I write this review after finishing both this book and it’s sequel
At the time I ordered this book I was just looking for something to listen to while I worked on other things. I knew about how Rick Griffin had written some books so I figured I would check one out on Audible while I was at it.
Previously my only experience with Rick Griffin’s literature were his Housepets webcomic as well as A&H Club. Housepets was a fun read but didn’t exactly have any impressive worldbuilding or plot while A&H Club still has too few volumes for me to really judge how well it’s plot was playing out. So imagine my surprise when the story I listened to gripped my attention so heavily i had to stop what I was doing just to be sure I didn’t miss a detail.
With the species of this book heavily resembling real world animals one would think the worldbuilding would be lazy but in this book I find it used as a strength instead. It allowed me to better imagine the anatomy of the characters and more easily immerse myself into the story while still allowing for a very non-human cast with different capabilities and mannerisms. Furthermore the detail that most of these species don’t breathe the same atmosphere as eachother is a detail I don’t often see in other sci-fi novels that I’ve read and adds a slight bit more believability to the interactions between different forms of intelligent life.
And all of that doesn’t even touch on the storytelling itself. I found myself gripped by the narrative and empathising with the various characters. All of this is further compounded by the fantastic voice and narration of Piers Ryman who I absolutely must hear more from.
In conclusion I must wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in anthropomorphic literature, though the sexual references make me slightly more hesitant to recommend it to a more mainstream sci-fi fan I’m sure I’ll still find someone else I can recommend it to who will love it as much as I do. Thank you Rick Griffin for a wonderful story so far.