The Dog Said Bow-Wow (Paperback)

by Michael Swanwick (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In addition to their individual quality, the 16 stories in this rollicking collection amply demonstrate Hugo-winner Swanwick's impressive versatility. Characters vary from feuding prospectors on a heat-scoured Venus in Tin Marsh to clients of The Bordello in Faerie. On one end of the mood spectrum are the three elegantly wry adventures of Darger and Surplus, roguish postapocalypse con artists; on the other is the gentle Triceratops Summer, told in a matter-of-fact, laconic style that at first seems to show wonderful things becoming commonplace and then reveals that the familiar can still be wonderful. Swanwick (The Iron Dragon's Daughter) pulls apart overused situations to see what makes them tick and then constructs fresh, surprising plots from the pieces. The locked-room mystery may seem hopelessly stale, but not when it's A Small Room in Koboldtown, where voodoo beings and sleazy politics abound. Readers tired of conventional fantasy and SF will find this collection of intriguing characters and lovingly told stories deeply refreshing. (Sept.)
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From Booklist
Rounding up all Swanwick's stories to date about unusually nondescript human Darger and genetically modified dog Surplus, a previously unpublished novella, and three Hugo-winning pieces, this generous volume opens with "Hello, Said the Stick," in which a soldier en route to battle picks up a talking stick that turns out to be unwontedly dangerous. The new publication, "The Skysailor's Tale," is an adventure on board a British airship claiming new lands for Queen Titania that is framed as a father telling his son about some of his strange doings when a lad. The Darger and Surplus capers, occuring after the age of computers in a suspiciously nineteenth-century-ish though far-future Europe, are satisfying tales of plotting and heists involving a great team, indeed. The closer, "Urdumheim," is the brilliantly imagined story of King Nimrod and the time when the world was new, people didn't die, and there was only one language. Swanwick's stories are possessed of sufficient depth and generic variety to satisfy quite a range of genre tastes. Schroeder, Regina

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tachyon Publications (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189239152X
• ISBN-13: 978-1892391520
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #460,494 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My introduction to Michael Swanwick, December 5, 2007

By	Kenneth R. Austin (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I stumbled upon this anthology after scanning a list of past Hugo winners, looking for some authors with whom I was not yet acquainted. I wish I had discovered Michael Swanwick years ago. I couldn't put this book down. My wife got sick of me saying, "You know, this guy is really good." All of the stories were engaging, but I particularly enjoyed "Slow Life." It had a satisfying interplay of ideas that I won't spoil for you. And if you're a fan of Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser, you'll certainly enjoy the three Darger and Surplus stories. Don't let the simplicity of the title put you off; these are complex and well crafted stories woven by a master. I'm definitely going to add more Swanwick to my collection.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a pleasure, November 24, 2007

By	Ian Kaplan (Livermore, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is simply a pleasure to read. I have recently read books of short stories by Gene Wolfe and Larry Niven and (surprisingly in Wolfe's case) the collections were not very good. Bow-Wow as the opposite. While some stories are stronger than others, I enjoyed them all.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great Swanwick collection, December 15, 2007

By	RPK (USA) - See all my reviews

This collection has a little bit of everything in it from dinosaurs to a bordello in Fairie. This is a good intro to Swanwick's work because his main areas of interest are all covered and if you like a certain story in the book you can find more like it. If you like this then check out his best collection in my opinion, Tales of the Old Earth.