Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} A Left-Handed Sword by Phil Geusz Review: 'The Laputan Factor' by Tristan Black Wolf. Tristan Black Wolf's The Laputan Factor opens with software developer Night O'Connell enjoying a well-earned rest in the company of his hyena boyfriend. Or with fighter pilot 1st Lt Ambrose Bierce Kovach about to enter a simulated exercise aboard the star cruiser Heartwielder . As scenes and viewpoints switch, which of these almost-identical, head-hopping tigers is the real one? Both? Neither? The story that follows is a science fiction gay romantic comedy mystery caper, with two realities' worth of characters helping or hindering the increasingly urgent quest to work out what's going on and how to fix it. That's about as much as I can write about the plot without the risk of ruining readers' enjoyment by blurting out spoilers. I can't even be specific about which cult 1960s TV series turns out to be vitally important. However, I can and will say that I enjoyed The Laputan Factor very much, and that if you like your furry fiction with buff, wisecracking characters, action, and a touch of mystery, you'll probably enjoy it too. At just over 200 pages in the softback edition, this is a long novella, and those pages are packed with external and inner conflicts for both O'Connell and Kovach. The pace is fast and the writing flows easily. There's a temptation to burn through the chapters and find out what happens next, but you may miss something important if you let impatience get the better of careful reading. The dialogue and interactions between the characters are fun, but I did start to wonder whether they would ever stop exchanging quips, or thinking about sex, no matter how much the peril increased. Other nitpicks? A couple of the clues were delivered by bluntly, although this didn't diminish the suspense of wanting to know what, exactly, they were clues to , and I'm not sure how well some of the science behind the fiction would hold up to close scrutiny. This is a lighthearted read, however, and when you're offered Bradbury drives and plasma shurikens, it's best to sit back and enjoy the ride. The cover and internal illustrations are by Dream&Nightmare. The cover image is very striking and atmospheric; the internal artwork doesn't add a great deal to the text, but is a nice bonus. Author Tristan Black Wolf has been published in issues 1, 2 and 3 of Allasso , and is a frequent poster on SoFurry. His first novel, The Man with Two Shadows , reviewed for Flayrah by Fred Patten, was published by AuthorHouse in March 2012. Released in softcover and ebook formats through AuthorHouse and also available on Amazon, The Laputan Factor is full of banter, pheromones, and tongue-in-cheek references to movies, TV and literature; a smart page-turner that doesn't take itself too seriously but is genuinely engaging. I look forward to seeing what Black Wolf will cook up next. A Left-Handed Sword by Phil Geusz. Thea ventures from British Columbia with her vibrant colors and fluid action setting the stage for this year's theme. She loves dancing at discotheques as much as she illustrates characters within them, bringing to life the spirit of imagination. Growing up with a fine artist and animated film influences, along with a generic love for nature, Thea was instantly knee deep in professional furry art upon the discovery of the fandom in 2008 with having drawn anthro art since her early teens. She pushes her artistic abilities with nearly every picture seeking to attain a level of excellence that has become recognised by the fandom. Aside from an artistically inclined high school, Thea is mainly self taught through countless books, studies, and mentorship from her late mother to attain the skills she has today. She dreams of perhaps doing illustration and concept art for companies along with more education later in life, but is very content with the freelance industry that suits her diverse lifestyle and gives her opportunity to keep on improving. Her biggest challenge though, for her as an artist is to spread the message that every person has the power to overcome and thrive in their life with simply believing in oneself in levels deeper than can be easily seen. Fursuit Guest of Honor - Temperance. Temperance lives in Western Canada with her husband and two cats. She spends her days making fursuits and drawing comic books, and spends her evenings playing video games and watching horror movies. Temperance has been making costumes for over 10 years. When she began making costumes it was a learning curve of comic books, cartoons and video game characters. Back in 2008 she discovered the furry fandom while working as a vendor at a comic-con and spotted a fursuiter wandering the halls. She immediately decided she wanted to try and make one of "those animal costumes", and so began researching on the internet where she learned all about fursuits and the furry fandom. After completing her first fursuit, she instantly wanted to make another, and