The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach is a Maori-inspired, queer, biopunk fantasy novel. It’s pitched as Gideon the Ninth meets Black Sun, so be prepared for very expansive and detailed world-building that doesn’t really stop to explain as you dive into it. That world-building is incredibly unique. In the port city of Hainak, metal is taboo, and there has been a biotech revolution. Houses are grown from mushrooms that have a symbiotic relationship with their inhabitants, people can have lost limbs regrown, but there’s also a sinister cult of bird priests, and criminals are turned into mindless slaves called “blanks” that do forced labor around the city.
Yat, a police officer who has recently been demoted for being spotted in a gay club, and is haunted by memories of her former lover, is killed in action and wakes up with a new and mysterious power. She falls in with (or, really, is kidnapped by) a crew of pirates. The story quickly turns to a magical pirate adventure involving gods, plant magic, and found family, as Yat races against time to stop a plague from taking over the city.
While queerness is not accepted in the world of the story, it is common and normalized amongst the cast of central characters. There is an established lesbian couple featured and the protagonist herself is bisexual. It is the kind of story that says that whether or not the world is accepting, queerness of all kinds exists and will continue to exist in the world. It leans into the importance of having a community to depend on through any struggle (even if they’re as big as stopping a plague) and the idea that everyone can be a hero.
I cannot emphasize enough how imaginative and singularly fantastical this story feels. The blend of biopunk elements, ancient gods, magic, advanced science, and Maori culture is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. I will say though, it is very easy to get lost amongst it all. It’s a book that definitely requires some savoring and slow reading to process all of the concepts that get thrown at you. Now this is the first book in a series, so it seems that the introduction of so many ideas might be setup for the rest of the story—at least I hope so!
