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Posted 5 years agoThat all the commissions are done, I'm going to be moving on to some personal projects. Hopefully I will have new work to put up in a couple of weeks. And if there's some disparity noted between the number of pictures posted vs. the number listed on the commissions journal, there are several pictures up on my alternative adult account, plus there's three that I won't be posting for various reasons.
Current schedule
Posted 5 years agoMy day job tracked me down and gave me a computer so I can do the work-at-home gig, so I'm still basically working full-time.
However, my health has improved to the point where I can once again resume some creative endeavors. I'm just finishing up a novella that I'd been putting off for years, and when that's out the door I'll be taking a limited number of commissions. I already have about 5 people I've promised work to, so I'll only be taking a few more on top of that, but I'll announce here when I'm ready.
Since it looks like every convention this year has been cancelled, this is pretty much it for getting a commission out of me.
However, my health has improved to the point where I can once again resume some creative endeavors. I'm just finishing up a novella that I'd been putting off for years, and when that's out the door I'll be taking a limited number of commissions. I already have about 5 people I've promised work to, so I'll only be taking a few more on top of that, but I'll announce here when I'm ready.
Since it looks like every convention this year has been cancelled, this is pretty much it for getting a commission out of me.
Various Stuff
Posted 5 years agoThere will be no art summary 2019 or yearly book reviews, due to catastrophic health problems that hit me this fall and dropped my art production to zero for several months. I'm still not up to doing much art, although I'll have a couple of pieces done in about a week to accompany some writing I did before I got sick. I don't know when or if I'll be back up to speed art-wise.
But just to get something new here, I present my Ten Tips from 30 years in Business, my response to this http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9363474/
1.) Don't expect to make money or get famous doing comics. It's a shit-ton of work, that you should only do if you're completely nuts about comics and have no social life.
1a.) Which is why there's so many multi-volume graphic novels that vanish after volume one.
2.) If you absolutely want to make good money in furry comics, you'll have to do porn. Deal with it.
3.) Talent will only get you so far. A lot (maybe most) of success is based on networking, self-promotion and social skills. Which kind of sucks because so many artists are introverts and lack decent social skills. Which is why there's so many starving artists.
4.) If you want to do comics or furry art, make sure to hook up with a spouse or significant other who can provide a stable income and (in the US) health insurance.
5.) If you want to get something done, you'll have to do it yourself. Learn to do it all-- including lettering, inking and coloring. Then you'll never be held hostage to someone else's whim.
6.) Finished is always better than perfect. It doesn't matter if it's not perfect. Get it done. The most brilliant thing in the world doesn't count for shit if it sits unfinished.
7.) Stay away from any and all video games. They're poison to productivity.
8.) Tastes change. Be prepared for the eventuality of your work going out of style, and other artists taking your place at the top of the heap. It can be a nasty shock. And it happens to everybody.
9.) If you don't rabidly read comics, your comics will show it. It's one thing to do pretty pictures, another to tell a story in comic format. People don't seem to get that.
10.) Do your story, don't just talk about doing it. As they say, talk is cheap.
But just to get something new here, I present my Ten Tips from 30 years in Business, my response to this http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9363474/
1.) Don't expect to make money or get famous doing comics. It's a shit-ton of work, that you should only do if you're completely nuts about comics and have no social life.
1a.) Which is why there's so many multi-volume graphic novels that vanish after volume one.
2.) If you absolutely want to make good money in furry comics, you'll have to do porn. Deal with it.
3.) Talent will only get you so far. A lot (maybe most) of success is based on networking, self-promotion and social skills. Which kind of sucks because so many artists are introverts and lack decent social skills. Which is why there's so many starving artists.
4.) If you want to do comics or furry art, make sure to hook up with a spouse or significant other who can provide a stable income and (in the US) health insurance.
5.) If you want to get something done, you'll have to do it yourself. Learn to do it all-- including lettering, inking and coloring. Then you'll never be held hostage to someone else's whim.
6.) Finished is always better than perfect. It doesn't matter if it's not perfect. Get it done. The most brilliant thing in the world doesn't count for shit if it sits unfinished.
7.) Stay away from any and all video games. They're poison to productivity.
8.) Tastes change. Be prepared for the eventuality of your work going out of style, and other artists taking your place at the top of the heap. It can be a nasty shock. And it happens to everybody.
9.) If you don't rabidly read comics, your comics will show it. It's one thing to do pretty pictures, another to tell a story in comic format. People don't seem to get that.
10.) Do your story, don't just talk about doing it. As they say, talk is cheap.
The Secret Commonwealth
Posted 6 years agoI recently finished the second volume in Phillip Pullman's Book of Dust trilogy, The Secret Commonwealth, which is in turn a follow-up to the Golden Compass series. As usual the publisher sticks it in the children and young adult book ghetto, but in no way shape or form is this a book for kids. There's a lot of stuff that will go right over their heads (and honestly, a lot of adults won't get the references either.) While the first book in the new series, La Belle Sauvage, was somewhat self-contained, The Secret Commonwealth takes place about 20 years after that book and ends on a cliffhanger (just a warning).
Lyra is 21, a college student living on her own. Her and her pine marten daemon Pan are at odds over her obsession with a new book called The Hyperchorasmians (which I'm pretty sure is a rip on Ayn Rand's Objectivist books), but the actual plot is kicked off by a murder witnessed by Pan. Lyra is inadvertently drawn into a conflict that looks like it will plunge the continent (Europe) into war. She's forced to take an incredibly dangerous trip when Pan deserts her over her embrace of the The Hyperchorasmians worldview. A person without a daemon is viewed like someone without a face would be viewed in our world, which obviously makes it very hard to go anywhere unnoticed.
Meanwhile she's being pursued by both the Magisterium (the church) and a very dangerous young man who also has an aethiomonitor (sp?). The Magisterium is consolidating it's power through both politics and terrorism, and is willing to start a war in order to suppress a scientific discovery, which is related to the murder that starts the book.
On the other side is Malcolm (from La Belle Sauvage) now in his 30's, a teacher and a member of Oakly Street, a quasi-legal organization devoted to countering the Magisterium and other threats to national security. As (England) starts to become a totalitarian state Lyra's friends suffer in her stead, while she desperately searches for Pan before she either dies or becomes a shell of herself.
This is a complex, often brutal and difficult to read story. It was one of those very rare books that kept me thinking about it long after I'd finished. (as opposed to some books where I can't even remember the basic plot, let alone any of the characters or scenes.) Because it's so challenging it's a shame that it probably won't be read as widely as it should be, but hopefully the upcoming HBO adaptation of the original trilogy will help that, assuming they don't gut it of all the controversial elements like the movie did.
Lyra is 21, a college student living on her own. Her and her pine marten daemon Pan are at odds over her obsession with a new book called The Hyperchorasmians (which I'm pretty sure is a rip on Ayn Rand's Objectivist books), but the actual plot is kicked off by a murder witnessed by Pan. Lyra is inadvertently drawn into a conflict that looks like it will plunge the continent (Europe) into war. She's forced to take an incredibly dangerous trip when Pan deserts her over her embrace of the The Hyperchorasmians worldview. A person without a daemon is viewed like someone without a face would be viewed in our world, which obviously makes it very hard to go anywhere unnoticed.
Meanwhile she's being pursued by both the Magisterium (the church) and a very dangerous young man who also has an aethiomonitor (sp?). The Magisterium is consolidating it's power through both politics and terrorism, and is willing to start a war in order to suppress a scientific discovery, which is related to the murder that starts the book.
On the other side is Malcolm (from La Belle Sauvage) now in his 30's, a teacher and a member of Oakly Street, a quasi-legal organization devoted to countering the Magisterium and other threats to national security. As (England) starts to become a totalitarian state Lyra's friends suffer in her stead, while she desperately searches for Pan before she either dies or becomes a shell of herself.
This is a complex, often brutal and difficult to read story. It was one of those very rare books that kept me thinking about it long after I'd finished. (as opposed to some books where I can't even remember the basic plot, let alone any of the characters or scenes.) Because it's so challenging it's a shame that it probably won't be read as widely as it should be, but hopefully the upcoming HBO adaptation of the original trilogy will help that, assuming they don't gut it of all the controversial elements like the movie did.
Furry Migration, projects
Posted 6 years agoIf all goes well I'll be at Furry Migration in Minneapolis next weekend. Since I'm flying I'll have only a limited number of books and comics with me, plus as many ChocoEgg figures as I can manage, plus I'll be doing the usual at-con artwork.
Art postings, beyond whatever I might do at the upcoming con, will be scarce for a while since I'll be concentrating on getting a couple of long-delayed writing projects off the ground. More on those when I actually get them done (or at least finish the first draft).
Art postings, beyond whatever I might do at the upcoming con, will be scarce for a while since I'll be concentrating on getting a couple of long-delayed writing projects off the ground. More on those when I actually get them done (or at least finish the first draft).
SDCC 2019
Posted 6 years agoSome very random, stream-of-consciousness thoughts.
Mistake #1-- deciding to drive the route I knew to San Diego, rather than the shorter one suggested by Google Maps. That led to being stuck in a humongous traffic mess for about an hour and a half trying to get out of LA.
Mistake #2-- not writing down the street directions to my sister-in-law's place, which led to me overshooting it by about 15 miles and having to backtrack. I left Santa Clarita before 6 and didn't get there until after 10. All with no bathroom or food breaks, after working a full 8 hours.
The lot I usually park in for the con had switched to private. Without time to find another spot, I had to park in one of the hotel lots. Can we say "$$$?" Yes we can.
Those rental scooters were everywhere around town, lying scattered in odd places like bodies after a great battle.
There was an art book I was planning to get, until I found out it cost $75. I like the dude's art, but not that much. The book also weighed 6 pounds, and no way was I hauling that thing around all day.
I didn't manage to break 10K steps on the Fitbit either day, but you could never tell from the body aches. It did congratulate me for being on my feet for 9 hours, so I guess that's something. No wonder my knees hurt like hell.
Interestingly, I was getting the most pain from my left shoulder; a result of the backpack. I'm almost positive I have arthritis in both shoulders at this point. I can't even throw a ball overhand without it hurting.
The personal pan pizzas sold at the con actually looked really good, but they also cost $11. So I just ate a sandwich I brought with me for lunch.
There's virtually nowhere to sit in the convention center other than the floor. They got rid of most of the dining areas to get in more booths. If you wanted to sit and weren't up to fighting for a scarce chair at the couple of over-crowded food courts, you had to sit on the floor or the concrete outside.
The place that makes those really nice poseable dinosaur models was there. I almost got one, but decided $50 was too steep for something that would just sit on the shelf collecting dust.
An artist I like made pins of some of his characters. Unfortunately they were the size of my thumbnail, and you practically needed a magnifying glass to see any detail. When other people are making nice, big colorful pins, I don't understand why he made his so minuscule. Lost my sale there.
On the other hand, ex-Disney artist Chris Sanders had some absolutely gorgeous, BIG pins of his mermaids. I didn't get any because I'm not into mermaids, but they did look really nice.
Most of the publishers in the small press and indy area didn't have anything new or interesting; just the same titles I've seen year after year. God forbid you stop to look at one-- you immediately get pounced on and given the hard sell.
The only panel I was interested in seeing was on Saturday, and I wasn't going to stay an extra day just for that.
I stopped to talk to a publisher that I'd worked with in the past. He seemed really happy to see me. Like excessively happy and friendly. The only other person who is this happy to see me is my mom. I wonder if he's just naturally like that with everyone, or if he really liked working with me.
Persistence pays off. There was a con-exclusive of a book I wanted. Didn't get it Thursday, but managed to get there early enough Friday to get a wristband that guaranteed me a copy. Yay me.
Due to winning a spot in the line lottery I was able to get the Hasbro con exclusives for a couple of friends. The 'overflow' line (which I assume was the non-lottery line) for the booth was some enormous monstrosity that went along the far wall and seemed to include a couple hundred poor slobs. I really should have gotten a photo of it.
Another author who's books I really liked was doing a signing Friday for his new book. I mostly just buy e-books now (to save on space in the home) but I did pick up a copy of this to get it signed. That involved standing in a surprisingly long line; the author being much more popular than I'd realized.
I didn't feel like walking to the nearby hotels to look at the art show or get any con swag. Nor did I visit any of the outside displays.
On the way home I decided to take the shorter I-15 route. I still got stuck in another enormous traffic jam for about 45 minutes, but at least I made it back in under 4 hours this time. I guess one is doomed to be stuck in a traffic jam no matter what route is taken, unless you want to drive down there at 1 AM. (and even then you'd probably run into night time construction.)
Mistake #1-- deciding to drive the route I knew to San Diego, rather than the shorter one suggested by Google Maps. That led to being stuck in a humongous traffic mess for about an hour and a half trying to get out of LA.
Mistake #2-- not writing down the street directions to my sister-in-law's place, which led to me overshooting it by about 15 miles and having to backtrack. I left Santa Clarita before 6 and didn't get there until after 10. All with no bathroom or food breaks, after working a full 8 hours.
The lot I usually park in for the con had switched to private. Without time to find another spot, I had to park in one of the hotel lots. Can we say "$$$?" Yes we can.
Those rental scooters were everywhere around town, lying scattered in odd places like bodies after a great battle.
There was an art book I was planning to get, until I found out it cost $75. I like the dude's art, but not that much. The book also weighed 6 pounds, and no way was I hauling that thing around all day.
I didn't manage to break 10K steps on the Fitbit either day, but you could never tell from the body aches. It did congratulate me for being on my feet for 9 hours, so I guess that's something. No wonder my knees hurt like hell.
Interestingly, I was getting the most pain from my left shoulder; a result of the backpack. I'm almost positive I have arthritis in both shoulders at this point. I can't even throw a ball overhand without it hurting.
The personal pan pizzas sold at the con actually looked really good, but they also cost $11. So I just ate a sandwich I brought with me for lunch.
There's virtually nowhere to sit in the convention center other than the floor. They got rid of most of the dining areas to get in more booths. If you wanted to sit and weren't up to fighting for a scarce chair at the couple of over-crowded food courts, you had to sit on the floor or the concrete outside.
The place that makes those really nice poseable dinosaur models was there. I almost got one, but decided $50 was too steep for something that would just sit on the shelf collecting dust.
An artist I like made pins of some of his characters. Unfortunately they were the size of my thumbnail, and you practically needed a magnifying glass to see any detail. When other people are making nice, big colorful pins, I don't understand why he made his so minuscule. Lost my sale there.
On the other hand, ex-Disney artist Chris Sanders had some absolutely gorgeous, BIG pins of his mermaids. I didn't get any because I'm not into mermaids, but they did look really nice.
Most of the publishers in the small press and indy area didn't have anything new or interesting; just the same titles I've seen year after year. God forbid you stop to look at one-- you immediately get pounced on and given the hard sell.
The only panel I was interested in seeing was on Saturday, and I wasn't going to stay an extra day just for that.
I stopped to talk to a publisher that I'd worked with in the past. He seemed really happy to see me. Like excessively happy and friendly. The only other person who is this happy to see me is my mom. I wonder if he's just naturally like that with everyone, or if he really liked working with me.
Persistence pays off. There was a con-exclusive of a book I wanted. Didn't get it Thursday, but managed to get there early enough Friday to get a wristband that guaranteed me a copy. Yay me.
