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D'Arc

(War with No Name #2)

Robert Repino

3.82 · Rating details · 342 ratings · 49 reviews

In the aftermath of the War With No Name, the Colony has been defeated, its queen lies dead, and the world left behind will never be the same. In her madness, the queen used a strange technology to uplift the surface animals, turning dogs and cats, bats and bears, pigs and wolves into intelligent, highly evolved creatures who rise up and kill their oppressors. And now, aft ...more

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Hardcover, 386 pages

Published May 11th 2017 by Soho Press

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A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

2017 - Sequels

119 books — 442 voters

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· 342 ratings · 49 reviews

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Jun 02, 2017 Kevin Kelsey rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2017

Posted at Heradas Review

This sequel to Mort(e) picks up right where we left off and then propels itself forward. It feels like a few different genre novels married to each other: A western, a murder mystery, and an action/adventure story. I’ve always enjoyed that approach in speculative fiction. You take something fantasy or scifi, and write a story in that world from a different genre.

I thought it did a great job building up a mystery, while expanding on the mythology and worldbuilding quite ni Posted at Heradas Review

This sequel to Mort(e) picks up right where we left off and then propels itself forward. It feels like a few different genre novels married to each other: A western, a murder mystery, and an action/adventure story. I’ve always enjoyed that approach in speculative fiction. You take something fantasy or scifi, and write a story in that world from a different genre.

I thought it did a great job building up a mystery, while expanding on the mythology and worldbuilding quite nicely. In some ways it’s also a coming of age novel; a moral tale about choosing your own path, and writing your own story.

Repino’s writing is extremely clean and tight. It reads effortlessly, and never gets in the way. Simple declarative sentences lay it all out for the reader. When the story really starts to get going, it’s almost like the writing entirely disappears, and you’re just… in it. I have to applaud him for that. I’m not even sure how one accomplishes something like that, but it’s impressive.

There was some fun closure for secondary and tertiary characters from the first novel, particularly Wawa. I really loved her arc in this. She was one of the better developed characters in Mort(e), so it was nice to see her get something good to chew on again in this one.

The last third, and the conclusion to the story didn’t really work for me. Early on there were a few big questions that were set up, and a great antagonist built through his own POV chapters, but those questions were mostly sidestepped, and the antagonist just fizzled out. I suspect that there will be more novels that may resolve my questions, and in fact, there was quite a bit of setup for what may be coming next. I have to admit it sounds very interesting. The world really is ripe for more stories.

All in all, it’s a fun continuation of the story that began in Mort(e), but it feels much less it’s own thing, and more an interstitial chapter in a continuing saga; something that needed to happen before the next part can occur. I'm still very excited for that next part though! ...more

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Dec 20, 2018 Hannah Givens rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, adult-fiction, underwater

It took me a long time to get into this one, despite absolutely loving both previous books. I thought it was just me, but after finishing the whole thing, the first half does drag. It's mostly setting up the events of the second half, and getting characters to places. The second half was more active though, and I love Mort(e) so much that I'll get through a lot just for him -- part of the problem for me was that Sheba turned out to not interest me very much, and more of this book is about her. I It took me a long time to get into this one, despite absolutely loving both previous books. I thought it was just me, but after finishing the whole thing, the first half does drag. It's mostly setting up the events of the second half, and getting characters to places. The second half was more active though, and I love Mort(e) so much that I'll get through a lot just for him -- part of the problem for me was that Sheba turned out to not interest me very much, and more of this book is about her. I didn't dislike her, but she reads as a young character, understandably wanting adventure and to see more of the world, but that's just not interesting compared to Mort(e)'s experiences in the first book. I did think her story played out well, her arc of needing to see more and eventually understanding where Mort(e)'s trauma comes from is natural and understandable. It's just... never surprising. I would've liked to see more of it from Mort(e)'s perspective, dealing with those reactions from her, or just have her be less straightforward in the first place.

I loved the rise of mutations in the wake of the Queen, and the political developments. The experience suffered though because I couldn't remember what the different factions wanted in the first book, and it wasn't clear in this one, so some of the impact was lost for me. And the pacing of the Sarcops scenes seemed a little off, that more of it should've been included at the beginning so it seemed more time had passed before they showed up in person. I had trouble putting together why Sarcops would be found by other characters when they were still supposed to be somewhere else entirely, but I think it was because the timing was off and their scenes were actually set further in the past. I'm not actually sure.

