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Etna
Beloved author and winner of The Story Prize, Paul Yoon, is back with the unforgettable story of a working dog, Etna, who, after a devastating war, embarks on an odyssey in the hopes of returning home.
Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home—to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.
Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses across ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How do we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?
This is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up, and ultimately a novel about finding hope in the most dire of times.
Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home—to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.
Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses across ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How do we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?
This is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up, and ultimately a novel about finding hope in the most dire of times.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published August 4, 2026
About the author
Paul Yoon
15 books471 followersPaul Yoon was born in New York City. His first book, ONCE THE SHORE, was selected as a New York Times Notable Book and a Best Debut of the Year by National Public Radio. His novel, SNOW HUNTERS, won the 2014 Young Lions Fiction Award.
A recipient of a 5 under 35 Award from the National Book Foundation and a fellowship from the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, he is currently a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer at Harvard University along with his wife, the fiction writer Laura van den Berg.
A recipient of a 5 under 35 Award from the National Book Foundation and a fellowship from the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, he is currently a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer at Harvard University along with his wife, the fiction writer Laura van den Berg.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 828 reviews
August 10, 2026
Etna takes place in an unspecified, war-torn Asian country. It begins when Soojin—a female doctor—arrives at a farm along the coast looking for dogs to help out in the war. She takes a young shepherd-mix pup back to her vehicle. He’s scared and doesn’t know why he’s been taken from his mother and siblings. There’s another dog in the truck, though—a female, sleeping—and this calms him down. But he senses something strange. This doctor seems to be inside his head. She’s speaking to him and she can hear what he’s thinking. They’re able to talk without saying a word!
Soojin gives him a name, “Etna”, and tells him “... you’re going to work hard and save a lot of lives.” 💞 When the sleeping dog awakens, Soojin introduces them. Etna can’t take his eyes off her. She’s called “Fuji”. They drive for hours, then stop at an old gas station where uniformed men are gathered. Soojin lifts the dogs from the truck and tells them it will be difficult but they have each other now. They must look out for each other and never forget that they are strong.
Etna and Fuji are taken to an American base where they’re trained as special ops dogs, working alongside combat engineers. Etna is assigned to Jason. They become inseparable; their lives will come to depend on one another.
💥
Etna is one very special dog.❤️🐾 He can easily communicate with other animals, but also with a very few humans, the first being Soojin. And did I mention he’s the Narrator of the book?🤗
O.K., so this is where I need to address something. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m hopelessly in love with ALL animals, but especially dogs. [😔sigh] Maybe I was naïve to think a book about war wouldn’t hurt animals.😢 I've always been completely devastated when an animal in a book I’m reading is hurt. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve DNF’d when there’s been even a mention of an animal getting injured, abused, or killed. What gets to me is that animals are so innocent, so helpless, so vulnerable, and they love us unconditionally. That’s why I love them so much, and HURT for them so much. There is no doubt this book was a little uncomfortable for me to read at times. “Several dead animal carcasses” are alluded to and, in one particular scene, a deceased dog is the focus of a brief part of the story.
But here’s the strange thing… Something about this book kept me from falling to pieces.🥲 With Etna narrating the story, and being so highly-trained—thinking so logically and able to perform in war—it made me see him as less helpless, less in need of human care and comfort and, well... almost human!😯 I don’t know if that makes any sense but, somehow I didn't see him so much as a DOG anymore—at least, not since he was a pup back on the farm. It felt to me like I might be able to get through this book without it "killing" me!🤔
And I did!!!😀 Later on, Etna wanders throughout the countryside, without much of a plan, until the thought comes to him that it’s time to go home. He’s not sure where it is, how to get there, or if it’ll even still be there. But it’s something he knows he has to do. So he follows his nose and along the way he meets some interesting characters and has some unusual, even dangerous, adventures.
This is a very special, extremely beautiful novel, and one that’s told in a clever, very unique manner. I have a feeling this could be one of the most memorable books of 2026, and you don’t want to miss out. This gets my highest possible recommendation!
5 “You’ll–always–find–a–way–back–home”❤️ stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Soojin gives him a name, “Etna”, and tells him “... you’re going to work hard and save a lot of lives.” 💞 When the sleeping dog awakens, Soojin introduces them. Etna can’t take his eyes off her. She’s called “Fuji”. They drive for hours, then stop at an old gas station where uniformed men are gathered. Soojin lifts the dogs from the truck and tells them it will be difficult but they have each other now. They must look out for each other and never forget that they are strong.
Etna and Fuji are taken to an American base where they’re trained as special ops dogs, working alongside combat engineers. Etna is assigned to Jason. They become inseparable; their lives will come to depend on one another.
💥
Etna is one very special dog.❤️🐾 He can easily communicate with other animals, but also with a very few humans, the first being Soojin. And did I mention he’s the Narrator of the book?🤗
O.K., so this is where I need to address something. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m hopelessly in love with ALL animals, but especially dogs. [😔sigh] Maybe I was naïve to think a book about war wouldn’t hurt animals.😢 I've always been completely devastated when an animal in a book I’m reading is hurt. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve DNF’d when there’s been even a mention of an animal getting injured, abused, or killed. What gets to me is that animals are so innocent, so helpless, so vulnerable, and they love us unconditionally. That’s why I love them so much, and HURT for them so much. There is no doubt this book was a little uncomfortable for me to read at times. “Several dead animal carcasses” are alluded to and, in one particular scene, a deceased dog is the focus of a brief part of the story.
