Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Vixen Sorceress by Chas P.A. Melville Dogpatch Press. Felicia: The Night of the Basquot, by Chas. P. A. Melville. Illustrated by the author. Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, September 2017, trade paperback, $12.00 (257 pages), Kindle $9.99. “‘So!’ crowed Felicia happily. And then she frowned. ‘So,’’ she repeated, more uncertainly. And then, in puzzlement, ‘So.’ Her ears flicked as she turned to stare at the rising sun. ‘So, what’s a ‘Basquot’ anyway?’” (p. 86) Felicia cla di Burrows, the vixen renegade sorceress blackballed from the Magic Council, is thirty years old this year. She first appeared as an enigmatic background character when Melville began self-publishing The Champion of Katara comic book, #1 dated August-September 1987. Now she has her first novel. Spiteful and egocentric, all that was really clear was that Felicia had been horribly mistreated as a child. She began studying sorcery — including forbidden black magic — to gain revenge against those who had destroyed her family. But her heart was not really in being evil, and she kept using her magic to help others while postponing her vendetta against her family’s enemies. As a flawed ‘good guy’ and a colorful, charismatic character, Felicia became the most popular of Melville’s anthro animal cast when he moved to Seattle and became active in the furry community there, and he resumed his comic-book stories for Edd Vick’s MU Press in the 1990s. Felicia’s most dramatic and complex adventure was the 184-page graphic novel Felicia: Melari’s Wish (August 1994). Later in the ’90s, she starred in three lighter stand-alone stories as a sorceress-for-hire without the dark background of her vengeance goal, written by Melville and drawn by Bill Schmickle, in MU’s anthology comic-book ZU. Melville later brought Felicia back in a series of text novelette booklets, with illustrations every few pages, published by CaféPress. These continued the lighter stories in ZU. Felicia became a professional sorceress-for-hire/detective who got involved with finding and dispelling ancient evils, or preventing their escape to wreak havoc in Katara and its neighboring animal kingdoms of Dogonia, Bruinsland (bears), Scentas (skunks), Rodentia (mice), and others. Melville wrote five of these, from Felicia and the Dreaded Book of Un (February 2004) to Felicia and the Border Collie Patrol (January 2008). One, Felicia and the Tailcutter’s Curse (June 2004), won that year’s Ursa Major Award in the Best Short Fiction category. All five were republished as a single book, The Vixen Sorceress (CreateSpace, December 2008). Melville began producing a Felicia webcomic, Felicia, Sorceress of Katara , in December 2007, but for the last nine years there have been almost no Felicia text adventures. Now Felicia is back in a 257-page novel. Felicia: The Night of the Basquot is her origin story, and an introduction to her world (which might be described as Tolkien lite, with funny animals). It begins when Felicia emerges in Katara from a mysterious seven-year disappearance, crackling with magic energy and ready to join the all-powerful Magi Council (a.k.a. the Brotherhood of the Candle) as its newest and youngest sorceress. Instead, she is shocked and infuriated to learn that she has been rejected. “There was a liquidly pop, and somebody stepped through into the middle of Manwa Katdu’s private office. Felicia swept her cloak out of the way and marched in, looking furiously about before centering her sights upon the wizard. ‘You!’ she snapped, angrily advancing upon him. She pointed at him, her fist still grasping an official letter. ‘Are you Manwa Katdu? I want to speak to you!’ Manwa [a cat wizard] lowered the still-sparking mace, but kept a tight grip upon it. ‘Who are you?’ he demanded indignantly. ‘How dare you just barge in to my sanctuary this way? Do you have any sense of proper decorum?’ More to the point , he wondered, how did you break through a series of protective spells set in place by a committee of the most powerful Magi? ‘Blow it out of your peaked hat,’ snapped the vixen shaking the letter at him. ‘I want to know what this means!’ Felicia resumed glaring at him and continued her harangue. ‘How can you possibly dismiss my application so casually? Don’t meet your minimum standards? Why, you’ve no idea what I’m capable of!’ ‘That is precisely the point,’ Manwa told her. ‘We don’t know.’ He studied her more carefully. ‘You are Felicia, correct? The old Sorceress’ apprentice? Then you know as well as anyone should how careful the Council is in accepting applicants to its order, even from among its own brotherhood. […]” (pgs. 36-37) Felicia’s determination to keep how she learned her magic a secret (part of her planned revenge against the powerful wolf nobleman who murdered her family when she was a child) keeps the suspicious Council from accepting her. This world has two gods, or a god and a demon, the good Aln and the evil Murk; and the Magi Council will not admit anyone to its ranks until they are certain that the applicant is not an agent of the Murk. Felicia is obviously powerful enough, but she will not revel her training or the source of her magic. Before the matter of her rejection by the Council can be resolved, this world undergoes a major attack by the minions of the Murk. The wizards and sorceresses of the Council rush to oppose it, while Felicia is sidetracked by the enemy who killed her family. “ It’s too soon , a voice in the back of her mind warned. You’re not ready yet! ‘I should have known,’ she growled to herself. ‘From the very beginning, I should have known. When I first saw the tray! Only he would have had access to it and all of the other property stolen from my parents!’ She pulled on the reins, forcing the horse to take a fork that led along a deep stream. Startled night creatures scattered at her approach, chittering as they fled into the high grass. You’re not ready yet! her inner voice reminded her firmly. It’s too soon! This isn’t according to the plan! First, you get established and make a name for yourself! Remember? Then, you slowly, slowly, acquire friends among the powerful, until you have enough to worry him. When it’s time, you move your friends against him. But you need time! ‘I don’t have time!’ she snarled aloud, and snapped the reins again to urge the horse faster. ‘He’s up to something now , and he’s using my parents’ wealth to do it! By Aln! I’ll make him suffer for this!’” (pgs. 126-127) Felicia: The Night of the Basquot (cover by the author) is a fast-paced mixture of drama and humor, well-blended although occasionally descending into silliness, as when Felicia wins the dubious support of a band of miniature dog warriors… “‘We’re the Toy Pooch Patrol! We’re the fighters that everyone forgets, but who forget no one. We’re the ones who watch over the overlooked, and guard against the injustices done to the little folk.’” (p. 155) …or with names like Bill Sneakyshoes. On the whole, though, if you like Disney-fairy-tale-type desperate battles of funny-animal knights against monsters, good versus evil wizards and sorceresses, noble sacrifices and tragic deaths, you will enjoy Felicia: The Night of the Basquot. Melville presents a broader picture of his animal world, and the mood is generally more serious than in his novelettes like Felicia and the Cult of the Rubber Nose with its mime assassins. Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, o r get Con*Tact Caffeine Soap as a reward. They’re a popular furry business seen in dealer dens. Be an extra-perky patron – or just order direct from Con*Tact. Charles P. A. Melville. Charles "Chuck" P. A. Melville is a furry author and artist. From 1998-2004, he also served on Conifur's staff as head of the convention’s dealers den. Over the years he has contributed to several APAs and fanzines, including Ink Spots , Q , Gallery , The Ever-Changing Palace , and Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe . He was a guest of honor at ConFurence 3 (1992), and at Conifur 2003. Chuck self-published Champion Of Katara in 1986, first becoming involved with furry fandom upon joining Rowrbrazzle in 1987. In 1991 he moved from Rochester, NY to Seattle, WA, becoming a part of MU Press, first as co-editor (and co-creator) of The Furkindred: A Shared World with Edd Vick, and then from 1993–1997 as editor of MU’s anthropomorphic books, such as Zu , Cyberkitties , Fangs of K'aath , and Corus . He also contributed short stories to some of the titles. Chuck was nominated several times for an Ursa Major Award; first in 2002 for best illustration – the cover of Wild Kingdom #13 – and once in 2003 for best short story – "Riding The Lady" in Tales Of The Tai-Pan #33. In 2004, two of his self-published novelettes - "Felicia And The Dreaded Book Of Un" and "Felicia And The Tailcutter’s Curse" - were nominated for best short story; the latter won. Felicia, a supporting character from the Champion of Katara stories, was previously the protagonist of a long-running serial in Rowrbrazzle , subsequently collected in MU Press's graphic novel Felicia: Melari's Wish . Furry short fiction anthology 'What Happens Next' due July. What Happens Next: An Anthology of Sequels presents eleven new stories by fan-favorite Furry authors featuring their popular characters: and her Alysha Forrest and