Tough Traveling: Pets
The Thursday feature “Tough Traveling” is the brainchild of Nathan ofReview Barn, who has come up with the excellent idea of making a new list each week based on the most common tropes in fantasy, as seen in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynn Jones. Nathan has invited anyone who is interested to come play along, so be sure to check out the first link for more information.
This week’s tour topic is: Pets
Everybody needs somebody to love. And the best companionship doesn’t always come from the same sentient group, does it? Be it furry or scaled, large or small, sometimes an animal companion is the best thing a person can have.
Wendy’s Picks
All of my choices are animals, of course, but I think they would all be insulted if I dared refer to them as pets. In some cases, fortunate humans are able to communicate with their animal companions, while others simply have a strong bond. In all cases, animal companions would give their lives for their humans, and their humans would do the same.
The Calling by David Gaider
The Ash Warriors are known for their deadly skill and the equally deadly mabari hounds that join them in battle. Kell ap Morgan’s hound is named Hafter, and Kell claims he, like Kell, partook of the Joining ritual to become Grey Wardens. They are inseparable, even unto death.
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
You don’t want to call Sceadufæx, the lord of all horses, a pet. Nope. Not even the Rohirrim could tame this wild steed. But when Gandalf earned his whites, he must have proved himself worthy enough to ride the mighty Shadowfax into battle.
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
Dire wolves were thought to be extinct, but when the Stark kids stumble on the dead body of a mother wolf and her living cubs, it turns out to be a portent sign. Will Grey Wind, Lady, Nymeria,
Summer, Shaggydog, and Ghost be all that remains of the Stark legacy when GRRM finally gets around to finishing this series? Warg on, Starks. Warg on.
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Oh Hedwig…..!!!!
*sobs into her pillow*
Mogsy’s Picks:
I’ve been focusing on epic fantasy a lot in these lists lately and since Wendy’s got some good ones covered, just for fun, this week I’m gonna go ALL URBAN FANTASY! (Not like it’s too difficult, though; UF is kinda bursting at the seams with protagonists with loyal companions — some of which possess pretty cool supernatural powers of their own).
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Harry Dresden probably has two of the most well known pets in urban fantasy. Mister is his huge grey cat who has been around since book one, and he likes to bulldoze into visitors’ knees, knocking them over. Harry also acquires a dog later in the series, a Foo Dog named Mouse. It is suggested many times that Mouse might have a divine origin, not least because he is highly intelligent and seems to understand his master’s mind.
The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne
Oberon is protagonist Atticus O’Sullivan’s loyal Irish Wolfhound. The two communicate telepathically with each other thanks to Atticus’ druidic abilities. They are pals that love to banter and hang out with each other, and go on the occasional hunt to burn off steam. Atticus would shapeshift in order to run along side Oberon.
Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish
Captain is Owl’s Egyptian Mau cat, bred to protect the ancient Egyptians from creatures of the underworld. Apparently, that includes vampires. Owl brings Captain around to help her sniff out the bloodsucking undead, and he’s also helpful in a fight with one on account of the venom in his spit and claws — extremely poisonous to vampires, of course.
This is sort of a cheat because I haven’t actually read any of the books in ‘s Allie Beckstrom series, but I have read the spin-off Broken Magic duology. In both books Allie makes several cameos and so we also get to see her pet stone gargoyle named Stone.
Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
Mercy’s cat Medea is a tailless calico that first came to her as a stray. Most cats don’t get along with werewolves, walkers or other shapeshifters like Mercy and her friends, but for some reason Medea seems to like everyone.
Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch
Who needs a ghost detector when you have Toby, a dog who is able to sense magic and anything paranormal? Peter has even developed a system that measures the strength of magic activity based on the loudness and intensity of Toby’s yaps.
Not really urban fantasy, but I couldn’t not include this. The protagonist Vlad acquired Loiosh, his jhereg familiar, as an egg in a bargain with the creature’s wild mother. Loiosh is snarky (much like Vlad himself) but he’s also a very helpful companion due to his psychic link with his master, and has saved Vlad’s life on several occasions.
