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Furry Book Month
8 years ago
In case anyone wondered why more mainstream authors don't write books with animal or furry characters, it's reviews like this:
Animal stories are a risky business. When they work, its almost in spite of themselves; the tendency to anthropomorphize or allegorize bunnies, toads, mice bears, moles or entire barnyards can get pretty grating pretty quickly.
(The quoted review is from this month's Locus magazine, reviewing a new book called Ka by John Crowley.)
With attitudes like that, it's no wonder most mainstream publishers and authors won't touch anthropomorphic or furry fiction. That (mostly) leaves furry fiction to be done by furry fans themselves, with mixed results. I've read the good, the bad and the gawd-awful of what the fandom has produced. Now-a-days I don't read much fiction done by the fandom, because most of it falls into 3 categories: gay coming-out or self-acceptance, slice-of-life where the characters might as well be human, or pornography. A fourth category could be heavy-handed social commentary.
I suppose those themes are so prevalent because that's what a lot of furry fans want to read. And I guess it's good that people are reading anything, even if I personally find those types of stories as dull as dishwater.
Another problem is that a lot of the authors can barely string two words together, let alone write an engaging story. That in turn can be traced to many furry writers saying 'they don't have time' to read, as if you can somehow become a decent writer without reading a ton of books.
All that being said, I've also seen posts where people asking what to read next. So I'm going to list some unknown or little known anthropomorphic or furry books that I've read and enjoyed. So if you're looking for something other than gay coming-out or self-acceptance, slice-of-life, heavy-handed social commentary or pornography, give these a try.
(The links provided lead to the Goodreads pages of each particular book, where you can follow links to Amazon or other book sellers)
Hunters Unlucky by Abigail Hilton https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....unters-unlucky
An all-anthropomorphic cast in a fantasy setting, where omnivorous wolf-headed deer called ferryshaft live in conflict with lion-sized great cats.
Darkeye by Lydia West https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....497462-darkeye
A near-future dystopia where intelligent wild and domestic dogs of every species occupy an abandoned human city. A mis-matched pack consisting of a brush dog, dhole, Ethiopian wolf and cape hunting dog try to discover what happened to their adoptive dog mother, leading to discoveries about the city's past.
The Alien Chronicles by Deborah Chester https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....The_Golden_One
Although supposedly set in the Star Wars universe, this series really has nothing to do with that. A SF trilogy loosely based on the story of Moses and Spartacus, it takes place in an all-furry (alien) setting where the lion-like heroine rises from pampered slave to gladiator to rebel leader.
The Given Land by Thomas B. Allen https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....the-given-land
New Zealand holds a thriving civilization of birds, until they're invaded by stoats...
The Forges of Dawn by E. M. Kinsey https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....forges-of-dawn
Magic, adventure and civil war among the great cats of Africa and Asia.
The Bees by Laline Paull https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....52002-the-bees
A worker bee struggles to survive in a slowly declining hive of honeybees.
The Rise of the Red Shadow by Joseph Lallo https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....the-red-shadow
A fox-morph, member of an outlawed species, makes the slow journey from slave to skilled warrior in a fantasy setting.
Kavishar: Reflections in a Wolf's Eye by L. Kyle https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....31828-kavishar
A Canadian wolf is raised by the son of a fur trapper, only to be taken to live in the suburbs when the father dies. It doesn't work out well.
The Firebringer trilogy by Meredith Anne Pierce https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....he_Firebringer
Unicorns fight griffins and wyverns in a fantasy setting.
Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....28041.Darkwing
Newly evolved bats fight for survival as the world recovers from the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Wild Children by Richard Roberts https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....-wild-children
Bad children transform or partially transform into animals in this surrealistic book.
Mort(e) by Robert Repino https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....2181034-mort-e
Evolved overnight into anthropomorphic form, the world's mammals turn on their human tormentors, aided by the ant queen that guided their transformation.
Salome's Daughter's by Jane F. Tatam https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....me-s-daughters
In a post-human world, civil war breaks out when the cat queen dies, as two of her daughters contest the throne.
Animal stories are a risky business. When they work, its almost in spite of themselves; the tendency to anthropomorphize or allegorize bunnies, toads, mice bears, moles or entire barnyards can get pretty grating pretty quickly.
(The quoted review is from this month's Locus magazine, reviewing a new book called Ka by John Crowley.)
With attitudes like that, it's no wonder most mainstream publishers and authors won't touch anthropomorphic or furry fiction. That (mostly) leaves furry fiction to be done by furry fans themselves, with mixed results. I've read the good, the bad and the gawd-awful of what the fandom has produced. Now-a-days I don't read much fiction done by the fandom, because most of it falls into 3 categories: gay coming-out or self-acceptance, slice-of-life where the characters might as well be human, or pornography. A fourth category could be heavy-handed social commentary.
I suppose those themes are so prevalent because that's what a lot of furry fans want to read. And I guess it's good that people are reading anything, even if I personally find those types of stories as dull as dishwater.
Another problem is that a lot of the authors can barely string two words together, let alone write an engaging story. That in turn can be traced to many furry writers saying 'they don't have time' to read, as if you can somehow become a decent writer without reading a ton of books.
All that being said, I've also seen posts where people asking what to read next. So I'm going to list some unknown or little known anthropomorphic or furry books that I've read and enjoyed. So if you're looking for something other than gay coming-out or self-acceptance, slice-of-life, heavy-handed social commentary or pornography, give these a try.