then another. It wasn't long after she learned her craft and became involved in the furry community that she began making fursuits for other people. Temperance makes fursuits professionally through her art and costume studio, Komickrazi Studios. She has won various costume awards for her works including Workmanship and Performance at the world famous San Diego Comic-Con International Masquerade. Her work was also recently featured in a music video for the Australian band "DZ Deathrays". Writing Guest of Honor - Fur Planet. FurPlanet is a furry-owned and operated small press publisher based in Dallas, TX. They publish and sell books, comics and art books in the furry community. FurPlanet has been in operation since 2004 and since 2008 has been owned by FuzzWolf and Teiran. By using print-on-demand rather than traditional printing methods, FurPlanet is able to publish a broad range of titles. In 2012 alone they published 48 new releases and are on track to beat that record this year. You can find FurPlanet in the dealers rooms of many furry conventions each year, including RainFurrest. Since 2011 FurPlanet has been the publisher of RainFurrest's charity anthology. FurPlanet's two mascots are Fez, the badger and Rory, the fox. Fez is a talented planning badger and handles the company accounting while Rory ships the orders and believes any problem can be solved with muffins! FuzzWolf. FuzzWolf found the furry fandom in 1998 and has never looked back. Since then he's written numerous stories which you can find online, started the KnotCast podcast, been a founding member of the Furry Fiesta board, staffed several conventions, hosted many furmeets and become a publisher. He is passionate about promoting and growing the writing in the furry community and is honoured by RainFurrest's recognition of FurPlanet's publishing work. Fuzz is originally from Scotland, but has lost his accent along the way and now lives in the Dallas area with his mate of many years, Teiran. Teiran. Teiran is a writer and co-owner of FurPlanet. His most well-known stories are his series Fun at the Mall, Gryphon Thief, High School Days and his novel, The Hero. He is also the conbook staffmember for Furry Fiesta. He is most often depicted as a wolf, but he has also been known to be a badger and occasionally a dragon. Buck C Turner. Buck Turner has been hanging around the fandom in one guise or another since the late nineties. A sometimes artist, sometimes podcaster, and frequent editor, he's been working with FuzzWolf and Teiran for almost as long as they've been running FurPlanet. He's the editor of ROAR, a fixture at the convention table, and a leading source of brute labor. Zia McCorgi. Zia McCorgi is a resident of Albuquerque, NM so he really enjoys the change of weather RainFurrest provides. He wrote the book Save the Day and FurPlanet hasn't let him go since. He enjoys knitting, walking his dog, baking and writing. He really hopes you stop by the FurPlanet table so he can tell you all about the fantastic books and comics they have. Fandom Guest of Honor - Fred Patten. Fred Patten lives in Los Angeles. He got active in Science Fiction fandom in 1960 while in college, and in comic-book fandom in 1962. He has been on the committees or a fan guest of honor at many s-f and anime conventions. He has been in over a dozen Science Fiction and comics APAs and was the Central Mailer of CAPA-alpha, the first comics APA, from 1968 to 1972. He co-founded Japanese anime fandom in 1977 and Furry fandom in 1980. He was the Official Editor of Rowrbrazzle, a Furry APA, from 1989 to 2005. He attended all the ConFurences except one from 1989 to 2003, and all the ConiFur Northwests from 1998 to 2004. A major stroke in 2005 has left him paralyzed. Since then, he participates in Furry fandom from his hospital bed via computer e-mail. Writing Special Guest - Phil Geusz. Phil Geusz is a furry author, working primarily in the transformation-story sub-genre. He's best known for his work in the The Blind Pig (TBP) storyverse, as well as for his books Transmutation Now!, The First Book of Lapism, Freedom City, Manifest Destiny, Wine of Battle, A Left- Handed Sword, Descent, Resisting Arrest, Spur, the David Birkenhead series, and Corpus Lupus. His TBP story Graduation Day appeared in the landmark anthology Best in Show, edited by Fred Patten; he also wrote the introduction to the transformation story section of this collection. His short stories appear in several mainstream collections. Phil is a notably prolific author-- in 2010 alone he sold five novels to three separate publishers. Three of them, the "No Oath Sworn" trilogy, were sold to a mainstream (non-fandom-related) house. Phil also has numerous other publication credits, served as Writing Guest of Honor at RainFurrest 2007, and has been nominated several times for the Ursa Major Award. His work has appeared many times on the Ursa Major Recommended Anthropomorphics List. Within the furry world, Phil's fiction is posted almost exclusively through the Transformation