Due to winning a spot in the line lottery I was able to get the Hasbro con exclusives for a couple of friends. The 'overflow' line (which I assume was the non-lottery line) for the booth was some enormous monstrosity that went along the far wall and seemed to include a couple hundred poor slobs. I really should have gotten a photo of it.
Another author who's books I really liked was doing a signing Friday for his new book. I mostly just buy e-books now (to save on space in the home) but I did pick up a copy of this to get it signed. That involved standing in a surprisingly long line; the author being much more popular than I'd realized.
I didn't feel like walking to the nearby hotels to look at the art show or get any con swag. Nor did I visit any of the outside displays.
On the way home I decided to take the shorter I-15 route. I still got stuck in another enormous traffic jam for about 45 minutes, but at least I made it back in under 4 hours this time. I guess one is doomed to be stuck in a traffic jam no matter what route is taken, unless you want to drive down there at 1 AM. (and even then you'd probably run into night time construction.)
ComiCon & FC
Posted 6 years agoPlanning to attend ComiCon Thursday and Friday. Through some rip in the cosmic space/time continuum, I managed to win a spot in the Hasbro Exclusive line lottery. The Transformer & MTG exclusive are already spoken for, but if someone wants me to pick up the MLP exclusives (or anything small) drop me a note. I'm not really up to schleping the humongous Transformers Ghostbusters pack all around the con (unless you want to throw some extra money at me, in which case I'll find a way.)
But things did go as usual for FC, and I was turned down for a table, so right now it looks like the only other con I'll be dealing at will be Furry Migration in September.
But things did go as usual for FC, and I was turned down for a table, so right now it looks like the only other con I'll be dealing at will be Furry Migration in September.
Con Updates
Posted 6 years agoI'll be tabling at AnthroCon as usual this July, and I actually was able to get a table at Furry Migration in September, so I'll be there as well. It will be interesting to see how that one goes. Part of my reason for trying for that particular con is that I have a relative who lives in town that I can stay with, thus eliminating the expensive hotel costs.
San Diego ComiCon is still a go as well, although I'm not sure if I'll be there Thursday/Friday or Saturday/Sunday. Depends on whether I want to take time off work.
I did enable the new FA Shinies tip system, although I'm not expecting much since my artistic output has dramatically decreased since I started working again. Still, you know, why not? At least I am still working on things, albeit at a much slower rate.
San Diego ComiCon is still a go as well, although I'm not sure if I'll be there Thursday/Friday or Saturday/Sunday. Depends on whether I want to take time off work.
I did enable the new FA Shinies tip system, although I'm not expecting much since my artistic output has dramatically decreased since I started working again. Still, you know, why not? At least I am still working on things, albeit at a much slower rate.
New music and stuff
Posted 6 years agoMy general creative hiatus is still ongoing, although I'm slowly working on a few art-related things, and am gearing up for a couple of writing projects a little later in the year. One thing the job has meant (besides no longer being dirt-poor) is that I have a lot of time to listen to the radio. Specifically Sirius Satellite radio, which I split between listening to a few talk shows and music channels. I've also been doing some YouTube channels that don't require visuals, mostly true-crime or unsolved mysteries stuff, or Missing 411 related stories (Google it if you're unfamiliar.)
One of the music stations I listen to a lot is AltNation, which plays contemporary alternative rock. Now by no means do I like everything on there. There's always a proportion of crap or 'meh' grade songs. But there's also some gems by new artists, or established artists who are still in the dynamic phase of their careers. I've also discovered some amazing music videos through looking up certain songs on Youtube. So here's some links to songs and videos that I particularly like.
My boys from Muse just released a new CD late last year and have videos for most of the songs. The best ones are this one: https://youtu.be/h2eKImKZviw which features a mash-up of the 80's movies Back to the Future, Ghostbusters and Critters/Gremlins.
And this one: https://youtu.be/e0UWT0dFSQE which has some very interesting computer graphics.
Another song that I heard played a lot that kind of grew on me is this one: https://youtu.be/HhoATZ1Imtw by the group LSD (Labrynth Sia & Diplo). It has an absolutely charming fully animated music video.
The group Weezer had a string of hits in the 90's, and they've come back with a couple new hits, including a cover of Toto's Africa, and this one, Can't Knock the Hustle: https://youtu.be/UV5F3vcQyrY which has a hysterical music video featuring a hapless Uber driver taking some passengers from hell through LA.
I fell in love with VNV Nation's Automatic last year, and he recently released a new CD titled Noire. It has this very interesting video: https://youtu.be/SF5mf4LV7Jw
The last of the videos is from a group called the Wombats, for the song with the delightful title of Lemon to a Knife Fight. The video doesn't feature lemons or a knife fight, but it's still pretty cool (if extremely violent) https://youtu.be/nNh51G84WZY
The last two songs are just lyrics videos, but they're songs I especially like.
Choke: https://youtu.be/mvJjmWTg7Qo
Northern Lights: https://youtu.be/gBdh20C287Y
As an added note, one of these 8 featured songs will be the next music comic I'm doing, another collaboration with
driprat Betcha can't guess which one.
One of the music stations I listen to a lot is AltNation, which plays contemporary alternative rock. Now by no means do I like everything on there. There's always a proportion of crap or 'meh' grade songs. But there's also some gems by new artists, or established artists who are still in the dynamic phase of their careers. I've also discovered some amazing music videos through looking up certain songs on Youtube. So here's some links to songs and videos that I particularly like.
My boys from Muse just released a new CD late last year and have videos for most of the songs. The best ones are this one: https://youtu.be/h2eKImKZviw which features a mash-up of the 80's movies Back to the Future, Ghostbusters and Critters/Gremlins.
And this one: https://youtu.be/e0UWT0dFSQE which has some very interesting computer graphics.
Another song that I heard played a lot that kind of grew on me is this one: https://youtu.be/HhoATZ1Imtw by the group LSD (Labrynth Sia & Diplo). It has an absolutely charming fully animated music video.
The group Weezer had a string of hits in the 90's, and they've come back with a couple new hits, including a cover of Toto's Africa, and this one, Can't Knock the Hustle: https://youtu.be/UV5F3vcQyrY which has a hysterical music video featuring a hapless Uber driver taking some passengers from hell through LA.
I fell in love with VNV Nation's Automatic last year, and he recently released a new CD titled Noire. It has this very interesting video: https://youtu.be/SF5mf4LV7Jw
The last of the videos is from a group called the Wombats, for the song with the delightful title of Lemon to a Knife Fight. The video doesn't feature lemons or a knife fight, but it's still pretty cool (if extremely violent) https://youtu.be/nNh51G84WZY
The last two songs are just lyrics videos, but they're songs I especially like.
Choke: https://youtu.be/mvJjmWTg7Qo
Northern Lights: https://youtu.be/gBdh20C287Y
As an added note, one of these 8 featured songs will be the next music comic I'm doing, another collaboration with
driprat Betcha can't guess which one.More reviews
Posted 6 years agoI did a bunch of graphic novel reviews for the hell of it, and since the final product ended up being a little too long to post here, it's being run a book at a time over at https://dogpatch.press/ Check it out if you want more of my unfiltered reviews.
Books 2018
Posted 6 years agoA little late, but I've had a lot going on the past couple of months.
All the furry-interest books have at least a brief write-up. I did write-ups on some on the non-furry books if I had something to say about them. For the non-reviewed ones, just go by the rating to get an idea if I thought it was worth reading.
Books are arranged in absolutely no meaningful order.
Furry
***The Moons of Barsk by Lawrence M. Schoen
The second book in (I guess a trilogy) about far future anthros, who have colonized space and different planets. The elephants are confined to the planet Barsk because all the other anthros hate them (because they remind the others of humans.) If you read the first book it’s worth it to read this one. If not, there’s better books on the list.
***The Ghost and its Shadow by Shaun Kick
Saltwater crocodiles Down Under, as an albino hatchling struggles to survive and fulfill his destiny.
****The Gryphon Generation by Alexander Bizzell
A contemporary slice-of-life story (technically near-future, due to laboratory-created gryphons, but for all intents and purposes it’s contemporary). Newly-created gryphons try to integrate into human society in the American south, including the first married human/gryphon couple. The pair face opposition from religious extremists and receive help from other gryphons and sympathetic humans.
****The Dragon Dreamer & Dragon Lightning by J. S. Burke
The first two books of a series, this is the first time I’ve come across something with an octopus as a lead character in addition to the dragons. It’s actually a neat couple of books, and it was refreshing to read about two different cultures making first contact and not immediately fighting. The main antagonist in the books is nature itself, such as a volcano, or the lack of a certain metal the dragons need to survive. The author knows about undersea life and the books are great for anyone interested in undersea xenofiction.
***Podkin One-ear (Longburrow Book 1) by Kieran Larwood
A Redwall-ish type story about bunnies fighting a demonic bunny army. Although written for younger audiences, it wasn’t that bad. Part two is already out, which I should get around to reading this year.
*****Vincent and the Dissidents (The Enlightenment Adventures 2) by Christopher Locke
The continuation of the Enlightenment adventures, about two different groups of (animal) animal rights activists. The first group, led by a raccoon, wants to rescue animals and is committed to nonviolence (and vegetarianism). The second group, led by a mink escaped from a fur farm, wants to liberate animals and kill all the humans. This book follows the rescue of some dogs used in dog-fighting, and roaster chickens in a factory farm. Like pretty much all of the ‘animals gain sentience” books and comics, this glosses over the problem faced by obligate carnivores ( briefly touched on with carnivores saying they only eat already dead animals.) Still, an entertaining read.
**A Pigeon’s Tale by S. A. Mahan
I thought this was going to be just another talking animal book about pigeons, but instead turned out to be a strange mix of talking animals meets an apocalyptic religious retelling of Noah’s Ark. Ok then…
***Sword of the Alliance (Alysha Forrest 3) by M. C. A. Hogarth
Another volume in the SF “pelted” series, this follows a Fleet officer who returns to her home planet only to find it suffering from an undisclosed civil war. Although this is officially part of the Alysha Forrest series, she doesn’t do much until the very end, and the book is mostly about the officer on the planet. Like author’s other books in the series, there’s a lot of talking about politics, careers, personal expectations and planetary sovereignty.
*****Small World (The Kanti Cycle 2) by Gre7g Luterman
A direct sequel to Skeleton Crew, this follows the protagonist of that story as he and a hapless group of geroo are ‘volunteered’ to be a live-in cleaning crew for their draconic overlord (who let his last crew starve to death). They face the planet’s toxic atmosphere, food shortages and treachery among their own in a job that lasts for a lifetime.
****Reaper’s Lottery by Gre7g Luterman
Using the same setting as the Kanti Cycle books, this is a whodunit about a female geroo who has to solve a murder in order to clear her friend. The search ends up uncovering deep secrets and costs more than she can imagine.
*****Eyrie by K. Vale Nagle
Mammal-based gryphons (who have lion-type front paws) live a pastoral hunter-gather lifestyle, while colorful bird-based opinici (who have bird-like front legs), live in crowded city-eyries, clash over territory and resources, in this first book of a series.
*****Mark of the Conifer by L.K.D. Jennings
Talking dinosaurs in the Cretaceous fight against a renegade group that has learned to use fire. Well researched and very enjoyable (except for the use of ‘paw’ for dinosaur feet. Call’em ‘feet’ or ‘talons’ or ‘toes,’ but ‘paw’ is generally a mammal-only term.)
****The Starward Light and Other Tales by Jess E. Owen
Three short stories set in the Summer King world. If you’re familiar with the original series, then these are a good read that explores what happens next to some of the main characters.
****Dogs of War by Adrian Tchiakovsky
This has the familiar trope of anthros being created for war, and then forced to adapt to society when they’re no longer needed for war. However, the author is excellent and the book is definitely worth reading.
***The Demon and the Fox (Calatians 2) by Tim Susman
The second book in the series about magically created anthros (the Calatians of the title), this takes place in the early 1800’s in an alternate America where the revolution didn’t happen and magic is real. The fox is the first Calatian to be accepted into a magical college, and this volume follows his continuing education. Any magical school book will of course evoke Harry Potter, and this has it’s parallels (the fox’s otter friend as Ron Weasley, the only woman student as Hermione, a nasty bully antagonist like Draco, and so on.) As I think I mentioned in my review of the first volume, this magical school is really boring compared to Hogwarts, but it’s mostly just a backdrop for the ‘talented outsider who has to prove himself against unreasoning prejudice’ trope. This second volume gets more into politics, as the American Revolution looms on the horizon and the fox has to decide which side he will take.
SF
*****Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This was a great book. It tells dual stories of humans on a generational ship heading towards a terraformed planet to colonize it, and the evolution of the earth creatures left on it. The terraformers had intended for monkeys to evolve civilization and make the world ready for the human colonizers. Through a series of unplanned events, the creatures that ended up gaining sentience were jumping spiders and mantis shrimp (although the book just follows the spiders). There’s a sequel being released later this year that I eagerly look forward to.
*****Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe 2) by Neal Shusterman
The second in the excellent trilogy about apprentice death-dealers in a computer-controlled utopia, where nobody dies unless they are ‘gleaned’ by the sanctioned killers, the Scythes. The corruption that has infiltrated the Scythes becomes more widespread, with unexpected consequences for the whole world.
****Phasma (Star Wars) by Delilah S. Dawson
I usually read one or two Star Wars novelizations a year. The second Thrawn book was disappointing (still hoping the third book is better) but this one was surprisingly good. Covering the early years of the woefully under-utilized Phasma character from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, it really made me wish they’d made a movie about her instead.
***Hell Divers III: Deliverance & Hell Divers IV: Wolves by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
***Relic by Alan Dean Foster
***Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnick
****Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories by Hugh Howey
**Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn
**StarToucher by C.J. Odle
Fantasy
****Dragonsgate: Preludes and Omens (Bitterwood 6) by James Maxey
****Entwell Origins: Anya (Book of Deacon) by Joseph Lallo
***The Redemption of Desmeres (Book of Deacon) by Joseph Lallo
**Threadbare Volume 1: Stuff and Nonsense by Andrew Seiple
****The Clocktaur Wars books 1 & 2 (The Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine) by Ursula Vernon.
***Under the Healing Sign (Crossroads 2) by Nick O’Donohoe
Thriller
***Meg: Generations by Steve Alten
This is a monumentally ridiculous series (from a scientific if not literary standpoint) but I can’t deny that I keep reading it. Once again aquatic prehistoric creatures run amok, defying the laws of nature and reason to eat their way through the cast. If you like to read about people getting eaten, this book has it in spades. In addition to evolutionary impossibilities (mammals and reptiles re-evolving gills) there were also some unbelievable medical happenings: A character with cancer was literally minutes from dying, but is completely cured by immune-therapy at the last second, only to fall into a coma for a year or so, only to be cured by an expert acupuncturist from China, and recovers so well she’s piloting an underwater sub by the end of the book. What’s really sad is I’ll probably end up reading the next book in this series in spite of how dumb they are.
