2001 Furry Reading List

This list is derived from the ConFurence Group's new annual Anthropomorphic Literature & Arts of the Year Awards, and is intended to be used as a guide when sending in nominations at the end of the year. It is a work-in-progress that will be updated through the end of the year. Recommendations for additions are welcomed, since I am unlikely to discover every worthwhile novel, short story, TV series, comic strip or book, illustration, or game on my own; and the list should reflect more than just my personal tastes.

The Pokémon 3 movie raises a question of eligibility. This was a 2001 release in America but a 2000 release in Japan. Does the original Japanese release make it too old to qualify as a 2001 movie? The answer should probably be yes, to be consistent with inviting non-American fans to nominate new 2001 releases in their countries. However, the eligi-bility of non-American works has been a subject of debate in the Hugo Awards for years. It sounds patronizing to say that a work should only be eligible when/if an American edition is published. Yet to rule that it is only eligible during the year of its publication in its own country is to virtually guarantee that it will not get enough nominations to place among the finalists, since the majority of the Awards' nominators and voters are American fans who will not have had a chance to see it. One suggestion that has had supporters is that non-American works should be eligible twice, once for their year of original publication in their homelands, and once for their first publication in America since that will be the first time that the Awards' voters will be able to judge them. If the Anthropomorphic Awards choose that option, then Pokémon The Movie 3 will count as a 2001 release.

Arsenault, Scotty. Heebas. Serial in Furrlough; last two chapters in #97, January 2001, & #100, April 2001.

Barrett, Neal, Jr. The Treachery of Kings. Bantam Spectra Books, August 2001.

Baxter, Stephen. Mammoth, Book 3: Icebones. Orion/Victor Gollancz, July 2001.

Brown, Rita Mae. Claws and Effect. Bantam Books, March 2001.

Crane IV, Walter. Sheba, Volume II: The Falcon and the Flame. Sick Mind Press, Jan 2001.

Douglas, Carole Nelson. Cat in a Leopard Spot. Tom Doherty Assoc./Forge Books, Apr 2001.

Foster, Alan Dean. Kingdoms of Light. Warner Aspect, February 2001.

Garcia, Eric. Casual Rex. Villiard Books, March 2001.

Gear, W. Michael & Gear, Kathleen O'Neal. Dark Inheritance. Warner Books, March 2001.

Hilgartner, Beth. Cats in Cyberspace. Meisha Merlin, August 2001.

Kilworth, Garry. The Welkin Weasels #4: Gaslight Geezers. Young Corgi Books, July 2001.

Murphy, Shirley Rousseau. Cat Spitting Mad: A Joe Grey Mystery. HarperCollins, Jan. 2001.

Quick, William T. Planet of the Apes. Based on the motion picture screenplay by William Broyles, Jr. and Lawrence Konner & Mark D. Rosenthal. HarperEntertainment, August 2001.

Rowley, Christopher. The Shast War: The Second Book of Arna. ROC Books, February 2001.

Wentworth, K. D. Stars Over Stars. Baen Books, March 2001.

One question as yet unanswered is what is the word-length dividing line between a novel and a short story? This is pertinent due to Night's Daughter by John R. Plunkett and You Don't Believe by Matt J. McCullar, both published as novels in fanzine format by Fauxpaw Productions (Karl Maurer). Night's Daughter (July 2001) is 55 pages and You Don't Believe (also July 2001) is 80 pages. Both are either awfully short as novels or awfully long as short stories. Into which category should they fall?

Best Anthropomorphic Short Story

Green, David. "A Matter of Perspective", in Fur Visions #19, January 2001.

Hayden, Jim. "Niner-Thirteen", in Yarf! #61, January 2001.

Hoagland, Brock. The five individual stories in his Tales of Perissa (United Publications, July 2001).

Kieffer, Bill. "The Good Sport", on the Metamor Keep website, uploaded March 29, 2001. (http://transform.to/~metamor/story/The_Good_Sport.html. But posted on Kieffer's own website during mid-2000! Ineligible?)

Loewen, C. Alan. "Coventry House", in Pawprints Fanzine #12, Fall 2001.

Mellon, Mark. "The Brave Little Cockroach", in Anthrolations #3, January 2001.

Payne, Michael H. "Canis Major", in Anthrolations #4, July 2001.

Reid, Richard. "New World Awaiting: Claw and Shield", on Reid's Corwinda website, posted July 23, 2001. (http://www.ctnis.com/~corwinda/NWA6.htm)

Ruskin, Elan. "Moon Goddess", in Pawprints Fanzine #12, Fall 2001.

Wanderer. "Much Obliged", in Fang, Claw, & Steel #10, Winter 2001.

Anderson, Poul & Dickson, Gordon R. The Sound & the Furry: The Complete Hoka Stories. Science Fiction Book Club, April 2001. (Collection of short stories & one novel)

Hoagland, Brock. Tales of Perissa. United Publications, July 2001. (An 80-page collection of five short stories, despite being advertised as a "novel" and published in comic- book format as a comic book.)

Wager, Style & Older, Greg. Postcards from Gnome: The Second Dela the Hooda Treasury Collection. Jarlidium Press, July 2001. (Comic strip collection)

The collections of Internet comic strips published by Plan Nine Publishing will go here, although their most recent collections of anthropomorphic strips like Kevin & Kell, Newshounds, Ozy and Millie, and The Suburban Jungle were all published in late 2000. There will probably be new annual volumes of each before the end of 2001.

For a comprehensive list of both newspaper and Internet Furry comic strips (without regard to quality), see The Belfry: Furry Comics Online (www.belfry.com/comics.html).