Story Archive and Furry-lit Mailing Lists; he's been active on the TSA since approximately 1996. Phil also founded the annual TSA-Bash, a sort of minicon for TSA-ers that has been held annually at various locations across the nation since 1998. In late 2012, Phil became a contributor for the furry site, [adjective][species], writing under the name Rabbit. He can most often be found at Mephit Furmeet, in his home state of Tennessee, which he considers his "home con". He has served as Writing Track Coordinator for numerous cons, and immensely enjoys chairing panels and working with other furry authors at these events. Music Special Guest - Fox Amoore. Fox Amoore will be soaring his way to his first ever RainFurrest from the other side of the planet, from bonnie Scotland. He joined the fandom in 2006 and has since risen to become one of the most widely listened to musicians within it. He has produced several albums including "Feel" and "The Ballad of Midnight" and was the composer behind the entire soundtrack to the Bitter Lake film released last year. He has worked with numerous artists both as single releases for his songs and his albums, including AlectorFencer, Kaji, Nimrais, Tanidareal and so many more. He has performed at numerous conventions including Eurofurence, where he raised thousands of Euros in charity alongside fellow musician Alexander James Adams and acclaimed author and musician Peter S. Beagle. He will be performing live at RainFurrest and infact at his first ever West Coast US Convention. He is very much looking forward to attending a convention he has heard so many good things about! Outside of the furry fandom, Fox Amoore works as a full-time musician. He works or has worked as a Piano and Keyboard player in bands ranging from Jazz duets to original Progressive Metal bands. One band particularly of note is "The Get Back Band", a Paul McCartney tribute band that has seen him perform from The Cavern Club to The Alhambra Theatres. His work also involves composing, including being a part of the music production in the Nintendo Wii, iPhone and Android game "Order Up!" He currently has an artist sponsorship with musical instrument giants Roland and has featured in a number of popular Youtube videos, including Gotye's "Somebodies: A Youtube Orchestra". Music Special Guest - Alexander James Adams. Using story and song, the Faerie Tale Minstrel leads his listeners into worlds of magic and music where anything can happen if you only believe. A steward of all kinds of animals, Alexander has rescued many a sad, furry creature and made it's day better. Come listen, laugh and cry to guitar or fiddle and become enchanted by the compelling voice of this storyteller. Make your day a brighter, better place and then spread the magic around! Phil Geusz. If waging war is stupid, why do we work so hard at it?Christopher Speiss is a familiar, transformed into a Kodiak bear while still just a boy, and now an American military officer as well. When the First World War breaks out in Europe, he soon learns. Fledgling Byrd. Early Byrd. Lost wars have consequences, and it's usually the innocent who suffer most. Young Robert and Timothy Byrd learn this firsthand when empire- building aliens threaten the extinction of all humanity via asteroid strike. Resistance proves futile, and the . Evolutionary Action. What happens to that which is stressed beyond its strength yet cannot bend? It breaks, of course. But what happens when a college campus full of gengineered anthro-rabbits hard-wired to be non-violent find themselves living through and beyond Armaged. Space Man's Burden. ALL HUMANS WERE CREATED EQUAL UNTIL WE DECIDED TO MAKE OURSELVES BETTER A millennium after the resulting Extinction Wars nearly drove mankind to the brink of annihilation, the survivors reach out to the stars to gather the lost tribes of men toge. Descent Into Hell. Disaster has been averted, but only at a terrible cost. Where once 5 sentient races populated the Earth, now only 4 remain. Can King Gregory strike a bargain with the devil to bring back the Elves, or will the consequences of such a deal prove even m. Descent into Madness. Having sacrificed his humanity, you'd think Gregory Lombard had nothing left to lose, but it turns out even animals can't escape the burdens of duty and family. Powerful magic has restored his sentience, if not his body, but only at a terrible cost. . Admiral. By now David Birkenhead has all but defeated the Boyen Emperor, whose strength is but a shadow of what it was before the Battle of Wilkes Prime. His fleet has been shattered and with it his dreams of conquest. Yet the Emperor and his court fight desp. Captain. The king is dead! Long live the king! David Birkenhead never expected that his adopted brother James would have the throne handed to him on a silver platter. But even David, veteran of some of the most brutal and merciless battles ever fought, is sho. Commodore. "War is cruelty," General William Tecumseh Sherman famously