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Here’s another one that Previews alerted us to: Unnatural is a hit full-color comic series in Italy, and now Image Comics is about to unleash it on North America. “Leslie is a simple pig girl. She loves sushi, she’s stuck with a job she hates, and she lives under a brutal totalitarian government – one that punishes transgressors for anything deemed ‘unnatural’. Leslie dreams of something different for herself. But those dreams are becoming dangerous…” Interestingly, writer and artist Mirka Andolfo says that none other than Omaha the Cat Dancer (by the great Reed Waller and the late Kate Worley) served as an inspiration for this series. Look for it soon in stores.

image c. 2018 Image Comics

Simon's Cat get's a new character. Yay Birds!
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www.draggetshow.com Be sure to check our website for all Things Dragget Show! Podcasts, videos, merch and more! Also, don't forget we stream the D&D sessions Sunday at 7pm Central on YouTube! YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/DraggetShow Patreon: www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow 197 Synchronized Bitches - www.draggetshow.com Be sure to check our website…

Dear Papabear,

I have a fursona, which is a German shepherd and macaw hybrid. He is a German shepherd with the markings and colors of a macaw. I thought my fursona was good to go, but then I saw other fursonas which were macaw hybrids too. I'm worried that I'll be accused of stealing their fursona's design's. I have a huge connection to this sona as he is nearly four years old and near and dear to me, but I don't want to be wrongfully accused and have to just throw him away because of possible bullying/harassment because of this. Is there anyway I can prepare myself if such accusations do occur? 

Thank you for reading!

Anonymous (age 14)

* * *

Dear Furiend,

Hmm, you know, I would have thought that a German shepherd/macaw mix would be fairly unique, too. I guess it just shows there are not many unique ideas under the sun. But I wouldn't worry about it. The species or species hybrid is just one part of your fursona. If furries went around accusing each other of plagiarism just because someone chose the same species, then we would all be in trouble. I mean, for example, I'm a grizzly bear, right? I'm certainly not the only furry with a grizzly fursona. Same goes for dogs, horses, cats, elephants, rats, deer, and on and on. In the hybrid realm, we have some popular mixes, such as angel dragons, minotaurs, gryphons, bearbulls (or bullbears LOL), folfs, tigons/ligers, wolfdogs, and so on.

The species is not the only thing about your fursona that is unique. But if you want to get into the nitty gritty, a dog/macaw hybrid can have many combinations of dog breeds and macaw species. There are 19 species of macaw and nearly 350 breeds of dogs, so that gives you thousands of possible combinations, all unique. Even if you stick to just shepherds, you still have 19 varieties of macaw to choose from. You can also be more particular about the shepherd. Within the shepherd species, there are the following varieties: American and Canadian Show Lines, West German Show Lines, West German Working Lines, East German Working Lines, and Czech Working Lines.

In addition to species, there are many variations you can have for your fursona, including these:
​

• Body build (e.g., i.e., athletic, chubby, average, macro, micro).
• Occupation (e.g. detective, wizard, scientist, warrior)
• Personality (friendly, aggressive, shy, funny, stupid, smart, sociable, party animal....)
• Clothing (nude, Medieval, Renaissance, tribal warrior, beach bum, armored knight, modern military, punk rocker, gangbanger etc.)

You can also play around a lot with details, such as eye color, size of feet, hands, mouth, length of fur or feathers, and so on.

You can see, I hope, that while there may be a number of other German shepherd/macaw hybrids out there, the variations on the theme are nearly endless. Play around with these and I'm sure you can find a unique fursona that is suited to your preferences and does not imitate what is already out there.

Stay Furry!
Papabear

IN THIS ARTICLE: FurAffinity bans hate groups – click through the Twitter threads to see many screenshots of what they were promoting. 

The true story of FurAffinity account bans

Furry art is full of cute, cuddly cartoons. Many FurAffinity users wanted to know – why was the site being used for hate imagery? If the art has to be edgy, couldn’t they just stick to good old-fashioned Hyper Diaper Pokemon Porn or whatever? At least sex is positive and life-affirming.

On the site and on Twitter, protest rose against activity that seemed to violate the Code of Conduct, while complaints were being dismissed by site staff. The CoC looked toothless because promotion of hate groups was excused with an exception for “fictional” activity.

What furry stuff ISN’T fictional? And depicting hate imagery in a positive light IS promotion. That’s part of the history of propaganda. And making excuses that it’s just historical interest reminds me of when I used to sell rare books at an antique mall; let’s be honest here, that chicken-necked skinhead with a swastika on his elbow wasn’t visiting that creepy dealer down the lane just for memorabilia. (His money was no good to me.)

During the protesting, FurAffinity users openly claiming to be alt-right trolls were gloating about driving traffic from the site and taunting those who left. That’s like getting acquitted for a hate crime and then mooning the judge. Sometimes nazis dress to impress, but nobody ever accuses them of being smart.

The dumpster fire kept burning until the complaints started tagging FurAffinity’s corporate owner IMVU. Perhaps they got worried about their anime-eyed avatars being the lesser evil on the site.

Soon the Code of Conduct was updated, and dozens of accounts went dark. It seemed to follow a precedent set a few months earlier when Discord Inc. flushed many of the same assholes and their alt-right servers down the drain.

Reactions included anger about indiscriminate punishment. But trolls never take their medicine, and evidence was less than compelling in some cases. I was asked to help a user who posted screenshots of accounts that they claimed were unfairly banned, but I recognized one as a troll for the Furry Raiders who may have been an admin for a group page that was also taken down. Bans for linked IP’s or plain bad behavior are nonpolitical too. Since appeals go through a closed process (which isn’t surprising for security concerns,) a handful of exceptions is hard to call a trend.

Bans of known assholes won community support with thousands of likes. Each like was a richly deserved spanking for the trolls who earned it.

We have updated Fur Affinity's Code of Conduct policy regarding hate hroups. For more information on the change please see our announcement here:https://t.co/0WeAKXSyN2

— Fur Affinity (@furaffinity) May 15, 2018

FUCK YEAH
GO FURAFFINITY !!!

THEY'RE BANNING THE NAZIFURS!!! pic.twitter.com/S5HrVB3MeM

— Deo (@DeoTasDevil) May 15, 2018

Hey guys, I'm excited about this positive action. 2.7 of the CoC is a great way for Fur Affinity to protect our community and grow as a social media and art site.