**Hybrid by Marshall Smith
***Looking Glass (Naturalist 2) by Andrew Mayne
****The Outsider by Stephen King
Misc
****Hell on Earth by Philip Palmer
I generally don’t read urban fantasy, but I really liked this author’s Debatable Space series, so I decided to give it a try. This was an epic length book, about a jaded cop in a London where portals from Hell opened up some years ago, allowing invasions of hell creatures. An uneasy truce developed when the creatures were stopped by sorcerers, with most of the hell refugees confined to a ghetto district in the city. The story follows the cop as he tries to catch a serial killer, which leads him and his team on a complex trail in directions he couldn’t imagine. Definitely not a casual read-type book, but if you’re sick of paranormal romance type urban fantasy, this is definitely a change of pace.
*****Lawless series: Cut Up Girl, Big Ape, Victory by James Maxey
A pastiche of the superhero genre, this was a surprisingly entertaining series, about the life and loves of some dysfunctional superheroes. These super heroes are not for kids. Cut Up Girl’s power is she can create a clone of herself when she cuts off a limb (which instantly reappears), and then she can explode the clone as a living bomb. But she also uses the clones as part of threesomes with various boyfriends, and then ends up living in a lesbian relationship with one. Big Ape is part human and part chimpanzee with super-strength, and he does his share of sleeping around too. It’s all kind of silly but was a lot of fun to read.
***Munmun by Jesse Andrews
This was a weird book, but if you’re into macro/micro stuff then you should definitely check it out. In this world, your financial status literally decides how big you are physically. “Littlepoor” people are the size of rats (and often get preyed on by cats). The “Bigrich” are giants, with a whole range of sizes in between. The book follows the fortunes and misfortunes (and accompanying size changes) of two littlepoor siblings. Obviously the whole book is a metaphor for class struggle in our world, and there’s no real scientific explanation of how this size thing works, but if you can get past that then it’s an interesting read.
**The Wildlands by Abby Geni
***Elevation by Stephen King
All the furry-interest books have at least a brief write-up. I did write-ups on some on the non-furry books if I had something to say about them. For the non-reviewed ones, just go by the rating to get an idea if I thought it was worth reading.
Books are arranged in absolutely no meaningful order.
Furry
***The Moons of Barsk by Lawrence M. Schoen
The second book in (I guess a trilogy) about far future anthros, who have colonized space and different planets. The elephants are confined to the planet Barsk because all the other anthros hate them (because they remind the others of humans.) If you read the first book it’s worth it to read this one. If not, there’s better books on the list.
***The Ghost and its Shadow by Shaun Kick
Saltwater crocodiles Down Under, as an albino hatchling struggles to survive and fulfill his destiny.
****The Gryphon Generation by Alexander Bizzell
A contemporary slice-of-life story (technically near-future, due to laboratory-created gryphons, but for all intents and purposes it’s contemporary). Newly-created gryphons try to integrate into human society in the American south, including the first married human/gryphon couple. The pair face opposition from religious extremists and receive help from other gryphons and sympathetic humans.
****The Dragon Dreamer & Dragon Lightning by J. S. Burke
The first two books of a series, this is the first time I’ve come across something with an octopus as a lead character in addition to the dragons. It’s actually a neat couple of books, and it was refreshing to read about two different cultures making first contact and not immediately fighting. The main antagonist in the books is nature itself, such as a volcano, or the lack of a certain metal the dragons need to survive. The author knows about undersea life and the books are great for anyone interested in undersea xenofiction.
***Podkin One-ear (Longburrow Book 1) by Kieran Larwood
A Redwall-ish type story about bunnies fighting a demonic bunny army. Although written for younger audiences, it wasn’t that bad. Part two is already out, which I should get around to reading this year.
*****Vincent and the Dissidents (The Enlightenment Adventures 2) by Christopher Locke
The continuation of the Enlightenment adventures, about two different groups of (animal) animal rights activists. The first group, led by a raccoon, wants to rescue animals and is committed to nonviolence (and vegetarianism). The second group, led by a mink escaped from a fur farm, wants to liberate animals and kill all the humans. This book follows the rescue of some dogs used in dog-fighting, and roaster chickens in a factory farm. Like pretty much all of the ‘animals gain sentience” books and comics, this glosses over the problem faced by obligate carnivores ( briefly touched on with carnivores saying they only eat already dead animals.) Still, an entertaining read.
**A Pigeon’s Tale by S. A. Mahan
I thought this was going to be just another talking animal book about pigeons, but instead turned out to be a strange mix of talking animals meets an apocalyptic religious retelling of Noah’s Ark. Ok then…
***Sword of the Alliance (Alysha Forrest 3) by M. C. A. Hogarth
Another volume in the SF “pelted” series, this follows a Fleet officer who returns to her home planet only to find it suffering from an undisclosed civil war. Although this is officially part of the Alysha Forrest series, she doesn’t do much until the very end, and the book is mostly about the officer on the planet. Like author’s other books in the series, there’s a lot of talking about politics, careers, personal expectations and planetary sovereignty.
*****Small World (The Kanti Cycle 2) by Gre7g Luterman
A direct sequel to Skeleton Crew, this follows the protagonist of that story as he and a hapless group of geroo are ‘volunteered’ to be a live-in cleaning crew for their draconic overlord (who let his last crew starve to death). They face the planet’s toxic atmosphere, food shortages and treachery among their own in a job that lasts for a lifetime.
****Reaper’s Lottery by Gre7g Luterman
Using the same setting as the Kanti Cycle books, this is a whodunit about a female geroo who has to solve a murder in order to clear her friend. The search ends up uncovering deep secrets and costs more than she can imagine.
*****Eyrie by K. Vale Nagle
Mammal-based gryphons (who have lion-type front paws) live a pastoral hunter-gather lifestyle, while colorful bird-based opinici (who have bird-like front legs), live in crowded city-eyries, clash over territory and resources, in this first book of a series.
*****Mark of the Conifer by L.K.D. Jennings
Talking dinosaurs in the Cretaceous fight against a renegade group that has learned to use fire. Well researched and very enjoyable (except for the use of ‘paw’ for dinosaur feet. Call’em ‘feet’ or ‘talons’ or ‘toes,’ but ‘paw’ is generally a mammal-only term.)
****The Starward Light and Other Tales by Jess E. Owen
Three short stories set in the Summer King world. If you’re familiar with the original series, then these are a good read that explores what happens next to some of the main characters.
****Dogs of War by Adrian Tchiakovsky
This has the familiar trope of anthros being created for war, and then forced to adapt to society when they’re no longer needed for war. However, the author is excellent and the book is definitely worth reading.
***The Demon and the Fox (Calatians 2) by Tim Susman
The second book in the series about magically created anthros (the Calatians of the title), this takes place in the early 1800’s in an alternate America where the revolution didn’t happen and magic is real. The fox is the first Calatian to be accepted into a magical college, and this volume follows his continuing education. Any magical school book will of course evoke Harry Potter, and this has it’s parallels (the fox’s otter friend as Ron Weasley, the only woman student as Hermione, a nasty bully antagonist like Draco, and so on.) As I think I mentioned in my review of the first volume, this magical school is really boring compared to Hogwarts, but it’s mostly just a backdrop for the ‘talented outsider who has to prove himself against unreasoning prejudice’ trope. This second volume gets more into politics, as the American Revolution looms on the horizon and the fox has to decide which side he will take.
SF
*****Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This was a great book. It tells dual stories of humans on a generational ship heading towards a terraformed planet to colonize it, and the evolution of the earth creatures left on it. The terraformers had intended for monkeys to evolve civilization and make the world ready for the human colonizers. Through a series of unplanned events, the creatures that ended up gaining sentience were jumping spiders and mantis shrimp (although the book just follows the spiders). There’s a sequel being released later this year that I eagerly look forward to.
*****Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe 2) by Neal Shusterman
The second in the excellent trilogy about apprentice death-dealers in a computer-controlled utopia, where nobody dies unless they are ‘gleaned’ by the sanctioned killers, the Scythes. The corruption that has infiltrated the Scythes becomes more widespread, with unexpected consequences for the whole world.
****Phasma (Star Wars) by Delilah S. Dawson
I usually read one or two Star Wars novelizations a year. The second Thrawn book was disappointing (still hoping the third book is better) but this one was surprisingly good. Covering the early years of the woefully under-utilized Phasma character from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, it really made me wish they’d made a movie about her instead.
***Hell Divers III: Deliverance & Hell Divers IV: Wolves by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
***Relic by Alan Dean Foster
***Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnick
****Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories by Hugh Howey
**Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn
**StarToucher by C.J. Odle
Fantasy
****Dragonsgate: Preludes and Omens (Bitterwood 6) by James Maxey
****Entwell Origins: Anya (Book of Deacon) by Joseph Lallo
***The Redemption of Desmeres (Book of Deacon) by Joseph Lallo
**Threadbare Volume 1: Stuff and Nonsense by Andrew Seiple
****The Clocktaur Wars books 1 & 2 (The Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine) by Ursula Vernon.
***Under the Healing Sign (Crossroads 2) by Nick O’Donohoe
Thriller
***Meg: Generations by Steve Alten
This is a monumentally ridiculous series (from a scientific if not literary standpoint) but I can’t deny that I keep reading it. Once again aquatic prehistoric creatures run amok, defying the laws of nature and reason to eat their way through the cast. If you like to read about people getting eaten, this book has it in spades. In addition to evolutionary impossibilities (mammals and reptiles re-evolving gills) there were also some unbelievable medical happenings: A character with cancer was literally minutes from dying, but is completely cured by immune-therapy at the last second, only to fall into a coma for a year or so, only to be cured by an expert acupuncturist from China, and recovers so well she’s piloting an underwater sub by the end of the book. What’s really sad is I’ll probably end up reading the next book in this series in spite of how dumb they are.
**Hybrid by Marshall Smith
***Looking Glass (Naturalist 2) by Andrew Mayne
****The Outsider by Stephen King
Misc
****Hell on Earth by Philip Palmer
I generally don’t read urban fantasy, but I really liked this author’s Debatable Space series, so I decided to give it a try. This was an epic length book, about a jaded cop in a London where portals from Hell opened up some years ago, allowing invasions of hell creatures. An uneasy truce developed when the creatures were stopped by sorcerers, with most of the hell refugees confined to a ghetto district in the city. The story follows the cop as he tries to catch a serial killer, which leads him and his team on a complex trail in directions he couldn’t imagine. Definitely not a casual read-type book, but if you’re sick of paranormal romance type urban fantasy, this is definitely a change of pace.
*****Lawless series: Cut Up Girl, Big Ape, Victory by James Maxey
A pastiche of the superhero genre, this was a surprisingly entertaining series, about the life and loves of some dysfunctional superheroes. These super heroes are not for kids. Cut Up Girl’s power is she can create a clone of herself when she cuts off a limb (which instantly reappears), and then she can explode the clone as a living bomb. But she also uses the clones as part of threesomes with various boyfriends, and then ends up living in a lesbian relationship with one. Big Ape is part human and part chimpanzee with super-strength, and he does his share of sleeping around too. It’s all kind of silly but was a lot of fun to read.
***Munmun by Jesse Andrews
This was a weird book, but if you’re into macro/micro stuff then you should definitely check it out. In this world, your financial status literally decides how big you are physically. “Littlepoor” people are the size of rats (and often get preyed on by cats). The “Bigrich” are giants, with a whole range of sizes in between. The book follows the fortunes and misfortunes (and accompanying size changes) of two littlepoor siblings. Obviously the whole book is a metaphor for class struggle in our world, and there’s no real scientific explanation of how this size thing works, but if you can get past that then it’s an interesting read.
**The Wildlands by Abby Geni
***Elevation by Stephen King
Announcements
Posted 7 years agoAfter far too long of doing just freelance, I've finally returned to work at a regular 9-to-5 type job.
At the same time that I started working this week, I was hit with an unexpected family crisis that I've been having to deal with.
The combination of these things means that I had to cancel my plans to go to MFF. I've already released my space there. I am also closing all commissions indefinitely. When I'm able to work on art again, I want to be able to devote the time to my own projects. I will also be ending my involvement with the Patreon, and turning it completely over to driprat. There's no way I can keep up with the monthly art requirements for it.
Sorry if anyone was looking forward to seeing me at MFF. For what it's worth, I'm still planning to go to Painted Desert Furcon and AC.
At the same time that I started working this week, I was hit with an unexpected family crisis that I've been having to deal with.
The combination of these things means that I had to cancel my plans to go to MFF. I've already released my space there. I am also closing all commissions indefinitely. When I'm able to work on art again, I want to be able to devote the time to my own projects. I will also be ending my involvement with the Patreon, and turning it completely over to
driprat. There's no way I can keep up with the monthly art requirements for it.Sorry if anyone was looking forward to seeing me at MFF. For what it's worth, I'm still planning to go to Painted Desert Furcon and AC.
RIP Fred Patten
Posted 7 years agoI'm not happy to be the one to announce this, but I was asked to by Fred's sister.
Fred Patten passed away today shortly after 8 AM. He was found unresponsive the morning of November 1st, and never regained consciousness.
Fred was one of the first people I met in in furry fandom, back in the mid 1980's. He was a long time editor and member of Rowrbrazzle, and shared my love of furry fiction. He helped me get my first professional comics story published with Antarctic Press, and was a tireless and enthusiastic fan of my artwork and writing.
After his stroke over 10 years ago, he helped me by doing copy editing on my writing, and recommending me to do covers and illustrations for the various anthologies he edited. I cannot over emphasize the effect his encouragement and backing had in helping me become the writer and artist I am today. I dedicated the second Griffin Ranger book to him, and he deserved thanks, along with a couple other people, for getting me writing again after years of only doing comics.
As of now I don't have information on where to send official condolences; I will try to post that when I get it. I was told there will be no service.
Goodbye Fred. I will miss you, my life is so much better for having known you, and I hope now you have all the good books to read you could ever ask for.
Fred Patten passed away today shortly after 8 AM. He was found unresponsive the morning of November 1st, and never regained consciousness.
Fred was one of the first people I met in in furry fandom, back in the mid 1980's. He was a long time editor and member of Rowrbrazzle, and shared my love of furry fiction. He helped me get my first professional comics story published with Antarctic Press, and was a tireless and enthusiastic fan of my artwork and writing.
After his stroke over 10 years ago, he helped me by doing copy editing on my writing, and recommending me to do covers and illustrations for the various anthologies he edited. I cannot over emphasize the effect his encouragement and backing had in helping me become the writer and artist I am today. I dedicated the second Griffin Ranger book to him, and he deserved thanks, along with a couple other people, for getting me writing again after years of only doing comics.
As of now I don't have information on where to send official condolences; I will try to post that when I get it. I was told there will be no service.
Goodbye Fred. I will miss you, my life is so much better for having known you, and I hope now you have all the good books to read you could ever ask for.
Forthcoming Conventions
Posted 7 years agoI was able to get in to the Dealer's Marketplace at MFF, so it turns out I will be there after all. I should have the new novella out for that; the story and illustrations are done, but the cover needs some more work. I colored it myself but wasn't particularly happy with how it came out, so a friend is taking a pass at the coloring and hopefully can do something decent with it.
I will also have a table at the new Painted Desert Furry Con in Arizona this coming February, so hopefully I'll see some of you there as well.