Those are all fairly serious criticisms, but I still gave it four stars. This is still one of the most fascinating worlds I've ever read. I love Mort(e). I love that the narrative doesn't shy away from war being horrifying, people being insane when they're desperate for a purpose, animals being savage in their pursuit of survival. And, in the end, those confusions from the plot and scene choices, including Sheba's arc, contribute to the book as a whole in a way -- it's a book about being lost after the war. Trying to find a place and an identity you can live with, when everyone who survived wants something different, and parts of you died along with the casualties.

Three books in, and I still want more. ...more

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Apr 18, 2017 Loring Wirbel rated it liked it

It's fun to read the discussions on Goodreads between one-star and five-star rankers for the opening book, Mort(e), in the Animal Apocalypse (War With No Name). Maybe the community ranking is higher for this second full-length book (not counting the novella Culdesac) because fans were the ones tending to grab the advance reader copies first. I will admit up front that I joined the party at D'Arc, and that I don't have a natural proclivity to like a melding of dystopia and cosplay. The very inten It's fun to read the discussions on Goodreads between one-star and five-star rankers for the opening book, Mort(e), in the Animal Apocalypse (War With No Name). Maybe the community ranking is higher for this second full-length book (not counting the novella Culdesac) because fans were the ones tending to grab the advance reader copies first. I will admit up front that I joined the party at D'Arc, and that I don't have a natural proclivity to like a melding of dystopia and cosplay. The very intent feels at times like an update of Animal Farm, or a mashup of Wind in the Willows and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Still, I had a reasonably good time reading this installment, though a few inherent limitations tripped me up. (I'll say up front I'm glad I entered the series with the first book to feature a dog as protagonist. I'm a residential co-occupant with both a dog and cat, but somehow the idea of cat as hero leaves me cold.)

Let's admit at the outset that George Orwell was really making a somewhat simplistic point with Napoleon and friends: Hierarchies are inherent in evolutionary struggles, and any time sentience emerges, so will greed and violence. Orwell was operating on the single-species level, however. Repino is trying to bring out a next level of eat-or-be-eaten complexity: If sentience expands to many species, alliances will form and dissolve, genocides of various sorts will be seen as necessary, and every species will justify its own attempts at dominance. In the war between land creatures and Sarcops, each side sees the eradication of the young and the eggs as being a necessary step for survival, while the other sees the attempt at species eradication as an atrocity unable to be forgiven. And we thought problems were tough when just humans were in the picture.

Repino can make these points subtly and sometimes kindly. But there are only a few writers of sci-fi and fantasy series novels who are such masters of the language, the series becomes an instant classic a la Tolkien or Martin. Repino simply isn't at that level. He writes adventure tomes with a breezy and interesting cadence, but this isn't classic prose. There are certain language tricks employed by Repino that I personally find annoying. For example, the cat named Mort(e) - I am a healthy opponent of over-use of parentheses at phrase or word level, and this just bugged me somehow.

When having to keep track of the different sentience and societal-organizing assumptions involved with beavers and wolves, I realized that too much sentience can make a book's premise harder to follow. Difficult books are fine, don't get me wrong, but something about an overabundance of cultures in this series made the book lose its focus at times.

A three-star ranking for this one shouldn't imply that D'Arc is mediocre, merely that it ain't my cup of tea, in the same way that I have no desire to get my furry on. Repino has come up with an interesting concept for this series, and will no doubt attract more fans as D'Arc goes on her journeys around a post-apocalypse world. ...more

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Nov 16, 2017 Kerfe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

Evidently, this is part of a series, although I had no problems following the story. Another book I would never have found without seeing it on the shelf i the library, intrigued by the title and the cover. I decided to give it a try, and I'm glad I did.

Animals have taken on human characteristics--they walk upright and have hands and feet and can speak--and after a war with humans that no one "won", but that destroyed life of all kinds all over the world, some interspecies cooperation is taking ...more

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Mar 20, 2019 Dramatically Bookish (ReviewsMayVary) rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio-books

This series is a trip, but mostly because of the whole Animals become human-like thing. At one point I asked myself, would this even be interesting if it was just regular people. I think the answer is yes.

In this second book, Morte and Sheba live on a ranch, but their peace is disturbed by the creatures that the Queen's plan created in the sea. Plus, humans continue to suck.