asserted. "There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over." David Birkenhead is not by nature a cruel Rabbit. Yet he's been assigned one of the most miser. Descent from Man. The man who has everythingMoney, power, nobility, and a fast car; what more could a man want?Well, having hands would be a good start.In a world where nomadic elven tribes fight with interstate traffic, Gregory Lombard must decide how much he's willi. Commander. "We have not yet begun to fight!" John Paul Jones once declared not long before snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. But even the immortal Captain Jones might've flinched at the prospect of a months-long odyssey through the heart of Imperial sp. Lieutenant. "Whatever you do, please, don't throw me in that brier patch!" Rabbits have been outwitting their enemies for as long as rabbits have had enemies, and that's a very long time indeed. But few bunnies have ever found themselves in as tight as a spot as. Midshipman. For centuries noble houses have struggled with the problem of what to do with their younger, non-inheriting sons. It's even tougher when one of these younger sons is a Rabbit and therefore by definition a former slave. In this second volume of the Da. Spur - Phil Geusz -- What would it take to persuade you to be turned into a horse? Merle Castison, perpetual ne'er-do-well, accepted a rich man's horse-curse for a mere ten thousand a month plus room, board and free shoeings. After all, he only expec. Ship's Boy. Once upon a time there was a boy named David, who slew a terrible foe… David Birkenhead might have been only twelve years old, but his entire life was already laid out for him. First his father was supposed to teach him how to run a starship's engi. Stick and Bones. Stick and Bones - By Phil Geusz -- Can a slave be freed entirely by the efforts of others? Or must he free himself, lest the chains remain locked around his heart? Simeon Bolivar carries the taint of slavery in every cell of his body-he's been geneti. No Victory Won. How can any conceivable military victory be worth the death and suffering of billions? That's the question Commander Thomas Longo must confront as against all odds the tide turns against his Dracan foes and final victory begins to beckon in the dista. A Left-Handed Sword. Retirement can be hard. But never more so than when it's forced. Tom Hill thought he had adjusted to living in a quarantine center and only dealing with other Lokis like himself, but a new arrival is forcing him to re-evaluate his choices. A writer . No Battle Fought. "Today's mission, Commander, is revenge. And may God have mercy on your soul." Even the ordinary sort of war is awful enough- people die, resources are wasted, and the survivors are scarred forever. But when unstoppable force comes up against an indo. Wine of Battle. Nobody ever comes back from war the same. But some transformations are more obvious than others.Wine of Battle is a collection of short stories dealing with transformation in times of war and conflict, from the ancient past through the civil war and. Corpus Lupus. Lt. Larry Highridge was a good Narcotics cop until a routine drug bust went bad. The perp unexpectedly turned out to be a werewolf and Highridge was bitten. Now a werewolf himself, Highridge refuses to let his monthly handicap stand in the way of hi. Descent. Having sacrificed his humanity, you'd think Gregory Lombard had nothing left to lose, but it turns out even animals can't escape the burdens of duty and family. Powerful magic has restored his sentience, if not his body, but only at a terrible cost. . Transmutation NOW! What exactly does it mean to be human, anyway?Jack Strafford, aging action-adventure star, is about to find out. He's taken on a new body to make a movie, but instead finds himself reluctantly starring in a real-life action-adventure d. No Oath Sworn. No Glory Sought Series, Book 1: No Oath Sworn By Phil Geusz: Is War What Makes Us Human? Tommy Longo was just fifteen when his brain was removed so that he could become a superfighter pilot; any older and it would've been too late. The separation was. Resisting Arrest. "How Did You Celebrate Your Fifth Twelfth Birthday?" Jobee Abrams spent his sitting at the Captain's Table of a luxury spaceliner, wearing a dorky make-believe uniform and being fawned over by rich old ladies. His birthday wish was that maybe someday. The Book of Lapism. Why would any sane person pay to have themselves remade into a half-rabbit freak? Any religion which asks its members to do that would sink without a trace. or would it? Find out more in THE FIRST BOOK OF LAPISM. Ursa Major, The Great Bear. A familiar storyGrowing up a half-breed orphan is hard, but Chris Speiss is off to a special school to learn if he's destined for a life of magic. But circumstances of birth have marked Chris as a familiar, not a Wizard. He and his fellow candidates . Phil Geusz. Phil Geusz (born 1961) is a furry author, working primarily in the transformation-story sub-genre. He's best known for his work