(The links provided lead to the Goodreads pages of each particular book, where you can follow links to Amazon or other book sellers)
Hunters Unlucky by Abigail Hilton https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....unters-unlucky
An all-anthropomorphic cast in a fantasy setting, where omnivorous wolf-headed deer called ferryshaft live in conflict with lion-sized great cats.
Darkeye by Lydia West https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....497462-darkeye
A near-future dystopia where intelligent wild and domestic dogs of every species occupy an abandoned human city. A mis-matched pack consisting of a brush dog, dhole, Ethiopian wolf and cape hunting dog try to discover what happened to their adoptive dog mother, leading to discoveries about the city's past.
The Alien Chronicles by Deborah Chester https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....The_Golden_One
Although supposedly set in the Star Wars universe, this series really has nothing to do with that. A SF trilogy loosely based on the story of Moses and Spartacus, it takes place in an all-furry (alien) setting where the lion-like heroine rises from pampered slave to gladiator to rebel leader.
The Given Land by Thomas B. Allen https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....the-given-land
New Zealand holds a thriving civilization of birds, until they're invaded by stoats...
The Forges of Dawn by E. M. Kinsey https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....forges-of-dawn
Magic, adventure and civil war among the great cats of Africa and Asia.
The Bees by Laline Paull https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....52002-the-bees
A worker bee struggles to survive in a slowly declining hive of honeybees.
The Rise of the Red Shadow by Joseph Lallo https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....the-red-shadow
A fox-morph, member of an outlawed species, makes the slow journey from slave to skilled warrior in a fantasy setting.
Kavishar: Reflections in a Wolf's Eye by L. Kyle https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....31828-kavishar
A Canadian wolf is raised by the son of a fur trapper, only to be taken to live in the suburbs when the father dies. It doesn't work out well.
The Firebringer trilogy by Meredith Anne Pierce https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....he_Firebringer
Unicorns fight griffins and wyverns in a fantasy setting.
Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....28041.Darkwing
Newly evolved bats fight for survival as the world recovers from the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Wild Children by Richard Roberts https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....-wild-children
Bad children transform or partially transform into animals in this surrealistic book.
Mort(e) by Robert Repino https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....2181034-mort-e
Evolved overnight into anthropomorphic form, the world's mammals turn on their human tormentors, aided by the ant queen that guided their transformation.
Salome's Daughter's by Jane F. Tatam https://www.goodreads.com/book/show.....me-s-daughters
In a post-human world, civil war breaks out when the cat queen dies, as two of her daughters contest the throne.
Not that id read much... No, but I listen audiobooks. And some books I have got as physical copies to observe text and study
words / spelling. But I have not yet given time to such labor. I should though. To get string of ideas rolling and one day to hopefully become successful writer.
One thing I'm worried about is that. People simply do not seem to be interested of animals behavior / reasoning and that kind of fantasy. Or well.. so it is starting to feel. It's like... It would be too alien and too far fetched for them to feel Interest of any kind.
Did you ever read the Ratha's Creature books by Clare Bell? I remember loving those when I was in high school. (Sentient nonmorphic big cats)
I'd say 'gay coming of age' is just a specialised slice of life.
Gay coming of age is SO common within the fandom that I put it in it's own category.
I finished the second last week and quite enjoyed it, although I'd love to see more of what happens next, on both sides of the gate.
Among other things, it was nice that the characters' various species were plot fervent.
I have a couple follow-up stories in mind, but there's some other projects I wanted to do first.
The unpublished author,
That's sort of yes and no at the moment: Cosmic Lotus is a crossover between the two.
V.
Which, if you haven't heard of before, you should know there was an animated adaptation. . . And it was freakin' awesome. Like Gargoyles good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqpXu0zhDF4
Actually, now that I think about it, a lot of "furry" cartoons we all know and (more often than not) loved were adaptations of books. So, rather ironically, the problem might, instead, be imaginary stagnation due to the popularity (or notoriety; lookin' right at you Akif Princci's "Felidae") of the many books within the genre (that were not coming-out, slice-of-life or erotica stories) of the few books within the genre.
But it is, also, a very difficult genre. Most (good) writers live by the slogan "write what you know," and it goes without saying that we too often do not know what it's like to view the world as anything other than a human being.
That said. . . Check out those box office returns for Zootopia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_in_film
Trends tend to follow right after success (look how many vampire books were published after Twilight). Production companies are going to be looking around for something to adapt into the next big talking animal blockbuster, and a lot of authors, I predict, are going to try to write the next big hit novel for them to adapt.
And yes, if you count the "illustrated picture book" genre overlap, they are mostly going to be for children. Narrow it down to the text-only books, however, and I reiterate: There aren't that many in general.
Felidae was published in Europe, where they have different views on what counts as serious adult literature and they aren't quite as hung up on talking animals = kids as they are in the US.
"I want to write something great that people would like" results in bad books.
Shame you don't play video games, Hollow Knight is one of the best new anthro animal stories/settings I've seen in a long time. Animal characters don't really have the stigma in games like they do elsewhere.
Kismet
The Complete Adventures of the Red Vixen
Beyond the Softness of His Fur
Full disclosure: I know the authors of the last two personally. I love their writing style, their worldbuilding, and their skill with characterization.