But here’s the strange thing… Something about this book kept me from falling to pieces.🥲 With Etna narrating the story, and being so highly-trained—thinking so logically and able to perform in war—it made me see him as less helpless, less in need of human care and comfort and, well... almost human!😯 I don’t know if that makes any sense but, somehow I didn't see him so much as a DOG anymore—at least, not since he was a pup back on the farm. It felt to me like I might be able to get through this book without it "killing" me!🤔
And I did!!!😀 Later on, Etna wanders throughout the countryside, without much of a plan, until the thought comes to him that it’s time to go home. He’s not sure where it is, how to get there, or if it’ll even still be there. But it’s something he knows he has to do. So he follows his nose and along the way he meets some interesting characters and has some unusual, even dangerous, adventures.
This is a very special, extremely beautiful novel, and one that’s told in a clever, very unique manner. I have a feeling this could be one of the most memorable books of 2026, and you don’t want to miss out. This gets my highest possible recommendation!
5 “You’ll–always–find–a–way–back–home”❤️ stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
September 1, 2026
A mesmerizing read. I LOVE THIS DOG!!!!
The often sparse, addictive writing style kept me turning the pages into the early hours of the morning. Etna's stoic fortitude and courage, together with his strong moral compass made me want to stay in Etna's world - I was in complete awe of this incredible character.
As the story progressed, Etna's compassion for the blind dog and his friendship and love for his perky sidekick, Semera, belied his ferocious efficiency when dealing with an enemy or threat.
Heroic is too flimsy a descriptor for this very brave, wise dog. I truly felt that Etna, above all the other interesting characters in this novel, deserved his moment of peace and to end his days by his longed-for seashore.
This is a MUST READ: go read this NOW! It was excellent!
The often sparse, addictive writing style kept me turning the pages into the early hours of the morning. Etna's stoic fortitude and courage, together with his strong moral compass made me want to stay in Etna's world - I was in complete awe of this incredible character.
As the story progressed, Etna's compassion for the blind dog and his friendship and love for his perky sidekick, Semera, belied his ferocious efficiency when dealing with an enemy or threat.
Heroic is too flimsy a descriptor for this very brave, wise dog. I truly felt that Etna, above all the other interesting characters in this novel, deserved his moment of peace and to end his days by his longed-for seashore.
This is a MUST READ: go read this NOW! It was excellent!
August 19, 2026
4.5⭐️
This was wholesome, heartbreaking, and the perfect story told about the undying loyalty of a dog!
A story told in the POV a dog in wartime who is ex-military, this tugged at my heartstrings. It was a bit simplistic at times, but you are in a dog’s head after all. The only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is there was a portion in the latter half that lost my attention, and with it being so short I feel like the whole thing needs to be engaging.
Such an interesting take on the devastation of war! To be honest, I would have read a 400 page book about this story.
It won’t be for everyone, but this really worked for me!
This was wholesome, heartbreaking, and the perfect story told about the undying loyalty of a dog!
A story told in the POV a dog in wartime who is ex-military, this tugged at my heartstrings. It was a bit simplistic at times, but you are in a dog’s head after all. The only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is there was a portion in the latter half that lost my attention, and with it being so short I feel like the whole thing needs to be engaging.
Such an interesting take on the devastation of war! To be honest, I would have read a 400 page book about this story.
It won’t be for everyone, but this really worked for me!
July 28, 2026
Etna by Paul Yoon absolutely blew me away. This is one of those rare books that completely exceeded my expectations and reminded me how powerful storytelling can be. It’s filled with hope, heartbreak, love, and loss, and by the time I reached the final page, I felt like I had been on a deeply emotional journey.
One of the things that struck me most was how effortlessly Yoon pulls off something that I think is incredibly difficult to do well: writing anthropomorphized animals for an adult audience. It’s a fine line to walk. Too often, stories like this can come across as overly sentimental, simplistic, or even unintentionally silly. Etna never falls into any of those traps. Instead, Yoon creates animal characters that feel every bit as authentic and emotionally complex as the best human characters in fiction.
The main dog quickly became someone I cared deeply about. It didn’t take long before I stopped thinking of the character as “the dog” and simply saw them as an individual with fears, hopes, desires, and flaws. Every decision felt motivated by a genuine emotional reality, and every relationship carried real weight. These aren’t animals acting like people for the sake of a clever premise. They are fully realized characters with rich inner lives, and that’s what makes the novel so extraordinary.
Yoon’s writing is equally remarkable. His prose is graceful and understated, allowing the emotional moments to land naturally rather than forcing them. Whether the story is exploring joy, grief, companionship, or perseverance, it does so with a quiet confidence that makes those moments all the more powerful. I found myself completely immersed in the world he created, feeling every triumph and every heartbreak alongside the characters.
What I loved most, though, was the emotional balance of the novel. There is undeniable sadness here, but it never feels bleak. Even in its darkest moments, Etna is ultimately a story about resilience, connection, and the hope that can endure despite tremendous loss.
Thank you to NetGalley, Scribner, and Paul Yoon for granting me access to a digital ARC of this title.
