Haint: A Tale of Extraterrestrial Intervention and Love Across Time and Space [Paperback]

Joy Ward (Author), William Wegman (Foreword) (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2006

How did we evolve? Did we have help? In a world torn apart by cataclysmic climate changes, survivors learn answers to these immortal questions as they join together based on their love of various dog breeds. Two voices, the weimaraner Haint and his mistress Amanda, tell the story of how each in their own way come to the realization of what they mean to each other. Along the way, Haint explains how his species came to help humans along in their evolutionary development. Haint also reveals that the world is becoming inhabitable for humans and dogs so he and his kind must make the decision whether to save themselves and what they have learned over the thousands of years on Earth or stay and take their chances with the doomed humans. Amanda, accompanied by her friends Kern and Liddy and their canine familiars Haint and Cloudy, travel across a landscape with violent weather and competing tribes as they look for a way to save their "breed" from drought. During the trip they take on an enigmatic young girl who is much more than she appears. Haint is the story of lives entangled over thousands of years and hundreds of lifetimes as dogs and humans discover the depths of their love for each other.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joy Ward was raised with Weimaraners and currently lives with two Weimaraners, Sol and Cloudy. Annie, a redbone coonhound, completes the family. Ward has written for numerous publications including international, national and regional magazines. Her credits include Mother Jones, On the Issues, Commerce, and Governmental Review.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412056756
• ISBN-13: 978-1412056755
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,153,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Admit it, you've seen it, too ..., June 21, 2005

By 

Pete J. Ceren (Memphis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Haint: A Tale of Extraterrestrial Intervention and Love Across Time and Space (Paperback)

Any one who has ever loved a dog has seen it. You know, that look. That look that makes you wonder for a moment who is in charge here. and who really is the one who knows the truth. You know, the deeper truth of life. Admit it, we have all felt it.

Sometimes we feel guilty because we are so inadequate to measure up to their love. But there is more. Something else just beyond our grasp, that bothers us a little bit, because we feel they might know something they are not letting on.

Joy Ward's Haint exposes these head-cocked wonderings. Our hunches were correct.

We also know instinctively that dogs make us more human. We don't know how true that is. Haint tells the story of a transforming love that gave form to hope for humanity.

In the words of Haint, a Weimaraner,

"Our essence changed their matter. Every time a human petted us or sat with us or let us sleep on their bed, we were changing them. We exchanged our cells for theirs. It was slow, achingly slow sometimes as we watched them wage wars against each other, but we persisted. But over the centuries, humans evolved and became more like us.

They learned to love more deeply and they learned how to trust one another. They learned that to achieve anything of size or depth takes sharing and working together. We gave them that. We brought our older, more evolved natures into contact with their newer ones, and they learned and grew." - Haint p. 92"

Two voices alternate to tell this tale. One, a human with extrasensory gifts, and the other, an ancient extraterrestrial spirit now choosing the form of a dog. Together these two voices show the intertwined fates of two species at the edge of disaster. The earth is dying because of the foolish hubris of man, despite all the efforts of his best friend. Weather has become wild and inhospitable to the species that has abused his environment. The end of the world is imminent. Hot winds tear the air, spawning tornados that destroy buildings as the melting poles raise the sea level. The wells of fresh water are drying up, and skin cancer and other diseases are epidemic.

As the human civilization crumbles, man and dog revert to their earlier symbiosis. New tribal groups emerge called Breeds because they are centered on distinct breeds of dog that each specialize in a distinct skill with their partner humans. Territories ruled by Weimaraners, Airedales, Danes and such hold civilization from the brink of anarchy.

This is not like "Animal Farm," it feels believable, maybe even likely. Suspension of disbelief is not as difficult as one might imagine, in fact, the reader feels drawn in naturally to this world. It explains a lot.

In this crisis time the best and worst of both species appears and becomes prominent, as it does in any time of crisis. It is a question of survival. It is a question of survival for both species bound together inextricably. Maybe the ancient Latin warning, "cave canem" was merely misunderstood. We should listen to their warnings when they ...speak.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It really explains a lot..., October 27, 2005

By 

E. Willey (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Haint: A Tale of Extraterrestrial Intervention and Love Across Time and Space (Paperback)

As a person who has two Weimaraners I am a bit biased, but I thought that this book answered a lot of questions about these "grey ghosts" and their haunting expressions. The story was engaging and believable (and very scary). Told from two viewpoints, one a human and one a Weimaraner named Haint, the story came together beautifully. I only wish that there had been time to get to know the characters more fully, it left me wanting more.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literary Risk Paid Off, August 13, 2005

By 

Sandy Sanchez "Sandra Shwayder Sanchez" (Nederland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haint: A Tale of Extraterrestrial Intervention and Love Across Time and Space (Paperback)

Even for dog lovers, the idea of a book written from the POV of a dog is a risky concept. In the hands of a less accomplished writer it could have been flat out sappy. But Haint is flat out wonderful. The story takes place in the future when global warming and warfare have taken their toll on the human race and the relatively small number of human beings who have survived have reorganized themselves around the breeds of their companions, their dogs. OK so far so good, pretty interesting stuff and believable, given current realities. But the most fascinating portions of the book (to me anyway) were the portions told in the voice of a very wise old soul, Haint, a weimeraner. How the dogs directed their own evolution to appeal to the human beings they chose to be their companions and watched the human beings themselves evolve is fascinating and also believable. The author is clearly scientifically knowlegeable as all good writers of science fiction should be. The reader does not so much suspend disbelief as get drawn into some truly fascinating speculation about possibilities that have not actually been ruled out. I am recommending this book to everyone I know who is interested in animals, in the environment, in spirituality and in science (as well as science fiction). One expects a book about dogs and humans to appeal on an emotional level but Haint appeals as well on intellectual and philosophical levels. On a scale of one to five I would like to give this one a six.