The Starlight Barking

Yeah, no. This is a pretty weak-ass sequel. I mean, sure, authors can do whatever they want with their stories and characters and this includes sequels, but it doesn't mean they're going to be GOOD. It would have been better if this book was more like its precedessor, but Starlight Barking had the story just going off the rails with this ... science-fiction stuff of the Dog Star summoning the dogs of Earth.

If The 101 Dalmatians was a straightforward, out-and-back adventures story, The Starlight Barking is more of a science fiction tale: Pongo, Missis, and all the other dogs wake one morning to find that every other living creature is still sleeping peacefully. The dalmatians cannot wake the Dearlys, but they have developed extraordinary powers: they can "swoosh" above the ground, they aren't hungry or thirsty, doors open for them, and they can hear the voices of other dogs from miles away. From London, Cadpig - now the Prime Minister's dog - calls to her parents to come and help her. Then, a voice speaks to them all, calling all dogs to Trafalgar Square: it is Sirius, the Dog Star, offering to rescue all of the dogs on planet Earth, which show more the humans are likely to destroy with bombs. It falls to Pongo to decide for all of dogdom: go with Sirius, or stay on Earth?

A product of its time, without the timeless quality of its predecessor, but still entertaining.

Quotes

"Crowds are always fooled. They get so worked up that they can't think for themselves." (the Great Dane, 128)

"And imagination can be more real than reality..." (Sirius, 134) show less

If you say to people 'oh yes, there's a sequel to 101 Dalmations where a space alien puts all the humans to sleep and tells the dogs they should leave with him, because the humans are likely to destroy the world with atomic bombs, and he gives all the dogs magical powers so they can fly', not many people believe you. But there is.

In many ways, it is not a very good book. It feels very much like fan fiction (what if Pongo's daughter was the Prime Minister's dog!) and the Cruella subplot is a strange tangent. And there are so many interesting things I want to unpick about the characterisation of Misses, as beautiful and intuitive but needed to be protected from things that will worry her, and really a bit dim.

But I like it, it's show more ridiculous and has some really fun bits, and the whole central nearly-philosophical question of 'what would you abandon to get eternal bliss and would that be good?' is interesting! show less

There is a lot good about this book and a lot questionable about it. The 101D series book and film has always felt rooted in some form of a realistic scenario. Worsened by Disney which crosses it over canonically with Lady and the Tramp, Oliver and Company, and so forth. Thus the rooted in reality series, and book one all make for the reader to come in expecting a reality-type story.

What we get is to see things go slightly out the window. As a kid this did not effect me, as a teen this became weird, but as an adult it simply does not fit within the world. I can accept all of the following. That Cadpig became the Prime Minister's dog. That Pongo was the voice of intelligence while Missus is the emotional one because she's female. I don't show more recall Perdita, the puppy wet nurse being in the book, and I don't want to reread once again. The books are dated, it shows. I can accept all that happens in this book until "the great conflict" is exposed.
So the acceptable part of the conflict is as follows. Everything not a dog -or cat- is passed out, asleep, under a spell. They suspect Cruella, but she too is under, they explore, less than little is found out.

Why is everyone asleep? Because nuclear war is about to be implemented on the humans by Sirius, Lord of the Dog Star, who invites them all to come with him to his very home in order to evade said war. Naturally Pongo gets selected after a lengthy bit about how Sirius looks like whatever dog breed is looking at him(ignoring mutts somehow, if I recall right), they do a big speech, even the homeless and abused dogs, and decide. . .

Well, duh, no.

Sirius takes this surprisingly well for someone who wanted to nuke the world due to dog abuse. He grants them the speed to head home before the sleep spell is ended, and then takes his leave. It's quite a weird situation as it implies a dog entity or aliens actively exist in 101D-land and that it's not even that big of a deal everyone could be dead if the desired them to be and dogs could just head off to a weird planet Neverland to live happy forever.

Is it worth reading? Yes, it's a trip from the old days and really really weird, but it alters everything I knew about the canon and slowly makes things like the animated Dalmatian series where aliens and extinct dinosaurs could exist because cartoon logic not so silly. It's like the books nosedive into a weird category of no longer realistic or believable at all within the second book alone. I've never read past here, but it can't get much more crazy, right? show less

The 101 Dalmatians is a great children's story, but I had never heard of the sequel so I picked it up with many reservations- all of which proved to be quite justified. Even though Dodie Smith brings back most of the main characters, the story is completely contrived and far-fetched. In the first book, although all the events are seen through the eyes of the dogs, most of what happens (with a slight stretch of the imagination) is conceivable, while this book is, to use a word overused in the story itself, "metaphysical" rubbish.
It was so bad it almost went as far as to ruin the original book for me. Don't waste your time, stick with The 101 Dalmatians and be happy reading no further!

Naples, FL 2023 #5 - Delightful little romp with the Dalmations of the Dearly family (101 Dalmations), as they find themselves suddenly in charge of everything.....all other living things are sleeping peacefully.....and they find they have rather startling powers and abilities. fun little tale that celebrates the intelligence and poise of the dog world and their blessed connection with we mere humans!

A sequel to 101 Dalmatians, in which our intrepid canines wake up one morning to discover that dogs are the only creatures awake in the world. I liked a lot of things about this story (particularly Cadpig as the Prime Minister’s dog), but I found the message decidedly heavy-handed and Sirius (no, not that Sirius, you silly Harry Potter reader) frankly creepy, and the plot falls rather flat at the end. I’m glad I read it, but I’m also glad I checked it out from the library.