One of the things that struck me most was how effortlessly Yoon pulls off something that I think is incredibly difficult to do well: writing anthropomorphized animals for an adult audience. It’s a fine line to walk. Too often, stories like this can come across as overly sentimental, simplistic, or even unintentionally silly. Etna never falls into any of those traps. Instead, Yoon creates animal characters that feel every bit as authentic and emotionally complex as the best human characters in fiction.
The main dog quickly became someone I cared deeply about. It didn’t take long before I stopped thinking of the character as “the dog” and simply saw them as an individual with fears, hopes, desires, and flaws. Every decision felt motivated by a genuine emotional reality, and every relationship carried real weight. These aren’t animals acting like people for the sake of a clever premise. They are fully realized characters with rich inner lives, and that’s what makes the novel so extraordinary.
Yoon’s writing is equally remarkable. His prose is graceful and understated, allowing the emotional moments to land naturally rather than forcing them. Whether the story is exploring joy, grief, companionship, or perseverance, it does so with a quiet confidence that makes those moments all the more powerful. I found myself completely immersed in the world he created, feeling every triumph and every heartbreak alongside the characters.
What I loved most, though, was the emotional balance of the novel. There is undeniable sadness here, but it never feels bleak. Even in its darkest moments, Etna is ultimately a story about resilience, connection, and the hope that can endure despite tremendous loss.
Thank you to NetGalley, Scribner, and Paul Yoon for granting me access to a digital ARC of this title.
August 19, 2026
A dog, a war, bombs, death and destruction, people who come and go, and other animals too. Told from a dog's point of view, this one is brief but powerful. Etna just wants to go home.
I have a couple of other Yoon books on my tbr, but this is the first of his I've read. I'm a fan.
I have a couple of other Yoon books on my tbr, but this is the first of his I've read. I'm a fan.
July 26, 2026
Short and strong. I liked the book and thought the dog POV was interesting. The minimal prose worked for me. The story overall got a bit wobbly in the middle third.
August 6, 2026
Real Rating: 4.5* of five
The Publisher Says: Beloved author and winner of The Story Prize, Paul Yoon, is back with the unforgettable story of a working dog, Etna, who, after a devastating war, embarks on an odyssey in the hopes of returning home.
Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home—to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.
Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses across ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How do we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?
This is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up, and ultimately a novel about finding hope in the most dire of times.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Etna...volcano...Sicily's demi-Vesuvius.
No, Etna is a bright, sweet-tempered puppy whose evident cleverness gets him selected to assist the American troops in their conduct of war. Set in his homeland as it's destroyed, a woman with a gift of speaking after a fashion to animals' minds identifies this lovely creature as a helper for human destroyers. Named after the volcano by an American soldier, Etna's trained to be a mine-sniffing dog. He renders aid and saves lives to the best of his ability...and he's good at his job...until the war around him shifts.
Etna's alert, oriented, and intelligent. He makes his own mind up to leave the soldiers he's served, served with really, to go home. It's part of the story's charm that by them we've accepted Etna as our narrator, as an entity with thoughts and feelings and interiority we can invest in. He perceives the damaged soldiers around him, senses as any dog would the way they've changed with a dog's emotional sensitivity to people. As Etna leaves the soldiers' world behind he heads to wherever his memory says is home through a landscape he does not recognize, peopled by scarred, violent survivors.
A large part of the decision to invest in Etna's journey comes as we-the-reader settle into Author Yoon's pared-down narrative voice, unornamented while remaining emotionally evocative and visually rich. It makes sense that it would be this combination of traits because dogs perceive the world at an angle to human perceptions, which must somehow be conveyed to human readers in a way that makes sense to them. Had, for example, Author Yoon chosen to convey Etna's perceptions through smells it would fall flat. Humans barely have a sense of smell. (I myownself think that's an adaptation so we can live in cities....)
As Etna lives through destruction by making his mind up to get home, he interacts with the other animals around him in ways that feel natural by the time we get there narratively. Author Yoon does not put thoughts of literally incredible complexity into animals' perceptions. That makes the fact they're animals go down easier, makes the observations and perceptions make sense in their context. A good touch of realistic world-building is how only one human is ever shown communicating with Etna in a magically clear way. Etna's other interactions with humans feel sharp, clear, but never direct and magically clear; it's how I see dogs and intelligent sensitive people interacting daily as my neighborhood has a good-sized canine population.
The story takes place mostly in the aftermath of war so there is a lot of devastation in Etna's homebound path. A lot changes in a creature that survives violence by committing violence. In Etna's case he doesn't attack others but he defends himself and those he serves by necessary means. It will disturb you as you read the story. It is never gratuitous or prolonged for effect. Using Etna for a PoV character allows Author Yoon to present violence and consequences realistically resonant on the emotional level without lingering in the trauma left behind. Etna rediscovers human lovingkindness when he meets Hong and his doctor/partner, determinedly helping their fellow countrymen recover from wounds and diseases they never needed to suffer but for war coming to their world from outside.
In the summer of 2026, defined in good part by Christopher Nolan's retelling of The Odyssey , Paul Yoon hit a cultural jackpot by reimagining a homegoing quest in a unique way. That he did so successfully will, I strongly hope, boost this tight, compact, deeply moving story of a dog who needs to rediscover his purpose after war to the sales heights it deserves.
