Five Fortunes

by Fred Patten (Editor), Phil Geusz (Contributor), Renee Carter Hall (Contributor)

A fortune can be many things.

A fortune is wealth, which you earn through hard work, win by chance, steal by cunning, or lose through tragedy.

Good fortune smiles upon some and makes life easy, while ill fortune curses others to walk lonely, bitter roads.

A fortune can be your fate foretold with cards, predetermined by the stars, or read in tea leaves and portents.

Here you will find a mix of all such fortunes and the stories of five fates determined by chance or divined by purpose.

One man will remake himself into a rabbit to forge a new life. A lioness will pursue her desire to be a hunter at all costs. A wolf will struggle against her nature, only to find that even counting money can be dangerous. A cat will fall in love with a dog, and both will find that means more than anyone could imagine. And a Cintarran will journey across the stars in the hope of escaping the misfortunes of his life.

Each tale explores how a fortune can change a life. How a person might change their destiny. How greed or simple bad luck can change everything. And above all, the lengths some will go to make themselves a new fortune.

Featuring novellas by Phil Geusz, Renee Carter Hall, Watts Martin, Mary E. Lowd, and Bernard Doove.

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Fred Patten was an American writer and historian known for his work in the science fiction, fantasy, anime, manga, and furry fandoms through both print and online books, magazines, and other media.

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of five very different novellas showcases the wide range of furry fandom, and the many different directions our authors can take it.

Neither Phil Geusz's bunnymen nor Bernard Doove's chakats appeal to me a great deal; I admire the worlds each author has built, but they don't click with me. Nevertheless, both Geusz's bunny sheriff and Doove's telepathic alien were competently written.

For me, the real meat of the anthology was the middle three stories, each by an author I would go out of my way to read. The star of the collection was Renee Carter Hall's Huntress, set in a fantasy Africa of anthropomorphic lions and other fauna. The world was both fascinating and convincingly different, with strong, compelling characters and a plot that drew me in and made me empathise deeply with the heroine's struggle to find her place in society.

Watts Martin is one of my favourite furry authors and I would read literally anything he penned. In this case, it's a detective story set in a world shared by furries and humans, although the central mystery is far less important than the fun of watching the main characters strike sparks off each other.

Then, a slice of life from Mary E. Lowd's post-human world of 'uplifted' cats, dogs and otters. This is an alternate reality I love, and although dog and cat society has its problems and prejudices, it's still somewhere I'd like to live. In When A Cat Loves A Dog, the relationship of a dog and cat couple is put under stress by both familial disapproval and the difficulty of adopting kittens or puppies into a mixed-species marriage.

There should be something for all tastes in this anthology, and the novella-length format means there's more to get your teeth into than with a standard short story collection. Recommended.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

CHOSEN PEOPLE BY PHIL GEUSZ

The first novella and the cover story.

I've had the advantage of enjoying Geusz's stories for far longer than most of the Furry Fandom. As part of the TSA-Talk, he was one of the voices that helped shaped my own writing voice through example and conversation. His heroes have an an honesty and vulnerability that I have never been able to match. His worlds reflect the diversity of morality and pragmatism of humanity, and the Lapist story-verse is no exception.

Sheriff Juniper Rabbit is in many ways a typical Geusz hero; Transformed, a minority by choice, and with a specific set of skills, our new sheriff has a unique point of view of both the average Joe and the Privileged classes. Unlike the more moneyed Lapists, Juniper understands that just choosing to become a Rabbit, doesn't make you a better person. Like most Geusz heroes, Juniper inspires by example and most of his success isn't just in winning against impossible odds, but in stepping up and being the "better man" time and time again.

Juniper differs from the author's other TFed heroes in that his transformation is by choice, without coercion or being born into this form. Not that it is without sacrifice, of course, but these changes seem worth it to our hero.

The story's nice and flies by in Geusz's light and tight style. The mystery of the arsonist is wrapped up rather too quickly and much of it off camera, but this is less a crime story than a story exploring the Haves' willingness to dehumanize the Have-Nots. Overlooking the cause of conflicts is much too easy. It's always been much too easy.