I did not apply to either FC or TFF, so I won't be at those. That was mainly a financial decision; FC's attendance has been falling and most of my friends don't go there any more. I did OK at TFF last year, but the person I roomed with isn't going this year, and I don't want to pay for the hotel room by myself.
I'm going to try to get into Furry Migration, since I have a relative in that city and hopefully can avoid hotel costs that way. And of course there will be the annual application & rejection of BLFC, since we must keep up traditions.
I will also have a table at the new Painted Desert Furry Con in Arizona this coming February, so hopefully I'll see some of you there as well.
I did not apply to either FC or TFF, so I won't be at those. That was mainly a financial decision; FC's attendance has been falling and most of my friends don't go there any more. I did OK at TFF last year, but the person I roomed with isn't going this year, and I don't want to pay for the hotel room by myself.
I'm going to try to get into Furry Migration, since I have a relative in that city and hopefully can avoid hotel costs that way. And of course there will be the annual application & rejection of BLFC, since we must keep up traditions.
Dramatic Read
Posted 7 years agoLast Saturday myself, driprat and about half a dozen other people did a dramatic (or humorous, depending on your point of view) reading of my comic The Mule. There's a video up of it on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEQ.....ature=youtu.be
We had a lot of fun doing it, and hopefully you'll find it equally entertaining.
driprat and about half a dozen other people did a dramatic (or humorous, depending on your point of view) reading of my comic The Mule. There's a video up of it on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEQ.....ature=youtu.beWe had a lot of fun doing it, and hopefully you'll find it equally entertaining.
Future Projects + Last Day of Auction
Posted 7 years agoLast day of the FurBuy auctions: https://www.furbuy.com/seller/RGibson.html
I've finished up the last of my outstanding commissions, so I'm going to be taking a break from taking on new ones for most of September in order to work on some personal projects that have been sidelined due to commission work and putting together the Extinct deck.
Finish the illustrations & manuscript revisions on the Jack Salem novella.
A short 4 page music comic.
Several complex single illustrations.
As per usual, Patreon supporters get exclusive WIP updates and get to see the finished product first.
Speaking of the Extinct deck-- now that the Kickstarter backers and contributing artists have their copies, if anyone is interested in a deck and/or book, just drop me a line for ordering information.
I've finished up the last of my outstanding commissions, so I'm going to be taking a break from taking on new ones for most of September in order to work on some personal projects that have been sidelined due to commission work and putting together the Extinct deck.
Finish the illustrations & manuscript revisions on the Jack Salem novella.
A short 4 page music comic.
Several complex single illustrations.
As per usual, Patreon supporters get exclusive WIP updates and get to see the finished product first.
Speaking of the Extinct deck-- now that the Kickstarter backers and contributing artists have their copies, if anyone is interested in a deck and/or book, just drop me a line for ordering information.
SDCC 2018
Posted 7 years agoOK, for all those who complain I don't post con reports any more, here's one for ComiCon.
The very fact I can still attend San Diego ComiCon International is due to a lucky convergence of things, any one of which going awry would keep me away. Firstly—I can still get a pro pass, which means I don’t have to shell out hundreds of dollars and have to count on luck to even get a badge. Second, I don’t currently have a 9-to-5 job, which means I can go Thursday and Friday, before the worse of the weekend crowd. And finally, I can stay with my sister-in-law, who has a place in San Diego. Even if I could get a hotel room (which is nearly impossible) the minimum cost is well over $200 a night, not counting parking.
Even getting to San Diego from northern LA County is a huge hassle. You’re going to run into shitty traffic unless you leave at midnight, which wasn’t an option for me since I had to get there at a decent hour. Since my sister-in-law was nice enough to let me stay there a couple nights, I wasn’t going to ask her to stay up to some unholy hour just so I could avoid traffic. So I sat in traffic for 4 hours getting there (four hours equals 3 CDs and an extended period of listening to the radio).
I knew better than to try for Preview Night (Weds. Night), where the crowds are nightmarish even for SDCC. So spent the night in San Diego and got to the convention center about 10 Thursday morning. Even parking is an expensive trial. The closest public parking to the convention center is for the Petco Park sports stadium, but since I was arriving after the con opened I had a feeling that lot was full. So I parked in the Amtrak station lot, which is far enough away that it doesn’t fill up as quickly. It’s also hideously expensive ($40 a day), but it’s close to a con center shuttle stop so I don’t have to take a cab or anything to get there. I suppose I could’ve trolled for a cheaper spot or even street parking, but with all the homeless prowling around, I didn’t want to risk my car getting broken into.
One convention exclusive I had my eye on was a Hallmark ornament set of the 2 nonhuman characters from the Star Trek animated series (Mress and that 3-limbed guy). Of course I arrived too late to get a line ticket (for most of the exclusives, you need to get a line ticket first. That is, you need to wait in line to get a ticket to wait in another line.) BUT... the people there said they’d open up for general sales at 12:30, assuming everything wasn’t sold out. So at 11:30 I came back to the booth and staked out an area, along with some other people, despite being told they were not allowing pre-lineups.
At 12:30 all hell broke loose, with the guy holding the ‘end of line’ sign shouting that people needed to BE TOUCHING THE WALL in order to count on being in line. That resulted in a crush of people shoving and pushing to get near the wall. Thank God I’m not crowd-phobic, but it was still pretty hairy. I ended up near the front with the guy who’d been waiting near me. Since everyone was limited to one of each item, we agreed to get each other a second purchase of what we wanted (he wanted a Star Wars item, so I bought a Star Wars for him, and he got the Star Trek for me.) Then they gave everyone a button so you could ID yourself to the cashier.
So after all that, yes I have an extra Mress ornament! I was figuring some furry fan would be willing to buy or trade for it (note me if interested. Otherwise I’ll make a general announcement later).
Now, on to other things at the con. I needed to drop off several copies of the 6th Extinction book to Diana Harlan-Stein, which I did. Then there was a graphic novel I’d seen in Previews I wanted to pick up, and luckily the publisher was there. One thing that’s weird about ComiCon—you can’t get copies of any current comics unless the publisher has a booth, and sometimes not even then. There was a current Image title & a graphic novel I wanted, but I could not find a single copy. Since Mile High Comics wasn’t there any more, the dealers selling contemporary comics were few and far between. Another small publisher I wanted to talk to wasn’t there at all this year, which was a drag. The only real furry presence there was Sofawolf, but I’d already seen what they had at AnthroCon so I didn’t stop by their booth. Occasional furry artist Ken Mitchroney was in artist’s alley, but I forgot he was there so I didn’t swing by to say hello.
On the other hand, Kikidoodle, who is running a really awesome Kickstarter for wild cat pins, was there too, so I stopped by. Backers could get a freebie at her table, but then I ended up getting into a conversation with one of her dealer’s minions who commented on my Muse shirt, so of course I had to grill her to find out if she was a REAL fan (she was). Seriously, if you like wild cats, check out that Kickstarter! (link) https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....?ref=user_menu
The art show had been moved from the Convention Center to one of the further hotels, necessitating a long hike to get there. My backpack, filled with water, books and a cold pack to keep lunch chill, weighed about 50 pounds and was murder on my shoulders and back. I could handle all the walking, but hauling that load was a bit too much. But I needed to drop off Terrie Smith’s copy of the 6th Extinction book with her husband Glen, who was running the art show, so I made the trek over there.
Fitbit total for Thursday, about 12K steps, and boy I felt all of them.
Friday was more of the same. I’d been asked by two people to get a couple con exclusives at the Hasbro booth, but that was asking for the moon, normally. If you’re lucky, if you’re willing to get up at 4AM and stand in a huge line, you might get a line ticket to get into the booth. Since there was no way hell I was going to ask my sister-in-law to facilitate me getting up at that hour, I told both people it didn’t look good. But lo and behold, late Friday the line was gone and they were just letting regular plebeians without a line ticket into the booth. So I quickly shuffled in and got the two items, which were also freaking expensive (nearly $200 for just 2 things.) So I was able to make a couple of people very happy!
Another thing I was charged to get was any decent Final Space merch. The network had a whole booth set up with a VR Experience (which I didn’t feel like standing in line for) but they did have one decent TShirt design (and a whole bunch of crappy designs), so I was able to get that. There was also a Final Space panel at the Indigo Ballroom, but the line for that was so huge I didn’t even try to get in. Another huge line I did stand in was for the con exclusive TShirt, which I got for my dad as a late B-Day present. Luckily I had a good book on my Kindle I could read while in line.
Interestingly, the line for Hall H was not as humongous as it normally was. I found out later that was due to HBO and Marvel not really having a presence there this year. Go figure. I did see a couple comics that looked kind of interesting, but the booths were manned by those super-eager, hard-sell people that I avoid like the plague, so I didn’t want to even act interested. Seriously, there is nothing more off-putting than being pounced on and given a relentless hard-sell the instant you even hesitate by a table. I can usually count on getting something neat at the Stuart Ng booth, but this year there was nada that caught my fancy. I almost got some art supplies at the Copic booth, but I figured I could get those cheaper online (that thinking being the bane of dealers, I know…)
Despite being cancelled this year and not having a venue for next year, CaliFur still had a table in the fan area. I went there to talk about getting a refund for this year’s dealer table, but they said refunds were delayed due to a bunch of people doing PayPal charge-backs. Of course then I felt like a schmuck for not thinking to do that myself, but instead just waiting around for them to get it to me like an idiot.
There were plenty of cool hall costumes, and some scary ones (a very obese woman in spandex comes to mind). I ran into a group dressed as the Council of Ricks, which I got a big kick out of. There were a couple of nearly naked guys dressed (so to speak) as characters from the 300 movie (or comic), and a bunch of other ones I can’t remember. Believe it or not, amid the tens of thousands of people, I actually ran into two people I knew randomly on the dealer’s floor. Who would’ve thunk it?
By about 3 or 4 Friday all the walking and carrying the heavy load had really caught up with me. I’d gotten most of what I’d come for, so I decided to schlep to the Amtrack lot and head back to LA. Of course, this would put me on the road during Friday rush hour, but what can you do? My sciatica, which generally didn’t bother me any more since I lost a bunch of weight, was flaring up so badly it was extraordinarily painful to sit down at all. My shoulders were in equally bad shape, and I was really worried about getting another attack of bursitis there (if you’ve never had bursitis—it’s horrendous, constant pain that lasts for weeks). One thing you can count on seeing at ComiCon is plenty of morbidly obese hauling around heavy bags. I’m in reasonably good shape, and if I was in so much pain by the end of the day I don’t know how those other people manage. I did see plenty of the obese in those go-karts, so I guess that’s one way to get around all the walking. I also saw huge strollers with suspiciously older kids in them. You’re not allowed to bring any rolling transports in the dealer’s area unless it’s a stroller, wheelchair or go-kart, and I suspect a lot of parents stick older kids in strollers so they wouldn’t have to carry all their purchases around.
The drive back to LA also lasted 4 hours, although by the time I’d gotten past downtown LA it was late enough that traffic had let up for the most part. Four hours in stop-and-go traffic is murder on a knee that’s already hurting from two days of constantly being on your feet, for those who don’t know that.
So now I’m back in LA, with a bunch of commissions to catch up on, and a few days of record heat to look forward to. Who knows…by this time next year I’ll probably do it all over again.
The very fact I can still attend San Diego ComiCon International is due to a lucky convergence of things, any one of which going awry would keep me away. Firstly—I can still get a pro pass, which means I don’t have to shell out hundreds of dollars and have to count on luck to even get a badge. Second, I don’t currently have a 9-to-5 job, which means I can go Thursday and Friday, before the worse of the weekend crowd. And finally, I can stay with my sister-in-law, who has a place in San Diego. Even if I could get a hotel room (which is nearly impossible) the minimum cost is well over $200 a night, not counting parking.
Even getting to San Diego from northern LA County is a huge hassle. You’re going to run into shitty traffic unless you leave at midnight, which wasn’t an option for me since I had to get there at a decent hour. Since my sister-in-law was nice enough to let me stay there a couple nights, I wasn’t going to ask her to stay up to some unholy hour just so I could avoid traffic. So I sat in traffic for 4 hours getting there (four hours equals 3 CDs and an extended period of listening to the radio).
I knew better than to try for Preview Night (Weds. Night), where the crowds are nightmarish even for SDCC. So spent the night in San Diego and got to the convention center about 10 Thursday morning. Even parking is an expensive trial. The closest public parking to the convention center is for the Petco Park sports stadium, but since I was arriving after the con opened I had a feeling that lot was full. So I parked in the Amtrak station lot, which is far enough away that it doesn’t fill up as quickly. It’s also hideously expensive ($40 a day), but it’s close to a con center shuttle stop so I don’t have to take a cab or anything to get there. I suppose I could’ve trolled for a cheaper spot or even street parking, but with all the homeless prowling around, I didn’t want to risk my car getting broken into.
One convention exclusive I had my eye on was a Hallmark ornament set of the 2 nonhuman characters from the Star Trek animated series (Mress and that 3-limbed guy). Of course I arrived too late to get a line ticket (for most of the exclusives, you need to get a line ticket first. That is, you need to wait in line to get a ticket to wait in another line.) BUT... the people there said they’d open up for general sales at 12:30, assuming everything wasn’t sold out. So at 11:30 I came back to the booth and staked out an area, along with some other people, despite being told they were not allowing pre-lineups.
At 12:30 all hell broke loose, with the guy holding the ‘end of line’ sign shouting that people needed to BE TOUCHING THE WALL in order to count on being in line. That resulted in a crush of people shoving and pushing to get near the wall. Thank God I’m not crowd-phobic, but it was still pretty hairy. I ended up near the front with the guy who’d been waiting near me. Since everyone was limited to one of each item, we agreed to get each other a second purchase of what we wanted (he wanted a Star Wars item, so I bought a Star Wars for him, and he got the Star Trek for me.) Then they gave everyone a button so you could ID yourself to the cashier.
So after all that, yes I have an extra Mress ornament! I was figuring some furry fan would be willing to buy or trade for it (note me if interested. Otherwise I’ll make a general announcement later).
Now, on to other things at the con. I needed to drop off several copies of the 6th Extinction book to Diana Harlan-Stein, which I did. Then there was a graphic novel I’d seen in Previews I wanted to pick up, and luckily the publisher was there. One thing that’s weird about ComiCon—you can’t get copies of any current comics unless the publisher has a booth, and sometimes not even then. There was a current Image title & a graphic novel I wanted, but I could not find a single copy. Since Mile High Comics wasn’t there any more, the dealers selling contemporary comics were few and far between. Another small publisher I wanted to talk to wasn’t there at all this year, which was a drag. The only real furry presence there was Sofawolf, but I’d already seen what they had at AnthroCon so I didn’t stop by their booth. Occasional furry artist Ken Mitchroney was in artist’s alley, but I forgot he was there so I didn’t swing by to say hello.
On the other hand, Kikidoodle, who is running a really awesome Kickstarter for wild cat pins, was there too, so I stopped by. Backers could get a freebie at her table, but then I ended up getting into a conversation with one of her dealer’s minions who commented on my Muse shirt, so of course I had to grill her to find out if she was a REAL fan (she was). Seriously, if you like wild cats, check out that Kickstarter! (link) https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....?ref=user_menu
The art show had been moved from the Convention Center to one of the further hotels, necessitating a long hike to get there. My backpack, filled with water, books and a cold pack to keep lunch chill, weighed about 50 pounds and was murder on my shoulders and back. I could handle all the walking, but hauling that load was a bit too much. But I needed to drop off Terrie Smith’s copy of the 6th Extinction book with her husband Glen, who was running the art show, so I made the trek over there.