The Publisher Says: Beloved author and winner of The Story Prize, Paul Yoon, is back with the unforgettable story of a working dog, Etna, who, after a devastating war, embarks on an odyssey in the hopes of returning home.
Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home—to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.
Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses across ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How do we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?
This is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up, and ultimately a novel about finding hope in the most dire of times.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Etna...volcano...Sicily's demi-Vesuvius.
No, Etna is a bright, sweet-tempered puppy whose evident cleverness gets him selected to assist the American troops in their conduct of war. Set in his homeland as it's destroyed, a woman with a gift of speaking after a fashion to animals' minds identifies this lovely creature as a helper for human destroyers. Named after the volcano by an American soldier, Etna's trained to be a mine-sniffing dog. He renders aid and saves lives to the best of his ability...and he's good at his job...until the war around him shifts.
Etna's alert, oriented, and intelligent. He makes his own mind up to leave the soldiers he's served, served with really, to go home. It's part of the story's charm that by them we've accepted Etna as our narrator, as an entity with thoughts and feelings and interiority we can invest in. He perceives the damaged soldiers around him, senses as any dog would the way they've changed with a dog's emotional sensitivity to people. As Etna leaves the soldiers' world behind he heads to wherever his memory says is home through a landscape he does not recognize, peopled by scarred, violent survivors.
A large part of the decision to invest in Etna's journey comes as we-the-reader settle into Author Yoon's pared-down narrative voice, unornamented while remaining emotionally evocative and visually rich. It makes sense that it would be this combination of traits because dogs perceive the world at an angle to human perceptions, which must somehow be conveyed to human readers in a way that makes sense to them. Had, for example, Author Yoon chosen to convey Etna's perceptions through smells it would fall flat. Humans barely have a sense of smell. (I myownself think that's an adaptation so we can live in cities....)
As Etna lives through destruction by making his mind up to get home, he interacts with the other animals around him in ways that feel natural by the time we get there narratively. Author Yoon does not put thoughts of literally incredible complexity into animals' perceptions. That makes the fact they're animals go down easier, makes the observations and perceptions make sense in their context. A good touch of realistic world-building is how only one human is ever shown communicating with Etna in a magically clear way. Etna's other interactions with humans feel sharp, clear, but never direct and magically clear; it's how I see dogs and intelligent sensitive people interacting daily as my neighborhood has a good-sized canine population.
The story takes place mostly in the aftermath of war so there is a lot of devastation in Etna's homebound path. A lot changes in a creature that survives violence by committing violence. In Etna's case he doesn't attack others but he defends himself and those he serves by necessary means. It will disturb you as you read the story. It is never gratuitous or prolonged for effect. Using Etna for a PoV character allows Author Yoon to present violence and consequences realistically resonant on the emotional level without lingering in the trauma left behind. Etna rediscovers human lovingkindness when he meets Hong and his doctor/partner, determinedly helping their fellow countrymen recover from wounds and diseases they never needed to suffer but for war coming to their world from outside.
In the summer of 2026, defined in good part by Christopher Nolan's retelling of The Odyssey , Paul Yoon hit a cultural jackpot by reimagining a homegoing quest in a unique way. That he did so successfully will, I strongly hope, boost this tight, compact, deeply moving story of a dog who needs to rediscover his purpose after war to the sales heights it deserves.
July 26, 2026
Thank you so much to Scribner Books for sending me an advance copy of Etna to read. This was a beautiful but sad story, told by a dog. Yes, that’s right. The whole book is told by Etna, a dog who was picked out when he was about a year old and trained to be of service in a war, a war that lasted for four years.
Let me say up front that I’m not especially a “dog person.” I like them well enough, but not enough to ever have one for a pet, basically. So you don’t need to really love dogs to appreciate this book.
Etna can speak to other dogs and other animals (he has one interesting conversation with a donkey, for example). He can also “speak” to certain humans, but not his handler Jason or Jason’s soldier buddy Brian, which is too bad. He could speak to the woman who picked him out at the farm, Soojin, but he doesn’t see her for long before he’s sent to be war-trained. He winds up being extremely useful, sniffing out land mines and attacking when needed. When the war is over, Etna tries to go home, to the farm he remembers. But he has no real idea where it is and how to get himself there. His adventures along the way form most of the story. We see the ruined landscapes and the desperate survivors through Etna’s eyes. The story is a sad one, but also mixed with humor and love and caring. It reminded me a bit of The Odyssey, with Odysseus trying to get home and meeting so many obstacles along the way.
This was my first book by Paul Yoon and I was impressed.
Let me say up front that I’m not especially a “dog person.” I like them well enough, but not enough to ever have one for a pet, basically. So you don’t need to really love dogs to appreciate this book.
Etna can speak to other dogs and other animals (he has one interesting conversation with a donkey, for example). He can also “speak” to certain humans, but not his handler Jason or Jason’s soldier buddy Brian, which is too bad. He could speak to the woman who picked him out at the farm, Soojin, but he doesn’t see her for long before he’s sent to be war-trained. He winds up being extremely useful, sniffing out land mines and attacking when needed. When the war is over, Etna tries to go home, to the farm he remembers. But he has no real idea where it is and how to get himself there. His adventures along the way form most of the story. We see the ruined landscapes and the desperate survivors through Etna’s eyes. The story is a sad one, but also mixed with humor and love and caring. It reminded me a bit of The Odyssey, with Odysseus trying to get home and meeting so many obstacles along the way.
