Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“A DOG’S LIFE: K9’S PERSPECTIVE OVERLOAD”

A Dog’s Life attempts a unique approach by telling the story from K9 Mark III’s perspective, detailing his time with Sarah Jane Smith. While this could have been a fun and insightful look into the robotic dog’s mind, the execution makes for a frustrating read. K9’s narration is overloaded with technological jargon, and while it’s true to his character, it quickly becomes tiresome and difficult to follow.

STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE

The story itself is a solid concept—K9, in his old and failing state, desperately tries to get Sarah Jane to fix him while simultaneously defending her home from burglars. The problem is that the excessive use of K9’s robotic analysis and rigid dialogue structure overshadows the emotional core. Instead of an engaging “a dog is man’s best friend” tale, the stylised writing makes it hard to connect with what should be a touching or exciting narrative.

VERDICT: A CLEVER IDEA WITH CLUNKY EXECUTION

The premise of A Dog’s Life had potential, but the overbearing narrative style makes it more of a chore than a joy to read. While K9’s unique perspective could have offered charm and insight, it instead becomes an obstacle, making this story difficult to engage with.

📝2/10

Well that was just beautiful, heartbreaking and beautiful.

Finally a framing device/format change that really works for me, seeing the world through the eyes of a deteriorating K9, seeing Sarah Jane growing older as K9 only sees snapshots of her, hearing K9's assumption that he's been put in a box and forgotten.

> This unit is in a box.
> This unit has been put in a box and abandoned.
> This unit… has failed and been put in a box like old junk.

My heart.

But despite it all he still protects Sarah from being robbed, and he just about catches her calling him "A Girl's Best Friend" (love the reference).

And then the ending where you see inside K9's head at his thoughts on seeing The Doctor again.

Just so sweet, all of it