If you’ve ever felt a connection to a favorite animal friend—an adorable pet hamster, a beloved dog, or the nervous possum who lives under your porch but will sit just outside of the circle of porchlight on summer evenings while you watch fireflies and nurse a beer—you know there’s something magical about it.
Fantasy fiction often makes this magic explicit, in the form of characters who can speak more or less directly to creatures great and small—we’ve gathered up a few of our favorite SFF animal lovers (and their familiars) below. And if we missed your favorite, come howl about them in the comments!
FitzChivalry Farseer, Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
In Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy, the ability to communicate telepathically with animals is a unique ability known as Wit. Most people in the Six Duchies are extremely bigoted against those with the Wit, and some believe that developing the deep communication called Wit-Bonding chips away at your humanity. When the series’ protagonist, FitzChivalry, Wit-Bonds with a puppy named Nosy, his Master takes the dog and gives him away, breaking the bond and leaving Fitz distraught. As Fitz gets older he learns other Skills, but he continues to bond with animals, and eventually meets a wolf cub who insists on becoming his companion. The two Bond, and “Cub” shares his true name, NightEyes. Once Bonded, Nighteyes takes up residence in FitzChivalry’s head, providing a caustic lupine perspective on human society, but as the series continues it is this Bond that saves Fitz’ life far more than any human connection.
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Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Series #1)
Daine, The Immortals Quartet by Tamora Piece
While many inhabitants of Tamora Pierce’s Tortall have the magical Gift, Daine Sarrasri is rare in her possession of wild magic: the ability to speak to animals and even eventually shapeshift into them. Over the course of the Immortals quartet, Daine learns to harness her wild magic in order to play, work, and fight alongside the creatures that she gets along with better than the “two-leggers” who turned on her after tragedy; and to battle such nightmarish immortals as Stormwings (human/bird hybrids embodying war and death) and spidrens. In her adventures, Daine runs with wolves, swims with dolphins, encounters a kraken, raises a dragon (named Kitten!), and even briefly resurrects some dinosaur skeletons. Yet even as she meets the king, the famed lady knight, and a powerful mage, it is her pony Cloud who helps coax her from her grief and rage to rejoin her own kind again, so she can act as a bridge between the wild world of animals and human “civilization.”
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Wild Magic (The Immortals Series #1)
Cerúlia, A Queen in Hiding by Sarah Kozloff
All the Queens of Weirandale possess a special Talent, granted to them by the water spirit Nargis. Queen Cressa’s mother had a supernatural knack for strategy that served her royal family well, and Cressa’s own is the ability to manipulate memory, also quite handy. But the family assumes that the Princella Cerúlia is making her skill up: she claims to be able to speak to animals. But when the 8-year-old uncovers an assassins plot after a warning from her because her network of animal friends, the court has to take their youngest member more seriously. Cressa springs into action and flees with her daughter, but finally decides that hiding her with a common family is the safest path. A few memory tweaks later and he Queen leaves on a quest to root out the conspiracy, Cerúlia safe and her new “parents” believing the girl is their own adopted daughter. But when Cressa fails to return to her Queendom, Cerúlia finds it far easier to live among her animal friends than to fight to reclaim her throne. Will the girl be able to return to human society, and save her birthright from an oppressive neighboring kingdom?
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A Queen in Hiding (The Nine Realms Book 1)
Atticus O’Sullivan, The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne
When Atticus O’Sullivan finds Oberon at a home for rescued dogs, he realizes he’s found a soulmate. Oberon is an Irish Wolfhound who’s living at the rescue facility because he still hasn’t found a human who understands his needs. Once Atticus adopts him, however, the two bond telepathically, and Atticus learns what those needs are: if you want Oberon to allow himself to be bathed, you have to entertain him with a story. If you want him to be happy, you have to give him room to hunt—or, if you’re Atticus, you have to shapeshift into a fellow canine and hunt alongside him. Maybe most important: if you want to keep his respect, you have to honor Oberon’s passionate beliefs about breakfast meats. Is that so hard? In return for these basic courtesies Atticus gains a friend who will launch himself at enemies without hesitation. And in return for this loyalty, Atticus feeds his fren a special concoction called Immortali-Tea that keeps the 15-year-old dog in the shape of the three-year-old, and in return for him being a great character, Kevin Hearne maintains a Twitter account on his behalf.
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Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles Series #1)
Firekeeper, Firekeeper Saga by Jane Lindskold
Firekeeper is a human girl who was adopted and raised by wolves in the far north of her country. She can communicate with her family, and loves them, but when a human expedition ventures into her territory looking for a long-lost heir to the royal family, she chooses to leave her home and go with them to the kingdom of Hawk Haven. A wolf, Blind Seer, and a falcon, Elation, come with her, and she can talk with both of them. Much of the book follows Firekeeper’s attempt to assimilate to unfamiliar human society. She’s helped by a man named Derian Carter, who, essentially, becomes her humanity professor. But of course as in many books of this subgenre, it’s Firekeeper’s ability to commune with animalkind that ends up being her greatest strength, as she ends up entangled in court intrigue and her animal companions, who don’t fall for human guile, come to her aid.