— Deo (@DeoTasDevil) May 15, 2018

TIL being against people who are racist, sexist, against LGBT, promote hate makes me a tyrant. To that, I say nay nay! Free speech is a wonderful thing and I fully respect it... but hate speech has no place in our community. It doesn't deserve to be heard. https://t.co/FsWmY9ql3r

— Dragoneer (@Dragoneer) May 20, 2018

I fully expected I might be doxed before I took the action we did. And you know what? I don't regret it. =3 Thanks for showing me I wasn't wrong about you, Alt-Furry. pic.twitter.com/wISNCk8Vlt

— Dragoneer (@Dragoneer) May 20, 2018

They sure are Not Mad at me for reporting this! 

Regular readers know that I’ve been outspoken for a long time about hate groups trying to invade fandom.  It started before Rocky Mountain Fur Con closed in 2017, because the Furry Raiders exploited favor with the CEO to abuse hospitality, and the con wouldn’t listen to community protest.  Threatening a critic is how they made more people speak up louder.

But if Furaffinity was just throwing a bone to a few yappy dogs, that would have happened ages ago. The community spoke and they didn’t ignore it this time.

MURRhurrhurr! #dogpatchruinseverything pic.twitter.com/CkOoWj8KAL

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 17, 2018

Me and @dragoneer are also building a treehouse together #dogpatchruinseverything pic.twitter.com/HLLPHT4mSE

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 18, 2018

I can confirm with this very legit photo that is totally not a drawing that I think is hanging on the fridge worthy pic.twitter.com/TaO7cyVQgG

— 4ever tired (@Sivi_Rabbynx) May 18, 2018

Alt-furry backlash (by less than 1% of the fandom)

Never ones to quit while they’re ahead, alt-furries have been trying to inflate their small following into a sham “half the fandom” backlash. (I’m not kinkshaming inflation, just the genocide and stupidity.) Why it’s a sham: 1) Fandom population is probably a million and growing, but alt-furries hit a ceiling of a few hundred. 2) They can’t hide the hate.

One tactic they’re now using is distancing themselves from the racist “alt-right” label, to rebrand as regular conservatives, sham centrists or “diverse”. Of course if you’re a regular conservative, or have enough intelligence to tie your own shoes, you probably don’t want that kind of stink near your fursona.

Another tactic is to turn up the volume, and ride the tails of “popufurs”. Only one was that desperate for attention: a has-been comedian whose shock routine went stale long ago. (That’s the unbiased truth because 2 Gryphon’s disgraced career was already reported that way long before he had the brilliant idea to join a hate group, instead of working on better jokes to get ahead.)

And that game is to make people in the fandom think that the net is being cast too wide and that people who don't "deserve" to be pushed out of the fandom are suffering.

QuQu and everyone else in that chatroom knows "the truth" is that altfurry IS a paraiah group.

— VƎX is a Satyr (@andreuswolf) May 21, 2018

2 Gryphon tries to raise his fallen star

Couldn’t he have just turned into a Juggalo or something? He could have hung out with Vanilla Ice and recuperated his career for a whole new fandom. Of course, the Juggalos’ underground energy made them the second most surprising subculture beside furries to rise against racism. Imagine him getting run off the stage in a cartoon whirlwind of Faygo-powered clown rage. But more likely he’d just get shot out of a cannon for being too boring, flaming out like a racist comet with a tail of broken dreams and inadequacy.

2 Gryphon joined the alt-furry chat and promised to promote them, after months of marinating in their hate speech like a duck in water. (A milkshake duck). He excused it as curiosity. Of course the Nazi-Curious Investigative Comedian was already a member of the Nazifurs livejournal for about 15 years. How long could it take to find out what they are? (These ones can’t stay unracist for 15 consecutive posts.)

In his resulting promotion for alt-furry, he lied to the face of the entire fandom about what was in the chat. If it looks like a duck… Just ignore all those quacking noises.

Below are Twitter threads full of screencaps from his goose-stepping pals. You can clearly see everything he denies in them, like over 1,000 hits for the n-word:

2 Gryphon is specifically and of his own volition actively promoting white supremacists now.https://t.co/71tWMzsX3z

— VƎX is a Satyr (@andreuswolf) May 17, 2018

@2_gryphon in the altfurry Telegram chat, notice dates and amount of search hits pic.twitter.com/kkoLWtXgbe

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 17, 2018

Lol 2 said he was going to "make a video" about the group he's in that's run by the guy that literally made the Furred Reich and so to get more content he's lowballing questions to them that they can easily deflect and they can't even not be racist long enough to do that much. pic.twitter.com/l0FpiFSVbf

— bad syndrome (@nuII_dog) May 18, 2018

Update: here's how 2 will excuse this in his upcoming video. "See, I told them I don't like potty words, after legitimizing and enabling the hate for months. I lent them my fading fanbase and literally became their PR department in their own words, it was investigative 'comedy'" pic.twitter.com/1BYaY6MfGf

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 17, 2018

"(2Gryphon)... is literally running our PR department right now" - TheFurredReich, the guy that said this stuff https://t.co/4wfEXo1td3

— Ed "Tedious" Bear (@That_Edward) May 17, 2018

Tripling down

More chat screens: (Thread 1) Alt-furries treat themselves to a triple fudge sundae of Gamergate, pedophilia and doxing.

(Thread 2) Complaints about being “dehumanized” – because rejecting people for saying the Holocaust never happened makes YOU the real nazi!

(Thread 3) If someone should challenge one of the most documented events in history like the Holocaust, ask the edgy teens in a fringe chat room, right?

(UPDATE) adding two threads of anti-gay hate and more duplicity from 2 Gryphon, showing that if you can think of something civil people don’t do, they’ll do it. Maybe someone should announce a ban on punching yourself in the face.

Altfurry deserves less and less attention with Discord, FA, and cons taking real action about hate groups.

But it's wonderfully absurd to see them pose as "real" fandom for g@mergater doxers, while they sell out the fake concern for kids they claimed while attacking Califur. pic.twitter.com/SkZasntkta

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 21, 2018

I love the talking animal fandom. It's tiresome to keep exposing nasty things from the shadows of it, but it's good to seal in action against hate groups by Discord, FurAffinity and more.

