The Dawnhounds

mycological Māori magic

Bought The Dawnhounds the day it was published in Aotearoa New Zealand, immediately hyper fixated on it for the three glorious days I was reading it, finished yesterday, turning right back around and re-reading it immediately because I KNOW there's things I've probably missed in my first read and honestly I'm not ready to set the book down just yet.

Defiantly queer and vibrantly indigenous The Dawnhounds is a genre-defying work of art. As spiritual as it is political Sacha Stronach's first book weaves a striking tale of magic and humanity, of old gods and new, organic technologies. It gives voice to the healing wholeness of being queer and the ways in which the (western, colonial) world around us misinterprets our power and refuses to understand.
I loved every page more than the last until it felt as though my heart might burst out of my chest. I cried at unexpected moments, having seen a mirror of myself, of my community in the pages. I caught echoes of the knowledge that queers are divine, loved despite living in twisted structures operating exactly as they were designed.
Just as Tamsyn Muir has captured queer humour and power in her series Sacha Stronach has captured queer spirit and fortitude in The Dawnhounds. Together the two herald a golden age in queer storytelling and showcase what is easily some of the best speculative fiction being published today. What a beautiful, curious wonder that they both hail from Aotearoa New Zealand.
Here's to being taniwha instead of heroes.