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Jun 06, 2017 thepowerofsarah rated it really liked it

The premise of this series was at first strange. But this author did strange and he did it extremely well. Sometimes I got so lost in the characters and their personalities that I had forgotten that they were animals, but I guess maybe that was the point. For the question remains: what makes us (humans) so different from "animals"?

The next comments may include SPOILERS...

I was disappointed with Mort(e)'s ending. I was hoping for some revelation, him seeing at least the side of religious views - The premise of this series was at first strange. But this author did strange and he did it extremely well. Sometimes I got so lost in the characters and their personalities that I had forgotten that they were animals, but I guess maybe that was the point. For the question remains: what makes us (humans) so different from "animals"?

The next comments may include SPOILERS...

I was disappointed with Mort(e)'s ending. I was hoping for some revelation, him seeing at least the side of religious views - not agreeing with, but not discriminating either. I am a scientist myself, having graduated from college with a BS in Biology, but I do not heartlessly throw doubt and discrimination against those who practice religion like Mort(e) did in the first book. So it was amazing to see Mort(e) finally have this slice of revelation, even slightly, at the end of D'Arc. I am so glad that I read the second book, being slightly put off by the character development in the first book.

I loved D'Arc and her eagerness to want to figure things out for herself, which was totally beliavable for someone in her situation. We received a glimpse of a post-war community trying to pick up the pieces of the disaster of the war between humans and animals. It was a believable reality, with hardships and not a peaceful "yay the war is done and there is nothing to worry about anymore". The aftermath was well integrated and obviously thoroughly executed.

Overall, I loved the series. I had some problems getting over some factual, minor (very minor) things like information about guns and physics. Modern guns use smokeless powder which is mostly odorless. The description in the book seemed to resemble more black powder guns (old guns) over the modern ones. In the first book, Mort(e) is stuffed into a torpedo... Torpedo's don't spin under water, it is the propeller that spins and the fins that stabilize the capsule so it doesn't spin. And even if it did, that would create a centrifuge and so the gun wouldn't be floating in the middle of the capsule, but pinned down next to the cat.
Again, I know this are tiny things - and there were more - but it are these things that make a fiction plot seem more real, especially one that is involving some kind of evolution to an individual (which is totally against the views of the scientific community).

Overall, I loved-loved-loved this book! It was well written and the writing flowed nicely from one scene to another. The author did an amazing job making me feel and philosophize along with the characters. The sequel, D'Arc, was enjoyed more than the first (Mort(e)). It answered a lot of my questions, worries, and doubts from the first novel. I am eager to see more from this series! Well done, friend, well done! ...more

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Oct 22, 2017 Melissa rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, horror

See my other reviews at Never Enough Books

The Colony has been defeated, it's mad Queen lies dead. In an effort to defeat the humans, the Queen released a strange and unknown technology in to the world. It's purpose: to uplift the surface animals - cats, dogs, wolves, bats, etc. - and turn them in to sentient beings. These creatures would then rise up and kill their human oppressors, making way for a new era. Things however did not go as planned. The War with No Name is over and the world left be See my other reviews at Never Enough Books

The Colony has been defeated, it's mad Queen lies dead. In an effort to defeat the humans, the Queen released a strange and unknown technology in to the world. It's purpose: to uplift the surface animals - cats, dogs, wolves, bats, etc. - and turn them in to sentient beings. These creatures would then rise up and kill their human oppressors, making way for a new era. Things however did not go as planned. The War with No Name is over and the world left behind will never be the same.

After years of bloodshed, these animals must now learn to coexist with the humans who were once their sworn enemies. Each side must learn to trust the other even as outside forces threaten to crush the fragile peace.

Our intrepid hero, Mort(e), still survives and has reunited with his beloved Sheba. Left "pure" by the Queen, she has received the mysterious treatment and has become like the other animals. She and Mort(e) have created a quiet life far from the new civilizations; and while he is content, she begins to yearn for more. When a series of strange occurrences threaten the holy city of Hosanna, she is given her chance. And Mort(e) has little option but to follow, whether he wants to or not.

Back when I reviewed the first book, I said I hoped Repino would write a second tale with these characters and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this book at my library. Picking up shortly after where Mort(e) left off, D'Arc is the sequel that I was waiting for.

At first, everything starts normal enough - Mort(e) has been reunited with his beloved Sheba and the two of them are living what many would consider an idyllic life. However things begin to change them, especially when news of strange goings on in the city of Hosanna reach them. When Sheba decides to leave the cabin and travel to the city, Mort(e) is angry at first. The image of the life with Sheba he built in his mind has come crashing down around him.