Everything bad you hear about them is true. Let me show you their chat today. (Thread)

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 23, 2018

"Hey watcha talkin' about in the altfurry chat?"

"Oh nothing, just a little Holocaust denial"

Sorry guys, so sorry for putting this slime in your feed instead of happy animal friends. But can't let them deny this too. Right @2_gryphon? (Thread for article) pic.twitter.com/aLU5cjbjeZ

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 26, 2018

Two-faced hate groups (like altfurry) make a game of playing bullies and victims at the same time. It's a line-straddling, now-you-see-it, now-you-don't peekaboo game. If everything is "true" nothing can be a lie.

When they show the hate, hold them to it the first time. (Thread) pic.twitter.com/S1TfMtUuro

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 25, 2018

"Hi, I'm @2_Gryphon. Rejecting people who compare black people to inhuman criminals makes YOU the real nazi!"

When they play 2-faced victims and bullies at the same time, always point at the other face and hold them to it.

What real furry scapegoats an entire dog breed? pic.twitter.com/7FfzxoSsl6

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 30, 2018

Up Shit Creek

There’s a cost to proving that they’ll go any distance to be assholes. After a while, there’s no turning back, because everyone’s seen it and nobody’s buying the excuses. Then they’re stuck in the routine.

That leads them to blame you for making them that way, instead of their own deficit of self-reflection, foresight, vision, panache, or ability to even order a pizza without making it racist somehow. And they want payback, but it only costs them more.

Will they ever get out of this cycle of failure? It’s like they chose that one cart at the grocery store with a wheel jammed up with gummy bears (Jews did it, of course) and they refuse to pick another. Speaking of failure to learn, alt-furries got kicked off of Discord – again!

How about leeching on to other popufurs for help, or getting outside mercenaries? They wanted Dreamkeepers to do trolling for them, and rang Breitbart’s bell:

Nice big update on here, @XydexxUnicorn @ionotter @andreuswolf @ReadingRidley @pyrostinger @FuzzWolf @SYXG98 @Inkblitzer @EbonyGorilla@ArcticFletcher @Selenethoa https://t.co/mIgjxgwmyA

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 22, 2018

Altfurries are now reduced to sniveling for attention outside of fandom to Breitbart, who mocks them as crazy lonely perverts (and not the good kind, LOL): https://t.co/7v2XrFaoMY Let there be no doubt they were always here to cause grief with bad media. https://t.co/UvcTN92CVv

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 20, 2018

2 Gryphon’s propaganda video – the joke is that he’s serious

Below is a small sample of lengthy apologism for worthless hate speech. You can look it up for the rest. But do you hate yourself enough to hear more than that quavery Eric Cartman voice at the end? This stuff is to an informed mind like used gum is to a shoe.

Notice how he acts wounded about a totally unexpected disinvitation to Eurofurence. It reminds me of a cartoon character trying to light dynamite and holding it up to his face to see why it didn’t go off. BOOM! Who could have guessed that a mouthpiece for Holocaust deniers might be unwelcome in Germany?

Speaking of worthless hate speech, the truth is that arguing about “free speech” is beside the point. It’s not about can you, it’s about should you. What’s the content? They act like just because their lips are moving, something worthy must be coming out – but when it’s willfully toxic, it’s like saying that since we all need to relieve ourselves sometimes, they can go right in the middle of the floor. Grown-ups can be expected to mind their poo-poo or go elsewhere if they don’t. And that’s not tyranny of a nanny state (which they seem to be thirsty for at this point.)

Karl Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance is about freedom that enables it’s own ruin, whether it’s for a society, a fandom, or just a stage show at Eurofurence. [Insert the “You Played Yourself” meme.] Behold – here’s the living, mouth-breathing, hurf-durfing personification of the paradox:

Analysis of @2_gryphon 's Alt-Right defence video.

TL;DR:
"Alt-furries exist because of lefties"
"Muh free speech"
"How dare you deplatform me at PRIVATE events"
"Alt-furries are actually left-wing (wut?)"
"Alt-furs are basiclaly jewish people during the holocaust" https://t.co/J5rtCdUy9b

— That Pink Snep (@HugoThePinkCat) May 23, 2018

Check the ratio. Good decision @eurofurence pic.twitter.com/2urY47l7AU

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 19, 2018

pic.twitter.com/Ltwck6lwBH

— Archantael Author golin-Fox (@phoenixtheblade) May 17, 2018

Stop the hate, spread the love

People claim that this kind of drama is dragging down furry fandom. It’s not. Whenever media presents furries opposing hate, it’s bringing good attention about cleaning house and being a leading example for other fandoms for how to handle their Least Valuable Players.

And despite a few bad apples and the worms who enable them, furries are good-natured to begin with.

Meet Emma the Tiger – A Showcase of Fandom Love from BLFC 2018 https://t.co/MeYXNgZFiQ pic.twitter.com/30h0dQMrOh

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 16, 2018

Sure.@FoxAmoore and @peppercoyote are doing awesome music. @BoozyBadger and @QuotationMarkBB are examplea of people drawn into Furry because of our positive traits. @DogpatchPress does good fandom journalism. @FurryPinas just got like 1.8k attendees in the Philippines.

— Summercat the Furry Librarian (@Bengaley) May 24, 2018

Just because you’re noticing drama, that doesn’t mean it’s bad or unproductive. It’s clearly setting forth challenges while fandom gets better and better, with rising con attendance, high profile members winning awards in Esports, increasingly friendly mainstream news and much more.

If you ever hear "the fandom is dead/torn apart/on fire/full of plague and evil" check this out. It's better than ever.https://t.co/dYK9QbJqxl

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) May 22, 2018

Don’t just reject haters, support good examples too and welcome nice newcomers who are finding fandom and trying things for the first time.

@DeoTasDevil @DogpatchPress Question. In light of everything that's been going on, do you guys know of any funny fur comedians? I feel like just taking them and promoting the hell out of so we can put a spotlight on some good potential

— TheHoodedDragon (@TheHoodedDraco) May 18, 2018

Hi! Sorry to burst in here but @isaacapandogist and I are non-racist, non-sexist, and perhaps most importantly, actively anti-nazi professional comedians working here in Chicago!https://t.co/HLAE2GmN3c :3

— Tiller, but very queer (@_thp) May 18, 2018

See also @Poker_Wolf1 @CitrineHusky @PandezPanda and Chris the comedy bunny! We all tour most of the Midwest cons! There are lots of good friendly funny furs out there!