HUNTRESS BY RENEE CARTER HALL

The second novella.

This is a very nice and sweeping tale set in an alternate Africa with anthropomorphic lions villages and somewhat nomadic hunters. This intelligently combines the human and realistic dynamics of human villages with the hunting schemes of lions in the natural world. In Huntress, all the big game hunters are females with their own way of life and traditions. Yet, they are also tied to the villages for trade... and recruiting.

This is a multi-layered coming of age story as Leya goes from child to adult, trying to find her place in the world. Yet, as no time is she an outright outcast. She finds her place several times in the course of the story, and often enjoys the sensation of fitting in. And, it's not that she outgrows her place in the world so much as it becomes time to take another place.

Leya's story was very refreshing in this way. Leya's not a super-skilled Huntress; Leya is not rejected at every step. Leya grows and does not create a single enemy along the way. Everyone is supportive; but they also have their emotional needs. In this way, it reminds me of the best chick-lit novels: growing and exploring both your skills and emotional landscape... and yet there's still action; it's not all in Leya's head.

GOING CONCERNS BY WATTS MARTIN

The third novella.

If I recall correctly, this is the second story I've read set in this universe. The first was Indigo Rain. I quite enjoyed both works even if I think the humans and the furred people get along just a bit to well.

The sparsity of commas was my only complaint I had in Indigo Rain. With Fred running the edits here, I have no complaints with the comma placement and grammar here.

The dialogue might have been way too witty for its own good, but it was played off as a character flaw with the feline detective. To my old eyes, I think the proper placement of "old school" pauses that a comma brings really made the dialogue pop. The plot was a shade tighter and more robust than I recall of Indigo Rain.

I hope I can find more stories with Swift and Scava in them.

WHEN A CAT LOVES A DOG BY MARY E. LOWD

The fourth novella.

Lowd's style and execution always fascinate me. She's a superb craftsman and has a deft hand with a light style. I honestly don't know how she explores the life changing issues and challenges that she does and keep it honest, yet light. There's more than a suggestion of depth here, but it never gets too dark or too common. I keep watching her stuff, hoping to learn her tricks, but I oft-times have to just settle with being entertained and inspired.

We return to the universe of Otters In Space and join our lead characters, Lashonda (a cat) and Topher (a dog), getting married in a rare mixed species ceremony. It is a nice enough ceremony, marred only by the fact that Topher's mother believes that this is a publicity stunt. Topher's a comedian in the early stages of his career and it's not a wholly unreasonable possibility. The dog is known for his cat jokes; jokes the uplifted felines understand are actually mocking the dogs who are largely in charge of the human free world. But the romance is there...

At first, both claim that they aren't interested in children -- cats and dogs cannot produce offspring in this universe -- but when Lashanda sees Topher playing with children in the park, the flood gates open. At first, she wants a litter for Topher and then herself.

How they follow this new dream is an exploration of love and science that made me smile several times and turn green with envy once or twice.

PIECE OF MIND BY BERNARD DOOVE

The fifth novella.

I know I've been aware of Chakats and Doove's universe for quite some time, I just don't recall the stories readily, but I'm so very sure that I have read them. I certainly found his pictures on Usenet from my dial-up days. Finding his art on the web today made me feel wonderfully nostalgic.

Reading this story felt like slipping into comfortable old slippers.

In Piece of Mind, I can see that there's a lot of world building and culture here, but sometimes the struts and framework are a little too exposed. A little too on the money, maybe. The craftsmanship needed to build a cohesive universe are obviously here.

How can I not attach myself to our story lead instantly? I've had to deal with anxiety and guilt... not to mention the judgement of others. This should be a cinch, but it's not that easy. The author's decision to hide the Caitian's deep dark secret played well for story needs, but in keeping the reader (ok, this reader) in the dark, it created distance I had to overcome.

By the time I was invested in Arrak (who went by three or four names in the story -- that didn't help, either), I had very little energy to start getting to know the Chakat Windy as well. Honestly, she became likable quickly enough and was well used to foil Arrak while mentoring him, but given her role in the ending of the story... I didn't see much of a sniff of the emotions that the conclusion should have been made of.