his Perissa and Maelith (Rikoshi) and his Iolite League and the crew of the interstellar freighter Tai-Pan and Cluny, the sorceress squirrel with Crocker, her human familiar and Dr. Benjamin Rat, M.B., B.S. D.R.A.N.Z.C.O.G. F.R.A.C.G.P. and a new tale of Argaea and her feline centauroid Kintarans and his Felicia, the Vixen Sorceress and his Brigit Bunny on the planet of the foxlike Thalendri and Roz Gibson and her Jack Salem. All stories are illustrated, by eleven different artists. The cover is by Sara Miles (Caribou), illustrating Kyell Gold’s story, “Sibling Rivalry”. Get it at the FurPlanet table at Anthrocon 2013, or order it from the FurPlanet online store, for $19.95. The End. Every story has one, but that can't stop us from wanting more. In the best stories, life goes on after the last page of the story, behind the curtain. Most of the time that future is hidden from us, forever unknowable. We've made this book the rare exception that lets you peel back the veil and peer into the future. We've brought together eleven of the best authors in the fandom, both old and new. [. ] They've all created amazing worlds that live on in our imaginations. The exploits of our favorite characters, famous and infamous, are not over. We've all asked this question in vain before, but now you'll know: What Happens Next? (back cover blurb) Comments. If I had read and were fans of some or all of the series listed here, I would most definitely be interested in reading more about what later happens to the main characters. But for most of these, the ones I've read are a very incomplete subset of the series presented. For example, I've only read one story each of the Felicia, Perissa, and Cluny series. And in general, I'm not one to go trawling eBay or Furbuy to buy up backissues of furry zines that may have had a total print run of less than a hundred copies more than ten years abo, just so I can get the whole stories on these series. Many of them I would buy up in a heartbeat if the stories were reprinted as collections of a series. Thus the question arises, will I be able to enjoy and appreciate these "What Happens Next" stories if I haven't read all (or any) of the stories from their original series? Will they contain spoilers if I were to read these now and later go back and read the series (especially if published as a collection)? Some yes, and some no. All of the Cluny stories by Michael Payne have been published in "Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword & Sorceress", an annual series of professional paperbacks available from Amazon.com. This is Jenner's first "Doc Rat" short story; all of his previous adventures are available for free in the archive of the online "Doc Rat" comic strip. But yes, his story "Pick-Up at Hanging Drop" is a direct sequel to a story arc in the comic strip. "Festival of Vampires" is the twelfth "Perissa" short story by Brock Hoagland; all the earlier stories are available in "Tales of Perissa" books 1 and 2, still available from United Publications in England. "Sibling Rivalry" by Kyell Gold takes place in a "gap" in his "Shadow of the Father" novel, available from Sofawolf Press; but you may feel that you have to read all of Gold's Argaea books to get the full background. Kristin Fontaine's "Reflections of Things to Come" is the first "Tai-Pan" story published outside "Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe", which has fifty issues over the past twenty years; but all are available (some as reprints) from the Tai-Pan website. Enough of Chuck Melville's "Felicia, the Vixen Sorceress" stories are available from Amazon.com to give you sufficient background; and his "Felicia: Sorceress of Katara" comic strip can be read for free through its archive online. (For both "Doc Rat" and "Felicia", I recommend the online Belfry WebComics Index website.) This is Roz Gibson's first "Jack Salem" short story; all of his previous adventures have been in comic-book form, most of which have been reprinted as graphic novels by FurPlanet Productions. Elizabeth McCoy has reprinted her Kintaran short stories from the 1990s "PawPrints Fanzine" as a series of Kindle booklets, all available today. All of Kevin Frane's "Iolite League" stories are available from Furry specialty publishers. Maggie Hogarth's "Alysha Forrest" stories are available in her novel "Alysha's Fall" and her Kindle books. That leaves only Ken Pick's previous Brigit Bunny stories in "Yarf!" that you would have to go trawling on eBay or Furbuy to find. I have been urging Ken to write enough more to fill a collection of them. In a sense, all of these stories are spoilers. You can tell by their existence that their protagonists have