— Jakebunny (@jakebunny) May 18, 2018

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, or 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.

Bit of trivia you might not be aware of: In the late 1960’s Rod Serling (creator of The Twilight Zone) was the first person picked to adapt a screenplay from Pierre Boulle’s science fiction novel Planet of the Apes. Which he did — unfortunately his version (closer to Boulle’s book, featuring apes in a modern high-tech world) was considered un-filmable at the time, and a new adaptation by Michael Wilson was used instead for the famous 1968 film starring Charlton Heston. Well now, Boom! Studios have created Planet of the Apes: Visionaries, a new full-color graphic novel of Serling’s original script. Put into comic book form by Dana Gould and illustrated by Chad Lewis, it arrives in stores this August. Previews has an interview with the Boom! Studios folk all about it.

image c. 2018 Boom! Studios

Cute short film by India Crooke. So cute.
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Thank you for helping Dogpatch Press to win the Ursa Major Award for Best Magazine of 2017!

 

Ever have a hard time knowing where to start with furry media? Does the horizon get lost in the digital sands?

Look no further than the Ursa Major Awards.  That’s the Furry equivalent of science fiction fandom’s Hugo Awards, mystery fandom’s Anthony Awards, or horror fandom’s Bram Stoker Awards. The Hugos also have the Nebulas to  complement them – and Furry has the Coyotl Awards for literature, as voted by the Furry Writers’ Guild. That’s not all – furry literature will also soon have the first Leo Awards, to be announced at AC 2018. (What’s the difference? The Leos are fandom-specific and voted on by a panel of judges.) The Ursa and Coyotl winners were both announced this month, so they’re all listed below to encourage you to check out some cool stuff you might not have seen.

URSA MAJOR NEWS

The winners for 2017 were announced at a presentation ceremony at the Furry Down-Under 2018 convention in Surfer’s Paradise, Queensland, Australia, on Saturday May 5.  FurDu posted a video of the ceremony including a slide show created by Ed Otter:

There was a lot of talk about it here before they were announced. Fred Patten saw growth in activities like fursuiting competing for attention with fan media, while maybe the awards could use a boost for reach after lower voting this year than in the past. A lack of staffing and funding led to appeals for help, while Anthrocon began offering matching donation to support writers. For 2019, the Awards will be presented at AnthrOhio.

• Furry founder Fred Patten saw more partying, less fandom in 2018 with the Ursa Major Awards.
• Ursa Major Awards get matching donations from Anthrocon, help wanted from other cons.
• The Ursa Major Awards are a fandom institution, but can we fund them?

Here’s a few things that stood out about the winners:

I am actively amazed that Bojack Horseman did not get nominated. Critics have been going bananas for it — and, from what I’ve seen, they really did have one heck of a season. – Rod O’Riley (Awards co founder)

The nonfiction category had a strong list. Congrats to Joe Strike for winning for Furry Nation, the first published history of fandom. And the Best Dramatic Series or Short category had a mainstream production made by furries (it’s a story behind the scenes I can’t tell!)

Dogpatch Press won Best Magazine with a voting score of 450 in comparison to Flayrah’s 301, according to Dronon. It shouldn’t be that hard to muster up a few hundred votes with all the furries in the world needing news. If I had a few extra paws to type with, I’d even help post guest articles over there.

Winners are on the Ursa Majors site: http://www.ursamajorawards.org/UMA_2017.htm 

Best Motion Picture

Live-action or animated feature-length movies.

• WON: Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (Directed by James Gunn; May 5)
• My Little Pony: The Movie (Directed by Jayson Thiessen; October 6)
• Rock Dog (Directed by Ash Brannon; February 24)
• Ferdinand (Directed by Carlos Saldanha; December 15)
• War for the Planet of the Apes (Directed by Matt Reeves; July 14)

Best Dramatic Series or Short Work

TV series or one-shots, advertisements or short videos.

• WON: Duck Tales [2017 reboot] (Directed by John Aoshima, Dana Terrace; Season 1, August 12 to December 2)
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Directed by Jim Miller, Tim Stuby, Denny Lu, Mike Myhre; Season 7, episodes 1 to 26)
• OK KO! Let’s Be Heroes (Directed by Hwang Ki-hoo, Chang-woo Shin, Sunjae Lee, Byungjae Oh, Eunyung Byun, Sunhung Kim; S. 1, Ep. 1–42)
• Here’s the Plan (Directed by Fernanda Frick; April 27)
• Mascot Fur Life (Directed by Jens Wernstedt; December 23)
• Doodle Toons (Directed by Jack C; Pilot episode to “Deleted Scene: Fast Food Follies”)
• Kouka and Bibi (by Dan Variano; January 8)

Best Novel

Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published.

• WON: The Wayward Astronomer, by Geoffrey Thomas (Corvus Publishing; May 9)
• Always Gray in Winter, by Mark J. Engels (Thurston Howl Publications; August 10)
• Otters in Space III: Octopus Ascending, by Mary E. Lowd (FurPlanet Productions; June 30)
• Kismet, by Watts Martin (Argyll Productions, FurPlanet Productions; January 12)
• Black Friday, by Jan Stryvant (CreateSpace; September 8)

Best Short Fiction

Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short written works.

• WON: “Lieutenant Kruger and the Mistress Jade Trophy Game”, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg (in The Cross Time Cafe; October 5)
• “Behesht”, by Dwale (in ROAR volume 8; June 30)
• “Beyond the Great Divide”, by S.H. Mansouri (in Cirsova Heroic Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine #5; Spring 2017)
• “The Moon Like an Unhatched Egg”, by Mary E. Lowd (in Symbol of a Nation; June 30)
• “Rickety V”, by Rechan (in Intimate Little Secrets; March 24)

Best Non-Fiction Work

Includes art books, documentaries, opinion pieces, and news articles.

