MY BUDDY BALI

In Seyer’s SF novel, a mischievous corgi living in the not-too-distant future is set on having adventures beyond his sheltered existence.

It is 2051 in Toronto, Canada, and Bali—a 7-month-old, unusually-colored Cardigan Welsh Corgi—is bored (“As he gazed out beyond the confines of his backyard, he could see an entirely new world waiting to be explored—the winding streets of the neighborhood, filled with bikes and children playing under the shining sun”). His owners, doctors Manuel and Tatiana Hashbun, are busy, wealthy professionals with demanding jobs who pay little attention to their gifted dog. Bali’s series of adventures begins as he repeatedly escapes from home—these jaunts will take him to New York City and back, all around his upper-middle-class neighborhood, and even to Seoul, South Korea—via time travel—where he guest stars in Kisses and Tears, a popular melodrama. While Bali’s chief concerns involve pesky squirrels, rabbits, and life beyond the backyard, temperatures are rising and technological advances have led to a surveillance network that extends from ring doorbells to cities that run on “android-controlled transportation.” This is something that thieves Ben and Renato try to evade as they move between New York and Toronto to steal as much as possible, but they fail to anticipate an encounter with Bali. Another plot thread introduces Dr. Motuo Locus, of Locus Enterprise, LLC, who is enmeshed in a bitter rivalry with Dr. David Wojcik to develop the ability to “transfer or teleport disintegrated sub-nanoparticles to a predetermined coordinate,” allowing objects to time-travel.

Bali is a compelling and mischievous protagonist when the narrative is focused on his role in the adventures, albeit one who is easily distracted: “He forgot about his escape plans temporarily—at least for today—since he wanted to play with his old friend a little.” But the surrounding misadventures of his family, the thieves, and the scientists, which take up a significant part of the book, result in Bali’s care-free attitude and whimsy becoming lost in the muddle of his human co-stars’ tangled lives. Initially, the Hashbuns take expensive measures to train Bali and prevent any further escapes, but they seldom engage with the dog when he is home with them: “Not for nothing, Bali has been feeling lonely lately. No one was giving him real attention.” This is contrasted with Tatiana’s desire for companionship in the chapter “Seven-and-a-Half-Months Earlier,” in which the portrait of Hashbun family life is developed ahead of Bali’s adoption. Their relationships unfold alongside the severe impacts of the erratic weather and climate change on society as an “Enhanced Fujita (EF) 4.5 magnitude tornado” tears through Toronto; on the day of Bali’s adoption, “twenty-seven inmates had been hospitalized because of the intense summer heat.” The inclusion of these details (and the mentions of omnipresent surveillance) can be disorienting, as these issues aren’t reflected on by the characters; as they move through their days, the Hashbuns’ wealth insulates them from any real stakes. Reyes-Mariano’s AI-assisted digital illustrations set off each chapter, adding color and liveliness to the text.

A charming but sometimes confusing story that finds its feet when focused on its furry protagonist.