The Better Animal: A Novel Giveaway by Erie Gay News

The Better Animal: A Novel Giveaway from Erie Gay News offers a copy of The Better Animal novel by Ken Ballen and Wu Ming. Their speculative fiction debut combines a story about a talking dog with political allegory and an LGBTQ+ romance. 🐾

Set primarily in a future Washington, DC, the novel imagines technology that translates dogs’ thoughts into human speech. Its central character, Kit, becomes the first dog to run for President of the United States. Her candidacy introduces a canine perspective into a country struggling with corruption, prejudice and authoritarian leadership.

Kit also brings together Jake, a longtime public servant working for a Democratic senator, and Wing, an MIT scientist involved in developing the talking-dog technology. Despite their different backgrounds and experiences, the two men fall in love and build a family with Kit. Their relationship forms the personal story alongside the novel’s political conflict.

The book follows a nation under a Christian nationalist Republican president and a Democratic successor whose promised reforms become compromised by power. Against that backdrop, Kit emerges as a candidate advocating change and truth, challenging the human leaders around her.

The prize is a novel that explores redemption, love and hope through speculative technology, a canine presidential campaign and the relationship between the two men who care for Kit. It marks the first novel for both Ballen, a former federal prosecutor, and Wu Ming, an AI research scientist.