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4.0 out of 5 stars
Important novel about an intelligent non-human, Sep 29 2003
Olaf Stapledon is best known for his big-picture future histories, _Last and First Men_ and _Star Maker_. These non-novels imagined the rise and fall of alien and human civilizations on a canvas that spanned galaxies and billions of years of time.By contrast, _Sirius_, written during World War II and published in 1944, is a story on a much more human scale, despite (as the title suggests) being about a dog. It is a also a far more mature and insightful story than Stapledon's earlier works. It is also a really _sad_ story. . . a genuine tragedy. Sirius, a mastiff / alsatian / border collie mix with a brain enlarged by _in utero_ hormone treatments, is as smart as an above-average human, but retains the senses and instincts of a dog. His life is not an easy one, despite having loving human step parents and siblings. The novel follows his childhood and education in Wales, his experiences as an anonymous social observer in 1940s London, and his career as a sheep farmer. (What better job for a dog?) We also learn about an affair with his human step-sister, and his painful brooding about his place in the world and the meaning of his strange life. Science fiction usually does not age well. _Sirius_, by contrast, has become even more important and relevant in today's world, where sheep actually get cloned, and mice have been given larger and more convoluted brains through genetic engineering. Contrast _Sirius_ with Kirsten Bakis's _Lives of the Monster Dogs_, which was slicker and brighter but is nowhere near as realistic, insightful, or involving.
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