Will of the Alpha 3 micro-reviews
#3 of Reviews
An anthology reviewed via micro-reviews. Available from Furplanet at https://furplanet.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=828
As I did with "The Furry Future," I reviewed Will of the Alpha 3 on Twitter using micro-reviews, giving no more than a brief pro and con for each story. Here are all the reviews plus a little more reflecting on the book as a whole.
"Plow Mare" by Patrick "Bahumat" Rochefort
Pro: The relationship (and its kinkier aspects) grows in a very natural and believable way over the course of the story.
Con: Beyond their shared love of gyms and hauling sledges, the main characters have very little development and feel flat.
"Dominant Roles" by Dark End
Pro: I wrote a story, and it got published!
Con: I shouldn't write a review of my own story.
"Mustard Maloto" by Slip-Wolf
Pro: The different species in the story truly feel different from each other, with those differences emphasized for a strong sensual effect.
Con: brings together a number of disparate ideas together in a satisfying conclusion, but it takes a lot of time getting there.
"The Duck Quacks Twice" by Ocean Tigrox
Pro: Great atmosphere. A detective hard-boiled enough you can feel the rain and smokes. And the sensuality builds just as organically.
Con: The ending is very abrupt. I can see where it was going, but it needed a lot more to be fully believable.
"Home at Last" by Laura "Munchkin" Lewis
Pro: the atmosphere of the scenes is very evocative. All senses are engaged and sensuality infuses everything.
Con: second scene contains a major backstory infodump. A major plot thread is simply dropped at the end of the story.
"Interface" by Ava Herries
Pro: Rich and nuanced futuristic setting. Depicts an interesting asexual BDSM relationship. Oh, and Croppy. Oh Croppy.
(If you want to understand the reference to Croppy, just imagine that the old Microsoft Word Clippy assistant but helping you make full use of your futuristic kinky cyber-suite.)
Con: No story arc beyond sex. The story veers towards some unsettling concepts at times, which don't mesh well with the rest of the plot.
"The Were-Human" by Chastity Chatterly
Pro: interesting play on wolf versus human interactions. Good reminder that BDSM need not be complicated.
Con: From the title and first paragraph, one can guess the outcome of first half of the story. The story doesn't build up any tension.
"The Light in His Eyes" by Stormkitty
Pro: has an expansive feeling of time. Things develop, relationships form, people learn, the sex pauses as other things happen.
Con: the plot of the story comes in sudden short bursts, as if it was forgotten and the author suddenly remembered it again.
"Fourth and Long" by Whyte Yote
Pro: Fun setting and characters - a couples therapy retreat in the middle of Africa with an older sunbear/corgi couple.
Con: the BDSM aspect feels tacked on. The "Hakuna Matata" references break the suspension of disbelief.
"Lucid Daydream" by Lafitte
Pro: Cyberpunk emphasizing the punk hard and taking sensation play to a new level. Engaging, if not always likeable, personalities.
Con: Dives deep into some uncomfortable places, leaving the story more interesting than entertaining. Ends the book on a downer.
Some wrap up thoughts on the book as a whole:
This volume, compared to WotA1, feels a lot more dynamic. More variety, in both locale and storyline. Fewer "sub meets dom" plots.
On the flipside, a few stories felt like they didn't quite belong here, that the BDSM aspect was negligible or tacked on.
I don't have any favorites from this volume. I liked most all of them, but very few stood out as strongly better than others. The ones that stand out most firmly in my memory are Ocean Tigrox's, Munchkin's, and Stormkitty's stories.