Michael Sorbello's Reviews > We3

A depressive dystopian story where a fascist government turns every day house pets into cybernetically enhanced weapons of war to avoid the loss of human soldiers in combat. They are given cyborg exoskeletons equipped with deadly military weapons and nervous system amplifications that give them a basic level of verbal communication abilities with their masters. A cat, a dog and a rabbit form an effective yet unreliable military squadron, but their choice to flee from battle causes the animal soldier program to be discontinued. Fleeing from execution, three runaway animals stolen from their owners and betrayed by their new masters desperately search for a place to call home while escaping death around every corner.

A beautifully simple concept that really tugs on the heartstrings of animal lovers. There's a lot of plausibility in fascist governments abusing technology in such a cruel fashion as animals have been used in similar ways in the past such as strapping bombs to dogs to blow up unsuspecting enemy soldiers. It's a heartbreaking nightmare to picture something so inhumane happening in the future, but it's hard to put it past tyrants that abuse their power.

It's an emotional and horrifying story with three unusual yet sympathetic furry protagonists. The only thing keeping me from giving it a perfect score is the fact that it's too short. It deals with a lot of complex themes, subjects, emotions and worldbuilding and wraps everything up in about a hundred pages. I wish it was at least a full 200+ page volume to fully explore all its concepts rather than just three 30 page chapters.