My Favorite Books
Yeah, most of my favorite novels could be called furry, or at least have animals in them. So sue me. As with my other favorite lists, this is based more on how much I enjoyed reading a particular book, rather than it’s artistic merit. (which is not to say some of these books are not very high quality writing)
Xenogenesis Trilogy
Octavia Butler
Recently re-released as a single volume, called Lilith’s Brood. A series about aliens ‘rescuing’ the remnants of humanity after a nuclear war. The price of their aid is interbreeding with, and eventually causing the extinction of, the human species. These are really alien aliens, not Star Trek type aliens. Octavia Butler is a multiple-award winning author, and probably one of the best SF authors currently working in the field. Any of her other books are worth reading. Available
A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess
One of the very best future dystopia novels ever written. A challenge to read due to the "Nasdat" dialogue, but well worth the effort. Available
Watership Down
Richard Adams
If you don’t know why this is here, then go out and read it! Sadly, the only decent book the guy ever wrote; the Plague Dogs had some serious problems, and Tales From Watership Down lacked any kind of cohesive story. Available
Alien Chronicles Trilogy
Deborah Chester
Subtitled LucasFilm’s Alien Chronicles, this is basically a secular retelling of the story of Moses, with a lot of Sparticus thrown in for good measure. All the characters are furry (or scaled), with not a human to be seen. The story of an Aaroun (a lion-like creature) slave, raised as a pampered pet by a princess, who later becomes a leader of all the slave species. Not high literature, but an extremely entertaining read. Available
The Abandoned
Paul Gallico
A young boy in post WWII Britain is transformed into a white cat. A street-wise female cat takes him under her wing and teaches him how to live like a cat. One of the few books to make me cry. Paul Gallico also wrote The Silent Meow. Out of Print
The Borribles trilogy
Michael deLarrabeti
In an indeterminate future London, delinquent children sometimes grow pointed ears and turn into Borribles. They will remain eternally children, unless they’re caught and ‘clipped’ (ear points cut off), in which case they’ll start to grow again. The Borribles fight wars with mutated rats called Rumbles, hostile Borrible tribes, and the police. Out of Print
The Wolfen
Whitely Strieber
What if the werewolf legends were based on fact? What if there was a species of super-intelligent wolf preying on homeless people, and others who wouldn’t be missed, in all of humanity’s cities? Forget the crappy movie they made, and read the original book. Out of Print
The Haven, Lady of the Haven
Graham Diamond
The first two volumes in a series called The Empire Princess. About mankind in a grim medieval future, battling for survival against intelligent wild dogs. Wolves and birds ally themselves with the humans, and much blood is shed. The other volumes in the series follow the daughter of one of the characters from the first book (the Empire Princess of the series title) and her adventures with talking wolf companions. Not great literature by any stretch, but I hugely enjoyed these books as a teen. The Haven was later rewritten and published as Forest Wars, in the mid 90’s. Out of Print
The Gaia trilogy
John Varley
Series titles: Titan, Wizard and Demon. A great trilogy
about a female spaceship captain, Cirocco Jones, who, along with her crew,
discover a giant entity around Saturn that holds an entire world inside.
The books are particularly notable for the centauroid Titanides, which are
centaurs with 3 sex organs, created long before furry ever hit the scene.
There is graphic violence and some very disturbing http images, particularly in the
last book. There are also some major continuity problems in the last
volume, where Varley contradicts some things he set forth as fact in the
previous two books, but overall this is an excellent series. Just don't
read the last book if you have a weak stomach. Available.
The Fox and the Hound, The Wolves of Paris
Daniel P. Mannix
A couple of the finest true-life animal stories ever written. Ignore the Disney movie—the book The Fox and the Hound is a gritty, adult story that pulls no punches about life and death in the wild. The
Wolves of Paris is based on a true story of man-eating wolves in medieval France,
from the point of view of the wolves! An extremely gory story, not for the weak-of-stomach,
realistically describing medieval warfare and death. Out of Print
His
Dark Materials trilogy
Philip Pullman
Another series that is theoretically written for children, but works just as
well as an adult book. The world Lyra lives in is like ours, but unlike it
each person has an animal companions, called a daemon, which is the physical
manifestation of their soul. The series story is very complex, and has
garnered much criticism for it's supposed anti-religious message, but if you
don't mind that it is a fascinating read. Giant talking polar bears,
aliens that move on wheels, a pair of gay male angels and little people on giant
dragonflies are just some of the things you'll meet in the series. Series
titles: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The
Amber Spyglass. Available.
Duncton Wood, Callanish
William Horwood
Two of the best Watership Down type stories. Duncton Wood is a generational epic about battles for power and spiritual rebirth in a colony of moles. Although there were eventually 5 other books in the series, the first one is far and away the best. Callanish is about eagles in a zoo striving for freedom. Both are excellent novels.Out of Print (in USA) available in UK
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile
Stephen King
King has written a number of excellent books, but these two are probably my favorite. Shawshank was a novella included in the collection Different Seasons, and The Green Mile was originally published as a serial with 6 different parts, later collected into one volume. Both are prison stories, but very different in tone and outcome. I considered the movies of both to be draggy and overly long—the books are far superior. Available
Hunter’s Moon
Garry Kilworth
Probably the best of the Watership Down genre books. The story of an British urban fox, her mate (an American fox escaped from a zoo) and the Rhodesian ridgeback hound that pursues them. The American title of this book was Foxes of Firstdark. Out of Print
The
Deptford Mice series
Robin Jarvis
Don't let the cutesie-poo series title or illustrations fool you-- this is
one of the grimmest, most gruesome talking-animal stories I've ever read.
The first three books, The Dark Portal, The Crystal Prison and
The Final Reckoning follow the adventures of a mouse brother and sister as
they battle a giant, immortal cat. The next three titles, The
Alchemist's Cat, The Oaken Throne and Thomas, follow the back
stories of three of the first trilogy's characters. These are supposedly
children's books, but even I was grossed out or horrified by some of the things
that happened, particularly in The Alchemist's Cat. If you want to
read about horrible things happening to cute mice, these are the books for you!
The first 3 books are available in the US, the other three have only been
published in the UK so far.
Call of the Wild, White Fang
Jack London
Considered classics for a very good reason….Available
Animal Farm
George Orwell
DittoJ available
The Queen’s Gambit
Walter Tevis
An orphan girl discovers a talent for chess, eventually becoming an international grandmaster, while battling personal problems and drug addiction. The author also wrote The Man Who Fell to Earth and The Hustler. Tevis was such a good writer any of his books are a joy to read, regardless of the subject.Out of Print
Marathon Man
William Goldman
A fairly standard spy-vs.-Nazi story, framed by Goldman’s excellent writing style. A very influential book that I read while in my teens. Out of Print
The Moreau trilogy
S. Andrew Swann
An exciting, hard-boiled series about genetically engineered animals and humans in the near future.
Available