• WON: Furry Nation, by Joe Strike (Cleis Press; October 10 – Flayrah review)
• Furries Among Us 2; More Essays On Furries By Furries, edited by Thurston Howl (Thurston Howl Productions; August 18)
• Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015, by Fred Patten (McFarland & Co.; January 3 – Flayrah reviews: Joe Strike, Huskyteer)
• 3 Ursa Major-ly Painful Victories, by Rooview (on YouTube; April 23)
• The Shocking Furry Fandom Conversation. Yes, Really! (on YouTube, featuring Stefan Molyneux; October 16)

Best Other Literary Work

Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, and serialized online stories.

• WON: Dogs of War, edited by Fred Patten (anthology; FurPlanet Productions; January 12)
• ROAR volume 8, edited by Mary E. Lowd (anthology; Bad Dog Books; June 30)
• Arcana: A Tarot Anthology, edited by Intimate Little Secrets, by Rechan (collection; FurPlanet Productions; March 24)
• Symbol of a Nation, edited by Fred Patten (anthology; Goal Publications; June 30)

Best Graphic Story

Includes comic books, and serialized online stories.

• WON: DreamKeepers, by David & Liz Lillie (Internet; January 2 [#340] to December 18 [#385])
• Lackadaisy, by Tracy J. Butler (Internet; Lackadaisy Gimmickry to Lackadaisy Deliria)
• TwoKinds, by Tom Fischbach (Internet; January 5 to December 28)
• A&H Club, by Rick Griffin (Internet; January 7 to November 25)
• Endtown, by Aaron Neathery (Internet; January 2 to December 25)

Best Comic Strip

Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs.

• WON: Housepets!, by Rick Griffin (Internet; January 2 to December 29)
• DreamKeepers Prelude, by David & Liz Lillie (Internet; January 6 [#350] to December 28 [#393])
• Freefall, by Mark Stanley (Internet; January 2 to December 29)
• Carry On, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg (Internet; January 1 to December 29)
• Doc Rat, by Jenner (Internet; January 4 to December 29)

Best Magazine

Edited collections of creative and/or informational works by various people, professional or amateur, published in print or online in written, pictorial or audio-visual form.

• WON: Dogpatch Press, ed. by Patch Packrat (Internet; January 5 to December 25)
• Flayrah, edited by GreenReaper, Sonious, and Dronon (Internet; January 1 to December 30)
• InFurNation, ed. by Rod O’Riley (Internet; January 1 to December 31)
• FurryFandom.es, edited by Mike Retriever (Internet; February 19 to October 9)
• Typewriter Emergencies: A Journal of Furry Lit, edited by Weasel (Weasel Press; May)

Best Published Illustration

Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee-table portfolios.

• WON: David Lillie, cover for The Wayward Astronomer, by Geoffrey Thomas (Corvus Publishing; May 9)
• Bone, cover for Always Gray in Winter by Mark J. Engels (Thurston Howl Publications; August 10)
• Teagan Gavet, cover for Dogs of War, edited by Fred Patten (FurPlanet Productions; January 12)
• Teagan Gavet, cover for ROAR vol. 8, edited by Mary E. Lowd (Bad Dog Books; June 30)
• Baron Engel, Prepare to Engage the Enemy, cover for A Different Perspective by Bernard Doove (June 8)
• Idess, cover for Otters in Space III: Octopus Ascending, by Mary E. Lowd (FurPlanet Productions,; June 30)
• Ashley Foy, “Valentine’s Gifts” (February 14)

Best Game

Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games.

• WON: Night in the Woods (Developer: Infinite Fall, Publisher: Finji; February 21)
• Cuphead (Developer and Publisher: StudioMDHR Entertainment; September 29)
• Star Fox 2 (Developer: Nintendo and Argonaut Games, Publisher: Nintendo; September 29)
• Sonic Mania (Developer: PagodaWest Games and Headcannon, Publisher: Sega; August 15)
• Yooka-Laylee (Developers: Playtonic Games; April 11)

Best Website

Online collections of art, stories, and other creative and/or informational works. Includes galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites.

• WON: Inkbunny (furry art community)
• e621.net (art, discussions, etc.)
• WikiFur (furry fandom encyclopedia)
• Furry Writers’ Guild (Supporting, informing, elevating, and promoting quality anthropomorphic fiction and its creators)
• The Cross Time Cafe (forum for comic discussions, including many on the Recommended List)

The Cóyotl Awards for excellence in anthropomorphic literature are voted on by members of the Furry Writers’ Guild. On May 25, the 2017 winners were announced at Furlandia 2018 in Portland, Oregon.

Best Novel

• WON: Kismet by Watts Martin (Argyll Productions, FurPlanet Productions)
• Always Gray in Winter by Mark J. Engels (Thurston Howl Publications)
• reWritten by Jako Malan (Goal Publications)
• The Tower and the Fox (Calatians Book 1) by Tim Susman (Argyll Productions)

Best Novella

• WON: Dragon Fried Cheese (Dragon Tax Saga Book 3) by Madison Keller (Hundeliebe Publishing)
• The Earth Tigers (Star Spiders Book 1) by Frances Pauli
• Jazz at the End of the Night by Weasel
• The Pride of Parahumans by Joel Kreissman (Thurston Howl Publications)
• Sinful Behavior by Rukis

Best Short Story

• WON: Behesht by Dwale (in ROAR volume 8)
• Clicking by Ianus J. Wolf (in Bleak Horizons)
• Hollow by Chris “Sparf” Williams (in Bleak Horizons)
• The Moon Fox by Amy Fontaine (in Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores)
• The Ouroboros Plate by Slip Wolf (in Bleak Horizons)
• Personal History by Tim Susman (in ROAR volume 8)
• Richard Cory by Tristan Black Wolf (in Seven Deadly Sins: Furry Confessions)

Best Anthology

• WON: Arcana: A Tarot Anthology edited by Madison Scott-Clary (Thurston Howl Publications)
• Bleak Horizons edited by Tarl “Voice” Hoch (FurPlanet Productions)
• Symbol of a Nation edited by Fred Patten (Goal Publications)

If you’re looking for something good to read or watch, why not try out one of these right now? And let the creator know you just bought checked out their work (and mention this article.) Thanks to everyone who votes and makes furry the fandom that makes it’s own media, and congratulations to all the winners!

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, or 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.

