2015 book 35

Robert Repino's Mort(e)
This is a really interesting companion to two other books I've read recently--Grasshopper Jungle and Blacksad. In this one, humanity is basically eradicated by a plague of ants (some of the ants are giant!!), masterminded by the QUEEN ant, who has also invented a hormone that turns animals into more people-ish creatures, who have joined the ants in revolution! Our main character is a housecat named Sebastian, who becomes the famous assassin/soldier Mort(e), but never stops longing for his doggy best friend Sheba, lost in the days before everything changed. There is also a super cool dog named Wawa (yes, delightfully, after the deli). You guys, this book is CRAAAAAZY, but also really compelling. Warning: bad things happen to animals, both before and after they change. Bad things happen to people, too, but eh. There's a whole bunch of business about religion that I could have done with less of (in lieu of more cat/dog/ant adventures), but it all comes together in the end, and in general this was VERY entertaining--and surprisingly moving. A-.