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Talking Film - The Princess and the Frog

Analogues - Sat 6 Feb 2010 - 04:58

Talking Film reviews the latest Disney animated feature The Princess and the Frog©2010 Tanuke Media Talking Film - The Princess and the Frog
Categories: Podcasts

Unsheathed #26 - We review FurCon, preview Furry Fiesta, talk about hybrids, motivation, and foxspeak!

Unsheathed - Thu 4 Feb 2010 - 04:00
We look back on a fun Further Confusion, including new books coming out, look forward to Furry Fiesta, including new books coming out, and answer questions on hybrids, keeping your motivation (and other things) up, and how to talk about blow jobs in front of your parents. Unsheathed #26 - We review FurCon, preview Furry Fiesta, talk about hybrids, motivation, and foxspeak!
Categories: Podcasts

Tales of the Fur Side

Furry Book Reviews - Wed 3 Feb 2010 - 14:03


Yes, I went to the fur side… and I liked it.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I highly suggest you check out Vixyy Fox's latest book, Tales of the Fur Side.

www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/tales-of-the-fur-side/5484498

It is a wonderful collection of short stories and poems by Vixyy, with beautiful artwork from one of the fandom’s most popular artists, Dark Natasha.  I was extremely excited to hear that ANTHRO made this collection available once again, and I made sure to snatch it up as soon as I could. And after reading it, I can’t wait for Vixyy’s next book to come out.

Before I start off this review, I must say that I consider Vixyy a friend and a colleague, but I also really enjoy her writing. Her stories have so much variety to them, and she has a remarkable ability to create lovable characters that make it easy for the reader to loss themselves in the vivid worlds she crafts. Part of what makes Tales of the Fur Side such a delight is Vixyy’s unique style of storytelling, which has all the ingredients needed to make reading a joy. It has a bit of comedy, a hint of tenderness, a pinch of suspense, and just the right amount of sensuality as only Vixyy can do.

My personal favorite from this collection is Puppy Love, the charming tale about a dog who thinks he’s a cat in a canine body. Everything about this story is fantastic, but there were so many other wonderful pieces in this book, including Toth(a story about Anubis’ son, the god of language), The Quiet One(a piece that deals with a touching reunion set in the backdrop of American Indian culture), Anuee of the Plains(the tale of a huntress who must bear enormous responsibility when tragedy befalls her tribe), and the beautiful poems Inter-Species and(my absolute favorite) Vixyy.

Plus, Vixyy manages to come up with one of the coolest ideas for a prologue I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. It really sets up the entire premise of the book in a brilliant way, and it makes the stories easily accessible to people both inside and outside the fandom. I don’t want to spoil it though, so make sure you head on over to lulu.com, and be sure to pick up your copy of Tales of the Fur Side. You won’t be disappointed.

Tales of the Fur Side

Furry Book Reviews - Wed 3 Feb 2010 - 14:03


Yes, I went to the fur side… and I liked it.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I highly suggest you check out Vixyy Fox's latest book, Tales of the Fur Side.

www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/tales-of-the-fur-side/5484498

It is a wonderful collection of short stories and poems by Vixyy, with beautiful artwork from one of the fandom’s most popular artists, Dark Natasha.  I was extremely excited to hear that ANTHRO made this collection available once again, and I made sure to snatch it up as soon as I could. And after reading it, I can’t wait for Vixyy’s next book to come out.

Before I start off this review, I must say that I consider Vixyy a friend and a colleague, but I also really enjoy her writing. Her stories have so much variety to them, and she has a remarkable ability to create lovable characters that make it easy for the reader to loss themselves in the vivid worlds she crafts. Part of what makes Tales of the Fur Side such a delight is Vixyy’s unique style of storytelling, which has all the ingredients needed to make reading a joy. It has a bit of comedy, a hint of tenderness, a pinch of suspense, and just the right amount of sensuality as only Vixyy can do.

My personal favorite from this collection is Puppy Love, the charming tale about a dog who thinks he’s a cat in a canine body. Everything about this story is fantastic, but there were so many other wonderful pieces in this book, including Toth(a story about Anubis’ son, the god of language), The Quiet One(a piece that deals with a touching reunion set in the backdrop of American Indian culture), Anuee of the Plains(the tale of a huntress who must bear enormous responsibility when tragedy befalls her tribe), and the beautiful poems Inter-Species and(my absolute favorite) Vixyy.

