Furry Fantastic

Animal lovers and fans of all forms of fantastic literature will adore this anthology of short stories devoted to creatures other than homo sapiens sapiens. Here are eighteen delightful tales of fantasy, dark fantasy and horror tales told from the viewpoints of the winged, scaled, furred and purely legendary. Herein you will find denizens of the city as well and roaming creatures of the wilderness. Their homes are sky, the forests and even cushy uptown condos. Like their homo relatives, some of these animals are drawn to light and courage, while others serve a darker purpose. Magic spells and portents abound in these stories where you will encounter dogs and cats as well as mice and gerbils--and practically every creature in between. Try Judi Rohrig's marvelously dark and cautionary tale of a wolf that bridges the dark territory between art and animal instinct. If you've been enjoying Animal Planet's Meerkat Manor, you will adore Paul Genesse's story, "The Mob", about a family of courageous little meerkats. C. J. Henderson turns in a wonderful examination of the loyalty of dogs with "All the Virtues of Man", and a dog returns from the dead in Diana Francis' "In Between the Dark and the Light". You'll find incredible stories from acclaimed writers who hail from every conceivable genre within the malleable borders of fantastic fiction. This is a cunning and magical blend of entertaining tales, some light-hearted, some darkly disturbing. All are deeply satisfying. I urge you to click on the cover and discover the FURRY FANTASTIC. It's the perfect cure for the winter blahs.

Before anyone decides this is too cute for fantasy, the editors remind the audience of the works of Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit), Richard Adams (Watership Down) and Robert C. O'Brien (Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh). However, the inspiration for the theme comes from Andre Norton's "Catfantastic" tales. The eighteen all new stories are fun though mostly lighthearted as the contributors have had a good time writing the tales. The stars range from the normal fur bearers like dogs and cats to the rodent breed like mice, weasels, possums and gerbils; while some of the tales contain supernatural magical creatures who soar in the sky or come back from the dead. In all cases, the headliner battles evil using enchantments and courage to protect loved ones including human pets. Readers of short personification fantasies will appreciate this delightful anthology while those from the WC Fields' thought of never co-starring with animals (natural or paranormal) will pass as humans for the most part play a support part in danger roles. Harriet Klausner