Book Review: Pod - Laline Paull

After reading Laline Paull's The Bees, I was eager to read her next work.

The Bees was about Bees, obviously. Pod is about a pod of dolphins - and their oceanic friends and society.

Weirdly, this is the third book I've read from the perspective of cetaceans. Both The Idiot Gods and Startide Rising deal with similar themes - how to represent the complex world of sea creatures into sometime weird yet understandable.

Pod has exactly the same story as The Bees - an outcast tries to find her place in the tribe. And - without giving too many spoilers - follows the Hero's Journey. Unlike The Bees, this book is told from multiple perspectives - which really allows the author to explore the characters, their relationships, and their development.

It is surprisingly violent - including some rather graphic sexual violence. It's hard to pin human morality on animals - and a significant chunk of the book attempts to remodel your mind so you think like a fish.

It is weird and compelling. Probably not one to read on a beach.