The BiblioSanctum 
Wow you post these early! Is it even Thursday in the US yet? :p
Good picks though. Captain is mighty fine name for a cat. (Although I completely forgot about Toby’s existence until now.) It’s pretty awesome just how many pets/ animal companions are floating around.
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I think I started the trend, I set all my posts at 10pm my time, which is midnight U.S. Eastern.
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Fair enough. Most my mine are scheduled to come out at lunchtime, but I suddenly realised that was the middle of the night for the rest of you!
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Ours go up typically 00:01 eastern, I don’t know why but I like to schedule posts in the middle of the night…maybe so I don’t have to worry about them and if I’m in bed I don’t have to fight my perfectionist side and force myself not go go back to it again and again to edit 😛
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You started it, now I just follow along. Besides, it’s so much easier to type zero o’clock into the scheduler.
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Oh yes that’s some awesome pets there and I love many! Great choice!
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Always good with a pet 🙂
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D’oh! How the heck did I miss Captain? My defense is I was thinking epic fantasy, not urban fantasy. Yeah, let’s go with that . . . 🙂
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Yeah I went with mostly all UF with my choices because Wendy pretty much beat me to it with all the fantasy ones! 🙂
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Hedwig!! I loved Hedwig. (Still do, in fact.) Great to see Shadowfax as well. Here are a couple I thought of that aren’t on your list:
Faithful, Alanna’s cat in Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness quartet
Kiki, Yelena’s horse in Maria V. Snyder’s Study series
Small, Fire’s horse in Kristin Cashore’s Fire
And even though Hermoine’s not really a protagonist, does Crookshanks count?
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Very nice, I haven’t read any of the three books you mentioned above, though I have read Graceling by Kristin Cashore. Is Fire one of the later books of that series? If it is, I guess I’ll meet Fire the horse at some point! 🙂
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Fire is actually the protagonist. Her horse’s name is Small. 😉
Yes, Cashore wrote Fire and Bitterblue after Graceling, and Fire is probably my favorite of her three books so far.
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I had Wild Magic on there from Tamora Pierce’s Immortals series, but I realized Daine doesn’t really have a pet, at least not till the end, which is a bit of a spoiler.
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I didn’t know about this week’s topic, otherwise I would have joined in for sure! Great list, I keep hearing about Oberon but I haven’t started the series yet. Maybe I need to:-D
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Haha, Oberon is quite famous! Best fictional dog ever!
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Oh, Medea! It’s been so long since I’ve read these that it slipped my mind… Great picks, both of you!
And I think Shadowfax would kick you if you tried calling him a pet 😉
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I wish Medea had a bigger role, she IS quite easy to forget! In most of the books, it seems she’s always getting caught in the middle of whatever calamity is happening in Mercy’s life but manages to escape all the same 🙂
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hehe it would be a mighty kick indeed.
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Why oh why is everyone sobbing about Hedwig? Did I miss something important? Or perhaps block out HORRIBLE PAINFUL MEMORIES!
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I must have blocked it out too. Or I just don’t remember that scene being all that sad (did I just admit to being a horrible person?)
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Horrible!
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Stupid Deathly Hallows. *sobs more about Hedwig. And Dobby*
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Oooo I didn’t even think of Medea, great pick! I didn’t realize that those Peter Grant books include a canine companion – I want to read those even more desperately now. Yeah…I’ll never be over Hedwig.
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Yes, Toby the ghost detecting dog is AWESOME!!!
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Oberon is my favourite fictional dog. I love him and his thoughts! And, it’s so cool that he can converse telepathically with Atticus.
You definitely can’t call a dire wolf a pet! Although I wouldn’t mind having one!!!
Lynn 😀
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LOL if my dog could communicate with me telepathically I would love it so much if he had Oberon’s personality.
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I forgot about Toby from Rivers of London (aka Midnight Riot) and he was one of my favorite parts. Really awesome list – almost comprehensive! It’s interesting that UF has so many pets…I need Kate Daniels to adopt a pet but I guess she’s got her hands full of lion:0).
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Ah, I have to get crackin’ on continuing the Kate Daniels series! And yes, I just had to throw in Toby. Coolest ability for a pet ever.
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