Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Claw volume 1, edited by Kirisis “KC” Alpinus.
Dallas, TX, Bad Dog Books, July 2018, trade paperback, $19.95 (266 pages).
This is a mature content book. Please ensure that you are of legal age to purchase this material in your state or region. (publisher’s advisory)
For the first time in eleven years, Bad Dog Books has added a new anthology series to its popular FANG and ROAR titles. FANG, beginning in 2005, is for adult M/M homosexual erotic short fiction. ROAR, beginning in 2007, is for non-erotic short fiction. Now CLAW, beginning in 2018, is for adult F/F lesbian erotic short fiction.
Bad Dog Books was started by Alex Vance in Amsterdam in September 2005, as Osfer’s Joint Publications, to publish “the finest modern homoerotica to the anthropomorphic reading public” with FANG, “The Little Black Book of Furry Fiction”. Osfer’s changed its name to Bad Dog Books the next year, and ROAR, “The Little White Book of Furry Fiction”, was added for literate furry non-erotic fantasy in July 2007. The two were marketed in the U.S., along with BDB’s novels, by FurPlanet Productions. But Alex Vance had health problems, and it was awkward running a furry specialty publisher whose sales were primarily in the U.S. from the Netherlands. On December 14, 2011, Vance sold Bad Dog Books completely to FurPlanet Productions in Dallas, Texas. The sale included a requirement that FurPlanet would continue to publish volumes of FANG and ROAR annually under the BDB imprint. In 2013, FurPlanet expanded Bad Dog Books as its imprint for all electronic book sales.
Now FurPlanet Productions feels that feminine participation in furry fandom has grown to the point that there is a viable market for adult F/F erotic fiction. CLAW is intended to be an ongoing 18+ short fiction anthology.
“Thirteen authors have come together to create this collection of hot tales that show what happens when the ladies take the center stage. They’ve come to turn a few heads while strutting their stuff and throwing caution to the wind.” (back-cover blurb)
“Contextual Intercourse” by Erin Quinn is about three girls at a rave: Blair, a raccoon with heavy eye makeup to hide her mask; Dyna, a deer with antlers (reindeer?) who constantly refers to itself as “they”; and Marcy, the rave’s DJ who goes by Crimson Fluff. At least one of the girls is transgender. The sex between two of them is consensually hot ‘n heavy. CLAW’s cover by Teagan Gavet illustrates the rave. I think the use of “they” to refer to an individual is needlessly confusing, but I recognize that some people prefer it to “it” which they consider demeaning.
“The Beating of Wild Hooves” by Dwale is set in a grimly regimented society where euthanasia is the regular fate of those deemed unproductive. When Meg, cat, becomes sure that her foreman at work plans to sexually assault her, she asks Babs, a Scottish blackface ewe, to teach her how to defend herself. Babs is an accomplished fighter in the arena of combat sports, martial arts for female ungulates. There is some sexuality between Meg and Babs, but the emphasis of the story is on Babs as a martial artist:
“She cleared the weigh-in and stepped into the scanner, a machine the size of a wardrobe. With its twin, gleaming-white panels, it looked like a cross between a refrigerator and a waffle iron. The ring lights dimmed when they switched it on.
The doctor crouched over the display, spectacles reflecting the screen through the eyeholes in his hood. He was looking for contraband, anything that might breach one of hoofbeats’ most sacred tenets: that unnatural weaponization of the limb was prohibited. Whether by the addition of studs or spikes, internal or external, or through power return in the form of motors, springs, hydraulics, artificial muscle fibers or any other such mechanism, the rule against unnatural weaponization was absolute. Violation meant a permanent ban.” (pgs. 54-55)
In “The Church Mouse” by Madison Keller, Anise Pentti, an elderly mouse, goes to church to pray for the memory of Chandra Munix, her partner of forty years, who died a year earlier. As long as she is in the church, Anise decides she may as well go to confession. She finds a dead body in the confessional.
This is a murder mystery, but much more than a murder mystery. The murdered body is Anise’s own, but from when she was much younger. Anise feels rejuvenated since discovering her own dead body. She finds Chandra alive and well at home. There are more oddities:
[Two police detectives have come to Anise’s apartment to interview her about the body.] “‘Please, have a seat.’ Anise followed this up by sinking down into her favorite spot on the loveseat.
However, rather than sitting the rats continued looming about the room. Detective Gruenhut went over and picked up one of the framed pictures from the mantle. He held it up and squinted at it, snickered, and passed it to his partner. Detective Boom laughed out loud. Anise racked her brain trying to remember what pictures were on the mantel and why they might be funny but couldn’t think of what they might be looking at. They deliberately kept the pictures in the living room bland, things like her grandpups’ school photos.