Plus, Vixyy manages to come up with one of the coolest ideas for a prologue I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. It really sets up the entire premise of the book in a brilliant way, and it makes the stories easily accessible to people both inside and outside the fandom. I don’t want to spoil it though, so make sure you head on over to lulu.com, and be sure to pick up your copy of Tales of the Fur Side. You won’t be disappointed.

Seventh Chakra Book Review

Furry Book Reviews - Sun 31 Jan 2010 - 21:01
Well, having come back from Fur Con with several hot new properties in my paws, it's time to start the cavalcade of reviews. I'm starting with Kevin Frane's new book The Seventh Chakra.


Simply put, if you read nothing else of the review: Is this book good? Yes. Were this not a text only medium, I could put the proper inflection on that simple 'yes.' As it is, I will have to dig into my bag of allusions to describe it. Try as I might, I can't get the phrase 'yes like a panting otter-slut would say it' out of my head. While that might be slightly misleading, as there's not any actual sex in this book, does have a wicked seductiveness, pulling you into this well thought out melange of intrigue, violence, and uncertainty. This is a book which will grab you by the lapels, and it is not subtle in interacting with the reader.

Set in the same universe as Frane's first novel, Thousand Leaves, The Seventh Chakra is very much an intense thriller. It's quite a sharp contrast in plot to Frane's debut novel, with a story very contained narrative of the main character, a weasel named Arkady Ryswife. I suspect that many of the readers of my review have been following along much of the pre-release publicity and teases directly from rikoshi and perhaps even the pre-release review from Weasel Wordsmith, which lets me talk a bit more about the story without delving into spoiler territory.

Even before getting into the book itself, the presentation and production itself is amazing. The cover, by Kamui, is beautiful as always, and the text is as (if not moreso) gorgeous and readable as anything I've ever held from a furry publisher. This is lovely, and rather necessary as the story really compels the reader to continue on, always just one more page to find out what happens. It's a very difficult book to put down.

The story itself, as I already alluded to, is very linear. It is an action story in the vein of James Bond or Jason Bourne, full of intrigue, secrets, gunfire. The one cliche of the genre that is missing is the love interest. While that may run counter to the prevailing tropes of furry fiction, the story is compressed into such a brief time period that shoehorning a relationship, or even a dalliance into this plot would have been thoroughly out of place. Without going into deep spoilers, the plot of the book follows a spy team for a religious organization, the Iolite league. The missions, as predictable in any thriller, go various levels of awry.

As mentioned, the plot follows Arkady's experience exclusively, though it is heavily intertwined with his team mates, Il-Hyeong Quinn, the swift fox on the cover, and Ming-Jun Devra, a rabbit. I'm not putting in a cut tag for spoilers, as I really don't want to go too far into the story itself. Everything builds on itself to such a great degree that most of the interesting bits, even from the middle, reveal a lot of the early surprises and twists. There are a few general things to share though, such as the stakes are always extremely high. Once you get past the first third of the book, there are really no breaks in the rising tension. Even in the parts that are not ostensibly action scenes, there are other concerns, shifting and somewhat nebulous, that don't really allow for a break for the reader. The climax of the book is a suitably epic payoff, though honestly by that point in the story it really doesn't actually surprise.

Honestly, if there is any criticism I have for the story, and I suppose I must, it's that once you get to a certain point in the story, it loses it's real surprise factor and becomes a inexorable march toward the final showdown. The showdown itself is tense and well written, but really contains little in the way of surprise. Another point of minor issue is the plot points dealing with language. It takes a bit of mental gymnastics to reach a state where you can believe that these characters have no knowledge of that which is second nature to a current day reader. Save for the furry characters, and a bit of fancy bio-engineering, there is little to set this setting apart from contemporary life. Thus, what to me is an obvious failure of even the most basic etymology may make sense in the context of a future in which the need for such a study has seemingly abated. (I hope this sentence makes sense to those who have read it, but not those who have yet to have the pleasure.)

One thing that I criticized in Frane's first book that is improved here is the denouement. The closing chapters of the book very neatly package the character of Arkady. It's a very satisfying ultimate conclusion, and while it doesn't lead directly into Thousand Leaves, it does set up the character for his role in the later book.

I did want to recommend reading this book twice. I read it twice, and spend the first half of the book making connections and asking myself questions, generally going 'oh shit' as my mind put two and two together. Furthermore, I'd recommend picking up Roar volume 1 so you can read A Song for Pandora, though I don't recommend reading (or re-reading) it until you've made your way through this book.