Fitbit total for Thursday, about 12K steps, and boy I felt all of them.
Friday was more of the same. I’d been asked by two people to get a couple con exclusives at the Hasbro booth, but that was asking for the moon, normally. If you’re lucky, if you’re willing to get up at 4AM and stand in a huge line, you might get a line ticket to get into the booth. Since there was no way hell I was going to ask my sister-in-law to facilitate me getting up at that hour, I told both people it didn’t look good. But lo and behold, late Friday the line was gone and they were just letting regular plebeians without a line ticket into the booth. So I quickly shuffled in and got the two items, which were also freaking expensive (nearly $200 for just 2 things.) So I was able to make a couple of people very happy!
Another thing I was charged to get was any decent Final Space merch. The network had a whole booth set up with a VR Experience (which I didn’t feel like standing in line for) but they did have one decent TShirt design (and a whole bunch of crappy designs), so I was able to get that. There was also a Final Space panel at the Indigo Ballroom, but the line for that was so huge I didn’t even try to get in. Another huge line I did stand in was for the con exclusive TShirt, which I got for my dad as a late B-Day present. Luckily I had a good book on my Kindle I could read while in line.
Interestingly, the line for Hall H was not as humongous as it normally was. I found out later that was due to HBO and Marvel not really having a presence there this year. Go figure. I did see a couple comics that looked kind of interesting, but the booths were manned by those super-eager, hard-sell people that I avoid like the plague, so I didn’t want to even act interested. Seriously, there is nothing more off-putting than being pounced on and given a relentless hard-sell the instant you even hesitate by a table. I can usually count on getting something neat at the Stuart Ng booth, but this year there was nada that caught my fancy. I almost got some art supplies at the Copic booth, but I figured I could get those cheaper online (that thinking being the bane of dealers, I know…)
Despite being cancelled this year and not having a venue for next year, CaliFur still had a table in the fan area. I went there to talk about getting a refund for this year’s dealer table, but they said refunds were delayed due to a bunch of people doing PayPal charge-backs. Of course then I felt like a schmuck for not thinking to do that myself, but instead just waiting around for them to get it to me like an idiot.
There were plenty of cool hall costumes, and some scary ones (a very obese woman in spandex comes to mind). I ran into a group dressed as the Council of Ricks, which I got a big kick out of. There were a couple of nearly naked guys dressed (so to speak) as characters from the 300 movie (or comic), and a bunch of other ones I can’t remember. Believe it or not, amid the tens of thousands of people, I actually ran into two people I knew randomly on the dealer’s floor. Who would’ve thunk it?
By about 3 or 4 Friday all the walking and carrying the heavy load had really caught up with me. I’d gotten most of what I’d come for, so I decided to schlep to the Amtrack lot and head back to LA. Of course, this would put me on the road during Friday rush hour, but what can you do? My sciatica, which generally didn’t bother me any more since I lost a bunch of weight, was flaring up so badly it was extraordinarily painful to sit down at all. My shoulders were in equally bad shape, and I was really worried about getting another attack of bursitis there (if you’ve never had bursitis—it’s horrendous, constant pain that lasts for weeks). One thing you can count on seeing at ComiCon is plenty of morbidly obese hauling around heavy bags. I’m in reasonably good shape, and if I was in so much pain by the end of the day I don’t know how those other people manage. I did see plenty of the obese in those go-karts, so I guess that’s one way to get around all the walking. I also saw huge strollers with suspiciously older kids in them. You’re not allowed to bring any rolling transports in the dealer’s area unless it’s a stroller, wheelchair or go-kart, and I suspect a lot of parents stick older kids in strollers so they wouldn’t have to carry all their purchases around.
The drive back to LA also lasted 4 hours, although by the time I’d gotten past downtown LA it was late enough that traffic had let up for the most part. Four hours in stop-and-go traffic is murder on a knee that’s already hurting from two days of constantly being on your feet, for those who don’t know that.
So now I’m back in LA, with a bunch of commissions to catch up on, and a few days of record heat to look forward to. Who knows…by this time next year I’ll probably do it all over again.
Updates
Posted 7 years agoI'll be going dark art-wise for about a month, because I'm in the middle of production of the Extinct Animal deck. In addition to interfacing with the artists to make sure everyone has their cards done on time, I'm also writing up all the entries for the companion book. That's 54 different animal histories, including a bunch that we don't know a whole lot about. Trying to write up an interesting entry on an animal where basically nothing is known about its behavior or even what exactly it looked like is a bit of a challenge. On the other hand, I can tell you that the last California grizzly bear was killed in 1922, that Japan once had two native wolf subspecies (which are both extinct) and that the broad-billed parrot was a palm-nut specialist feeder.
I also recently finished a new Jack Salem novella called The Wrecks. I'm not 100% sure at this point what I'm going to do with it, since it's a lot darker and more adult than any of my previous short stories. I won't be making any decision on it until the extinct deck is done, in any case. Even if I decide not to publish it I'll still do a cover, since, why not? So that will probably be the next non-extinct deck bit of art that will turn up here.
Beyond that, my next couple of projects are two music videos I've been wanting to do. One will have my art illustrating it, the other I'm going to try to do an edited video from an existing film, if I can find a decent editing program that I can actually figure out how to use.
Convention scene for the rest of the year is very dismal. CaliFur, the only local convention, was just announced as cancelled. I was unable to get a table at BLFC. I might try for a table at Midwest Furfest, but considering how I can't seem to be able to get a table at any of these cons who the hell knows? Now I do have my table for AnthroCon, but the person I was supposed to be rooming with isn't going, so I need to try to find another roomie because I seriously don't want to pay for a whole room myself.
And that's all the news that's fit to print.
I also recently finished a new Jack Salem novella called The Wrecks. I'm not 100% sure at this point what I'm going to do with it, since it's a lot darker and more adult than any of my previous short stories. I won't be making any decision on it until the extinct deck is done, in any case. Even if I decide not to publish it I'll still do a cover, since, why not? So that will probably be the next non-extinct deck bit of art that will turn up here.
Beyond that, my next couple of projects are two music videos I've been wanting to do. One will have my art illustrating it, the other I'm going to try to do an edited video from an existing film, if I can find a decent editing program that I can actually figure out how to use.
Convention scene for the rest of the year is very dismal. CaliFur, the only local convention, was just announced as cancelled. I was unable to get a table at BLFC. I might try for a table at Midwest Furfest, but considering how I can't seem to be able to get a table at any of these cons who the hell knows? Now I do have my table for AnthroCon, but the person I was supposed to be rooming with isn't going, so I need to try to find another roomie because I seriously don't want to pay for a whole room myself.
And that's all the news that's fit to print.
Next Picture Subjects?
Posted 7 years agoI'm planning to do a few more of the "wheel" pictures like these two:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/26456372/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/26456335/
Eagles and wild canines are already in the works, but are there any other groups you'd like to see featured?
Possibles:
Small cats
Mustelids
Deep sea fish
Sharks
Waterfowl
Frogs
I'm willing to draw pretty much any type of animal.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/26456372/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/26456335/
Eagles and wild canines are already in the works, but are there any other groups you'd like to see featured?
Possibles:
Small cats
Mustelids
Deep sea fish
Sharks
Waterfowl
Frogs
I'm willing to draw pretty much any type of animal.
Awards Season
Posted 7 years agoHere in LA all the studios are heavily plugging the prestige movies they want to be nominated for various awards (with the Academy Awards being the biggie). Me being an uncultured plebeian when it comes to movies, I haven't seen any of them because they all looked boring (although the people I know who went to see Dunkirk did like it, for what that's worth).
But it is also furry book award season, and this year I was exceptionally prolific and actually managed to get three whole things printed. Now I'll have to reluctantly accept the fact I'm probably not going to win a National Book Award (or even a Hugo or Nebula for that matter) for Elephant vs. T-Rex, but damn it, I can at least try for one of the furry awards.
So anyways, the three awards are The Ursa Majors : http://www.ursamajorawards.org/nominations.htm
The Furry Writers Guild http://coyotlawards.org/nominations/
and the new Leo Awards https://furrybookreview.wixsite.com.....log/leo-awards
Honestly, for 99% of the people reading this, the Ursa Majors will be the only one you can nominate for, because it's open to everyone. For the Furry Writer's Guild award, only members can nominate, and for the Leo Awards, I can't exactly figure out what the nominating criteria is, but I think you need to be a published writer in some capacity.
So the three things I published this year are
Griffin Ranger 2: The Monster Lands (novel)
Matriarch: Elephant vs. T-Rex (Novella/short fiction)
Didus ineptus Linnaeus (Short story, published in the Fred Patten Symbol of a Nation anthology)
Even if you hate me and don't want me to win anything, go ahead and nominate the latest MLP fanfic epic or whatever floats your boat. It makes things more interesting.
If I actually get nominated for anything, I'll be back bugging for votes when the time comes.
But it is also furry book award season, and this year I was exceptionally prolific and actually managed to get three whole things printed. Now I'll have to reluctantly accept the fact I'm probably not going to win a National Book Award (or even a Hugo or Nebula for that matter) for Elephant vs. T-Rex, but damn it, I can at least try for one of the furry awards.
So anyways, the three awards are The Ursa Majors : http://www.ursamajorawards.org/nominations.htm
The Furry Writers Guild http://coyotlawards.org/nominations/
and the new Leo Awards https://furrybookreview.wixsite.com.....log/leo-awards
Honestly, for 99% of the people reading this, the Ursa Majors will be the only one you can nominate for, because it's open to everyone. For the Furry Writer's Guild award, only members can nominate, and for the Leo Awards, I can't exactly figure out what the nominating criteria is, but I think you need to be a published writer in some capacity.
So the three things I published this year are
Griffin Ranger 2: The Monster Lands (novel)
Matriarch: Elephant vs. T-Rex (Novella/short fiction)
Didus ineptus Linnaeus (Short story, published in the Fred Patten Symbol of a Nation anthology)
Even if you hate me and don't want me to win anything, go ahead and nominate the latest MLP fanfic epic or whatever floats your boat. It makes things more interesting.
If I actually get nominated for anything, I'll be back bugging for votes when the time comes.
2017 books
Posted 7 years agoA little bit late, but here's reviews of 2017's books. I did not review everything I read last year, and there's a list of non-reviewed books with rating at the end of the main list. The ones that get actual reviews are of furry interest, or were particularly bad or good. These are in no real order.
** Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruins of Ymr by John Crowley
About a million years ago, when I was in my early teens, one of the very first books I got that could be considered ‘furry’ was Beasts, by John Crowley. It featured genetically engineered lion-men and a fox-man, and included hot (at the time, anyways) lion-man & human woman action. After a few SF books early on, Crowley went on to write a lot of large fantasy tomes that were not ‘relevant to my interests’ and I never read anything else he wrote. Now, a lifetime later, he wrote another book with an animal protagonist, this time a crow named Dar Oakley.
Unfortunately this turns out to be what I call a ‘gimmick’ book. I’ve read a number of other books just like it—the main character or narrator is an animal, but the book is really about the humans the animal meets and interacts with. Through some vaguely described process the crow learns to talk with particular humans, which results in discussions about life, death and human customs. The crow also accompanies the first human he befriends into the human afterlife, where he somehow becomes immortal. But it’s an immortality like in video games—when he’s killed he just pops back up in another body.
This is a gimmick to talk and interact with humans through the ages—a bronze-age pagan girl, a monk from the middle ages, an American Indian, etc. There’s a few hints about what the book could’ve been if he’d ditched the humans and concentrated on the crow; a sequence where he befriends some terns and they try to teach him how to fly like them, and the earlier scenes that describe life in the crow flock, but most of the book is his talking with the various human characters.
Since crows are often considered harbingers of death and feed on the dead, there’s lots and lots of talk about death, the afterlife and feeding on corpses. So if you’re into that, this book has it in spades. Otherwise it’s a lost opportunity to write something unique that ended up being just like a bunch of other books out there.
**** Skeleton Crew by Greg (Gre7g) Luterman
A multi-generational ship is crewed by the Geroo--cute, furry somethings (drawn kind of like a cross between bears and wolves). Obstentialy ‘employees’ of the Krakun, their (literally) draconian overlords, they are actually slaves, crewing a ship to find inhabitable planets for their masters. Because resources on the ship are finite, there’s a very strict limit to the number of births, and everyone has to commit suicide at age 60.
Unauthorized births are punishable by death, but the protagonist is a result of an unauthorized pregnancy, hiding in plain sight. For some reason, the Krakun supervisor of the ship becomes obsessed with the idea that there’s a bunch of unauthorized Geroo on the ship (there’s no particular reason why he has this idea, except as a plot driver) and threatens the captain with mass killings unless he can find these hypothetical ‘stowaways.’
The Geroo are basically humans in fursuits—their family structure, entertainment and personalities are human. The Krakun are giant dragon/dinosaur creatures, big enough to eat the Geroo in one bite. What’s not made clear is whether the Gerro are tiny and the Krakun are human-sized, or the Gerro are human-sized and the krakun are giants. And while the initial plot arc is resolved, there’s obviously supposed to be more to the story (which may or may not ever appear) so just be warned about that. TLDR: The book succeeds as entertainment, but not in showing any type of alien culture or a unique plot.
*** The Tower and The Fox by Tim Susman
Any book that takes place in a school for magic is going to be compared to Harry Potter. Any book that features a downtrodden protagonist that has to deal with prejudice despite his magical birthright is really going to be compared to Harry Potter.
The story takes place in an alternate America of 1815, where the revolution never happened and magic is real. Magically created animal-people called Calatians are a part of society. They have some rights and live as free people, but still face discrimination by humans. When a disaster of unknown origin kills most of the student body of the local magical college, they agree to take anyone as students, including Calatians and women.
The rest of the book is a very typical ‘despised minority trying to prove themselves’ scenario, including the requisite bully, nasty prejudiced teachers, sympathetic teachers, and resistance from within the Calatian community about the protagonist Kip trying to rock the boat. Of course Kip is better than any of the human students, but everyone is so prejudiced against him it hardly matters.
Where this fails in comparison to Harry Potter is the school itself. The world of Hogwarts was fascinating, richly imagined and made you want to visit it. This school is dreary and boring, with little attention paid to its magical aspect, instead concentrating on how nasty the other students and teachers treat Kip and his friends. It’s also unclear how people learn to work magic, since one of Kip’s friends, an otter who never had any inclination to study magic, is accepted into the school and can learn to work magic, while a wealthy human student is accepted and apparently never is able to master any spells at all.
But honestly, the magic is just a device, and the real thrust of the story is an oppressed minority trying to break through barriers. In that respect, the protagonist could be black, female, gay, a Jew, or any other oppressed group rather than a furry, and the setting could be any exclusive place that holds the key to a better life.
**** Kismet by Watts Martin
I did an extensive review of this earlier. It’s here http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8116872/ if you want to read it again.
