The Dog Stars benefits from a sparse prose (I am sure McCarthy is an inspiration to Heller) and I liked that some sentences end unfinished with a full stop, just like a thought that is stopped mentally - I thought this device worked very well. When I first read McCarthy’s The Road I had never encountered a writing style like it: no quotations to indicate dialogue and a minimalist narrative. Heller had a story to tell and he would neither be rushed nor take too long about it. It is written very well, in a thoughtful and unrushed voice that bears comparison with Le Guin, Attwood and McCarthy. The Dog Stars is the type of post apocalyptic fiction I enjoy to read most. What follows is scarier and more life-affirming than he could have imagined. So he takes his plane over the horizon, knowing that he won't have enough fuel to get back. But, just once, he picks up a message from another pilot, and eventually the temptation to find out who else is still alive becomes irresistible. He's just about surviving, so long as he only takes his beloved plane for short journeys, and saves his remaining fuel. Hig, bereaved and traumatised after global disaster, has three things to live for - his dog Jasper, his aggressive but helpful neighbour, and his Cessna aeroplane. Civilisation is a very fragile construct that could break with a few key occurrences - I’ve always wondered what would happen and in the UK, over the last few years, there was a mini petrol and bread shortage and the behaviour of the populace in general (stockpiling) showed how worryingly thin the line between chaos and order actually is. I find that the dark themes explored in the genre frighten me a great deal, and this leads to great fascination in how the survivors will cope with their situation. I try to not waste too much time worrying about whether this is a sign of a healthy mental state or not and simply accept that I read both what I enjoy and what stimulates my emotions. I have come to understand that I have rather a penchant for reading post apocalyptic fiction.

The dog stars by peter heller