in the The Blind Pig (TBP) storyverse, as well as for his books Transmutation Now! , The First Book of Lapism , Freedom City , Manifest Destiny, Wine of Battle, A Left-Handed Sword, Descent , Resisting Arrest , Spur , the David Birkenhead series, and Corpus Lupus . His TBP story Graduation Day appeared in the landmark anthology Best in Show , edited by Fred Patten; he also wrote the introduction to the transformation story section of this collection. His short stories appear in several mainstream collections. Phil is a notably prolific author-- in 2010 alone he sold five novels to three separate publishers. Three of them, the "No Oath Sworn" trilogy, were sold to a mainstream (non-fandom-related) house. Phil also has numerous other publication credits, served as Writing Guest of Honor at RainFurrest 2007 and Writing Special Guest at RainFurrest 2013, [1] and has been nominated several times for the Ursa Major Award. His work has appeared many times on the Ursa Major Recommended Anthropomorphics List. Within the furry world, Phil's fiction is posted almost exclusively through the Transformation Story Archive and Furry-lit Mailing Lists; he's been active on the TSA since approximately 1996. Phil also founded the annual TSA-Bash , a sort of minicon for TSA-ers that has been held annually at various locations across the nation since 1998. In late 2012, Phil became a contributor for the furry site, [adjective][species], writing under the name Rabbit. Although Phil does not MUCK, he is known simply as Rabbit on the Anthrochat IRC channel #TheZoo. However, he attends and enjoys many furry-cons primarily in the American midwest and south, as time and budget allow. He can most often be found at Mephit Furmeet, in his home state of Tennessee, which he considers his "home con". He has served as Writing Track Coordinator for numerous cons, and immensely enjoys chairing panels and working with other furry authors at these events. Phil is divorced, and is retired from a major automobile manufacturer. Doctor Who and the Secret of Novice Hame hints at a furry Doctor Who? To help distract quarantined Doctor Who fans, there are Doctor Who: Lockdown! simulcast watch-alongs of popular episodes of the "New" series of the show, featuring creatives behind the scenes Tweeting along, as well as short videos to go along with the watch-along. With the May 30 watch-a-long of the loose "trilogy" of episodes "The End of the World", "New Earth" and "Gridlock" a sort of illustrated audio ""The Secret of Novice Hame", written by Russell T. Davies, was attached. The titular character and narrator of the story is Novice Hame (played by Anna Hope), who appeared in the "New Earth" and "Gridlock" episodes and is an anthropomorphic cat. She tells the story of her life among the various anthropomorphic animals of the far future planet of New Earth, and is visited by David Tennant's "Tenth" incarnation of the Doctor. An interesting implication of the short piece is that it opens up the possibility that the Doctor themself might someday become an anthropomorphic animal; Novice Hame notes that there are stories of the Doctor in various forms, including animals. REVIEW: Bleak Horizons, edited by Tarl Hoch. A great many people only experience science fiction by what my mother and millions of others referred to as "monster movies". From Frankenstein to Aliens and beyond, the unknown and the unexplored are often our undoing. Bleak Horizons, edited by Tarl Hoch, is a wonderful collection of 15 stories that mix SF and Horror with various levels of anthropomorphic settings and characters. And, full disclosure, one of those stories is mine. Happily, the mix includes more than just blood thirsty monsters and end of the universe scenarios. Overall my favorite stories in this anthology are Hardwire , Pentangle , and The Ouroboros Plate . My least favorites are 4/13/2060 and Not Like Us . Below is a short review of all the pieces. I think you should snag a copy, if only to read my favorites and have a taste for this genre. However, I also really enjoyed Carmen Miranda's Ghost Is Haunting Space Station 3 so you have every right to question my taste. Multiverse, hopes to bridge the communities of Fantasy, Sci-fi, & Horror Fans—Furries included. Editors Disclosure: This article has been posted by the communications director of the convention. ----- Multiverse, a brand-new convention for fans of science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics, furry culture, and more, will hold its debut event from October 18th to October 20th in Atlanta, GA. The convention, located at the Hilton Atlanta Airport, will bring together fans, authors, artists, and other creators, all of whom share a common passion⁠—genre fiction. Attendees can expect sci-fi, fantasy, and horror media, tabletop role-playing games, cosplay, and other beloved staples of “geekery” to feature heavily at Multiverse. “Panel discussions, a fursuit festival, an art gallery, a gaming hall, and even a charity auction for the nonprofit RAICES⁠—it’s