Boom grinned and shook his head. ‘Where’s this park at? I’d love to take my pups.’ He flipped the picture around to show it to Anise.
Anise had to stare at it for a lone moment. It wasn’t a picture she’d ever seen before. The picture showed her and Chadra riding a dinosaur, horns, frills and all. Chandra had a big grin on her muzzle and was holding a frilled parasol. The dino was in a running pose, their dresses were flapping, and their fur was plastered back, as if they really were moving fast.” (pgs. 66-67)
After the detectives leave, Chandra explains what’s going on. It involves deliberate time travel to commit or to stop murder, and Anise and Chandra having graphic lesbian sex. “Ewww.” It’s really complicated.
The main characters in “Tempered” by Crimson Ruari are Kahina, a hyena, and Retha, an African painted dog. Both have daughters, Kahina from a recently divorced marriage, and Retha – well, she and her grandmother have a loose lifestyle. Kahina meets Retha when she takes a class in “Chocolate 101: Chocolate for the Home Enthusiast” because her therapist recommended, “that getting out was part of learning to be single again”. Retha volunteers her home for some chocolate-making practice for the two of them. Both Kahina and Retha are bi, and do you need it spelled out for you?
In “A Simple Wager” by Holly A. Morrison, Aventine is a rabbit priestess and Cora is a skunk warrior meeting in a tavern. Despite the D&D stereotypes, it’s the priestess who’s wild and looking for fun, and the warrior who’s naïve. The simple wager is that whoever loses a game of chess has to share a drink with the winner. Cora loses (she suspects that Aventine cheats). The rabbit not only picks the drink but:
“‘We’ll have that drink in my room, if that’s alright,’ she said, giving Cora a swift pat on the shoulder as she passed.
Cora stared after the bunny, half-formed protests dying on her lips. With a grunt, the skunk pushed herself away from the table, ignoring the stares of the tavern’s patrons. She allowed herself to be shown to the small, steamy bathing room, complete with an oversized tub brimming with hot water.” (pgs. 103-104)
Cora gets a lot more than a drink. But hey! it’s consensual.
The main characters in “Support” by Kristina “Orrery” Tracer are Ndidi, an anthro impala, and Aqua, an anthro mouse, her wife, in Gujarat, northwestern India. But they are anthro animals only through months of painful surgery. Aqua is a newly-made mouse, and Ndidi, the narrator, is helping (supporting) her to adjust:
“‘It’s okay,’ I whispered as I pulled her against me. ‘It was a long time ago. I thought I was over it, but I guess I’m not.’ I hugged her carefully, mindful of her stitches, then let go. ‘I’ll let you finish.’
She kissed my muzzle, then smiled at me. ‘Would you help me with my skirt, then spot me to the mirror? I want to see how I look.’
I smiled back and nodded. ‘Can you stand?’ She raised herself onto her crutches, and I knelt to carefully work her skirt past her hips. The back of the bedroom door had a full-length mirror on it, and I escorted her over to it. An anthropomorphic mouse stood in its reflection, leaning heavily on her medical crutches. Teal-blue eyes darted about as she took in all her changes. Her light grey pelt was still awkwardly short and pink skin showed through in places, riddled with fresh, angry scars from the full-body rebuild. Her front teeth hadn’t yet fully grown in, so her muzzle looked oddly bare as she opened her jaw and studied herself. She didn’t look like the picture she’d shown me three years ago, the one that started this journey. Behind her, an impala stood, tan fur shaved oddly short, the white of her chest and black spot on her forehead pale against the skin beneath. ‘It’ll improve in time,’ I cautioned her, remembering my own shock at seeing myself the first time. In the mirror, the impala’s hoof gently gripped the mouse’s shoulder with blunt black-tipped fingers.” (pgs. 119-120)
The pain may make you wince, but the love of the two women for each other comes through more powerfully than in any other story in this anthology.
“She Who Wears the Mask” by Tenza is either Madi, a raccoon who is into cosplaying, or Annette, a cheetah that Madi is introducing to cosplaying. Their sessions at Madi’s home get increasingly personal. This story is okay, but after the others it seems pretty slight.
In “Trophy Hunting” by BlueSeiryuu, Impa (deer) and Sheera (tigress) are playing an online video game. Impa has to try to score while Sheera tries to distract her:
“Then the sound of a distant gong echoed through the desk to the tigress underneath. The deer’s game had begun.
The tiger grinned, the devilish voice in her head telling her that she needed to taste Impa. Her reward would come when she made the deer moan and a hoof would reach down to pull on one of her whiskers a little too roughly.