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Nakata, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel (Translator)
Haruki Murakami tends to use cats the way Martin Scorsese uses swooping camera angles and obsessively detailed food preparation. They show up in nearly all of his work in one way or another. And also like all of his work, Kafka on the Shore reads like a dream someone’s relating, but, to try to sum up the cat-based plot points: an elderly man named Nakata, regarded as “simple” by most people who know him, has an intense and ongoing psychic communication with dozens of cats. The reader slowly understand that he can talk to much more easily with them than with people, and, probably, that the cats understand him as well and are trying to pass information to him. Meanwhile, a possibly mythical bad guy named Johnny Walker stalks through the book, murdering the cats, possibly tailing Nakata, and looming over the book’s main character, Crow, like a metaphor of every evil that could possibly mar the young man’s life.
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Kafka on the Shore
Red Peter, “A Report to an Academy” by Franz Kafka
An inverse of this trope appears in Kafka’s short story, “A Report to An Academy”, in which one Red Peter delivers a lecture on his former life as an orangutan, and his current life as a human. Having been shot and caged during an expedition in Africa, Red Peter began to go mad, because for the first time in his life he had no freedom of movement. In order to keep his mind together, he studied the ship’s crew and his other captors and began imitating them. Five years later, as he gives his speech, he announces that he can’t actually talk about the topic the audience wants—his time as an ape—because he’s pretty much forgotten his old life. After five years of playing human, his past is a blur that he can’t really inhabit anymore. And, well, this is Kafka, so the whole scenario is alienated and elegiac AF.
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The Complete Stories
Perrin, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
When Perrin meets a man named Elyas, he learns in short order: the man is a Wolfbrother, meaning he has a telepathic bond with wolves; He has a wolf pack; that wolf pack is pretty sure Perrin is also a Wolfbrother. Perrin gradually learns to communicate with wolves under the tutelage of a wolf named Hopper, who becomes a close friend to Perrin. Hopper is the one who instructs Perrin in the ways of The Wolf Dream, or Tel’aran’rhiod, where the man learns to respect his inner wolf nature, and to balance it with his humanity. The communion with wolves transforms Perrin. His eyes take on a gold sheen, and he realizes his senses have sharpened to the point that he can “smell” emotional shifts in other people.
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The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time Series #1)
There’s also the Irskyne Saga by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear.
And Mercedes Lackey’s Hawkbrothers from the Valdemar series.
Belgarath and Polgara in David Eddings Belgariad. Belgarath learns to communicate with a wolf. Over centuries of being together, the wolf eventually turns into a woman who Belgarath marries; but the woman still thinks of herself as a wolf. Their daughter Polgara has an affinity for birds and communicates with them telepathically.
Also in the same series, Hettar is able to telepathically communicate with Horses.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
Indigo in “Nemesis” by Louise Cooper
“Wolfwalker” by Tara K Harper are a couple of my old favorites.
1. Dr Doolittle
2. Troy Horan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catseye_(novel)
I know they’re a bit obscure, but the Hiero Desteen novels* by Sterling Lanier totally rock this category. A post-apocalyptic setting with a post-Quebecois hero (Hiero, that is) who can telepathically commune with animals, especially his partner and riding-moose, Klootz, make for some great times. Who wouldn’t want to travel about, talking with your moose buddy? [* – “Hiero’s Journey” (1973) and “The Unforsaken Hiero” (1983)]
No HONOR HARRINGTON? You horrible, horrible xenophobes you – the Treecats aren’t THAT bad, hairy little masterminds though they be! (-;
Anne McCaffrey’s dragons?
I’d have to add the dragons of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire books and Oy of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.
No mention of Andre Norton? None? Nothing whatsoever?
Worthless, then?
(Nearly every single book of hers, of course.)
How about our stalwart wild children Mowgli and Tarzan.
Philippa @@.-@, John @9
I was thinking of Norton’s The Beast Master and sequels.
@9 @11 And Shann Lantee of the Warlock novels with his wolverines; all the “Magic” books…Steel Magic, Fur Magic, et alii.
Nile Etland in James Schmitz’s THE TUVELA has a bond with her superotters. I love that series!
Hosteen Storm is my favorite.
Good list (and good additions in the comments here!) For fans of Lindskold’s Firekeeper and Blind Seer, there’s a new book in that series out now, and another on the way: http://janelindskold.com/wp/wolfs-search-firekeeper-saga-7/ As a librarian I’ve found lots of folks don’t know that the series continues, which is a shame. Excellent reading in uncertain times!
Vlad Taltos and Loiosh should be on this list.
Also, Adara and Sand Shadow from the _Artemis Awakens_ series, also by Lindskold.
And the Heralds of Valdemar — all of them, it’s an occupational necessity.
Charles de Lint’s Crow Girls.
