I wanted to love it because I loved Devon's Island, but I couldn't get into this one. I think if you like goofy stories and dogs you will like this more than me. Interesting idea, though.

When her dog is abducted by intergalactic bounty hunters for a crime she didn’t commit, Lem is taken along for the ride. She’d been making an effort to be more adventurous but waking up squashed into what felt like a coffin with a full-grown German Shepherd on the Starship Teapot was really taking it too far. Lem and Spock’s only hope is to join forces with a disparate group of fellow detainees and escape their ridiculously cute jailers. Can Lem and her new friends find a way to clear their names and get back home?

I really enjoyed this short, daft, and heartfelt sci-fi. On the surface it doesn’t require much heavy lifting from the reader and can be read just as an episode of welcome relief from all the stress and ills of reality. You can go deeper if you like, as the novel addresses subjects such as gender identification, self-worth, and the importance of honest relationships, but it’s not a preachy story by any means. This is to be the first of the Starship Teapot series and given the richness of the characters introduced in these mere 150-odd pages, I’m already looking forward to the next novel.

Just a heads-up – you may want a pen and paper by your side when you read this, to note down all the sci-fi film, TV, and videogame references (I found 14 shows/films/games, plus a possible nod to Teletubbies). Just in case the author is considering it, a list at the end of each book would be a nice touch.

I received an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The cover says this is “an extremely silly tale of alien abduction’ and, well, I can’t say it’s not exactly what it says on the tin.

This is a fun, light, quick read with a fun cast of character—one human, one dog, one cranky robot, and a few different types of aliens comprise the motley crew—and there is some fun dialogue with some irreverent, sometimes insightful commentary about humans.

The light tone and fun cast were enjoyable, and it was great to see an agender protagonist. However, I didn’t really connect with the writing. Even when there was adventure and danger in the story, I wasn’t really getting invested. I think it could have gone a little deeper in places, and the writing tripped me up a couple of times. For instance, the main character, Lem, has a dog, Spock. In the first chapter, Lem hears Spock speak and responds calmly. So right away, I assume I’m reading about a world where dogs normally talk. Nope—give it a beat and then Lem freaks out. It’s a beat I can imagine hitting perfectly in a cartoon, but without context I as a reader needed things like that queued up more.

There’s a reveal toward the end that didn’t totally sit right with me, but the ending does set up a sequel well. Not sure if I will keep going with this series or not, but I won’t rule it out.

Quirky perfectly sums up this book. Nods to my favorite Sci fi characters abound. Lem is a very likeable main character who questions what is going on around her while also managing to make friends with a motley bunch of aliens who were all kidnapped on the spaceship teapot.

The Left Hand of Dog by Si Clarke - 5 stars

This was such an unusual and refreshing short read for me! I don't read short stories often, but this was a lot of fun. It's a strange, loveable sci-fi full of pop-culture references, with bizarre characters and a fast-moving plot, full of clever points about humanity, identity and the ways in which we live that might appear rather odd to anyone not from our world.

Things I liked:
- It's well-written, flowing easily through the story points with a distinct and unique voice for each of the characters
- Great balance of humour and emotion, with lots of witty observations on human existence as well as touching moments of vulnerability
- Fantastic, diverse cast with lots of LGBTQIA+ rep, which is explored in different ways through the cast and their lives
- Things often go wrong for the main cast, and the outcome varies, which is so refreshing, as I really don't like it when fights or missions magically all go to plan for the MC despite inexperience or lack of abilities
- Language and translation is explored in a really clever way, involving pop-culture references and alien tech, but it works so well compared to those stories where characters all suddenly understand each other and know what's going on!
- Rounded story, despite the short length, so even though it moves fast you feel like things make sense
- Start of a series, so I'm really excited to be able to visit their world again!
- TW/CW are included, which I'm loving and should be the norm
- Adorable dog!

Things I liked less:
- I didn't understand a lot of the pop-culture references, in as far as I'm not familiar with the origins, so some bits were lost on me a little, which could mean other readers may also struggle, but it's not a huge downside
- There's a lot in there for a short story, so occasionally things felt a little squeezed, and I would have loved a full novel to explore the characters and their backgrounds more (but as I said, I'm not much of a short story reader)

Overall it felt like a fast, fun ride with some really interesting things to say, and I've certainly become a fan of the author - I've already got more work lined up to read, and I'm excited for the next adventure with Lem and Spock!

I read the synopsis and I thought “I NEED to read this. Like, right know”. So I did. It was an excellent choice.

Lem and her beautiful dog, Spock, are spending a few days hiking when suddenly they are kidnapped by aliens. They don’t understand what the hell is going on, but they decide to join forces with the other prisoners in order to escape their captors and return home.

The characters are the highlight of the book. Lem (who is nonbinary and uses she/her pronouns) is a great protagonist. She’s as clueless as the reader about the world, the other species, and the situation she sees herself in. But she’s not willing to give up until she gets herself and Spock back home. The secondary characters are also amazing. Spock is so loyal and cute and the perfect companion for Lem. Bexley is energetic, cheerful and smart. And it’s lovely to see a friendship developing between her and Lem. I also enjoyed reading about BB and Aurora, I want to know more about them. Henry, on the other hand, is pretty annoying. I get where she comes from, but I love Lem and I hated seeing Henry being so rude to her.

Another interesting aspect of the book is the culture shock Lem is experiencing. There is a very diverse group of characters, they come from all around the galaxies, they are all from different species. They’re able to communicate because they have universal translators, an advanced AI system, but there are some things that they simply cannot understand about each other. The way they express emotions, the use of clothes (or lack of it), their concepts of gender and sex and pronouns. Humans tend to think that our patriarchal, classist, binary system is the only way to be, to exist in this world, and this book questions that in every page.