Meanwhile we got this from Moviefone.com: Turns out that we now have details about a new Disney animated film, Dragon Empire, scheduled for release in 2020 (they think). “Paul Briggs — head of story on Big Hero 6 and Frozen — will make his directorial debut… alongside Tangled animator Dean Wellins [as co-director]. Cars and Cars 3 writer Kiel Murray is said to be developing the script, with Moana producer Osnat Shurer back to produce.” Not a lot of details on the plot yet, but we know it involves dragons, a plucky female lead named Jan-Nin, and a male character named Bolin who is “said to be comic relief and a 900-year-old mentor to Jan-Nin.” The article also points out that Dreamworks is busy getting ready for the release of How To Train Your Dragon III in 2019, and we’ve already talked about Wish Dragon, Sony Picture’s dragon fantasy which is also slated for 2019. Looks like there are a lot of dragons flying our way!

image c. 2018 Walt Disney Animation

Was gonna write about this just being a normal episode of the show into this description area, but then again are we ever normal?

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

• Howlr App coming, in beta
  • Twitter: @HowlrApp
• Bucktown Tiger returns to ‘Jeopardy’ to defend 3-day winning streak
  • Flayrah Article
  • Tweet 1
  • Tweet 2
• SawRex Sergal: Furdu 2018
• TwoFurryBros: Explaining furry to my entire school
• TwoFurryBros puts “Rock Dog” as “number 1 furry movie”
• Two Mermaids Swimming at the Pool – Gyarados Mermaid Tail
• Fox and Eagle Play Tug-Of-War with Rabbit
• Reindeer see in the dark, changing eye color

News:

• “Radioactive Puppies” From Chernobyl Are Going Up For Adoption In The US
• Woman Says She Took Home ‘Kittens,’ Only To Find Out They Were Bobcats
• Amazon Birds Form Multi-Species Gangs For Protection In Dangerous Neighborhoods
• Man Discovers Handgun Impaled In Front Bumper Of Car
• Florida city sends mass text alert warning of ‘zombie activity’ during power black-out
• London Police Shut Down A Rave In An Abandoned Toys R Us
• No, A Monkey Can’t Copyright His Selfies, Federal Appeals Court Rules
• Library Shut Down After Stinky Fruit Mistaken For Gas Leak
• Sugar Crash: After Tanker Flips, Chocolate Bars Traffic On Polish Highway

Emails:

• Antares – Sightseeing Suggestions
• Jamie – WARNING: possibly a long email

FC-296 Monkey See Monkey Sue - Was gonna write about this just being a normal episode of the show into this description area, but then again are we ever normal?

Was gonna write about this just being a normal episode of the show into this description area, but then again are we ever normal?

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

• Howlr App coming, in beta
  • Twitter: @HowlrApp
• Bucktown Tiger returns to ‘Jeopardy’ to defend 3-day winning streak
  • Flayrah Article
  • Tweet 1
  • Tweet 2
• SawRex Sergal: Furdu 2018
• TwoFurryBros: Explaining furry to my entire school
• TwoFurryBros puts “Rock Dog” as “number 1 furry movie”
• Two Mermaids Swimming at the Pool – Gyarados Mermaid Tail
• Fox and Eagle Play Tug-Of-War with Rabbit
• Reindeer see in the dark, changing eye color

News:

• “Radioactive Puppies” From Chernobyl Are Going Up For Adoption In The US
• Woman Says She Took Home ‘Kittens,’ Only To Find Out They Were Bobcats
• Amazon Birds Form Multi-Species Gangs For Protection In Dangerous Neighborhoods
• Man Discovers Handgun Impaled In Front Bumper Of Car
• Florida city sends mass text alert warning of ‘zombie activity’ during power black-out
• London Police Shut Down A Rave In An Abandoned Toys R Us
• No, A Monkey Can’t Copyright His Selfies, Federal Appeals Court Rules
• Library Shut Down After Stinky Fruit Mistaken For Gas Leak
• Sugar Crash: After Tanker Flips, Chocolate Bars Traffic On Polish Highway

Emails:

• Antares – Sightseeing Suggestions
• Jamie – WARNING: possibly a long email

[Live] Monkey See Monkey Sue

And more from AWN. (They’ve had lots of good stuff lately!) “Game of Thrones author and producer George R.R. Martin is bringing his fantasy game to animation, with Warner Animation Group set to adapt his 1980 children’s book The Ice Dragon into a feature. Though dealing with dragons, the book and the feature have no connection to either the A Song of Fire and Ice novels or the Game of Thrones TV series. According to Deadline, which reported the news first, the book tells the tale of a young girl who befriends a rare ice dragon, whose help proves decisive when an army of dragons invades her city.” No word yet on who’s directing or when it might be released.

image c. 2018 Tor Books

Oh bother.
View Video

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Small World, by Gre7g Luterman. Illustrated by Rick Griffin.
Lansing, MI, Thurston Howl Publications, April 2018, trade paperback, $11.99 (301 [+ 1] pages).

Small World is Luterman’s The Kanti Cycle, Book 2. Book 1 is Skeleton Crew. Luterman says here that The Kanti Cycle is a trilogy, to be completed in Book 3, Fair Trade.

Skeleton Crew seemed to end with a definite conclusion, but Small World continues the plot in a new direction.

Skeleton Crew is set on the generation exploratory starship White Flower II, populated entirely by 10,000 furry geroo and one giant dragonlike krakun, Commissioner Sarsuk. The protagonist is Kanti, one of the geroo.

400 years ago, the krakun came to the overpopulated primitive world Gerootec and offered to hire thousands of 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 geroo on their homeworld. After 400 years, the geroo are asking if the krakun are their employers or their slavemasters. The White Flower II would be a paradise for the geroo, if it weren’t for the krakun’s cruelly arbitrary representative, Commissioner Sarsuk. It doesn’t help that Commissioner Sarsuk openly refers to them as slaves. In Skeleton Crew, matters build to a flash point, but Kanti, a lowly deckhand, maneuvers Sarsuk into seriously injuring himself before he can slaughter any geroo. The Kanti Cycle, Book 1 ends with Sarsuk returning to the krakun homeworld to recuperate, leaving the geroo on the White Flower II in peace — for awhile.

Small World begins with Sarsuk returning to the starship. He’s not happy, and he’s going to make as many people suffer as he can.