This was my first book by Paul Yoon and I was impressed.
August 16, 2026
Etna is a war dog, trained to sniff mines and drag soldiers from doorways. The whole story comes filtered through her nose, her scars, and her patient, watchful heart. She travels in four stretches, field, city, mountains, sea, each one shedding a companion.
Soojin gives her the name and a promise to keep. Fuji gives her a pack and then vanishes into a mountain range like smoke off a wick. Jason gives her four seconds and his own body as a shield. What survives all this loss is a dog still walking toward a coast she barely remembers, sniffing for a farm, a mother, a pig, a hornets nest shaped like a turtle shell.
Etna reports the war the way a dog actually would, in smells and heartbeats and the exact weight of a foot on a floorboard, and lets us carry the horror the sentences leave unspoken. A jaw pulled from a field. A butterfly climbing out of a dead dog's eye socket. A blind, starving hound pacing his ruined station, asking a stranger to find a family already gone to dust. Italics stay switched off. Violins stay silent in the background. The story keeps its powder dry the entire way to the shoreline, with a nose for the real casualties, the ones absent from every battlefield map.
A creature named for eruption keeps her fire banked for the entire length of the book. Etna carries char and grief and a thousand sunsets until the shoreline finally gives her somewhere to lay it down. Home turns out to be a pack first and a place second. A slow burn of a book about survival, naming, and the strange mercy of strangers.
❤️ 🇮🇱
Soojin gives her the name and a promise to keep. Fuji gives her a pack and then vanishes into a mountain range like smoke off a wick. Jason gives her four seconds and his own body as a shield. What survives all this loss is a dog still walking toward a coast she barely remembers, sniffing for a farm, a mother, a pig, a hornets nest shaped like a turtle shell.
Etna reports the war the way a dog actually would, in smells and heartbeats and the exact weight of a foot on a floorboard, and lets us carry the horror the sentences leave unspoken. A jaw pulled from a field. A butterfly climbing out of a dead dog's eye socket. A blind, starving hound pacing his ruined station, asking a stranger to find a family already gone to dust. Italics stay switched off. Violins stay silent in the background. The story keeps its powder dry the entire way to the shoreline, with a nose for the real casualties, the ones absent from every battlefield map.
A creature named for eruption keeps her fire banked for the entire length of the book. Etna carries char and grief and a thousand sunsets until the shoreline finally gives her somewhere to lay it down. Home turns out to be a pack first and a place second. A slow burn of a book about survival, naming, and the strange mercy of strangers.
❤️ 🇮🇱
December 21, 2025
"As time went on, the more hurt she was, the more she wanted to hurt.
And the blue in her eyes grew less blue, and I could never explain that."
At the outset, I didn't think this book would work for me as well as Yoon's previous novels have. A war/post-war story from the point of view of a dog? But then I get to passages like the one above and I'm reminded of what I adore about Paul Yoon--his ability, in a few words, to convey a world of feeling.
And the blue in her eyes grew less blue, and I could never explain that."
At the outset, I didn't think this book would work for me as well as Yoon's previous novels have. A war/post-war story from the point of view of a dog? But then I get to passages like the one above and I'm reminded of what I adore about Paul Yoon--his ability, in a few words, to convey a world of feeling.
August 15, 2026
“I was born near water.
I was born on a farm where many other dogs and other animals were born and cared for and lived.
I would never learn what the farm was intending to do with me. Maybe nothing at all. Maybe I was supposed to grow old there.
Or maybe I was always supposed to leave. To go work somewhere else and be with a new family. But it was home to me. My mother was there. My brothers and my sisters. An early memory: waking up to a den of pale noses surrounding me before our mother came, the silhouette of her face looming over us in the sky, the tall triangles of her ears pocketing the smell of the coast.”
This one softly robbed me of my words.
I saw somewhere a reader say that this book had stunned her into silence. And I thought “yes, that’s it”.
“Etna” is subdued and quiet and devastating.
It is subversive and timeless, ink-dark bleak and dawn-pale hopeful. Like Cormac McCarty’s “The Road” but seen through the prism of smells and sounds, close to the ground. An exquisitely attuned canine brain. A different kind of Odyssey.
By inhabiting a military dog’s consciousness with infinite sensitivity and grittiness, Paul Yoon gives us a striking and almost newborn view of what a postwar landscape feels like, an unvarnished vision of humans being humans. For better and for unfathomably worse.
Leave your resistance behind and experience the broken world through the eyes of Etna and the dogs that he meets, each so beautifully named after a volcano, and you will be rewarded.
With a little bit of luck, you might just be changed.
I was born on a farm where many other dogs and other animals were born and cared for and lived.
I would never learn what the farm was intending to do with me. Maybe nothing at all. Maybe I was supposed to grow old there.
Or maybe I was always supposed to leave. To go work somewhere else and be with a new family. But it was home to me. My mother was there. My brothers and my sisters. An early memory: waking up to a den of pale noses surrounding me before our mother came, the silhouette of her face looming over us in the sky, the tall triangles of her ears pocketing the smell of the coast.”