going to be so much fun, truly,” says convention chair Allie Charlesworth. “Whether you love Game of Thrones or Black Panther, the movie Get Out or Dungeons and Dragons or even My Little Pony, this is absolutely your con.” In memoriam: Fred Patten (1940-2018) Fred Patten was born in Los Angeles, California on December 11, 1940. By the time he was ten years old, he'd become interested in science fiction and had started to collect SF books and magazines. From 1958 to 1963 he attended UCLA, where he graduated with a master's degree in Library Science. During his university years, he discovered science fiction fandom, joined the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS), and started to write for fanzines. In the 1970s, Fred became a partner in a bookstore in Long Beach, and also developed an interest in manga and anime from Japan. In 1977, along with Mark Merlino and others, Fred was one of the founding members of North America's first anime fan club, the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization. Partially through the C/FO, he and Mark expanded their mutual interest in animals in cartoons and science-fiction, which was a major step in the early evolution of furry fandom. A lot people aren't aware that in North America, both anime and furry fandoms share an originating root! Remembering Fred Patten. There is a balding man with glasses, standing in the corner, cradling a book against his stomach, reading. You saw him a lot. At the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society meeting hall, the APA collation room, in the library, at science fiction conventions in function rooms and room parties, at San Diego Comic Con in the Rowrbrazzle contributor parties, at furry parties. His name is Fred Patten, and was in no way the passive participant he seemed. With a partner he opened a book shop in Long Beach, California that not only carried SF and Fantasy books, but comics from all over the world. He reviewed SF and Fantasy literature for fan and professional publications. His apartment was literally wall-to-wall books. He collected SF/F art, storing paintings in his bed frame. I don't think anyone knew where he slept. or if he did. Book review: "Earthrise" by M.C.A. Hogarth. Earthrise , the first book in M.C.A. Hogarth's Her Instruments trilogy, is a comfy space opera which includes some furry critters. Based on my last visit to her work (books 1 & 2 of The Dreamhealers ), the furry species are nice and familiar. The crew of the TMS Earthrise has a centaur with wings, a phoenix, a mated pair of bipedal felines, and a throw-pillow tribble with strong mental powers. Most of these are descendants of slave races that humans created centuries earlier. The assembled characters have an almost whimsical balance, yet they still feel realistic. When we join them in the story, they're a well-meshed crew. There's a comforting alienness to each of them, a diversity that avoids stereotypes, but claims labels of diversity within diversity, if that makes sense. We mostly see them through the eyes of their captain. 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' to feature crystal foxes. Furry fans may have noticed a seconds long clip of crystalline, possibly fox-like critters scampering around the trailer for the latest instalment of Star Wars , subtitled The Last Jedi . The upcoming movie was the subject of a cover story by the magazine Entertainment Weekly , and one of the things covered were these "crystal foxes", which are known as vulptices. The Last Jedi is scheduled to be released December 15 (which technically means it's opening Thursday, December 14 for "previews") in America, and now furry fox fans have a reason to get excited. Griffin Ranger, the conclusion, has finally been published. In January 2015, FurPlanet Productions published the first volume of Roz Gibson’s s-f novel “Griffin Ranger”. Now, as of August 2017, the rest of the novel is now available. Gibson has been a furry fan favorite since the 1980s, but as a comic-book artist, not a novelist. She wrote and drew “Jet: 2350” for the Rowrbrazzle in 1987, and went on to create one of his most popular characters, the antihero Jack Salem, the sable psychotic killer, in a series of comics published first by Radio Comix in the 1990s and later republished and continued by FurPlanet, notably in the “City of Ice” series. In 2014 Gibson turned to writing. Her first Jack Salem novelette, “The Monkeytown Raid”, published in the anthology “What Happens Next” edited by Fred Patten, won that year’s Ursa Major Award for the Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction of the year. She has written a few more stories since then, the most recent being the time-travel thriller “Matriarch: Elephant vs. T-Rex”, published as an original Kindle novella in April 2017. Update 10/15 : A statement made about FurPlanet publication on the original article was found to be inaccurate and removed. Book News: 'Skeleton Crew' by Gre7g Luterman - Now bigger and better. Gre7g Luterman