David Drake’s Old Nathan
Zenn Scarlett – an exoveterinarian in her novice year of learning to treat alien life forms
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/225232/zenn-scarlett-by-christian-schoon/
About Zenn Scarlett
Zenn Scarlett is a bright, determined, occasionally a-little-too-smart-for-her-own-good 17-year-old girl training hard to become an exoveterinarian. That means she’s specializing in the treatment of exotic alien life forms, mostly large and generally dangerous. Her novice year of training at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic on Mars will find her working with alien patients from whalehounds the size of a hay barn to a baby Kiran Sunkiller, a colossal floating creature that will grow up to carry a whole sky-city on its back.
But after a series of inexplicable animal escapes from the school and other near-disasters, the Cloister is in real danger of being shut down by a group of alien-hating officials. If that happens, Zenn knows only too well the grim fate awaiting the creatures she loves.
Now, she must unravel the baffling events plaguing her school, before someone is hurt or killed, before everything she cares about is ripped away from her and her family forever. To solve this mystery – and live to tell about it – Zenn will have to put her new exovet skills to work in ways she never imagined, and in the process learn just how powerful compassion and empathy can be.
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definitely andre norton…i loved the central control books and the interactions with animals.
Jinian in Sheri Tepper’s “Jinian Footseer” and sequels.
I recommend going back and reading andre norton, people talking to animals and each other sometimes, was a regular occurrence in many of her books. Beast master is an easy one, No night without stars (loved it) is one I remember well because I read it several times. Honestly I’ve forgotten the names of half the books she had animals communicating with people in various ways. Breed to Come had animals as main characters.
I think I might go back and read some of her stuff again.
Telsey Amberdon in James H. Schmitz’s work.
As always, lists and other book recommendation articles aren’t intended to be exhaustive by any means, and we always welcome recommendations in the comments! We do ask that you be civil, and not dismissive of other people’s opinions, or rude in stating your own. Our community guidelines can be consulted here.
Flinx and Pip Alan Dean Foster. Have to second or third on A. Norton and McCaffery’s dragons, firelizards and weyrs. There was also a series K9 Corp. that I forget the author of.
+1 for Brust and Hearne and Hobbs.
l loved Jennifer Roberson’s Chronicles of the Cheysuli series as a teen. Communing with an animal familiar and being able to take its shape was one of my early life goals.
Alas.
Also, although I also cut teeth on the Belgariad, I recently tossed those books on learning that the authors were convicted of horrible child abuse (of the _keeping adopted kid in a cage in the basement with torture implements_ variety). So, nope, they get consigned to the dustbin along with MZB.
Jacen Solo deserves a mention. #GiveUsLegends
Oh and moreso there’s Jacen’s daughter Alonna. She had a pet Nexu.
> Jinian in Sheri Tepper’s “Jinian Footseer” and sequels.
These are sequels to original True Game trilogy (King’s Blood Four, Necromancer Nine, Wizard’s Eleven). And there are 3 prequels as well. (@21 knows this already)
Great stuff. But the last three are the ones with animal communing.
Bagabond from the Wild Cards Series.
For a current example: Kellen the spellslinger and Reichis the squirrel cat in the Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell.
Jaime in P. C. Hodgell’s ‘Chronicles of the Kencyrath’.
@mmaries (26) Yes! The ‘Cheysuli Chronicles’. I never managed to shapechange either :0/
Nice to see that only a few people went with the “aghast” approach this time around (e.g., “What?!? How could you forget ‘The Zebras of Space’?!?!”). As the moderator pointed out, these lists are not meant to be definitive. Regular readers will know that the emphasis is on something new, or at least newish. And in any case we’re always welcome to add something in the comments to introduce some of our own faves.
Et voilà. Dipping back into the past, Heinlein often played with the trope of “communing with something that seems like an animal but maybe there’s more than meets the eye.” Willis in “Red Planet.” The eponymous “Star Beast.” In a darker vein, the various life forms of Charity in “Starman Jones” (though we also have Mr. Chips there). There was also passing mention of a modified dog (<snort> Zappa </snort>) in “Friday” who when asked had a very low opinion of sheep, lol.
(P.S. Non-communable-but-still-crucial-to-plot animals in his work are probably topped by the flat cats of “The Rolling Stones.” The Heinleins were cat people, I understand, so somehow it’s not surprising that there are loads of cats throughout his oeuvre.)
(P.P.S. Shout outs to the other people who have already offered McCaffrey and Norton, well, shout outs.)
(P.P.P.S. Another Golden Ager with many animals to be communed with was Cordwainer Smith. Modified cats and dogs and I think maybe even sheep [OK, I guess I need to reread “Norstrilia]. “The Game of Rat and Dragon” [I hope my kitty would think of me that way!]. “Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons.” “The Ballad of Lost C’Mell.”)
“The Winds of Time”, by James H Schmitz, contains a man who communes with a creature – the Janandra – but it turns out that there is some confusion as to which of them is the owner.