This one softly robbed me of my words.
I saw somewhere a reader say that this book had stunned her into silence. And I thought “yes, that’s it”.
“Etna” is subdued and quiet and devastating.
It is subversive and timeless, ink-dark bleak and dawn-pale hopeful. Like Cormac McCarty’s “The Road” but seen through the prism of smells and sounds, close to the ground. An exquisitely attuned canine brain. A different kind of Odyssey.
By inhabiting a military dog’s consciousness with infinite sensitivity and grittiness, Paul Yoon gives us a striking and almost newborn view of what a postwar landscape feels like, an unvarnished vision of humans being humans. For better and for unfathomably worse.
Leave your resistance behind and experience the broken world through the eyes of Etna and the dogs that he meets, each so beautifully named after a volcano, and you will be rewarded.
With a little bit of luck, you might just be changed.
August 6, 2026
4.5 stars. Very touching and unusual. Full review to follow.
November 21, 2025
This intimate and lyrical novel brings readers into the embodied consciousness of Etna, a war dog as desperate to return home to the seaside farm where he was born as Odysseus was to get back to Ithaca. Through encounters with humans and animals alike, Etna uses his military training to protect those he comes to love while regaining the open heart of a loving animal. A gorgeous read that will stay in my mind for years to come.
September 6, 2026
I had seen mountains burn. I had seen lakes burn and boulders burn and airplanes burn and tanks burn and animals burn and humans burn and bones burn. And when there was nothing left to burn, there was still the sound of it. I would always remember the sound of burning.
September 8, 2026
‘Etna’ by Paul Yoon is heartrending. How could a novel from a dog’s point of view during a war and shortly after its end be anything else? Etna makes friends during the war and shortly afterwards when he goes on a trek after a treaty ending the war, so of course more than a few friends die or disappear without explanation around him. This is not a story for little kids.
I have copied the book blurb:
”Beloved author and winner of The Story Prize, Paul Yoon, is back with the unforgettable story of a working dog, Etna, who, after a devastating war, embarks on an odyssey in the hopes of returning home.
Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home—to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.
Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses across ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How do we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?
This is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up, and ultimately a novel about finding hope in the most dire of times.”
I was sad on finishing the book. I recommend it because it is well-written, but it is a story of losses - losses of home, losses of family, losses of friends, losses of meanings, issues, philosophies. Etna wants to see where he was born one last time, to walk where his mother and origin family was, to breathe the air of his birth home before he dies. It drives him forward through a devastated landscape of many losses.
For survivors, there are the hopes that sometimes come with surviving, such as rebuilding new families, new friends, and the making of a new home. Are these things enough? Gentler reader, if one survives horrible losses yet somehow we are still standing, still breathing, I don’t think we have any choice but to continue, right? One breath after another, one step after another, unwillingly or unthinkingly as those things may be for awhile. And maybe, eventually, the act of rebuilding will be restorative.
I have copied the book blurb:
”Beloved author and winner of The Story Prize, Paul Yoon, is back with the unforgettable story of a working dog, Etna, who, after a devastating war, embarks on an odyssey in the hopes of returning home.
Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home—to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.
Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses across ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How do we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?
This is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up, and ultimately a novel about finding hope in the most dire of times.”
I was sad on finishing the book. I recommend it because it is well-written, but it is a story of losses - losses of home, losses of family, losses of friends, losses of meanings, issues, philosophies. Etna wants to see where he was born one last time, to walk where his mother and origin family was, to breathe the air of his birth home before he dies. It drives him forward through a devastated landscape of many losses.
For survivors, there are the hopes that sometimes come with surviving, such as rebuilding new families, new friends, and the making of a new home. Are these things enough? Gentler reader, if one survives horrible losses yet somehow we are still standing, still breathing, I don’t think we have any choice but to continue, right? One breath after another, one step after another, unwillingly or unthinkingly as those things may be for awhile. And maybe, eventually, the act of rebuilding will be restorative.
August 21, 2026
Etna is one of those books where I can recognize that there is something thoughtful and ambitious happening on the page…and also admit that it went right over my head.
This is a very short work of literary fiction told through the perspective of Etna, a former military dog who has survived a war and is trying to make his way back home to the place from which he was taken. It’s an unusual premise, and Paul Yoon uses Etna’s journey to explore loss, survival, memory, displacement, and what I suppose you could call the triumph of the human—or, in this case, canine—spirit.
Unfortunately, I just never connected with it.
The writing is extremely cerebral and abstract, and at times the book felt less like a traditional narrative and more like an exercise in experimental creative writing. I kept feeling as though there was another layer of meaning I was supposed to be uncovering, but instead of making me want to dig deeper, it left me feeling increasingly disconnected from the story.
That said, I can absolutely imagine this being a book that other literary-fiction readers adore. It’s short, unusual, contemplative, and clearly doing something very intentional with its language and perspective. I simply wasn’t the right reader for it.
Sometimes a book isn’t bad—it just isn’t for you. Etna was very much that book for me.
⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars
Thank you to Scribner for sending me a finished copy.
January 28, 2026
Etna is one of my most anticipated releases for 2026 and I was very excited to get the ARC.
This book is absolutely stunning. What a beautifully written and moving story. Etna is a wonderful protagonist and his observations about a country ravaged by war moved me deeply. I enjoyed meeting all of the different people and animals he encounters.