survived their earlier life-threatening adventures. Finally, after a long wait: 'Tai-Pan Universe #51' Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe #51, a furry science-fiction shared-universe fanzine that was announced in July 2015 as coming soon is finally here. It came out in July 2016, and is a double issue: #51 & #52. With a glossy cover and square binding, it feels more like a book than a fanzine. As editor Gene Breshears describes it, We're calling it a double issue, but at 162 pages and with 20 stories, issue 51-52 contains more than four ordinary issues' worth of tales! It's available for $15 from Rabbit Valley, or from the Tai-Pan Literary and Arts Project. Back issues can be ordered, too - again from Rabbit Valley and also from Second Ed, at a discount. But the news isn't all good. Furry short fiction anthology 'What Happens Next' due July. What Happens Next: An Anthology of Sequels presents eleven new stories by fan-favorite Furry authors featuring their popular characters: and her Alysha Forrest and his Perissa and Maelith (Rikoshi) and his Iolite League and the crew of the interstellar freighter Tai-Pan and Cluny, the sorceress squirrel with Crocker, her human familiar and Dr. Benjamin Rat, M.B., B.S. D.R.A.N.Z.C.O.G. F.R.A.C.G.P. and a new tale of Argaea and her feline centauroid Kintarans and his Felicia, the Vixen Sorceress and his Brigit Bunny on the planet of the foxlike Thalendri and Roz Gibson and her Jack Salem. Two new anthologies of Furry short fiction coming in June. I was preparing this announcement, but GreenReaper has given away part of it on Newsbytes. Fred Patten, who has been writing Furry book reviews since 1962, and who edited the first anthology of anthropomorphic short fiction, Best in Show , in 2003, has edited two new anthologies of anthropomorphic s-f & fantasy that will both premiere in June 2012. Already Among Us: An Anthropomorphic Anthology , will be published by Legion Publishing of Birmingham, AL on June 4. It will be available in a $18.95 hardcover and $9.99 trade paperback (x + 390 pages) [ now $13.49 ], and $8.99 Kindle version, with a wraparound cover by Roz Gibson. The Ursa Major Awards Anthology: A Tenth Anniversary Celebration , will be published by FurPlanet Productions of Dallas, TX. It will go on sale at Anthrocon 2012 on June 14, as a $19.95 trade paperback, x + 380 pages, with a wraparound cover by Blotch. Review: 'Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe; Omnibus One' The Tai-Pan Literary & Arts Project is one of the oldest organizations in Furry fandom. According to the Editor’s Introduction, it was started by a group of seven Seattle fans having dinner at a Denny’s during Norwescon X, March 24-27, 1988. They decided to publish a shared-world Furry space-opera fanzine, set in the 36th century against an interstellar background, with a group of writers and artists featuring the same Furry characters in stories edited to be mutually consistent. (See WikiFur for the full historical story.) Today, twenty-three years later, the Tai-Pan Project has included over fifty writers and artists. It incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 2000. Its Editors-in-Chief have been Whitney Ware, 1988-1994, and Gene Breshears, 1994-present. It holds a social/editorial dinner Writer’s Night gathering in the Seattle area on the third Saturday of every month. Its publication, titled The Tai-Pan under Whitney Ware and Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe under Gene Breshears, is published approximately twice a year; issue #49 is scheduled for November 2011. Tales of the Tai- Pan Universe won the Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Magazine in 2003 and 2004, and the story “In His Own Country” by Kristin Fontaine in issue #39 won the award for Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction in 2005. Tai-Pan Literary & Arts Project [Editor-in-Chief: Gene Breshears], September 2011. Trade paperback $15.00 (176 pages). New issue of Tai-Pan available. Issue #43 of Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe is in the mail headed to all subscribers! Issue #43 should be available from Rabbit Valley and Second Ed soon. The Vixen Sorceress by Chas P.A. Melville. Straight out of the viral video, our Baby Shark collection features a sound chip in each costume that will get the whole family dancing along! Scooby Doo, where are you? With our Scooby Doo collection, you can dress as Scooby or any member of the mystery gang! Dance your heart out with the JoJo Siwa Costume Collection! With a variety of outfits and bows, you can make every day a JoJo day. Trending Categories. 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