Out of Position by Kyell Gold is AMAZING.
If you were at FC this year (I wasn't) you probably at least heard of Kyell Gold's new book Out of Position, which he was selling at the con through Sofawolf Press.
After hearing rave reviews I decided to plunk down the nearly $30 including shipping and bought it off the Web site. I got the book a week ago (it's 320+ pages) and I just finished it about an hour ago, reading the last 100 pages or so in pretty much one sitting because I simply could not put it down. I've read quite a bit of anthro fiction but I have to say this is far and away the best story I've ever read.
In a nutshell, it's about a collegiate football stud who falls in love with a gay fox, and how their relationship affects each of their lives and the lives of those they care about. This story has so much raw emotion and most importantly is extremely realistic and believable. Most importantly for me, I really related to this story because I cover sports for a living and I deal with many high school athletes that want to one day be exactly where Dev (the football-playing tiger) is some day, playing in college with a chance to go pro, and I often wonder how being gay would impact their careers in the homophobic world of professional sports.
I often put myself in Dev's shoes and wondered how difficult it must be to have to "hide" his secret from his loved ones and teammates while still focusing on football, the pressures of both sides tearing him apart inside.
Kyell obviously either did a ton of research or knows a lot about football, since the story does go into the game of football pretty extensively, from running plays to the process by which one goes from college wannabe to pro starter - but it's presented in such a way that a total neophyte could understand each scene.
And it's not a story about football anyway, it's a story about RELATIONSHIPS. There are plenty of twists, turns, surprises and interesting characters that keep the reader wanting to turn the page - and the story very uniquely flips between Lee (the fox) and Dev's first-person perspectives several times which keeps the read extremely fresh and get to see the world from two different perspectives.
I wish this would be made into a screenplay because I think it would translate beautifully onto the screen and it's extremely dialogue-heavy... but of course that's wishful thinking :)
I could go on but if you are any sort of a fan of Anthropomorphic fiction BUY THIS BOOK!!!!! It really touched me deeply and I know it will do the same for you.
After hearing rave reviews I decided to plunk down the nearly $30 including shipping and bought it off the Web site. I got the book a week ago (it's 320+ pages) and I just finished it about an hour ago, reading the last 100 pages or so in pretty much one sitting because I simply could not put it down. I've read quite a bit of anthro fiction but I have to say this is far and away the best story I've ever read.
In a nutshell, it's about a collegiate football stud who falls in love with a gay fox, and how their relationship affects each of their lives and the lives of those they care about. This story has so much raw emotion and most importantly is extremely realistic and believable. Most importantly for me, I really related to this story because I cover sports for a living and I deal with many high school athletes that want to one day be exactly where Dev (the football-playing tiger) is some day, playing in college with a chance to go pro, and I often wonder how being gay would impact their careers in the homophobic world of professional sports.
I often put myself in Dev's shoes and wondered how difficult it must be to have to "hide" his secret from his loved ones and teammates while still focusing on football, the pressures of both sides tearing him apart inside.
Kyell obviously either did a ton of research or knows a lot about football, since the story does go into the game of football pretty extensively, from running plays to the process by which one goes from college wannabe to pro starter - but it's presented in such a way that a total neophyte could understand each scene.
And it's not a story about football anyway, it's a story about RELATIONSHIPS. There are plenty of twists, turns, surprises and interesting characters that keep the reader wanting to turn the page - and the story very uniquely flips between Lee (the fox) and Dev's first-person perspectives several times which keeps the read extremely fresh and get to see the world from two different perspectives.
I wish this would be made into a screenplay because I think it would translate beautifully onto the screen and it's extremely dialogue-heavy... but of course that's wishful thinking :)
I could go on but if you are any sort of a fan of Anthropomorphic fiction BUY THIS BOOK!!!!! It really touched me deeply and I know it will do the same for you.