Dogsbody
#2394.10 adjusted 4.08 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1975 Reading commitment Low Diana Wynne Jones Last reviewed 2026-09-06
Overview
Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, is falsely condemned for a murder he did not commit and sentenced to live out a mortal life on Earth in a dog's body. Reborn as a puppy in an Irish farmhouse, he grows up an ordinary dog while slowly recovering fragments of his old, cosmic memory, and must track down a lost, dangerous artefact called the Zoi before his dog's short lifetime runs out, if he ever hopes to clear his name and return to the sky. Diana Wynne Jones's 1975 standalone novel follows Sirius as he bonds with Kathleen, a mistreated Irish girl who takes him in and cares for him, and gradually uncovers unexpected cosmic allies among the stars and creatures around him. Publishers Weekly called it "among the most rewarding novels available for readers of all ages," and Orson Scott Card praised its nontraditional cosmology and its unsentimental treatment of an animal protagonist, while some critics found its blend of astronomy-based mythology and rural realism an unusual combination.
Mythic fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Dogsbody (1975) core · 4.10 (7,458 ratings)
Quick answers
- How many books are in Dogsbody? Dogsbody's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Dogsbody finished? Complete (1975).
- How much reading does Dogsbody take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~272 pages).
- How is Dogsbody ranked? #239 in this site's official ranking, based on 7,458 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #239?
Ranked #239 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.10 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (7,458 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #238, Simon Snow Trilogy (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 1 book · Complete · 7k ratings · Ranks #239 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No award recognition has been found for this title.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.10 across 7,458 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Dogsbody (Diana Wynne Jones) accepted 2026-09-06
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Dogsbody (novel) - Wikipedia Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-09-06
Rule: Core Canon = the single 1975 novel. It is a standalone story with no sequel or companion work.