*Lobster by Guillaume Lecasble
I honestly didn’t know what category to put this wretched book into, but I guess this is as good as any. If you ever wanted to read a book where a lobster and a woman fall in love and the lobster gives the woman the best orgasm of her life, then this is the book for you. It’s a translated French book, so that might tell you all you need to know.
*Miss Kitty, Rocky and the Immortals by Jay A. Stout
This had kind of an interesting premise—some people are reborn as angels in the bodies of animals (or humans) to help people on earth. They are truly immortal (at one point the protagonist gets run over by a car and is able to just shake it off) but there are some angels that have gone bad over the years, which adds another layer of complexity to their story.
Rocky is a hotshot Air Force pilot who is killed in a fighter accident and is reborn as a (of course) raccoon, who goes back to help his buddies he left in the Air Force. This all sounds more interesting than it actually is. The writing is not very good, and most of the action centers around the humans, who are all cliché characters. The worse aspect of trying to read this (in the e-book) is the horrible formatting, which has no breaks between scenes or POV changes, which made it really hard to follow.
***The Strange Bird: A Borne Story (Kindle Single) by Jeff VanderMeer
Jeff VanderMeer is a highly respected mainstream SF author. This is a novella related to his recent novel Borne, a SF story about genetic engineering run wild in a future dystopia. (I have not read the book, but I’ve read enough reviews to get the general gist of it.) The Strange Bird takes place in the same universe at the same time, with some of the same characters. The Unnamed Strange Bird is briefly liberated from a genetics lab, but hardly enjoys her freedom before she’s captured—first by an eccentric hermit, then by the mad doctor from hell, who dissects her while still alive to turn her into some sort of a living camouflage coat. If you haven’t yet guessed, this is a nasty, depressing story. Well written, yes, but not worth reading unless you’re really into ‘life sucks and then you die’ plots.
*****D’Arc: War with No Name 3 by Robert Repino
The third book in the ‘War with No Name’ series. An immortal ant queen manages to transform mammals into anthropomorphic form, and uses them (along with her own ant soldiers) to overthrow and wipe out humanity. The first book followed Mort(e), a housecat, the second Culdesac, a wild bobcat, and this one follows the dog friend of Mort(e) from the first book. At this point, some years after the war, some humans and animals are trying to live in a mixed society, with uneven results. There’s strife between human extremist terrorists, animal terrorists, and a new aquatic species who doesn’t want to live with either. Probably one of the best books I read this year, although you really need to read the first book (Mort(e) ) to get the full background to the story. There is an open ending, so hopefully there will be more books in this fine series.
****Crosscurrents (Rise of the Penguins 3) by Steven Hammond
****Whispers of Shadows (Rise of the Penguins 4) by Steven Hammond
****The Royal Creed (Rise of the Penguins 5) by Steven Hammond
***Order of Kings (Rise of the Penguins 6) by Steven Hammond
The continuation of the Rise of the Penguins series I reviewed a couple years ago. The premise is kind of dopey (penguins revolting against humanity in a war, as well as civil strife among the various penguin factions ) but if you can swallow that, these actually are pretty entertaining books. Most of the story is told from the penguin’s POV, which is a big plus.
***Avaritia: A Fable by M.D. Westbrook
What would happen if rodents got their little ratty paws on a copy of Atlas Shrugged, and decided to apply Objectivist beliefs to a new society free of humans? You would get this book, which even has a John Gault-type speech in the middle of it. I did give this 3 stars because it was definitely entertaining, in a train-wreck kind of way. It does over-simplify the issues, but that's to be expected in a story with a very defined good vs. bad mentality. I'm not sure I'd recommend this for younger kids, what with the violence, cannibalism and sexual slavery that shows up in the latter half, but on the other hand, it never got boring.
***The Wayward Astronomer by Geoffrey Thomas
A fan-written novel set in the Dreamkeepers (comic) universe, inhabited by a mix of furry, feathered and scaly creatures. Everyone has a special power, but they’re outlawed using them by an oppressive government (seriously—if everyone had super-powers, how long would outlawing the use of them last?) The astronomer of the title finds a mysterious meteor that fell conveniently close to his observatory, and gets caught up in a plot by religious extremists to use the meteor’s powers for ill ends. The story is so-so, but the book is worth getting for David Lillie’s fine illustrations.
***Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti
A troop of langurs versus macaques in a modern Indian city. Add in a Romeo and Juliet plot involving a young male langur and a young female macaque, and you have lots of action and intrigue! Not the best book I read this year, but worth picking up, especially if you like nonhuman primates.
**Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis
Two Greek gods make a literal bar bet about whether dogs would be happier given human intelligence, and thus 15 random dogs in a kennel are given the ‘gift’ of sentience. This is another ‘life sucks and then you die’ story. Don’t read unless you’re really into seeing dogs suffer.
***Who is Willing (Alysha Forrest 3) by M. C. A. Hogarth
This takes place in the author’s Pelted universe setting—genetically engineered furries, humans and aliens in a Star Trek-like scenario. Alysha Forrest is a feline furry newly assigned to a starship, where she runs into a human antagonist from an earlier story, Mike Beringwaite, who is so over-the-top prejudiced against the anthro characters he enters the realm of caricature. The main thrust of these stories is ‘can’t we all just get along,’ so Alysha spends most of her time trying to figure out how to make friends with Beringwaite, with a lot of dialogue to that effect. Hogarth’s stories are light on action and tension and heavy on discussion, and this is no exception, but still is worth reading if you enjoyed her other stories.
***Redfeather by Heidi Richter
Where have I read this scenario before? A gorgeous young female scientist and a studly male scientist get together on a groundbreaking discovery, which they then have to protect from nefarious forces. The discovery in this case is a relict population of sentient bird-like dinosaurs. The story really picks up about halfway through when we actually get to the dinosaurs, and the book switches to their POV for a lot of the action. The book has some indy novelist problems, including a strange subplot involving a human/chimpanzee hybrid that ends up going nowhere at all, but the book did hold my interest. So that’s something.
***God’s Elephants by Michael Tod
A sort of new-agey saga of elephants and people. Apparently elephants can ‘read’ the memories from the tusks of dead elephants, so a young female goes on a quest to find the lost tusks of a particularly important elephant, and bear them to a semi-mythic safe place for elephants. There are also a couple of white safari guides, and a black poacher guiding a rich great white hunter-type, and a native pastoralist searching for the perfect husbands for his daughters (don’t ask.) The human characters were a lot less believable than the elephants, for what it’s worth…
***The Fox of Richmond Park by Kate Dreyer
A fox living in a city park in England is driven from his den by some overbearing deer, and is forced to wander the city trying to find a new home. Along the way he meets friends and foes, as well as some parodies of home owner & neighborhood associations. Not a bad book, but doesn’t really have anything new to add to the talking animal genre.
****Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn
Grand Admiral Thrawn, who first appeared in the very first Star Wars sequel trilogy way back when (and why couldn’t they have just adapted those books for the new movies??) is finally given his own book, and it’s definitely worth the wait. Evidently the first part of a trilogy, this first volume covers him arriving in the Empire’s space, and his rapid rise through the Imperial ranks. Definitely worth picking up if you’re at all interested in the character or a good book set in the Star Wars universe.
*****Scythe (Arc of a Scythe Book 1) by Neal Shusterman
Usually I avoid those teenage dystopia-type novels like the plague, but this had an interesting premise and was very well written. Instead of a dystopia, this future is controlled by a benevolent AI called The Thunderhead. Death has ceased to be an issue—people can ‘reset’ their clocks back to their 20’s whenever they want, and bored teens jump off tall buildings just for the kick of being ‘deadish’ and regenerating. The only way a person can die is to be ‘gleaned’ by a Scythe—one of a group of professional death-dealers who have to kill a certain number of people per year to keep the population in check. So in this world, death can literally come knocking on your door.
The story centers around a teenage boy and girl who are selected by a Scythe as apprentices. Neither of them want to do it, but Scythes are above the law, and if they accept, then their families will be exempt from gleaning as long as they serve. With such absolute power, it’s inevitable that some of the Scythes become corrupted by it, and the secondary plot deals with a particularly nasty Scythe and his cronies, and how they intersect the lives of the two protagonists.
This was one of the best books I read last year.
***Hell Divers II: Ghosts by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
There’s a phrase used to describe a particular type of dystopia: Crapsack World. The world of the Hell Divers definitely fits into that trope. Two centuries after war has left the surface of Earth uninhabitable, the remnants of humanity live in an ancient, failing airship. Everyone is on the cusp of starvation, and if they don’t starve, then they die of cancer from leaking reactors on the ship. Their survival depends on the Hell Divers—people who skydive down into the toxic surface to scavenge supplies to keep the ship running. Not only is the surface toxic, there’s cannibalistic mutants running around.
In this second volume of the trilogy, the Hell Divers have to deal with corrupt leaders as well as cannibal mutants and killer plants. Will they survive to find a possibly non-existent haven where they can settle on the surface? We’ll have to wait until volume 3 to find out.
**The Girl Who Dared to Think by Bella Forrest
Now this was a really dumb teenage dystopia book. The premise sounded kind of interesting—people are assigned a number based on their thoughts and actions—if you go below a 3 you have to be drugged or sent to a reeducation center. Like the excellent Silo series, this takes place in a huge silo-type structure, except this is an above-ground silo.
What made it so dumb? You know those stories where people tell the protagonist not to do something because it’s dangerous or something bad will happen? And they do it anyways, and something bad happens? Well, this protagonist did that throughout the entire book. And with dire consequences that will happen if her score drops below a four, the protagonist is preoccupied with some handsome stranger guy she met. She was such a nitwit seeing her sent to reeducation center would’ve been a delight.
There’s 4 or 5 books in this series already, all of them Kindle bestsellers for some reason, but man this was a dumb story.
*Twisted by Miranda Leek
This was a uniquely bad book. As I’d stated previously, a book with a stupid premise can often be salvaged by good writing. Unfortunately, this has the double-whammy of a stupid premise and very bad writing. And it’s really long.
If you ever wondered (and who hasn’t??) where old amusement park rides go when they’re scrapped, wonder no more. They go to some type of fantasy rollercoaster world called the Amusement Park Between, where they’re reborn as sentient beings—half organic and half machine.
However, most of the action takes place on our own earth where the protagonist (I forget his human name, but his rollercoaster name is Railrunner) discovers he’s the lost red rollercoaster, destined to be the leader of the rollercoaster world. He can turn into a were-rollercoaster, and every time he does so he ends up killing and eating innocent bystanders. Not exactly a sympathetic character. He also has a girlfriend, but can a human girl and a rollercoaster find love?
It’s all as dumb as it sounds, and the writing is split between third and first person, which is very confusing and awkward. On the one plus side, the author is a graduate of the Ringling art school and the book has some pretty neat illustrations.
A sequel is promised, and if it comes to pass, for the love of all that is holy, please find an editor!!
****Prophets of the Ghost Ants by Clark Thomas Carlton
This is another one of those dumb premise books that still turned out to be pretty entertaining. In the far, far future humans have inexplicably shrunk to the side of insects, and live in tribes alongside ants, cockroaches and other bugs. The plot follows a lowly ‘roach boy’ that works in the trash middens of the leaf-cutter ant colony, and how he gets caught up in a war between the leaf-cutter ant humans and another group of humans allied with ghost ants. Some interesting world-building.
****The Prophet of Panamindorah trilogy by Abigail Hilton
Author of the excellent Hunters Unlucky series, this is an older trilogy from her that takes place in her Panamindorah fantasy world. The main race are fauns (human upper half, deer lower half), but there are also goat-fauns, wolf-fauns, large sentient cats that have been warring with the fauns for a long time, and human wizards that are mostly gone from the world. If you like high fantasy with a bunch of different nonhuman races, all of the author’s Panamindorah books are well-written and very readable.
*****The Book of Dust: Le Belle Sauvage by Phillip Pullman
It’s been a long time since the end of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Finally there is a new book—set when Lyra (the protagonist of the initial trilogy) was just an infant. This follows Malcolm, the son of an innkeeper, who lives along the great river Thames. His life changes when he encounters the infant Lyra, who is being cared for by the nuns in a convent he does occasional chores for. This has most of the elements from the first story, including Lyra’s father, the Golden Compass, and the overbearing church authorities. The story moves into higher fantasy during at catastrophic flood, where Malcolm, Lyra and a teenage girl meet mythic beings as well as worldly threats.
I enjoyed this book as much as the first trilogy. Along with Scythe and D’Arc, it was one of my favorite books of the year.
The rest of the rest. Other books I read last year. A mix of SF, fantasy and thrillers.
***Origin (Robert Langdon)by Dan Brown
***Sleeping Beauties by Stephen & Owen King
***The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne
***Dinosaur Lake IV: Dinosaur Wars by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
****Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar
***The Haunted Forest Tour by Jeff Strand
***Renee by Jessica Eise
**Extinction Reversed (Robot Geneticists book 1) by J. S. Morin
****Infinite by Jeremy Robinson
***Song of Dragons trilogy by Daniel Arenson
***The Crescents by Joseph Lallo
*The Collectors: A His Dark Materials story (Kindle Single) by Phillip Pullman
***Sky Dance- A Panamindorah Story by Abigail Hilton
***Awake- A Hunters Unlucky story by Abigail Hilton
** Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruins of Ymr by John Crowley
About a million years ago, when I was in my early teens, one of the very first books I got that could be considered ‘furry’ was Beasts, by John Crowley. It featured genetically engineered lion-men and a fox-man, and included hot (at the time, anyways) lion-man & human woman action. After a few SF books early on, Crowley went on to write a lot of large fantasy tomes that were not ‘relevant to my interests’ and I never read anything else he wrote. Now, a lifetime later, he wrote another book with an animal protagonist, this time a crow named Dar Oakley.
Unfortunately this turns out to be what I call a ‘gimmick’ book. I’ve read a number of other books just like it—the main character or narrator is an animal, but the book is really about the humans the animal meets and interacts with. Through some vaguely described process the crow learns to talk with particular humans, which results in discussions about life, death and human customs. The crow also accompanies the first human he befriends into the human afterlife, where he somehow becomes immortal. But it’s an immortality like in video games—when he’s killed he just pops back up in another body.
This is a gimmick to talk and interact with humans through the ages—a bronze-age pagan girl, a monk from the middle ages, an American Indian, etc. There’s a few hints about what the book could’ve been if he’d ditched the humans and concentrated on the crow; a sequence where he befriends some terns and they try to teach him how to fly like them, and the earlier scenes that describe life in the crow flock, but most of the book is his talking with the various human characters.
Since crows are often considered harbingers of death and feed on the dead, there’s lots and lots of talk about death, the afterlife and feeding on corpses. So if you’re into that, this book has it in spades. Otherwise it’s a lost opportunity to write something unique that ended up being just like a bunch of other books out there.
**** Skeleton Crew by Greg (Gre7g) Luterman
A multi-generational ship is crewed by the Geroo--cute, furry somethings (drawn kind of like a cross between bears and wolves). Obstentialy ‘employees’ of the Krakun, their (literally) draconian overlords, they are actually slaves, crewing a ship to find inhabitable planets for their masters. Because resources on the ship are finite, there’s a very strict limit to the number of births, and everyone has to commit suicide at age 60.