The end is much too pat, but be that as it may be, the cold cat on the skiing slopes created a few amused and touching moments that let me know that Doove's capable of selling characters to the reader (or me, in this case).

*spoiler*
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There's an epilogue on the web version of the story (http://www.furry.org.au/chakat/Storie...). I'm not sure if it fixes my issue of the "patness," but it does seem a better and more natural display of intimacy than their earlier confession of love.

[Remy G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Fred Patten-edited anthology of anthropomorphic fictions marks perhaps the first time I’ve purchased a book based on its cover, and I’ll admit I’m largely involved in the furry fandom due to the art, and to a lesser extent the literature. The main theme of the collection is fortune, which can mean wealth or luck.

The cover art comes from the first story of the collection, “Chosen People” by Phil Geusz, with the lapine narrator Juniper Lawkeeper Rabbit sworn in as a sheriff in a Nevada town populated by Lapists.

The second story, “Huntress” by Renee Carter Hall, focuses on Leya, an aspiring hunter in a village populated by anthropomorphized lions.

The third story, “Going Concerns” by Watts Martin, is set in a steampunk world, following a wolf named Annie who serves as an investigator.

The fourth, “When a Cat Loves a Dog” by Mary E. Lowd, takes place in a future where humans have abandoned Earth to dogs, cats, and otters, opening with a cat and a dog tying the knot and facing adversity as they attempt to procreate.

The last story, “Piece of Mind” by Bernard Doove, deals with the problem of telepathy among the Caitians and R’Tarmarra, who cannot turn off his own telepathic powers.

All in all, I definitely enjoyed this collection, although some of the stories have odd stylistic choices such as “Piece of Mind” using the pronouns “shi” and “hir,” which wouldn’t make much sense to audiences unversed in gender terms. I probably liked “Chosen People” the best, and am interested in the other works of the featured authors.

[Sean Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I hate to say it, I found this book disappointing. It started off so well with the first two stories, Chosen People by Phil Geusz and Huntress by Renee Carter Hall. 171 pages of excellent writing and it should've stopped there. This is one of the reasons I'm a fan of shorter collections and I wish editors would stop stuffing anthologies into the three and four hundred page count just to add length. Of the five stories, four were from established worlds created by the authors in other works, only Huntress was an original piece and it was easily the stand out. One of the issues I have with trying to read a story based in an already established universe is the questions it brings up. If you had read the original work these were based on, you may get the questions answered, but the author forgets to clarify things for newcomers now experiencing things for the first time in these spinoffs. For example, Chosen People deals with Lapism, a group of people who went through a modification to become anthropomorphic rabbits. But the question becomes, why only rabbits? It's never explained, and all it would take is a few sentences but I immediately start to think if people were to undertake such a process, there would be those who would want to be something other than rabbits. Wolves, dogs, cats, and the question lingered through the entire story. Luckily, the writing and the story prevailed here. The same thing happened with When A Cat Loves A Dog by Mary Lowd. Why only cats, dogs, and otters? Why would humans only uplift those animals and not others? It would only take a few sentences or a paragraph to explain but the author choose not to and the question lingered, annoyingly while I read. Maybe other readers don't analyze like me, but it made enjoyment difficult. But more than that, the other stories felt boring and contrived. I wasn't draw in like I was with the first two stories. The others had little tension and they felt forced and drawn out, like they were short stories stretched and bloated into novellas. Again, I wish editors and publishers would look at editing and publishing the same as writing. Cutting is good. Excess isn't always better. To be honest, I skipped the last three stories after doing my best to wrestle through a third of each but I simply lost interest. Be it boring, vague characters where in some places, I had no idea what they were supposed to be and just had a blank void in my head wondering are these anthropomorphic characters and if so, what kind? Or the story dragged through bland segments that felt tacked on for length or the characters' decisions seemed odd and the worldbuilding felt not very well thought out. As much as I hate to say it, the collection is really well done for the first 171 pages. And those two should be read. The other three, your mileage my vary.