Animal Characters in Adult Fiction
These books feature animal main or side characters!
The cat who saved books : a novel
Natsukawa, Sosuke, 1978-, author
2021
Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookstore he has inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. However, one day, a talking cat named Tiger appears and asks Rintaro to save books with him. Of course, 'ask' is putting it politely--Tiger is demanding Rintaro's help. The world is full of lonely books, left unread and unloved, and only Tiger and Rintaro can liberate them from their neglectful owners. And so, the odd couple [begins] an amazing journey, entering different mazes to set books free.
Fox 8 : a story
Saunders, George, 1958- author
2018
Fox 8 has always been the daydreamer in his pack. He learns to speak "Yuman" by hiding in the bushes outside a house and listening to children's bedtime stories. When the building of a new shopping mall cuts off the pack's food supply, Fox 8 begins a harrowing quest to save the pack.
Hollow kingdom : a novel
Buxton, Kira Jane, author
2019
S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (those idiots), and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos®. Then Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, and S.T. starts to feel like something isn't quite right. His most tried-and-true remedies--from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of Big Jim's loyal but dim-witted dog, Dennis--fail to cure Big Jim's debilitating malady. S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis, where he discovers that the neighbors are devouring each other and the local wildlife is abuzz with rumors of dangerous new predators roaming Seattle. Humanity's extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a foul-mouthed crow whose knowledge of the world around him comes from his TV-watching education.
Land-water-sky = Ndè-ti-yat'a
Lafferty, Catherine, 1982- author.
2020
"Land-Water-Sky follows the story of a vexatious shapeshifter (Nahga) that lives throughout the centuries from time immemorial. Witnessing his land being encroached before him, he is desperate to stop the world from evolving and so he breeds a band of offspring to help him take sovereignty over the land but in doing so he encounters many instances where characters serve to stand in the way of his domination forcing him to live in human form where he becomes desperate to once again reign over the northern terrain where he will do anything to gain power until he is faced with the only powers that can stop him, the love of a mother seeking retribution and the help of land, water, sky together as one crossing the boundaries of space and time."-- Provided by publisher.
Naniki
Kempadoo, Oonya, author.
2024
Co-protagonists Amana and Skelele are made of water and air, their essence intertwined with Taino and African ancestry. They evolved as elemental beings of the Anthropocene, and shape-shifting with their naniki (active spirits) or animal avatars, they begin an archipelagic journey to see the strange future they dreamed of. Until devastation erupts. Tasked by their elders to go back in time to the source of the First People's knowledge, they must surmount historical and mythological challenges alike.
Organ meats : a novel
Chang, K-Ming, author.
2023
"Best friends Anita and Rainie have made countless visits to their home base: an old sycamore tree and its neighboring lot of stray dogs who have a mysterious ability to communicate with humans. The girls learn that they are preceded by generations of dog-headed women and women-headed dogs whose bloodlines knot them together like thread. Anita convinces her best friend Rainie to become a dog with her, tying a collar of red string around each of their necks to preserve their kinship forever. But when the two girls are separated, Anita sinks into her dreams and lands herself in a coma that only Rainie knows how to rouse her from. As Anita's body begins to rot, her mind straying farther and farther away from the waking world, it is up to Rainie to rebuild her friend's body and keep Anita from being lost forever. Tasked with gathering new organs from the mythical landscape of their shared childhood, Rainie must return to the past and ask herself how far she is willing to go to reunite with the girl who has haunted her and hunted her in equal measure"-- Provided by publisher.
Perestroika in Paris
Smiley, Jane, author
2020
Paras is a spirited racehorse at a racetrack west of Paris. She meets an elegant German shorthaired pointer named Frida. Paras and Frida coexist for a time in the city's lush green spaces. They keep company with two irrepressible ducks and an opinionated raven. But then Paras meets a human boy, Etienne, and discovers a new, otherworldly part of Paris. As the cold weather and Christmas near, the unlikeliest of friendships bloom. But how long can a runaway horse stay undiscovered in Paris? How long can a boy keep her hidden and all to himself?
Remote control
Okorafor, Nnedi, author.
2021
"The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From here on in she would be known as Sankofa--a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past. Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks--alone, except for her fox companion--searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers. But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?"-- Provided by publisher.
The ten thousand doors of January
Harrow, Alix E., author
2019
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world, and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
What we fed to the manticore : stories
Kolluri, Talia Lakshmi, 1979-, author
2022
In stories that span the globe, What We Fed to the Manticore takes readers inside the minds of a full cast of animal narrators to understand the triumphs, heartbreaks, and complexities of the creatures that share our world. Through nine emotionally vivid stories, all narrated from animal perspectives, Talia Lakshmi Kolluri's debut collection explores themes of environmentalism, conservation, identity, belonging, loss, and family with resounding heart and deep tenderness. In Kolluri's pages, a faithful hound mourns the loss of the endangered rhino he swore to protect. Vultures seek meaning as they attend to the antelope that perished in Central Asia. A beloved donkey's loyalty to a zookeeper in Gaza is put to the ultimate test. And a wounded pigeon in Delhi finds an unlikely friend. In striking, immersive detail against the backdrop of an ever-changing international landscape, What We Fed to the Manticore speaks to the fears and joys of the creatures we share our world with, and ultimately places the reader under the rich canopy of the tree of life