The plot is fun, you know there is a mystery to be solved and some adventures to be had, and the pacing is very good. But some aspects were not very convincing. The revelation towards the end was predictable, but part of it wasn’t believable. Everything could have been solved in a very different way, without so many unnecessary complications.

Also, I would like to add that the book has a lot of pop culture references, especially to sci-fi books and movies. I didn’t get any of them. Sci-fi is not a genre I read much of, so I was kind of clueless. Most of the humor comes from these references, but beyond that, it didn’t affect much my reading experience.

Overall, I had a really good time reading The Left Hand of Dog and I highly recommend it. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, and the ending is satisfying but open enough to leave me wanting more.

So, the first couple of chapters in confused is a mild word I'd use for the way I was feeling. Honestly, I wanted a can of that beer to be on the safe side. It's one of those books that you just sit back and enjoy the ride. Just don't ask any questions.

This book is weird, confusing, fun, unusual, and I nice read to distract you. I absolutely loved Spock, whats not to love.

The front page tells you its a silly tale and it is but its also fun.

If you want something different away from the norm then read this. Its like marmite you'll either love it or hate it.

Enjoy!

Lem has just booked a wonderful, quiet holiday in Canada to get herself used to being more adventurous, but she’s about to get much more than she bargained for. When her dog, Spock, is arrested by alien bounty hunters, Lem is dragged along for an eccentric ride across the universe.

The Left Hand of Dog is a chaotic, high-speed whirlwind of a love-letter to the space opera. Think 'Hitchhikers Guide' meets 'A Long Way to a Small Lonely Planet' meets 'Star Trek'. It has an eclectic mix of characters, drawn from the old spaceship staples and given a few neat twists. I’m especially a fan of the way Clarke incorporates her geeky references into the universal translator; very clever. Although the plot is fairly standard, there’s something charming about this book. It made me happy to read, and that’s always a good thing. I was also quite happy to have a main character who had their identity reaffirmed very passionately by her new alien friends.

I didn’t always connect with the writing style – if you are looking for a high literary read, this may be one you wish to skip over for now – but I had a good time with this one.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ✰ ✰
Genre: Sci-Fi, Space Opera
Representation: Asexual, agender.
Trigger Warnings: Sex references
Would I recommend this? Yeah. It’s a fun, quick read.
Would I read a sequel? You know what? Yeah.

This was a fun read!
The story felt ridiculous and over the top but in the best way and I loved how themes like friendship and the meaning of home were integrated into it. I think I missed quite a few references to other media but I think it would be even more enjoyable to people who have more knowledge of sci-fi „classics“ thank me. I would definitely recommend the book if you‘re looking for something to escape reality.

This was exactly the book I needed right now. The type I could get completely caught up in. When I say I love Sci-Fi as a genre, this is the kind of Sci-Fi I mean. Why would I read about intergalactic space wars (but no issues if that is what you love), when I could read about a rag tag group of kidnapped aliens – and one human and her dog – as they become allies and then unlikely friends in their bid to escape? Good question methinks! (In a similar vein, I do much prefer Doctor Who over Star Wars – but I digress.)

It didn’t take me long to realise I would absolutely love this novel. Within the first chapter Lem, and her dog Spock get abducted by aliens, and from there things just kept getting stranger and stranger. Wonderfully so, which I loved! Every alien Lem meets is a vibrant and individual character who has been beautifully imagined and brought to life on the page. Especially with the AI implanted in Lem’s watch to help translate, which is kept on figurative mode – which means that rather than stating an exact translation which in a lot of cases would make little sense without context, the watch finds the closest point of reference in Lem’s subconscious and uses that as the translation. At first this led to some rather confusing dialogue between the different species, but as I read further and I became familiar with the ‘translations’ and speaking patterns for each character I found them more charming than confusing. My favourite had to be the AI speaking for Spock, Lem’s dog, Spock’s dialogue, while only comprising for 2-4 word phrases, they felt accurate, and were very amusing.

The story as a whole was such a fun read. Lem’s initial confusion at the whole, almost ridiculous, situation was comically narrated and had me grinning and sometimes laughing with her reactions to certain events. Throughout the story there was also a wonderful collection of references to other Sci-Fi greats – though I am sure I didn’t pick them all, I definitely got quite a few (especially the Doctor Who ones). These were beautifully and naturally threaded throughout the text both in AI translated dialogue and in Lem’s own thoughts. I am sure I will find any I missed in my reread of this wonderful tale.

While this was a fun and at places a rather farfetched story, with friendship, humour, and banter at the forefront, this novel also touches on the complex questions of gender, sexuality, identity, family, and home in a meaningful and insightful way. I love it when an author can create such positive messages in genre fiction like this. It just makes me love this story and its characters even more. I highly recommend this read for lovers of fun, exciting, and at times beautifully strange Sci-Fi at it’s best.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher BooksGoSocial who sent me this free eARC (eAdvanced Reader Copy) in exchange for an honest review. This title was published 17th August 2021.

This was super weird but in a really fun way. This is a book that knows exactly what it is and who its audience is. It was wild and crazy and weird in place but as long as you just strap in and enjoy the ride you will love this. This is such a fun ride as long as you know what you are getting into so strap in and enjoy the ride!

This book is ridiculous in the best ways. When you know you are in for a silly ride and get just that, it’s fun.
It’s a bit over the top and some things are a bit too much and weird, I’d say not coherent, but just role with it and enjoy it for its weirdness.
Do you know the movie Idiocracy? This book gives me a bit of the same feelings and you just have to roll with the ridiculousness.

There are some things that make this book a bit hard to read, it’s mostly in the dialogue with the AI translations. I understand it’s part of the whole vibe of this book, but it’s a lot to deal with.
It’s fun enough if you can just roll with it, 3 stars.