For this anthology, Havok asked writers to create stories about animals. Whether they galloped, slithered, or swam, the stories had to have some animal kingdom element in its plot. The variety of what the authors produced is amazing.
I read the stories and rated them based on the entertainment value, the writing itself, and how well the animal was incorporated. High marks if the animal’s characteristics were central to the story (i.e. the writer couldn’t have swapped in any generic animal). I was also drawn to stories where it shed our multi-legged friends in a new light.
Since the anthology is about animals, this review will focus more on the stories with solid “animal” ratings, but I wanted to point out what scored high in the first two categories. The story with the highest entertainment rating, regardless of the animal, was “Theirs” by Pamela Love. This unique take on a familiar theme was satisfying to the last sentence. I went back and read it again immediately.
The story whose prose swept me along was “Change of Heart” by Beka Gremikova. It’s a rare case of second-person point-of-view that works (they often don’t). “Change of Heart”, strictly with its writing, allows the reader to personally feel what the main character is going through.
And now the animal ratings. Both “Theirs” and “Change of Heart” scored high enough to be mentioned here as well. Both used their animals—and to mention what they are is a bit of a spoiler—to great effect.
It’s rare when I rank a humorous story high on my list but “Negotiations of an Igneous Nature” by Michael Dolan had me chuckling with both the first and second sentence. The story has comedy and creativity in its depiction of how salamanders and dragons are interconnected.
Speaking of dragons, the imaginative tale of “Taming the Volcano” blends tension, adventure, and heart. Author Cassandra Hamm has taken the tired idea of a dragon as a winged reptile flying around and breathed some new fire into it.
Another highly rated story has pigeons as its focal point. In “Preserving Peace” by S. E. M. Ishida, a lone pigeon becomes a McGuffin in a future society where nothing is as it seems.
Dragons, flying manta rays, and other creative creatures are standard fare in Animal Kingdom, so a simple story of normal birds in cages wouldn’t seem as exciting. Yet “The Queen’s Aviary” by Mia Rumi demonstrates how a well-told story without magic or technology may captivate a reader. The same holds for Andrew Winch’s “Duty.” This fictitious piece depicts a familiar situation, but the point-of-view changes to the dog. In particular, how a dog thinks and reacts.
Finally, I thought “My Friend Pher” detailed the best combination of story and animal. Ronnell Kay Gibson’s short story about a photographer and a Barbados threadsnake exemplifies the bond we have with the creatures of the earth. Humor, danger, and a narrative that could only work with a snake all combined to show why we love to read animal tales.
This anthology contains so many good stories I didn’t mention. I hope you pick it up, cuddle with your favorite furry (or scaly) companion, and read it.