I know it’s early in the year, but this one is going to be tough to beat. I’ll be buying the hardcover once it’s out in August.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This book is absolutely stunning. What a beautifully written and moving story. Etna is a wonderful protagonist and his observations about a country ravaged by war moved me deeply. I enjoyed meeting all of the different people and animals he encounters.
I know it’s early in the year, but this one is going to be tough to beat. I’ll be buying the hardcover once it’s out in August.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
August 26, 2026
4.5. Such a quietly beautiful book, wonderfully written. Bleak, sparse, and also hopeful at the same time. I absolutely love this book with all my heart.
August 28, 2026
A book narrated by a scrappy ex-military dog in a fictional country at the conclusion of a senseless war does not hint at a page turner. However, you would be wrong. The reader follows this lovable but disheveled dog keenly. Just when you think that finding another worthy anti-war story is impossible you will find yourself wrong.
August 16, 2026
We need friends, Etna, the bird says. We need a pack.
Even if we lose our pack, I say.
Especially because of that, she says.
Well, I knew going in that this book would ruin me. Obviously that means it's a contender for my favorite read of the year!
When he was basically still a pup, Etna was taken from the farm by the coast where he was born to be trained as a working dog for the military. After four years of helping the troops locate landmines, UEX, and IEDs, he strikes out to try to find his way back home again across a war-ravaged land.
This is a literary novel told from the dog's POV, with no quotations around dialogue. It is very emotional, as it deals with the devastations of war, both physical and mental.
I got injured six times. Most times it was only the graze of shrapnel or a bullet or something else small and sharp...
Fuji: she got injured five times.
As time went on, the more hurt she was, the more she wanted to hurt.
And the blue in her eyes grew less blue, and I could never explain that.
He meets others on his journey, both animals and humans, and he is the goodest boy ever.
I highly recommend reading this if you, too, appreciate being emotionally damaged by books.
August 5, 2026
4.5 stars. Etna follows a former military dog as she crosses a war-ravaged landscape, searching for the only home she’s ever known. It’s a quiet, beautifully written story about loyalty, loss, survival, and the unexpected kindness that can still exist after unimaginable devastation. Paul Yoon packed so much emotion into so few pages—easily one of my favorite reads of the year. ❤️🎧
August 15, 2026
This is the story of a shepherd mix named Etna. He was taken from his mother, siblings, and the farm where he was born when he was just a year old, and trained to become a military working dog in an unnamed Asian country. When the war is over and his service comes to an end, he has nowhere to go, so he begins the journey back to his beloved farm by the ocean, hoping to find something - or someone - left for him. Along the way, he travels through the wreckage of a war-torn country, meeting people and animals who each leave their mark on his journey.
I’m a sucker for a book narrated by an animal, and I especially love when the animal has human-type thoughts because, well, I’d like to believe they do. This is a short but deeply meaningful novel about grief, hope, and the marvel of animals. It also really makes you wonder what your dog is thinking and really REALLY makes you wish you could communicate telepathically with them.
I also want to add this disclaimer for all the tender-hearted animal lovers out there like me who can’t bear to read about animal abuse: you’re going to be okay with this one. Yes, animals do die because it’s war, but there are no graphic details that will stick with you or haunt you afterward. The author himself is a dog lover, and that comes through in the tenderness of his writing.
I’m a sucker for a book narrated by an animal, and I especially love when the animal has human-type thoughts because, well, I’d like to believe they do. This is a short but deeply meaningful novel about grief, hope, and the marvel of animals. It also really makes you wonder what your dog is thinking and really REALLY makes you wish you could communicate telepathically with them.
I also want to add this disclaimer for all the tender-hearted animal lovers out there like me who can’t bear to read about animal abuse: you’re going to be okay with this one. Yes, animals do die because it’s war, but there are no graphic details that will stick with you or haunt you afterward. The author himself is a dog lover, and that comes through in the tenderness of his writing.
September 9, 2026
Understated but epic.
August 9, 2026
This is the story of a military service dog, told by him. A very unusual perspective, but well done!
April 26, 2026
Boy did I not want this book to end!
Written in a fictional country from the perspective of a dog pulled from his puppyhood in a coastal village to become a military dog—this novel is written almost as one long beautiful poem. One in which animals are depicted magically just for being themselves, existing, surviving.
Short and bittersweet because where war occurs, there are often more fatalities than anything else, this novel is definitely on my top ten and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to go on an unexpected journey, with Etna.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review ARC. This one is going on my bookshelf when it comes out.
Written in a fictional country from the perspective of a dog pulled from his puppyhood in a coastal village to become a military dog—this novel is written almost as one long beautiful poem. One in which animals are depicted magically just for being themselves, existing, surviving.
Short and bittersweet because where war occurs, there are often more fatalities than anything else, this novel is definitely on my top ten and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to go on an unexpected journey, with Etna.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review ARC. This one is going on my bookshelf when it comes out.
September 4, 2026
Etna had a premise I was immediately drawn to. It’s an unusual setup, and Yoon does create some striking images of a world damaged by conflict - ruined buildings, constant distant gunfire, empty landscapes, and people and animals simply trying to survive.