Unauthorized births are punishable by death, but the protagonist is a result of an unauthorized pregnancy, hiding in plain sight. For some reason, the Krakun supervisor of the ship becomes obsessed with the idea that there’s a bunch of unauthorized Geroo on the ship (there’s no particular reason why he has this idea, except as a plot driver) and threatens the captain with mass killings unless he can find these hypothetical ‘stowaways.’
The Geroo are basically humans in fursuits—their family structure, entertainment and personalities are human. The Krakun are giant dragon/dinosaur creatures, big enough to eat the Geroo in one bite. What’s not made clear is whether the Gerro are tiny and the Krakun are human-sized, or the Gerro are human-sized and the krakun are giants. And while the initial plot arc is resolved, there’s obviously supposed to be more to the story (which may or may not ever appear) so just be warned about that. TLDR: The book succeeds as entertainment, but not in showing any type of alien culture or a unique plot.
*** The Tower and The Fox by Tim Susman
Any book that takes place in a school for magic is going to be compared to Harry Potter. Any book that features a downtrodden protagonist that has to deal with prejudice despite his magical birthright is really going to be compared to Harry Potter.
The story takes place in an alternate America of 1815, where the revolution never happened and magic is real. Magically created animal-people called Calatians are a part of society. They have some rights and live as free people, but still face discrimination by humans. When a disaster of unknown origin kills most of the student body of the local magical college, they agree to take anyone as students, including Calatians and women.
The rest of the book is a very typical ‘despised minority trying to prove themselves’ scenario, including the requisite bully, nasty prejudiced teachers, sympathetic teachers, and resistance from within the Calatian community about the protagonist Kip trying to rock the boat. Of course Kip is better than any of the human students, but everyone is so prejudiced against him it hardly matters.
Where this fails in comparison to Harry Potter is the school itself. The world of Hogwarts was fascinating, richly imagined and made you want to visit it. This school is dreary and boring, with little attention paid to its magical aspect, instead concentrating on how nasty the other students and teachers treat Kip and his friends. It’s also unclear how people learn to work magic, since one of Kip’s friends, an otter who never had any inclination to study magic, is accepted into the school and can learn to work magic, while a wealthy human student is accepted and apparently never is able to master any spells at all.
But honestly, the magic is just a device, and the real thrust of the story is an oppressed minority trying to break through barriers. In that respect, the protagonist could be black, female, gay, a Jew, or any other oppressed group rather than a furry, and the setting could be any exclusive place that holds the key to a better life.
**** Kismet by Watts Martin
I did an extensive review of this earlier. It’s here http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8116872/ if you want to read it again.
*Lobster by Guillaume Lecasble
I honestly didn’t know what category to put this wretched book into, but I guess this is as good as any. If you ever wanted to read a book where a lobster and a woman fall in love and the lobster gives the woman the best orgasm of her life, then this is the book for you. It’s a translated French book, so that might tell you all you need to know.
*Miss Kitty, Rocky and the Immortals by Jay A. Stout
This had kind of an interesting premise—some people are reborn as angels in the bodies of animals (or humans) to help people on earth. They are truly immortal (at one point the protagonist gets run over by a car and is able to just shake it off) but there are some angels that have gone bad over the years, which adds another layer of complexity to their story.
Rocky is a hotshot Air Force pilot who is killed in a fighter accident and is reborn as a (of course) raccoon, who goes back to help his buddies he left in the Air Force. This all sounds more interesting than it actually is. The writing is not very good, and most of the action centers around the humans, who are all cliché characters. The worse aspect of trying to read this (in the e-book) is the horrible formatting, which has no breaks between scenes or POV changes, which made it really hard to follow.
***The Strange Bird: A Borne Story (Kindle Single) by Jeff VanderMeer
Jeff VanderMeer is a highly respected mainstream SF author. This is a novella related to his recent novel Borne, a SF story about genetic engineering run wild in a future dystopia. (I have not read the book, but I’ve read enough reviews to get the general gist of it.) The Strange Bird takes place in the same universe at the same time, with some of the same characters. The Unnamed Strange Bird is briefly liberated from a genetics lab, but hardly enjoys her freedom before she’s captured—first by an eccentric hermit, then by the mad doctor from hell, who dissects her while still alive to turn her into some sort of a living camouflage coat. If you haven’t yet guessed, this is a nasty, depressing story. Well written, yes, but not worth reading unless you’re really into ‘life sucks and then you die’ plots.
*****D’Arc: War with No Name 3 by Robert Repino
The third book in the ‘War with No Name’ series. An immortal ant queen manages to transform mammals into anthropomorphic form, and uses them (along with her own ant soldiers) to overthrow and wipe out humanity. The first book followed Mort(e), a housecat, the second Culdesac, a wild bobcat, and this one follows the dog friend of Mort(e) from the first book. At this point, some years after the war, some humans and animals are trying to live in a mixed society, with uneven results. There’s strife between human extremist terrorists, animal terrorists, and a new aquatic species who doesn’t want to live with either. Probably one of the best books I read this year, although you really need to read the first book (Mort(e) ) to get the full background to the story. There is an open ending, so hopefully there will be more books in this fine series.
****Crosscurrents (Rise of the Penguins 3) by Steven Hammond
****Whispers of Shadows (Rise of the Penguins 4) by Steven Hammond
****The Royal Creed (Rise of the Penguins 5) by Steven Hammond
***Order of Kings (Rise of the Penguins 6) by Steven Hammond
The continuation of the Rise of the Penguins series I reviewed a couple years ago. The premise is kind of dopey (penguins revolting against humanity in a war, as well as civil strife among the various penguin factions ) but if you can swallow that, these actually are pretty entertaining books. Most of the story is told from the penguin’s POV, which is a big plus.
***Avaritia: A Fable by M.D. Westbrook
What would happen if rodents got their little ratty paws on a copy of Atlas Shrugged, and decided to apply Objectivist beliefs to a new society free of humans? You would get this book, which even has a John Gault-type speech in the middle of it. I did give this 3 stars because it was definitely entertaining, in a train-wreck kind of way. It does over-simplify the issues, but that's to be expected in a story with a very defined good vs. bad mentality. I'm not sure I'd recommend this for younger kids, what with the violence, cannibalism and sexual slavery that shows up in the latter half, but on the other hand, it never got boring.
***The Wayward Astronomer by Geoffrey Thomas
A fan-written novel set in the Dreamkeepers (comic) universe, inhabited by a mix of furry, feathered and scaly creatures. Everyone has a special power, but they’re outlawed using them by an oppressive government (seriously—if everyone had super-powers, how long would outlawing the use of them last?) The astronomer of the title finds a mysterious meteor that fell conveniently close to his observatory, and gets caught up in a plot by religious extremists to use the meteor’s powers for ill ends. The story is so-so, but the book is worth getting for David Lillie’s fine illustrations.
***Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti
A troop of langurs versus macaques in a modern Indian city. Add in a Romeo and Juliet plot involving a young male langur and a young female macaque, and you have lots of action and intrigue! Not the best book I read this year, but worth picking up, especially if you like nonhuman primates.
**Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis
Two Greek gods make a literal bar bet about whether dogs would be happier given human intelligence, and thus 15 random dogs in a kennel are given the ‘gift’ of sentience. This is another ‘life sucks and then you die’ story. Don’t read unless you’re really into seeing dogs suffer.
***Who is Willing (Alysha Forrest 3) by M. C. A. Hogarth
This takes place in the author’s Pelted universe setting—genetically engineered furries, humans and aliens in a Star Trek-like scenario. Alysha Forrest is a feline furry newly assigned to a starship, where she runs into a human antagonist from an earlier story, Mike Beringwaite, who is so over-the-top prejudiced against the anthro characters he enters the realm of caricature. The main thrust of these stories is ‘can’t we all just get along,’ so Alysha spends most of her time trying to figure out how to make friends with Beringwaite, with a lot of dialogue to that effect. Hogarth’s stories are light on action and tension and heavy on discussion, and this is no exception, but still is worth reading if you enjoyed her other stories.
***Redfeather by Heidi Richter
Where have I read this scenario before? A gorgeous young female scientist and a studly male scientist get together on a groundbreaking discovery, which they then have to protect from nefarious forces. The discovery in this case is a relict population of sentient bird-like dinosaurs. The story really picks up about halfway through when we actually get to the dinosaurs, and the book switches to their POV for a lot of the action. The book has some indy novelist problems, including a strange subplot involving a human/chimpanzee hybrid that ends up going nowhere at all, but the book did hold my interest. So that’s something.
***God’s Elephants by Michael Tod
A sort of new-agey saga of elephants and people. Apparently elephants can ‘read’ the memories from the tusks of dead elephants, so a young female goes on a quest to find the lost tusks of a particularly important elephant, and bear them to a semi-mythic safe place for elephants. There are also a couple of white safari guides, and a black poacher guiding a rich great white hunter-type, and a native pastoralist searching for the perfect husbands for his daughters (don’t ask.) The human characters were a lot less believable than the elephants, for what it’s worth…
***The Fox of Richmond Park by Kate Dreyer
A fox living in a city park in England is driven from his den by some overbearing deer, and is forced to wander the city trying to find a new home. Along the way he meets friends and foes, as well as some parodies of home owner & neighborhood associations. Not a bad book, but doesn’t really have anything new to add to the talking animal genre.
****Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn
Grand Admiral Thrawn, who first appeared in the very first Star Wars sequel trilogy way back when (and why couldn’t they have just adapted those books for the new movies??) is finally given his own book, and it’s definitely worth the wait. Evidently the first part of a trilogy, this first volume covers him arriving in the Empire’s space, and his rapid rise through the Imperial ranks. Definitely worth picking up if you’re at all interested in the character or a good book set in the Star Wars universe.
*****Scythe (Arc of a Scythe Book 1) by Neal Shusterman
Usually I avoid those teenage dystopia-type novels like the plague, but this had an interesting premise and was very well written. Instead of a dystopia, this future is controlled by a benevolent AI called The Thunderhead. Death has ceased to be an issue—people can ‘reset’ their clocks back to their 20’s whenever they want, and bored teens jump off tall buildings just for the kick of being ‘deadish’ and regenerating. The only way a person can die is to be ‘gleaned’ by a Scythe—one of a group of professional death-dealers who have to kill a certain number of people per year to keep the population in check. So in this world, death can literally come knocking on your door.
The story centers around a teenage boy and girl who are selected by a Scythe as apprentices. Neither of them want to do it, but Scythes are above the law, and if they accept, then their families will be exempt from gleaning as long as they serve. With such absolute power, it’s inevitable that some of the Scythes become corrupted by it, and the secondary plot deals with a particularly nasty Scythe and his cronies, and how they intersect the lives of the two protagonists.
This was one of the best books I read last year.
***Hell Divers II: Ghosts by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
There’s a phrase used to describe a particular type of dystopia: Crapsack World. The world of the Hell Divers definitely fits into that trope. Two centuries after war has left the surface of Earth uninhabitable, the remnants of humanity live in an ancient, failing airship. Everyone is on the cusp of starvation, and if they don’t starve, then they die of cancer from leaking reactors on the ship. Their survival depends on the Hell Divers—people who skydive down into the toxic surface to scavenge supplies to keep the ship running. Not only is the surface toxic, there’s cannibalistic mutants running around.
In this second volume of the trilogy, the Hell Divers have to deal with corrupt leaders as well as cannibal mutants and killer plants. Will they survive to find a possibly non-existent haven where they can settle on the surface? We’ll have to wait until volume 3 to find out.
**The Girl Who Dared to Think by Bella Forrest
Now this was a really dumb teenage dystopia book. The premise sounded kind of interesting—people are assigned a number based on their thoughts and actions—if you go below a 3 you have to be drugged or sent to a reeducation center. Like the excellent Silo series, this takes place in a huge silo-type structure, except this is an above-ground silo.
What made it so dumb? You know those stories where people tell the protagonist not to do something because it’s dangerous or something bad will happen? And they do it anyways, and something bad happens? Well, this protagonist did that throughout the entire book. And with dire consequences that will happen if her score drops below a four, the protagonist is preoccupied with some handsome stranger guy she met. She was such a nitwit seeing her sent to reeducation center would’ve been a delight.
There’s 4 or 5 books in this series already, all of them Kindle bestsellers for some reason, but man this was a dumb story.
*Twisted by Miranda Leek
This was a uniquely bad book. As I’d stated previously, a book with a stupid premise can often be salvaged by good writing. Unfortunately, this has the double-whammy of a stupid premise and very bad writing. And it’s really long.
If you ever wondered (and who hasn’t??) where old amusement park rides go when they’re scrapped, wonder no more. They go to some type of fantasy rollercoaster world called the Amusement Park Between, where they’re reborn as sentient beings—half organic and half machine.
However, most of the action takes place on our own earth where the protagonist (I forget his human name, but his rollercoaster name is Railrunner) discovers he’s the lost red rollercoaster, destined to be the leader of the rollercoaster world. He can turn into a were-rollercoaster, and every time he does so he ends up killing and eating innocent bystanders. Not exactly a sympathetic character. He also has a girlfriend, but can a human girl and a rollercoaster find love?
It’s all as dumb as it sounds, and the writing is split between third and first person, which is very confusing and awkward. On the one plus side, the author is a graduate of the Ringling art school and the book has some pretty neat illustrations.
A sequel is promised, and if it comes to pass, for the love of all that is holy, please find an editor!!
****Prophets of the Ghost Ants by Clark Thomas Carlton
This is another one of those dumb premise books that still turned out to be pretty entertaining. In the far, far future humans have inexplicably shrunk to the side of insects, and live in tribes alongside ants, cockroaches and other bugs. The plot follows a lowly ‘roach boy’ that works in the trash middens of the leaf-cutter ant colony, and how he gets caught up in a war between the leaf-cutter ant humans and another group of humans allied with ghost ants. Some interesting world-building.
****The Prophet of Panamindorah trilogy by Abigail Hilton
Author of the excellent Hunters Unlucky series, this is an older trilogy from her that takes place in her Panamindorah fantasy world. The main race are fauns (human upper half, deer lower half), but there are also goat-fauns, wolf-fauns, large sentient cats that have been warring with the fauns for a long time, and human wizards that are mostly gone from the world. If you like high fantasy with a bunch of different nonhuman races, all of the author’s Panamindorah books are well-written and very readable.
*****The Book of Dust: Le Belle Sauvage by Phillip Pullman
It’s been a long time since the end of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Finally there is a new book—set when Lyra (the protagonist of the initial trilogy) was just an infant. This follows Malcolm, the son of an innkeeper, who lives along the great river Thames. His life changes when he encounters the infant Lyra, who is being cared for by the nuns in a convent he does occasional chores for. This has most of the elements from the first story, including Lyra’s father, the Golden Compass, and the overbearing church authorities. The story moves into higher fantasy during at catastrophic flood, where Malcolm, Lyra and a teenage girl meet mythic beings as well as worldly threats.
I enjoyed this book as much as the first trilogy. Along with Scythe and D’Arc, it was one of my favorite books of the year.
The rest of the rest. Other books I read last year. A mix of SF, fantasy and thrillers.