Also, I've apparently been scooped by Lovejoy the Liquor Fairy, who just earlier today broke the news that Frane's next novel will be detailing the Butterfly Island War, an event which significantly shaped the geo-political scene that underlies The Seventh Chakra and, to a lesser extent, Thousand Leaves. Although I didn't have any inside scoop or information, going by extrapolation, that was a very obvious choice for a next novel. From the references in this book, that's a very rich storytelling vein to mine.

I'd be more than happy to have a much more in depth conversation about the book privately, but for an initial review this soon after release, I've felt rather obligated to keep as much plot as possible out of the review to keep the sense of discovery fresh. It's a very good book, and I highly recommend picking it up first chance you get if you like anthropomorphic literature on any level.

Seventh Chakra Book Review

Furry Book Reviews - Sun 31 Jan 2010 - 21:01
Well, having come back from Fur Con with several hot new properties in my paws, it's time to start the cavalcade of reviews. I'm starting with Kevin Frane's new book The Seventh Chakra.


Simply put, if you read nothing else of the review: Is this book good? Yes. Were this not a text only medium, I could put the proper inflection on that simple 'yes.' As it is, I will have to dig into my bag of allusions to describe it. Try as I might, I can't get the phrase 'yes like a panting otter-slut would say it' out of my head. While that might be slightly misleading, as there's not any actual sex in this book, does have a wicked seductiveness, pulling you into this well thought out melange of intrigue, violence, and uncertainty. This is a book which will grab you by the lapels, and it is not subtle in interacting with the reader.

Set in the same universe as Frane's first novel, Thousand Leaves, The Seventh Chakra is very much an intense thriller. It's quite a sharp contrast in plot to Frane's debut novel, with a story very contained narrative of the main character, a weasel named Arkady Ryswife. I suspect that many of the readers of my review have been following along much of the pre-release publicity and teases directly from rikoshi and perhaps even the pre-release review from Weasel Wordsmith, which lets me talk a bit more about the story without delving into spoiler territory.

Even before getting into the book itself, the presentation and production itself is amazing. The cover, by Kamui, is beautiful as always, and the text is as (if not moreso) gorgeous and readable as anything I've ever held from a furry publisher. This is lovely, and rather necessary as the story really compels the reader to continue on, always just one more page to find out what happens. It's a very difficult book to put down.

The story itself, as I already alluded to, is very linear. It is an action story in the vein of James Bond or Jason Bourne, full of intrigue, secrets, gunfire. The one cliche of the genre that is missing is the love interest. While that may run counter to the prevailing tropes of furry fiction, the story is compressed into such a brief time period that shoehorning a relationship, or even a dalliance into this plot would have been thoroughly out of place. Without going into deep spoilers, the plot of the book follows a spy team for a religious organization, the Iolite league. The missions, as predictable in any thriller, go various levels of awry.

As mentioned, the plot follows Arkady's experience exclusively, though it is heavily intertwined with his team mates, Il-Hyeong Quinn, the swift fox on the cover, and Ming-Jun Devra, a rabbit. I'm not putting in a cut tag for spoilers, as I really don't want to go too far into the story itself. Everything builds on itself to such a great degree that most of the interesting bits, even from the middle, reveal a lot of the early surprises and twists. There are a few general things to share though, such as the stakes are always extremely high. Once you get past the first third of the book, there are really no breaks in the rising tension. Even in the parts that are not ostensibly action scenes, there are other concerns, shifting and somewhat nebulous, that don't really allow for a break for the reader. The climax of the book is a suitably epic payoff, though honestly by that point in the story it really doesn't actually surprise.

Honestly, if there is any criticism I have for the story, and I suppose I must, it's that once you get to a certain point in the story, it loses it's real surprise factor and becomes a inexorable march toward the final showdown. The showdown itself is tense and well written, but really contains little in the way of surprise. Another point of minor issue is the plot points dealing with language. It takes a bit of mental gymnastics to reach a state where you can believe that these characters have no knowledge of that which is second nature to a current day reader. Save for the furry characters, and a bit of fancy bio-engineering, there is little to set this setting apart from contemporary life. Thus, what to me is an obvious failure of even the most basic etymology may make sense in the context of a future in which the need for such a study has seemingly abated. (I hope this sentence makes sense to those who have read it, but not those who have yet to have the pleasure.)

One thing that I criticized in Frane's first book that is improved here is the denouement. The closing chapters of the book very neatly package the character of Arkady. It's a very satisfying ultimate conclusion, and while it doesn't lead directly into Thousand Leaves, it does set up the character for his role in the later book.