What held me back was that I never felt as connected to Etna as I expected to. His experiences are enormous - being taken from his family, trained for combat, exposed to death and violence, and then wandering through the aftermath of war - but his thoughts and actions often felt surprisingly thin. I kept expecting more psychological depth, more of a sense of how all of this had changed him. Instead, his journey sometimes felt more symbolic than fully lived-in.
The writing is probably the biggest reason for that distance. Yoon uses very sparse, clipped, simple sentences, with dialogue presented without quotation marks. There’s a stark beauty to it, and I can see why some readers found that style perfectly suited to a dog’s perspective. But for me, it often became too abstract and cerebral.
I also found the middle of the book less engaging, and the ending left me wanting more. The uncertainty is clearly intentional, but it felt fleeting rather than emotionally satisfying.
There are certainly things to admire here. Yoon captures the bleakness of war without turning the novel into a conventional war story, and Etna’s encounters with other animals and people introduce moments of kindness, companionship, and the possibility of rebuilding a life after devastation. The contrast between violence and these small moments of tenderness is probably the strongest part of the book.
Ultimately, though, I expected the premise to deliver something more emotionally and psychologically substantial. Etna is atmospheric, unusual, and beautifully restrained in places, but for me the restraint too often became distance. I could appreciate what Yoon was trying to do without ever feeling fully immersed in it.
An intriguing premise and some beautiful writing, but I wanted more depth, more emotional connection, and a story that felt less abstract.
What held me back was that I never felt as connected to Etna as I expected to. His experiences are enormous - being taken from his family, trained for combat, exposed to death and violence, and then wandering through the aftermath of war - but his thoughts and actions often felt surprisingly thin. I kept expecting more psychological depth, more of a sense of how all of this had changed him. Instead, his journey sometimes felt more symbolic than fully lived-in.
The writing is probably the biggest reason for that distance. Yoon uses very sparse, clipped, simple sentences, with dialogue presented without quotation marks. There’s a stark beauty to it, and I can see why some readers found that style perfectly suited to a dog’s perspective. But for me, it often became too abstract and cerebral.
I also found the middle of the book less engaging, and the ending left me wanting more. The uncertainty is clearly intentional, but it felt fleeting rather than emotionally satisfying.
There are certainly things to admire here. Yoon captures the bleakness of war without turning the novel into a conventional war story, and Etna’s encounters with other animals and people introduce moments of kindness, companionship, and the possibility of rebuilding a life after devastation. The contrast between violence and these small moments of tenderness is probably the strongest part of the book.
Ultimately, though, I expected the premise to deliver something more emotionally and psychologically substantial. Etna is atmospheric, unusual, and beautifully restrained in places, but for me the restraint too often became distance. I could appreciate what Yoon was trying to do without ever feeling fully immersed in it.
An intriguing premise and some beautiful writing, but I wanted more depth, more emotional connection, and a story that felt less abstract.
September 5, 2026
as a certified dog lover, this one was super sad for me. other than the material being so heartbreaking and sad i found this story inventive and devastatingly realistic. great writing.
August 12, 2026
Desperately sad yet always underpinned by hope, Etna quite literally gives a voice to the animals suffering in times of war. Its unforgettable protagonist has much to show readers about humanity, in a way only possible through a dog's-eye view of the world.
Full review posted at BookBrowse.
Full review posted at BookBrowse.
August 26, 2026
2.5 stars. Raised to 3
May 30, 2026
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss.
Wow this book! I truly have no words but I’ll try my best to say something coherent.
I knew Etna would be for me the moment I read the premise. It’s about a former military working dog setting out on a long journey home after the end of a devastating war. As someone who volunteers raising puppies to become guide dogs for the blind, working dogs already hold such a special place in my heart. I expected to feel connected to Etna, but I didn’t expect to be this moved.
This story is stunning. Yoon manages something that’s incredibly hard to pull off. Theresa animals communicate with each other and humans in a way that feels completely natural, never forced or cheesy. It’s done with such sincerity that it only deepens the emotional weight of the story.
At just around 200 pages, this is a pretty short novel. However, Yoon packs so much meaning, beauty, and quiet devastation into every page that it doesn’t seem slight. I would have happily spent another 200 pages in Etna’s world, but there’s something powerful about how contained and intentional the story is.
At its core, Etna is about survival, loss, and the hope of finding your way back home, even if home isn’t necessarily a place, but a sense of belonging.
Wow this book! I truly have no words but I’ll try my best to say something coherent.
I knew Etna would be for me the moment I read the premise. It’s about a former military working dog setting out on a long journey home after the end of a devastating war. As someone who volunteers raising puppies to become guide dogs for the blind, working dogs already hold such a special place in my heart. I expected to feel connected to Etna, but I didn’t expect to be this moved.
This story is stunning. Yoon manages something that’s incredibly hard to pull off. Theresa animals communicate with each other and humans in a way that feels completely natural, never forced or cheesy. It’s done with such sincerity that it only deepens the emotional weight of the story.
At just around 200 pages, this is a pretty short novel. However, Yoon packs so much meaning, beauty, and quiet devastation into every page that it doesn’t seem slight. I would have happily spent another 200 pages in Etna’s world, but there’s something powerful about how contained and intentional the story is.
At its core, Etna is about survival, loss, and the hope of finding your way back home, even if home isn’t necessarily a place, but a sense of belonging.
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