***Origin (Robert Langdon)by Dan Brown
***Sleeping Beauties by Stephen & Owen King
***The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne
***Dinosaur Lake IV: Dinosaur Wars by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
****Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar
***The Haunted Forest Tour by Jeff Strand
***Renee by Jessica Eise
**Extinction Reversed (Robot Geneticists book 1) by J. S. Morin
****Infinite by Jeremy Robinson
***Song of Dragons trilogy by Daniel Arenson
***The Crescents by Joseph Lallo
*The Collectors: A His Dark Materials story (Kindle Single) by Phillip Pullman
***Sky Dance- A Panamindorah Story by Abigail Hilton
***Awake- A Hunters Unlucky story by Abigail Hilton
More con stuff
Posted 8 years agoI've heard the saying: "One event is an instance, two is a coincidence, and three is a conspiracy." I've also heard an alternate version which goes "Three is enemy action." But you get the general drift.
So, having been turned turned down for dealers space three years in a row by BLFC, I can only assume some sort of enemy action. This time they don't even bother to dignify the losers with a rejection letter, stating only "approved dealers will be notified by November 30th."
Judging from the list of 9 approved dealers they already have up, we can see their exacting dealer standards:
A dealer that specializes in 'modified, adults-only plush toys.'
The dealer that sells all the animal dildos.
A dealer who sells "puppy play gear to all the kinky masses."
And a dealer that sells "Alien themed adult toys and penetrables."
I guess if you're going there to buy something to shove up your nether-regions, (or shove your nether-regions into) they've got you covered!
So I tried to get into Texas Furry Fiesta. They do first-come, first served, right? I can hit the refresh button as fast as the next person. I can type fast. I got a high-speed connection.
No, that doesn't work for me either.
But somehow, miraculously, all the really popular, A-list artists were able to fill out their forms and get them in faster than me. They must type a blinding 70WPM, and have those bots that can get in the instant something opens. Color me impressed.
But that's OK, I can enter the looserville lottery, for the poor troglodytes who can't type that fast.
Big surprise, I don't get in that way either.
That leaves Artist Alley at TFF, which my friends assure me is just as good as the dealer's room. But at the moment the website says they "have not finalized the artist alley selection process or prices at this time. Please check back at a later date for this information."
Since one has to get plane tickets a couple months out, that leaves me in a bit of a quandary. Without knowing if I have a snowball's chance in hell of getting table space, do I want to risk spending money on a plane ticket? I'd already agreed to split a room with a friend, and that would put her in a bind if I don't go, but I also can't afford to blow $4- 500 on a ticket (not to mention the hotel room and other expenses) if I don't have at least a chance of making some of that back.
First world problems indeed.
So, having been turned turned down for dealers space three years in a row by BLFC, I can only assume some sort of enemy action. This time they don't even bother to dignify the losers with a rejection letter, stating only "approved dealers will be notified by November 30th."
Judging from the list of 9 approved dealers they already have up, we can see their exacting dealer standards:
A dealer that specializes in 'modified, adults-only plush toys.'
The dealer that sells all the animal dildos.
A dealer who sells "puppy play gear to all the kinky masses."
And a dealer that sells "Alien themed adult toys and penetrables."
I guess if you're going there to buy something to shove up your nether-regions, (or shove your nether-regions into) they've got you covered!
So I tried to get into Texas Furry Fiesta. They do first-come, first served, right? I can hit the refresh button as fast as the next person. I can type fast. I got a high-speed connection.
No, that doesn't work for me either.
But somehow, miraculously, all the really popular, A-list artists were able to fill out their forms and get them in faster than me. They must type a blinding 70WPM, and have those bots that can get in the instant something opens. Color me impressed.
But that's OK, I can enter the looserville lottery, for the poor troglodytes who can't type that fast.
Big surprise, I don't get in that way either.
That leaves Artist Alley at TFF, which my friends assure me is just as good as the dealer's room. But at the moment the website says they "have not finalized the artist alley selection process or prices at this time. Please check back at a later date for this information."
Since one has to get plane tickets a couple months out, that leaves me in a bit of a quandary. Without knowing if I have a snowball's chance in hell of getting table space, do I want to risk spending money on a plane ticket? I'd already agreed to split a room with a friend, and that would put her in a bind if I don't go, but I also can't afford to blow $4- 500 on a ticket (not to mention the hotel room and other expenses) if I don't have at least a chance of making some of that back.
First world problems indeed.
Some more Griffin Ranger news
Posted 8 years agoA very enthusiastic fan made up a TV tropes page for the series: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...../GriffinRanger
If you're unfamiliar with the TV Tropes site, be prepared to spend a lot of time there. It can really suck you in!
Fred Patten also gave it a nice review here: http://dogpatch.press/2017/11/06/gr.....-2/#more-41092
If you're unfamiliar with the TV Tropes site, be prepared to spend a lot of time there. It can really suck you in!
Fred Patten also gave it a nice review here: http://dogpatch.press/2017/11/06/gr.....-2/#more-41092
Furry Book Month
Posted 8 years agoIn 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.
ComiCon 2017
Posted 8 years agoIn case anyone has a burning desire to hear about San Diego ComiCon International, here's a write-up.
I left LA around 6 Weds afternoon, and didn't get down there until nearly 9:30. The ONLY reason I can afford to go for more than one day is my sister-in-law, who lives by Miramar Marine Base, graciously gives me crash space for a couple nights. Otherwise it's impossible to get a hotel in town. And if through some freak happenstance if you do get a hotel room, it's obscenely expensive ($200+ per night).
I didn't even try to get into Wednesday Preview Night.
Parking is always an issue. I ended up using the Amtrack lot, which was a criminal $40 per day. At least that was better than one of the hotel lots I used a previous year, which was $50 a day. I could've trolled for a cheaper spot, but that would've entailed more walking, possibly in a sketchy location. The homeless in SD are everywhere, and can be aggressive. Not really a good idea for a female to wander the streets alone.
This year they just mailed the badges, so there was no humongous line to check in. You still had to go through a maze to pick up your lanyaird and con books, however.
I'm really not that crowd-phobic, so the packed halls and dealer's room didn't bother me that much. I just find it annoying, because it's hard to move anywhere quickly or get close to certain exhibits. Sometimes I'd exit the hall to avoid the worse traffic areas when traveling from one area to another. For this year the convention moved the art show into an off-site hotel, and since I was lugging around a backpack that weighed about 100 pounds, I didn't want to schlep all the way over there to see it.
There were some neat convention exclusive toys and figures, but trying to get any of them entailed getting up at 4AM to stand in a line to get a ticket, then if you actually get a ticket, you have to stand in another line to pick up the item. And then you get to haul around this huge display box in a bag for the rest of the convention. I suppose if you're with a group of people and can share line duties it would be workable, but not for someone alone. Still, the Nickelodeon Usagi Yojimbo figure was cool, and Hasbro had a Grand Admiral Thrawn figure I would've gotten if given the chance.
Flesk publications had a book that I pre-ordered on Amazon. According to Amazon, it's still not shipped yet, but they had it at the con. I asked the person at the table about the discrepancy, but they claimed it was available on Amazon. Liar liar pants on fire. I ended up getting the book at the table and cancelling my Amazon order. As a bonus I got a free book from them about one of those lame-ass artists who does the 'noble Indian' faux western paintings. Maybe I can sell that on EBay. On the plus side, I did get a graphic novel I'd been wanting for half price from another dealer.
This year they had a lot of events and panels off-site. I didn't go to the Elfquest panel because it was at the San Diego library and i didn't feel like trying to figure out how to get there. The Adult Swim Rick & Morty panel, as well as the Gotham panel, were both at a ballroom in a hotel next to the Convention Center.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, if you want to see what the line looked like, the photo is here: http://martes.livejournal.com/918125.html#comments
No, I did not go to any of the panels at that particular venue. I honestly don't understand the attraction of standing in a line for literally days. No exaggeration-- people set up tents and sleep in line. WHY?? You can see the whole fucking panel on Youtube later, and it's not like you can meet the people on the panel, and the room is so big they look like fleas on the stage anyways. I can picture a few instances where I'd camp out in line for days, but the rewards would have to be extraordinary.
One panel I actually did manage to get into was the Mouse Guard panel. I also caught most of the panel before that, which was about the late Bernie Wrightson's concept and design work. Did you know he did concept art for Biker Mice from Mars? I didn't. The Mouse Guard panel was 'interesting.' I guess all panels of this type involve some self-stroking, but damn. There was much name-dropping, talk about the movie in development, more name-dropping, discussion about how genius the gal who's doing the art for the Mouse Guard Alphabet Book is and how she's basically the second coming of DaVinci. We also got a pretty long description of how the creator's mother has Parkinson's & dementia, and the reason he hasn't gotten the next story arc out is because of that. I'm sure now everyone who dared ask about why it's not done yet now feels like a complete shit and douchebag. Makes me damn glad I never asked.
Other than Sofawolf & Diana Harlan Stein, I saw no furry artists or dealers. I do wonder about the ethics of Sofawolf selling the first parts of graphic novels they know are never going to be finished, but I suppose they need to make back their printing costs somehow.
In past years the homeless in San Diego were very aggressive and everywhere. I guess the sheer mass of humanity keeps them occupied near the convention center, but I did get targeted by a woman in the Amtrack lot. She was dressed nicely, and gave me a detailed story about being dropped off there and needing $14 to take the train to Oceanside and that she'd wire me the money later. But there were some clues-- she was very (unhealthily) thin, had pretty noticeable BO, and (biggest tell) had very bad teeth. All = meth-head. I told her I'd spent all my cash at the con. In the Mouse Guard panel there was a woman that weighed in the 400-500 pound range, who spent the whole panel eating. I just felt sorry for her, the chronic overeater & meth-head being two sides of addiction. I saw a LOT of morbidly obese people there. Some had go-karts or wheelchairs, but a lot were on foot. Considering how much walking, standing and carrying heavily packages the con entails, I have no idea how those people managed without dropping dead. I'm in reasonably good shape, and by the end of the day I was exhausted and in a lot of pain. The con also provides NO place to sit and rest, so people had to sit on the floor in the halls. I remember the good old days of the art auction area where you could just sit and chill.
The drive home took nearly 4 hours, or, in music time, 2 1/2 full albums and a song mix. You never go anywhere quickly here.
I left LA around 6 Weds afternoon, and didn't get down there until nearly 9:30. The ONLY reason I can afford to go for more than one day is my sister-in-law, who lives by Miramar Marine Base, graciously gives me crash space for a couple nights. Otherwise it's impossible to get a hotel in town. And if through some freak happenstance if you do get a hotel room, it's obscenely expensive ($200+ per night).
I didn't even try to get into Wednesday Preview Night.
Parking is always an issue. I ended up using the Amtrack lot, which was a criminal $40 per day. At least that was better than one of the hotel lots I used a previous year, which was $50 a day. I could've trolled for a cheaper spot, but that would've entailed more walking, possibly in a sketchy location. The homeless in SD are everywhere, and can be aggressive. Not really a good idea for a female to wander the streets alone.
This year they just mailed the badges, so there was no humongous line to check in. You still had to go through a maze to pick up your lanyaird and con books, however.
I'm really not that crowd-phobic, so the packed halls and dealer's room didn't bother me that much. I just find it annoying, because it's hard to move anywhere quickly or get close to certain exhibits. Sometimes I'd exit the hall to avoid the worse traffic areas when traveling from one area to another. For this year the convention moved the art show into an off-site hotel, and since I was lugging around a backpack that weighed about 100 pounds, I didn't want to schlep all the way over there to see it.
There were some neat convention exclusive toys and figures, but trying to get any of them entailed getting up at 4AM to stand in a line to get a ticket, then if you actually get a ticket, you have to stand in another line to pick up the item. And then you get to haul around this huge display box in a bag for the rest of the convention. I suppose if you're with a group of people and can share line duties it would be workable, but not for someone alone. Still, the Nickelodeon Usagi Yojimbo figure was cool, and Hasbro had a Grand Admiral Thrawn figure I would've gotten if given the chance.
Flesk publications had a book that I pre-ordered on Amazon. According to Amazon, it's still not shipped yet, but they had it at the con. I asked the person at the table about the discrepancy, but they claimed it was available on Amazon. Liar liar pants on fire. I ended up getting the book at the table and cancelling my Amazon order. As a bonus I got a free book from them about one of those lame-ass artists who does the 'noble Indian' faux western paintings. Maybe I can sell that on EBay. On the plus side, I did get a graphic novel I'd been wanting for half price from another dealer.
This year they had a lot of events and panels off-site. I didn't go to the Elfquest panel because it was at the San Diego library and i didn't feel like trying to figure out how to get there. The Adult Swim Rick & Morty panel, as well as the Gotham panel, were both at a ballroom in a hotel next to the Convention Center.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, if you want to see what the line looked like, the photo is here: http://martes.livejournal.com/918125.html#comments
No, I did not go to any of the panels at that particular venue. I honestly don't understand the attraction of standing in a line for literally days. No exaggeration-- people set up tents and sleep in line. WHY?? You can see the whole fucking panel on Youtube later, and it's not like you can meet the people on the panel, and the room is so big they look like fleas on the stage anyways. I can picture a few instances where I'd camp out in line for days, but the rewards would have to be extraordinary.
One panel I actually did manage to get into was the Mouse Guard panel. I also caught most of the panel before that, which was about the late Bernie Wrightson's concept and design work. Did you know he did concept art for Biker Mice from Mars? I didn't. The Mouse Guard panel was 'interesting.' I guess all panels of this type involve some self-stroking, but damn. There was much name-dropping, talk about the movie in development, more name-dropping, discussion about how genius the gal who's doing the art for the Mouse Guard Alphabet Book is and how she's basically the second coming of DaVinci. We also got a pretty long description of how the creator's mother has Parkinson's & dementia, and the reason he hasn't gotten the next story arc out is because of that. I'm sure now everyone who dared ask about why it's not done yet now feels like a complete shit and douchebag. Makes me damn glad I never asked.
Other than Sofawolf & Diana Harlan Stein, I saw no furry artists or dealers. I do wonder about the ethics of Sofawolf selling the first parts of graphic novels they know are never going to be finished, but I suppose they need to make back their printing costs somehow.
In past years the homeless in San Diego were very aggressive and everywhere. I guess the sheer mass of humanity keeps them occupied near the convention center, but I did get targeted by a woman in the Amtrack lot. She was dressed nicely, and gave me a detailed story about being dropped off there and needing $14 to take the train to Oceanside and that she'd wire me the money later. But there were some clues-- she was very (unhealthily) thin, had pretty noticeable BO, and (biggest tell) had very bad teeth. All = meth-head. I told her I'd spent all my cash at the con. In the Mouse Guard panel there was a woman that weighed in the 400-500 pound range, who spent the whole panel eating. I just felt sorry for her, the chronic overeater & meth-head being two sides of addiction. I saw a LOT of morbidly obese people there. Some had go-karts or wheelchairs, but a lot were on foot. Considering how much walking, standing and carrying heavily packages the con entails, I have no idea how those people managed without dropping dead. I'm in reasonably good shape, and by the end of the day I was exhausted and in a lot of pain. The con also provides NO place to sit and rest, so people had to sit on the floor in the halls. I remember the good old days of the art auction area where you could just sit and chill.
The drive home took nearly 4 hours, or, in music time, 2 1/2 full albums and a song mix. You never go anywhere quickly here.