I did want to recommend reading this book twice. I read it twice, and spend the first half of the book making connections and asking myself questions, generally going 'oh shit' as my mind put two and two together. Furthermore, I'd recommend picking up Roar volume 1 so you can read A Song for Pandora, though I don't recommend reading (or re-reading) it until you've made your way through this book.

Also, I've apparently been scooped by Lovejoy the Liquor Fairy, who just earlier today broke the news that Frane's next novel will be detailing the Butterfly Island War, an event which significantly shaped the geo-political scene that underlies The Seventh Chakra and, to a lesser extent, Thousand Leaves. Although I didn't have any inside scoop or information, going by extrapolation, that was a very obvious choice for a next novel. From the references in this book, that's a very rich storytelling vein to mine.

I'd be more than happy to have a much more in depth conversation about the book privately, but for an initial review this soon after release, I've felt rather obligated to keep as much plot as possible out of the review to keep the sense of discovery fresh. It's a very good book, and I highly recommend picking it up first chance you get if you like anthropomorphic literature on any level.

Episode 81 - Obsessively Creepy

Southpaws - Sun 31 Jan 2010 - 04:41
This week on KnotCast, its creepy time! Savrin, Isty, and Shiva get creepy and creeped out by emails this week. Creepy stalkers, creepy exes, and creepy fetishes round out the topics this week, alongside long distance cheating, glass joe furries, and general strangeness. This is a silly week. Episode 81 - Obsessively Creepy
Categories: Podcasts

Unsheathed #25 - Live at FC! - A jam-packed show from Further Confusion! Sofawolf Press, contest winners, surprise news about Kyell's book!

Unsheathed - Thu 28 Jan 2010 - 12:00
Live from the fabulous Empire Room at Further Confusion, our hosts talk to Jeff Eddy of Sofawolf Press, reveal the winner of the OOP2 contest, answer questions, and give away a surprise! Unsheathed #25 - Live at FC! - A jam-packed show from Further Confusion! Sofawolf Press, contest winners, surprise news about Kyell's book!
Categories: Podcasts

KnotCast Presents - Furry Fiesta

Southpaws - Fri 22 Jan 2010 - 01:04
This week on KnotCast, its all about Furry Fiesta 2010! We have Savrin, Isty, Shiva, Guardian, and Celyddon all discussing our roles and events for this years con, discuss what there is to do around the con hotel, and give some good first-con advice. KnotCast Presents - Furry Fiesta
Categories: Podcasts

Unsheathed #24 - Marathon question-addressing session, and Further Confusion preview!

Unsheathed - Tue 19 Jan 2010 - 04:00
Kyell and K.M. answer letters on relationship, talk about what's on at FC, and look forward to Furry Fiesta! We were having so much fun, Kit let us run long. Unsheathed #24 - Marathon question-addressing session, and Further Confusion preview!
Categories: Podcasts

Unsheathed #23 - Overwhelmed by Sin City, our intrepid authors babble on about sin. And cities.

Unsheathed - Thu 14 Jan 2010 - 04:00
Kyell and Hirosaki-san find themselves at 2 am in Las Vegas, which is the perfect place to discuss setting, detail, and hookers. Unsheathed #23 - Overwhelmed by Sin City, our intrepid authors babble on about sin. And cities.
Categories: Podcasts

Public Service Announcement

Analogues - Wed 13 Jan 2010 - 21:56

"Don't be stupid." Public Service Announcement
Categories: Podcasts

Episode 80 - Ceiling Cat is Watching You

Southpaws - Fri 8 Jan 2010 - 02:09
This week we talk about.... religion. We asked how religion influences your relationships and/or your view on the fandom. Does it color it some ways, or do you not really care since you're not involved? We got a TON of responses, and we read a good cross section of them. We take some time to discuss our own particular views as well and find we're not too far apart in a lot of ways. Get a great deal at AdamEve.com when you use the coupon code "Knot" at checkout! 50% one item, free shipping, 3 dvds, and a mystery gift! AdamEve.com This weeks music break is "The Unbroken Thread" by Symphony of Science www.Symphonyofscience.com 23 days left until preregistration for Furry Fiesta 2010 ends! Hurry while you still can! www.FurryFiesta.org Episode 80 - Ceiling Cat is Watching You
Categories: Podcasts

Talking Film - Avatar

Analogues - Wed 6 Jan 2010 - 15:24

Basically, we talk about James Cameron's Avatar, and basically give it a rating out of 5. Basically.All content © its respective owners. Talking Film - Avatar
Categories: Podcasts

Goodbye 2009! (EP: 03)

The Raccoon's Den - Fri 1 Jan 2010 - 15:33
Categories: Podcasts