“‘On my shuttle you will find a cage. Fill it.’ Commissioner Sarsuk clipped his strand back onto his necklace. ‘I know that you love to agonize over choices, trying to make the perfect decision. So in the infinite compassion that I have for you –’ He rolled his eyes. ‘—I am giving you some extra time.’

‘Fill … a cage …’ the captain said quietly. ‘With?’

Sarsuk crossed his arms and leaned on his elbows so he could comfortably lower his face down to Ateri’s level. ‘You’re smart. At least you always act that way. What do you think? What’s the one thing on board this ship that has any utility at all?’

[…]

‘My crew?’

‘Fifty slaves should do, Ateri,’ Sarsuk said. ‘I had a ringel cleaning crew previously, but I can’t see any reason to buy more of them. Fifty geroo would be a nice perk considering how much I’ve had to endure for the company recently,’ he added, his eyes filling with self-pity.” (pgs. 4-5)

The blurb summarizes the setup: “The commissioner accidentally let his last cleaning crew starve to death, so now Kanti and forty-nine of his teammates will have to spend the rest of their lives living in a one room barracks with only a single airlock protecting them all from the planet’s poisonous atmosphere.”

Kanti and forty-nine fellow geroo are taken from their vast starship and brought to Commissioner Sarsuk’s home on Krakuntec to become the permanent cleaning crew for his apartment. The huge krakuns’ planet has a corrosively sulfurous atmosphere that would be instantly fatal to other species, so they are given one room of the apartment with their own atmosphere to live in. Theoretically, anyhow.

“Kanti studied the display next to the airlock. ‘The interior status is in the blue,’ he said.

‘So it’s safe for us to go in,’ Saquel proclaimed.

‘Not so fast,’ Kanti said, grabbing Saquel’s arm. ‘The air is safe for someone to breathe, but not necessarily geroo.’

The big male turned to face him, looming over the scruffy, junior engineer. ‘What are you saying?’

‘Well, what species did the commissioner use as his last cleaning crew?’ The other three shrugged. ‘We should presume that the systems haven’t been configured for geroo yet. Just look at the text on this display – it’s not geroo or krakun.   I can’t read any of this. This blue indicator means that it’s safe for them to breathe, but what about us?’” (p. 75)

They are expected to emerge in sealed environment suits at night when the Commissioner is asleep, to clean his huge home – for the rest of their lives.

“‘Practicality is important,’ said Kanti. ‘It’s not hard to imagine what would happen fifty years from now if the air processor breaks down and no one knows how to fix it. But I think we need to preserve our culture too. What if, in a few generations, no one even remembers that we used to live on a star ship? That we still have cousins out there, somewhere, traveling between the stars? What’s the value in our continued existence, if we lose everything we once had?’” (p. 255)

Of course, things get more complicated than that. But as with Skeleton Crew, it’s impossible to go into more detail without giving away major spoilers. Life for Kanti becomes even more dangerous than he expects, with an unexpected menace within the geroo crew itself, and unknown allies – maybe – that nobody knows about.

“He closed his eyes, his head drooping. ‘Tasty Frooties, Tasty Frooties,’ he whispered idly. It sounded so familiar, like something that the commissioner bought.

His eyes popped open, as the realization hit him. He was inside a plastic bag. He had dragged giant, discarded bags like this one to the recycler chute – clear, plastic bags that Sarsuk had tossed to the floor after he had eaten all of his Tasty Frooties.

‘Hello?’ Kanti rasped again. ‘Why am I in a plastic bag?’” (p. 282)

Unlike Skeleton Crew, Small World does end on a cliffhanger. It is actually the first half of a single novel. The last half is The Kanti Cycle, Book 3, Fair Trade, coming soon.

Cover Art by Rick Griffin

Small World (cover by Rick Griffin) is hard-science s-f; it’s a tense mystery; and it’s furry and scaly — and more. It has unexpected surprises every few pages. Get it.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Thurston Howl Publications

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, or 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.

We’re going to lift this one wholesale from Animation World Network, because it’s cool! “Alchemy II has teamed up with The Jim Henson Company to develop an animated fantasy adventure series for kids ages 3-7 based on the popular Teddy Ruxpin property. The new Teddy Ruxpin series will have an all-star team, including showrunner John Tartaglia (Splash and Bubbles, Johnny and the Sprites); producer Russell Hicks, the original head illustrator for Alchemy II during Teddy Ruxpin’s initial launch; global master toy partner Wicked Cool Toys; and The Jim Henson Company led by executive producers Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford. World-renowned Jim Henson’s Creature Shop will bring the series to life with its Emmy Award-winning Henson Digital Puppetry Studio (Sid the Science Kid, Word Party), which allows performers to puppeteer animated characters in real time allowing for more organic and natural movement. The new series will focus on important themes and skills like fostering self-esteem, empathy, and individuality.” Good stuff all, that.

image c. 2018 Alchemy II

I haven't put a tech story here in a long time and it's cryptokittes! I wonder if there are other furry endeavors we can use the blockchain for?
View Video

Dear Papabear,

I feel absolutely destroyed and need advise from someone outside of my own personal friend circle who can offer insight on my predicament. I was in a relationship and engaged to a wonderful dragon. We rarely argued and when we did we were always able to overcome with patience and compromise. it took a lot of work and effort to get to our level of love/trust and I really thought we were going to make it for the long haul. That's why it was so surprising and painful when it all started slipping. I tried literally everything I could do to save us, but he stopped helping. He started spending all his time on telegram and twitter and started caring much more about his looks and his friends... and the whole time he said he was the bad guy and I was doing nothing wrong when i pointed out how it was hurting the relationship. He stopped talking to me.

I don't understand what happened. He was never very sexually driven. I knew he was Pan sexual and could have a desire for men, but we were open. He could RP online or go play with someone if he wanted I just wanted to keep the love and he agreed. He used to tell me that "This is the best relationship I've ever been in" and "you still give me butterflies". Everything came down in the span of a month. It went from so serene, tender and loving to "I have no love left for you" so quickly. Even worse he says I did nothing wrong. He leaped from loving fiance to I'm only into men and want to uproot my entire life in a Flash. He said he felt guilty so why didn't he try to save us? Why did he totally stone wall me when I was trying to figure out what had happened? Why didn't he mourn or come to me sooner when he started feeling bad? So many whys.