As in the first book, Repino handles these different scenarios quite well. From the danger of the first battle with the mutant spiders to the heartbreak of Mort(e)'s and Sheba's parting, it almost feels as if we are there with the characters. He further builds and expounds on the world created in the first book, introducing new characters as well as bringing back familiar faces.

The narrative switches several times during the novel; at times we are with Sheba (now known as D'Arc) in the city of Hosanna, and at other times we are with a strange group of sea creatures as they travel towards an unknown destination. While the sea creature plot line wasn't as strong nor as interesting, it is a good setup for a potential book somewhere down the line.

Just like with the first book, I was held rapt with reading D'Arc. I shed several tears, especially towards the end.

If you have read and enjoyed Mort(e), then I highly recommend you pick up the sequel, D'Arc.

And just as I did when I finished the first book and wrote the review, I must go and hug my dog. ...more

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Jun 16, 2017 Michelle Arredondo rated it really liked it

What could have easily taken me a few days to read turned into a month. That's only because when I requested this book I did not notice that it was a #2 in a series. I don't know how that is that I did not notice it but I didn't. So when I received my book as was about to get started on it....blaaaah, I realized that there was another book before it that I just had to read. That book was Morte...book #1. About freakin' cats no less!!! It took my intrigue for reading this book up a notch. What I ...more

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Jul 29, 2017 Barred Owl Books rated it it was amazing

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Sep 11, 2017 Cayleigh rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2017, audio-read

Read this book on an Audio CD. Narrator was very good.

D'Arc is the name that The Mother, Sheba, decides to take a little while into the book when she feels like it is time to give up her 'slave name'. I won't tell you when, because then there would be spoilers. D'Arc picks up right after Mort(e) ends. As much as I liked Mort(e), I felt a little lost while reading it...I'm not sure if it was because I listened to D'Arc that I understood it much better or because it just made more sense. This is ...more

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Jun 11, 2017 Steve Wiggins rated it it was amazing

Mort(e) is back! Continuing the intriguing story of the War With No Name, Robert Repino picks up the narrative of Mort(e) a few years later as Sheba is turning into D'Arc. A story of friendship, growing up, and war, there are many moving moments in this narrative.

I'm not inclined to leave any spoilers here, but Mort(e) and Sheba find their quiet lives as ant farmers interrupted by renewed hostilities involving arthropods turned somewhat human. Water and land form the front between new opposing f ...more

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Jun 06, 2017 Maria Haskins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a powerful sequel to the outstanding 'Mort(e)' and takes place soon after the end of the first book. The ant queen has been defeated, but another enemy rises, this time beneath the surface of the ocean.
While not as grand in scope as the the first book in the series, this one is a page-turner in its own right. 'D'Arc' is action-packed and full of memorable characters. I was especially pleased to encounter the former fighting dog Wawa again (she made me cry this time, too!). Sheba, the dog ...more

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Oct 29, 2017 Charles Besancon rated it really liked it

Had to start with the second book in the series - the first was checked out. But it wasn't a problem, there is a short recap at the beginning and most things can be picked up from context.

So imagine you wake up one day to find your pet is walking about on two legs, talking to you, and if you have them in your house, pointing your guns at you. Oh, and they are that way because an ant colony has used its strange technology to quickly evolve your pet. Why? So they can be the ant's allies in a war t ...more

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Dec 26, 2018 Rebecca Bohn rated it really liked it

Like book 1, M'orte, this novel is completely implausible. It's also just as difficult to stop reading and to forget. After M'orte, I waited a year to read D'arc, and I can honestly say that I thought about the character of M'orte often. Eventually, I just *had* to find out if he got what he hoped for with Sheba.

No spoilers--find out for yourself.

These books are bizarre, but if you let yourself go with the premise (suspending your disbelief is quite nearly a physical act in order to read and e ...more

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Mar 11, 2018 Centauri rated it liked it

It was filled with adventure, questions, and some decent action. However, it was not as memorable as the first in the series (which is quite sad). I like the emotional POV from Mort(e) and D'Arc (Sebastian and Sheba). It was a nice dichotomy that allowed knowledge of what was going on within both the main protagonists' psyche. One of the weaknesses was that it felt rushed in some parts of the storytelling. Not sure how I can explain that better. Either way, it was a nice read, and it was nice to ...more

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Jul 21, 2017 James rated it it was amazing