The tiger took a deep breath, nostrils filling with the scent of cherries from the deer’s shower gel, mixed with the earthy scent of her desire. She grinned as she pressed her nose against the top of her pussy, chilling the skin and earning a surprised gasp from the deer who yanked roughly on her chain. The tiger chuffed before licking gently, the sandpaper texture making the deer squirm once more.” (p. 146)
Impa loses her concentration and the game. She makes Sheera pay for it. Rowf!
The protagonist in “The True Villain” by Dark End is the costumed villainess Doctor Midnight (skunk), who has just been foiled again by the superheroine Stardust (coyote). DM isn’t as concerned by her defeat as she is about Stardust’s costume:
[DM is relaxing in a bar, The Hideout, after her defeat.] “Midnight gave a quick roll of her eyes and tapped a tongue impatiently on her sharp teeth. ‘Have you seen her costume?’
The mouse [the bartender, Rochelle] shook her head.
‘Boob window.’
‘What?’
The skunk gave an even longer roll of her eyes as if accusing the mouse of not paying attention. ‘She dresses in skintight silver spandex from the neck down, covering every inch of her fur, except, of course, for a big patch right over her oh-so-fucking-perfect cleavage.’
Although Rochelle had mental barriers up, the image in Doctor Midnight’s mind was sharp enough to cut right through. ‘Really?’ Rochelle said.
The skunk took a drink and hmmmed non-commitally in her throat. ‘We were finally making progress. No more stupid mini-skirts and close-cut suits. We could finally wear more practical clothing.’ She gave a tug on her own cloak, which rattled with numerous pockets filled with everything an evil genius might need, far more useful than any utility belt. ‘Then along she comes in that tight little number as if the 90s never happened, flaunting herself all over the place like a centerfold starlet.’” (p. 158)
Rochelle decides to join DM as her minion as they go after Stardust together. They make an interesting threesome.
The protagonist of “Smoky and the Jaybird” by Slip Wolf is Smoky, a woman bear trucker; but all bear truckers are called Smoky and her real name is Lee-Anne. Other characters are Veronica, the otter manager of a Waffle Den coffee shop in West Virginia; April, the Waffle Den’s blue jay short-order cook; and Stickley, a mountain lion male sexist rival trucker. I won’t try to summarize this or quote from it because it’s one of the most complex and best stories in Claw vol. 1, with several surprises. Just read it. You won’t be disappointed.
“Frontier Living” by Jeeves Bunny is okay but too predictable. Tabitha (cougar) is panning for gold in a frontier river when two vicious robbers (Eddie and Ed, badger and rabbit) surprise her. They plan to rob her camp before her husband returns. This being Claw, you know the “husband” will be another woman (Maria, coyote), that they’ll turn the tables on the men-robbers, and that there’ll be a lot of sex afterward.
Claw Vol. 1 cover by Blackteagan
“Roses” by Searska GreyRaven is a very clever, very lyrical, and adult (but not as steamy as some of the stories in this anthology) retelling of the Beauty and the Beast legend. Again, any meaningful synopsis would give away spoilers, though I will reveal that the Beast is a mixture of wolf and stag. Again, my recommendation is to just read it.
In “The Tutor Learns” by Skunkbomb, Julia (squirrel), the narrator, has come from a Catholic high school to a secular college. She is assigned to tutor two roommates in math, Ramona (otter) and Mark (coyote). Julia understood the students at the college would not be all Catholic, but she didn’t understand what that meant. Or that it applied to her, too:
“I had a roommate my freshman year. Rosy, a mouse, was one of those girls who had strict parents and was tasting freedom for the first time. I made the mistake of letting her drag me to one of those frat parties and mixing my drink. I couldn’t taste the alcohol. It was a great night. We just chatted about how overbearing our parents could be, complained about professors, and I called her cute. She’s a little feisty mouse. Of course she was cute. But then I kissed her. I’m a girl and I kissed a girl. She laughed it off that night, but she didn’t speak to me the same way afterward. At the end of the semester, she didn’t even tell me she was moving in with some other girls.” (p. 241)
Ramona is wild and lezzy. Julia feels that God wants her to be the tutor that Ramona needs, but she learns more than she teaches, in a subject other than math.
13 stories. Only “Support” by Kristina Tracer and “Roses” by Searska GreyRaven are not funny-animal stories where the characters could be human as well as anthro animals, but I confess that some of the funny-animal stories were among my favorites. My favorite picks are “The Church Mouse” by Madison Keller, “The True Villain” by Dark End, “Smoky and the Jaybird” by Slip Wolf, and “Roses” by Searska GreyRaven; but several others are also very well-written. CLAW is a solid addition to FANG and ROAR.
Edited by K.C. Alpinus. Cover art by Teagan Gavet. 266 pages. $19.95. ISBN 978-1-61450-443-6. Released at Anthrocon 2018 in July. As with FANG and ROAR, you must state that you are of legal age to purchase CLAW.
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