Its been a couple of months now and I'm still so torn up inside. I feel like it didn't matter that I gave him literally everything I had and that I was willing to give the rest of my life to him. It didn't matter that I was patent, loving, flexible, always there when he needed me, and so many other things I thought he deserved out of the relationship... How are you supposed to move on and build up after giving so much? How do I keep it from happening again.. because it felt like a big part of the break up was... because I'm not male. And why do I still love him and want to be with him even after all of this pain and after hes made it abundantly clear that he had nothing for me?

I'm sure time is an answer to this... but I sure would like to feel like I will survive this instead of death by great bleeding heart. Advise on the short term healing or maybe recommendations on long term relationships for next time?

Broken Hearted Blue (age 26)

* * *
​
Dear Broken Hearted,
 
I'm sorry you are going through this. I might be able to give you some insight into this because I am familiar with what I think is his side of it from a personal level. Not sure if you read much of my bio in this column over the years, but I was married to a lovely woman for 22 years. I went into the marriage honestly believing I was straight, but when I was forty I figured out I wasn't (long story short, I had a sheltered childhood and though all gay men were effeminate, which didn't appeal to me, but later I discovered the bear community and instantly identified with it). Anyway, after four long years trying to deny it to myself and to her, I came out to her. We both cried and, of course, this led to her divorcing me. The good news is that we remain friends and I still have a lot of love for her, but we could never be married again.
 
It might be that your dragon experienced something similar, only that he initially felt he was pansexual and later it dawned on him that he was only into men. Such revelations can come over time, or they can come quite abruptly, as seems to have happened with him.
 
Now, this only has to do with sexuality. There's a difference, as you know, between sexuality and love. What rather disturbs me about what he said to you (if I am understanding this correctly) is that not only does he no longer have a sexual interest in you, but he also no longer loves you. If, to him, sex is the same as love, then that speaks poorly of this young man. If, on the other hand, he is saying "I don't love you anymore" as a way of, perhaps, breaking things off more cleanly and permanently so as not to lead you on in any way, then that is still a rather cruel thing to do, but a little more understandable.
 
Either way, he has hurt you, and to be that cold to someone you professed to love is a dark path to walk. It makes me not like him very much, but then I don't have to.
 
Answering your questions: 1) Yes, you will survive this. You are 26. Every young person goes through heartbreak at one time or another. It is part of life and part of learning about relationships. Learn from the experience and take your new wisdom into the next relationship you have, but also don't sell the good memories short; it's okay to have fond memories of someone you are no longer with—good memories can make us stronger just as surviving bad ones can. 2) On the short term, the best thing for you to do is spend a little time focusing on you as an individual and not as half of a relationship. Remember, what happened (and he said this himself!) is not because of something wrong with you but, rather, something amiss with him. Spend the next few months contemplating who you are as a person, what you want out of life, and how to achieve it. Do this in terms of only yourself and not as a partner or spouse. 3) In the long term, it will help immensely if you become—from this experience and its aftermath—someone who knows who they are and what they want out of life; someone who is self-assured and confident in themselves; someone who has love in their heart but is not codependent or seeking a codependent relationship just to get by. Such people are immensely attractive. It's the ones who reek of desperation or neediness that chase potential suitors away. Then, as this confident person (not arrogant, confident), you will be much more likely to find someone who is better mate material. No guarantees, but that's life!
 
Hugs,
Papabear

Roz Gibson’s Griffin Ranger duology is the story of a world ruled by mythical beasts and populated by assorted species of sapient animals. We are first introduced to this world in the first book, Crossline Plains, which will be reviewed here. The Twin Continents of this world host seven sapient species: Griffins, raccoon-like Hanz, canine Herders and Wolfen, massive Thunderbirds, feline Longtooths, and the belligerent tech-using parrots known as “Greenies.” The Northern Continent is patrolled by the Griffins’ titular Rangers who have a tenuous peace with the Greenies who rule the Southern. But that peace might be threatened as Ranger Harrel White-Shoulders receives reports of Greenies hunting Thunderbirds and selling their guns to Wolfen raiders. When a flight of sub-adult Griffins disappears near Greenie territories, including Harrel’s own daughter Aera, Harrel has enough and starts an investigation into the Greenies’ activities. He is soon joined by veteran investigator Kwaperramusc (Kwap for short), a tropical griffin based on a bird-of-paradise rather than a bird-of-prey and who escaped from the Greenies’ territories; and Tirrsill, a Hanz apprentice photojournalist assigned to document their adventures. As the group near the Greenie city of Kaerling, they are set upon by successive waves of assassins. Now, Roz Gibson is known in some circles for her morally ambiguous if not outright evil protagonists, and, while Harrel’s goals are sympathetic, make no mistake, he is very brutal in his methods, and many of his enemies end up with their bones shattered and guts spilled out on the grass. This is no kids’ book. Crossline Plains makes a good introduction to an alternate world where humanity never arose. It manages to show us the assorted facets of the world without resorting to a story-breaking infodump as tends to be endemic to speculative fiction. Gibson also manages to build this setting without falling into common traps like the “always evil species” or “technology levels.” The party meet a fair number of Greenies who aren’t antagonistic to them and even one or two who actively assist them, and there are some Griffins in the villain’s employ who are outright sadistic.SPOILER ALERT: The bad guys are working with humans. Whitehead built an interdimensional portal and started trading oil and young griffins for weapons. While I don’t fault Roz for going with the “humans are monsters” trope, especially when only a few human characters have been seen so far, I do take issue with the resort to Lovecraftian descriptions for them. Strange anatomy by itself just doesn’t evoke the sort of feelings of “unnaturalness” characters remark around humans. Now, if Roz had mentioned that the “Monsters” look like they’ve been plucked like a Greenie under stress, that might have been understandable. SPOILERS CONCLUDED.While the Hanz and Greenies have developed maglev trains and Griffin-portable deflector shields, photography still relies on chemical film, and telecommunications is limited to short-range radio and cables. If you’re a big fan of Griffins, and don’t mind venturing into the dark places where Roz Gibson’s writing is known to venture, I would recommend buying this and its sequel, The Monster Lands.