By Jonny Thurston edited by Dark End
The twelfth volume of Heat came out in 2015. This series is known for its straight and gay erotic stories and comics. This volume, like many before, featured a wealth of high quality works. As this is an anthology, however, this review shall try to present each work uniquely before discussing the editing for the overall collection. I will try to avoid spoilers when possible.
“Bears, Repeating,” by Tony Grefox is the opening story for the collection, and it is a great introduction to a great anthology. The young red panda Owen gets a temp job as a server for a class reunion party. However, he gets more than expected when a wealthy bear decides to become Owen’s “sugar daddy.” While the premise is far from original for gay erotica, the real twist comes when the bear’s wife gets involved, making this story a fun standard for gay and bi furs.
“Creation Myths” by Kyell Gold and Kamui is a comic elaborating on possible interpretations of a creation myth. The black-and-white, yet playful, style of the artist well compliments Gold’s own fox-like, trickster style of storytelling. While the art becomes increasingly erotic through the comic, what excels is the artist’s and author’s ability to combine sexuality with divinity in a very pragmatic way, without being irreverent. There is much to be gained from this comic in terms of epic quality.
“A Private Escape” by Kandrel has generated mixed thoughts personally. It focuses on the hard-boiled crime writer Arthur and his imaginary conversations with his private investigator protagonist Dirk. Gradually, Arthur and Dirk realize that Arthur has written himself into the novels and has his own sexual fantasies of Dirk. The story switches between the crime story Arthur is writing and Arthur’s imaginary conversations. Just as Dirk critiques, a lot of Arthur’s writings are cliche and uninteresting. However, the meta-writing scenes are provocative and captivating. My greatest critique is definitely that the crime fiction accounts could have been shortened if not cut. Otherwise, a certainly unique story.
“Meena Mae” is a poem written by Huskyteer. While the accompanying illustration by Jess Beckly is evocative and enticing, the poem seemed much less serious. When one examines the top erotic poetry of Western culture, from Ovid to Shakespeare to Rumi to the scores of poets the past twenty years, there is a general acknowledgment that a sing-songy tone does not make for a turned-on reader. While one could argue the poem comes off as “playful,” it is not really a sexual playful as the poet likely intended it to be.
“The Games We Play” is a story by the collection’s editor, Dark End. Definitely one of the more unique stories in the collection, it focuses on some paper-based role-playing gamers. The four characters are faced with a fox succubus in the game and start exploring their characters’ sexualities just as one of the real game players explores his own sexual openness among his friends. The strength of this story is a clear and attention-grabbing plot with well-designed characters. Its greatest setback, a compliment to the author himself perhaps, is that it was too short. I would like to see more of these characters and hope Dark End pursues them.
“TIC” by Rechan is easily the worst story in the collection. It follows Henry, a male fox crippled by ALS, and his wife Margaret. As we learn that Henry only has a few months left to live and can use less and less of his muscles, Margaret tries to find ways to still sexually please her husband before he dies. I have personally never read a more emotionally bipolar story. Readers are torn between being vaguely turned on and feeling sorry for the couple. When discussing matters of life and death, sexual pleasure, for most people, is usually lower on the list of priorities. Even Henry is uninterested for most of the story. I definitely think this is the odd one out of the collection.
“Pizza Repair” by 333456 is a furry lesbian comic. Through a pizza delivery roleplay, two girlfriends have a night of fun. The writing and art are simple yet erotic. The dialogue stays light, playful, and teasing. Even without the complexity of some of the other stories, this comic excels with its purpose.
“Cosmoknots” by Tempe O’Kun and illustrated by PegiBruno is a fun and erotic poem featuring a straight couple having sex in space while being televised. The language and style for this poem are incredibly appropriate, providing both the speculative wonder of science fiction, and the thrill of public exposure. The playfulness of the lines complements the content well without being sing-songy. The wolfish, cartoony art serves as a great backdrop for the poem as it portrays the spectacle with celestial wonder and humor. An excellent read.
“Glory of the Gods” by NightEyes DaySpring tells the tale of the fennic Sanis and the jackal Askan. While Askan fails at becoming accepted by the goddess Diana, Sanis is thriving as a follower of Bacchus. When Sanis attempts to conduct a blood ritual in surrender at Askan’s ignoring him, Askan realizes he needs to re-evaluate his priorities and have the sex of his lifetime to at least join Sanis. This story manages to be incredibly erotic while being entirely provocative and emotional. Everything a critic could ask for in an erotic story, NightEyes provides with memorable characters and a voice of finesse.
“Whiteout” by Rukis takes place in a snow-covered apocalyptic settlement. The blind fox healer Puck is ready to die of starvation when a sick trapper needs healing. With food for payment, Puck tends to the trapper’s sickness. Their intimacy throughout the period grows and becomes incredibly sexual. Rukis, as usual, provides stellar art with wonderful story. Starting in media res, the story provides a very natural plot arc with completely unforgettable characters and an intimacy most readers will envy.
The final story is “Unfading” by Slip-Wolf. First, I want to say that we need more furry fiction that deals with transgender people. This story follows Amar. Amar is biologically born a wolf but identifies as a rabbit. Throughout the story, she undergoes surgery to change her form to match her identity, replacing her wolf ears for rabbit ears, her nose for a rabbit nose, etc. She struggles with her family, her lovers, and finally herself. This story is a must-read for trans furs everywhere and a welcome inclusion to this collection.
Examining the collection as a whole, HEAT has some definite strengths and weaknesses. Strengths: The formatting for the stories is superb, especially notable in “A Private Escape” when dealing with multiple narratives. The art generally complemented the writing rather than distracted from it. Also, I must commend Dark End on the ordering of the stories. One of the finer arts of being the editor of a collection is deciding the perfect order. You have to start strong and end strong but also keep at least some interest in the middle, and Dark End pulls that off splendidly. Weaknesses: I can only think of one glaring issue. There needs to have been a lot more proofreading. Especially in the first written works, typos and grammar mistakes abound. As is my usual philosophy, I do not fault the authors, but the editors. However, despite many of the critiques I have given in this review, the twelfth volume of HEAT is one of the best volumes in the series and a milestone for the LGBT community through its dealing with transgender concerns. I would highly recommend this to any sexual fur, regardless of orientation. I applaud Dark End, Teagan Gavet, Alopex, and Jeff Eddy on the intense amount of work required for such a stunning volume of furry literature.
Furry Times 