The Dog Stars

The Dog Stars is a 2012 post-apocalyptic fiction novel by Peter Heller.

Set in Colorado after the world's population has been ravaged by a pandemic, a man lives a lonesome existence in an airplane hangar with his dog and a door gunman he has befriended. When a mysterious transmission comes through on the radio while he is flying his old Cessna, it sparks a hunt for the provenance of the sound.

NPR described the novel as "crackerjack" and said: "With its soulful hero, macabre villains, tender (if thin) love story and action scenes staggered at perfectly spaced intervals, the story unfolds with the vigor of the film it will undoubtedly become. But it also succeeds as a dark, poetic and funny novel in its own right."

The Boston Globe also had praise for the novel, stating, "Peter Heller serves up an insightful account of physical, mental, and spiritual survival unfolded in dramatic and often lyrical prose, a difficult tale in which unexpected hope persistently flickers amid darkness."

On November 8, 2024, it was announced that Ridley Scott would direct a film adaptation of the novel for 20th Century Studios from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith. Principal photography began in Italy, in April 2025. The film is scheduled to be released on August 28, 2026.