The Dust of 100 Dogs - A.S. King

The Dust of 100 Dogs - A.S. King

Pages: 320
Publisher: Flux
Release Date: 1st February 2009

In the late seventeenth century, famed teenage pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with the dust of one hundred dogs, dooming her to one hundred lives of a dog before returning to a human body - with her memories intact.

Now she’s a contemporary American teenager and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.

The Dust of 100 Dogs is a fresh, original story from a new author that sucked me into a world of treasure, reincarnation and life on the seven seas.

I loved how the book flicked between the stories of Emer, Saffron and, later, Fred. All three were connected and helped to explain how Emer became Saffron. Emer’s chapters were definitely my favourites as I’ve never read about pirates before and I loved all of the action and adventure that she encountered.

The realities of pirate life, such as gangrene, danger and the awful smell weren’t shied away from. This made Emer’s story much more authentic, so much so that I got a real sense of life as a pirate. I also liked how Emer’s bloodthirsty thoughts were a part of Saffron. This really helped to demonstrate the link between the two of them.

All of the dog facts were a really fun way to get an insight into the many lives that Emer lived as a dog. I really enjoyed them. And as a sucker for happy endings, I also really liked the end of The Dust of 100 Dogs but you’ll have to read it to find out what happens!

This is a brilliantly unusual novel that I highly recommend. I can’t wait to read what A.S. King writes next.

Sophie