Having read Mort(e) and fresh off of the Culdesac novella, I really dug this book! Culdesac was a good primer to get me back into the world in which the War With No Name exists in, and I found it very easy to just lose myself in the pages once again. Not that I'm a good critic on such things, but it felt like it was written better? Like, it was clear that the author has definitely matured as a writer. That definitely made the book that much more enjoyable. Anxious to see if he does continue on w ...more

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Jun 30, 2017 Ronald Koltnow rated it liked it

Nietzsche once said: "A reader is doubly guilty of bad manners ...when he praises [the second] book at the expense of the first (or vice versa) and then asks the author to be grateful for that." I do not want to be considered bad mannered. Suffice it to say that D'ARC is not as cat-centric as its predecessors; I prefer cats to dogs. Secondly, it involves seas creatures; I hate sea creatures. This is not to say that D'ARC is not a page turner or that Repino's world-building isn't sterling. I just ...more

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Feb 01, 2018 Sam rated it it was ok

This is a sequel to Mort which was a novel about animals being uplifted, getting larger, standing on two legs and growing arms. It was all the work of sentient ants who decided to remake the world and destroy humans. Mort is a very interesting scifi premise and has great characters and motivations. This continuation of the story adds in newly uplifted fish/crabs and it starts to get a little tiresome. I really wanted to like this, but often found myself bored and wanting it to end.

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Jul 12, 2018 Jeka Bosworth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Now this isn’t the sequel I was waiting for. It was a great read, the story kept me interested until the very end.

The story picks up where we left off in Mort(e) and we get to explore the relationship between Sheba and Mort(e), answering questions we had from the last book, but as the story goes on, we develop new questions. Along with those new questions, we see these characters develop and we experience their heartbreaks and passion for the world they are living in.

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Sep 24, 2017 Dave Wheeler rated it really liked it

The war with no name series continues with an excellent sequel that is written well and highly engrossing. Repino tried to do a bit too much with this one with several story threads that had to be tied up quickly and not very efficiently. However the story is intelligent with well imagined characters and characterization, this continues to be a unique sci-fi adventure that is top quality.

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Mar 05, 2019 Josie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Another fascinating furry novel. This one has fish too. There's a level of technology that I would have liked to get some insight into. D'Arc is not as compelling as Morte as a character. Why couldn't it just be ants?

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Apr 16, 2019 Ashley Rodriguez rated it liked it

Overall a good book. I enjoyed seeing these characters again, although I feel like this book wasn't necessary and didn't add too much to the overall world. Sometimes the characters seemed lost in a daze of self contemplation and the story dragged occasionally.

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Aug 02, 2017 Colleen rated it liked it

Still a really interesting concept with memorable and likable characters going on evolving adventures, but I am not completely convinced that Mort(e) needed a sequel.

Might also not have been in the right mood to read this, so it could just be me.

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May 20, 2018 Lesley rated it it was ok

I would want the animals to be better than us! Speech and walking on two legs made all the animals too human and I'm not that big of a fan of human war stories. Bronson Pinchot is an awesome narrator though.

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Nov 17, 2017 Lael Tucker rated it really liked it

If you liked the first book, I highly recommend this one as well.

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Jun 25, 2017 Jennifer Gaarder rated it it was amazing

Excellent read! Full of action and adventure.

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Apr 05, 2018 Jaci rated it really liked it

For my Most Amazing Book Club Ever peeps - if you liked Mort(e), definitely pick this one up! :-)

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Jun 16, 2018 Shawna rated it it was ok

Shelves: science-fiction, not-my-cup-of-tea, dystopian, own

Not a huge fan of this one. Definitely my least favorite of the three. I didn't really care about the fish people. So-so overall

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Feb 19, 2018 Mike V rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Good follow up. I did find it a little slow in parts, but feel that it was a build up to future books. Still liked it and was happy to see old characters back.

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Oct 05, 2017 Sarah Adams rated it really liked it · review of another edition

So, I'm not a furry, but... this is a real good book. Kind of like Redwall with guns.

Thoroughly enjoyed new characters introduced, and starting to see how the world develops post-war.

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About Robert Repino

Robert Repino

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Robert Repino grew up in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. After serving in the Peace Corps (Grenada 2000–2002), he earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Emerson College. His fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize among other awards, and has appeared in The Literary Review, Night Train, Hobart, Juked, Word Riot, The Furnace Review, The Coachella Review, JMWW, and the anthology Brevity and Echo ...more