Review - Left Hand of Dog by SI Clarke

In an effort to reinvent herself, Lem moves to Canada with her dog Spock. The “new” Lem has adventures, only “kidnapped by aliens” wasn't exactly what she had in mind, let alone kidnapped by bounty-hunting bunnies. That's just the start of a mind-bending journey through space with Spock and Lem's new found friends.

“Left Hand of Dog” is not so much space opera as space farce. While it's a bit silly, the story isn't so over the top as to not be somewhat believable. The author has woven in a lot of references to popular science fiction series and movies, such as Star Trek, but has done it in a way that works very well with the story line, with quite clever reasoning for it.

Lem is a very interesting character and we get the entire story from her point of view. As I've come to expect from this author, Lem's story is a bit complicated, and she reveals herself a little at a time throughout the story. You may make assumptions about Lem which prove wrong as the store progresses. Much of the book's humor comes from Lem's slightly quirky point of view on life.

The rest of the characters are all aliens, and they're quite interesting. Each represents a different species and culture. They all prove to be very useful in throwing up the contradictions of western earth cultures, especially in regards to gender.

“Left Hand of Dog” is available from Amazon.