B Cats & Dogs (2001) General Film Discussion 23

Similar threads


Back
Top