self-published his furry science-fiction novel Skeleton Crew though Amazon's CreateSpace in August 2014. The cover art was designed by his wife, H. Kyoht Luterman, and inside were over a dozen full-page illustrations, mostly by Rick Griffin. It got excellent reviews. It's now been picked up and re-published in a new, expanded edition by Thurston Howl Publications, with a new cover by Rick Griffin (seen here, to the right) and new illustrations. The backstory to Skeleton Crew is that four centuries earlier, the giant Krakun race came to the primitive planet of Gerootec and offered to hire thousands of the over-populated Geroo as their starship crews. The Geroo who went into space (and their descendants) would never see Gerootec again, but they would live in luxury compared to the backward conditions on their homeworld. 'Spark: A Space Tail': No future. "God Save the Queen is the actual worst song, let's not argue." - Guy Lodge, again. To be perfectly honest, I was a bit excited for this movie, when I first heard of it, if only because furries in space is a concept that has worked in the past; and, hey, vixen right there. I kept plugging it quietly in the background all throughout 2015 and early 2016 (and you guys thought I only covered Zootopia that year). I mean, what if 2016 had been a year where we had six wide release, fully anthropomorphic world movies ranging in genre from buddy cop, to martial arts, to backstage musical, to crime caper, to space opera, and also Rock Dog ? As it ended up, we got, by my count, one great movie, one good movie, one movie that was kind of meh, one movie that turned out to not exist, one terrible movie and also Rock Dog . 'War for the Planet of the Apes': I read the news today, oh boy. Third time's the charm. I managed to see both the previous installments of this movie series in theaters ( Rise in 2011 and Dawn in 2014). Despite the fact that I went in intending to review these movies for Flayrah when both of them came out, I didn't. The truth of the matter is that I got bored, and just couldn't be bothered to write anything. So, I really should have reviewed those other two movies. But it helps that this is the first movie in the series I actually liked, though. Rise and Dawn are not bad movies; they have a lot of positive qualities to them, but I never really liked them. This review's lyrical headline comes from the Beatles' "A Day in the Life", and, yes, I'm making that a "thing". . Review: 'Lagrange' by Phil Guesz. They called Marvin a chicken. And he was. (But only 5%.) He also plays the piano. In the far-flung, space-traveling future, genetic manipulation has created a small subculture of modified humans that aren't exactly well-respected, but people will at least have sex with them and pay for the privilege. Marvin is pilot of the Pussy Pod, a small ship that safely transports people to and from the Henhouse, a brothel that sits just outside the limits of a space station's jurisdiction. Legion Printing, May 2012, 78 pages. Available in eBook from Amazon. Marvin's not a sex worker, but he respects them and cares about them. If he's a trifle ambivalent about his cattle car full of Johns, who can blame him? He's an excellent pilot and deserves more in his life. He shouldn't need to be covered in feathers, but his boss insisted because of the Henhouse's name. For Marvin, every day is a struggle to do his job well and not be bitter. He simply doesn't have the connections to find better work. But a man's got to make a living, even if it's just chicken feed. Review: 'A Left-Handed Sword', by Phil Geusz. A Left-Handed Sword is a novella by Phil Geusz in which the characters used to be human beings. All of them have contracted a singular disease called the Lokiskur virus (Lokie for short), which has transformed them into animals. Lokie not only leaves its victims dehumanized and physically handicapped in their new forms, but often brain-damaged and depressed. They are also highly contagious; Lokie is an affliction that never lets go. Legion Printing, September 2011, 80 pages. Available in eBook and printed versions from Legion, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 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. 'Cats and More Cats' anthology to launch at Further Confusion 2016. Cats and More Cats; Feline Fantasy Fiction , edited by Fred Patten, is launching at Further Confusion 2016 in San Jose, California over the January 14-18 five-day weekend. The book can be pre-ordered online from FurPlanet Productions. It will be for sale on the FurPlanet online catalogue afterwards. Cats and More Cats is a reprint anthology of 14 short stories and novelettes of feline fantasy fiction (“the best of the best”) from 1989 to the present, most of them out-of-print today, plus a new essay and an extensive bibliography of cat fantasy books. This is designed to appeal to both science fiction and fantasy fans, and all cat-lovers. FurPlanet Publications, $19.95 (261 pages). Wraparound cover by Donryu. ISBN 978-1-61450-297-5.