Book Review: Keeper's Travels in Search of His Master by Edward Augustus Kendall

 

This is a book I picked up not because it particularly interesting to me, but rather for the context around it: It being one of the first published xenofiction novels we know of. I managed to find a public domain ebook of it and gave it a read. Spoilers ahead (for as far as one can see spoilers for a 200+ year old book as actual spoilers).

Keeper is a loyal dog who one day get separated from his master. This causes him to go on a journey to find his beloved owner. On his way he comes across many different people, some friendly towards him, some who wish to harm him. Though Keeper at times find comfort among the kinder ones, there is only one true master for him. Will he succeed in his mission?

I wouldn't say that this is some kind of great masterpiece or anything, but in the context of it being one of the earliest xenofiction novels this was definitely interesting and quite good. I enjoyed my time reading it. It wasn't particularly complex (it's a fairly straightforward journey of a dog trying to find his master and overcoming obstacles to get there). 

Keeper himself I also wouldn't describe as a particularly interesting character. While he's not bad or anything, he doesn't have the same depth to him a protagonist like Buck from The Call of the Wild has, for example. But he was still likable enough to keep me invested in his journey, even if he was on the generic side. He's just kinda the "loyal dog" character archetype.

The interest in the characters in this book lies more so in the human characters Keeper comes across on his journey. They all treat him differently and Keeper in return feels different towards all of them. He does grow close to a particular few, but even then never would dream of trading them in for his (one and only) master. These side characters, the humans, I also wouldn't describe as particularly complex, but they do have more depth and traits to them than Keeper himself has.

I do think that the messages the author is trying to get across can be a bit heavy-handed in this book (What is a dog? What is true courage? What is fear? Do animals deserve rights?), but it wasn't too bad, either. Just be prepared to see the human characters go into contemplative discussions from time to time to discuss the morals the author is trying to get across. 

Overall I'd just say that this xenofiction falls into the "pretty decent" category. Nothing great, and it's not among my favorites, but a decent read nonetheless and it is an important work for the xenofiction genre regardless. 

Rating: 3.5/5 

Btw: The free public domain ebook I managed to obtain was a flawed digital scan of a physical book, the description of the ebook acknowledges this. It was a bit annoying at times, but it didn't make the book unreadable for me. So if you do feel like checking it out, just be prepared that the digital transfer might not be perfect.