Tagenar (Author of Don't Call Me Coach)

Tagenar Tagenar made a comment on James Steele’s review of A Separate Peace " College professors have issues. Sucks that students are taught that their professor's issues should be the subject of their writing. ...more "
Aug 18, 2026 08:05PM · see review
Tagenar Tagenar made a comment on James Steele’s review of Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys " I hear you're comfortable peeing with someone in the urinal immediately next to you. ...more "
Jul 28, 2026 03:05PM · see review
Tagenar Tagenar liked James Steele's review of Camp Concentration: "Ok, Disch, I get it. You’re well-read. You don’t need to masturbate in literary and philosophical allusion to convince me of that. Just tell your story. A poet protesting the draft by voluntarily going to prison rather than being sent to war is transf" Read more of this review »
Jul 25, 2026 05:09AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Tagenar Tagenar liked James L. Steele's blog post: Life Before Capitalism "( Part 1: The Communist Manifesto \| Part 2: Capital, volume 1 \| Part 3: Capital in the Twenty-First Century \| Part 4: The Conquest of Bread \| Part 5: In Defense of Capitalism \| Part 6: The Creation of Capitalism \| Part 7: Life Before Capitalism ) ..." Read more of this blog post »
Jul 25, 2026 05:09AM
Tagenar Tagenar liked James Steele's review of The Corrections: "[thoughts from 2011-ish] This is like reading 20 issues of Zoetrope magazine back to back. The entire book is written in a style that seems to go out of its way to use as many words as possible to say as little as possible. If the book starts to show " Read more of this review »
Jul 15, 2026 09:08PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Tagenar Tagenar made a comment on James Steele’s review of The Corrections " plz tell us how you really feel about literary fiction. "
Jul 15, 2026 09:07PM · see review
Tagenar Tagenar rated a book really liked it Volle (Argaea) by Kyell Gold (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
[thoughts from 2006-ish. It's been long enough to be honest, has it not?] Graphic gay furry sex, yes, but this one is unique because there is an actual story to offset it. Volle is a fox spy in a foreign land gathering intelligence about a potential i ...more
Jul 15, 2026 09:02PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Volle by Kyell Gold. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Volle by Kyell Gold <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Tagenar Tagenar rated a book it was ok The Prisoner's Release and Other Stories (Argaea Book 3) by Kyell Gold (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
[thoughts from 2013-ish. Perhaps it's been long enough to post some constructive criticism.] A series of shorter stories set in the same world as Volle. Most of the stories are parallels or prequels to events in Volle and Pendant of Fortune. “Inside th ...more
Jul 15, 2026 08:41PM · like · see review
Tagenar Tagenar liked James Steele's review of The Plague Dogs: "[thoughts from 2005-ish] The premise is excellent. Two dogs escaping from an animal research institute and trying to survive in the wild. But the descriptions just don’t describe anything, and the sentences are very long and tend to go off on tangents" Read more of this review »
Jul 15, 2026 08:07PM · see review
Tagenar Tagenar made a comment on James Steele’s review of The Plague Dogs " foxes are normally in favor of masturbation, but when an author masturbates in literary allusion and narrative technique, it's just insufferable. ...more "
Jul 15, 2026 08:07PM · see review

Tagenar Tagenar made a comment on James Steele’s review of A Separate Peace

" College professors have issues. Sucks that students are taught that their professor's issues should be the subject of their writing. ...more "

Tagenar Tagenar made a comment on James Steele’s review of Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys

Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys by Dave Barry

" I hear you're comfortable peeing with someone in the urinal immediately next to you. ...more "

Tagenar Tagenar liked James Steele's review of Camp Concentration:

"Ok, Disch, I get it. You’re well-read. You don’t need to masturbate in literary and philosophical allusion to convince me of that. Just tell your story.

A poet protesting the draft by voluntarily going to prison rather than being sent to war is transf" Read more of this review »

Tagenar Tagenar liked James L. Steele's blog post: Life Before Capitalism

Tagenar Tagenar liked James Steele's review of The Corrections:

"[thoughts from 2011-ish]

This is like reading 20 issues of Zoetrope magazine back to back. The entire book is written in a style that seems to go out of its way to use as many words as possible to say as little as possible. If the book starts to show " Read more of this review »

Tagenar Tagenar made a comment on James Steele’s review of The Corrections

" plz tell us how you really feel about literary fiction. "

Tagenar Tagenar rated a book really liked it

Volle (Argaea)
by Kyell Gold (Goodreads Author)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

[thoughts from 2006-ish. It's been long enough to be honest, has it not?]

Graphic gay furry sex, yes, but this one is unique because there is an actual story to offset it. Volle is a fox spy in a foreign land gathering intelligence about a potential i [thoughts from 2006-ish. It's been long enough to be honest, has it not?]

Graphic gay furry sex, yes, but this one is unique because there is an actual story to offset it. Volle is a fox spy in a foreign land gathering intelligence about a potential invasion of his home country. But life as a spy is very hard on him. The lying, the deception, the sacrifices he has to make just to maintain the false image. It gets to him. Fortunately, there are plenty of hot males around... he’s gotta have one outlet where he can just be himself without any pretenses. It’s satisfying, well-done and it all makes sense. The world building is very clear and easy to slip into. Gold establishes a believable society (including a religion) without having to come right out and explain it, and that takes skill. I really felt for Volle. He gets burned pretty badly during the story’s climax, and it hurt me as much as it hurt him. It caught me completely off guard, and seeing him mature a little after he reaches the breaking point was satisfying. Of all the ways I guessed it could have ended I never expected it. A good read, and not just for the sex.

[December 2021: It’s a good time to rethink Volle. The story of Volle has a few problems, most of which have to do with sacrificing story pacing to have a sex scene in every chapter. Gold is popular because he isn’t too kinky, and his stories are pretty generic gay romance, giving them wide appeal with very few turnoffs. Nothing wrong with that, but I really do believe he fell into the trap of trying to crank out new material too quickly. Volle may be his most authentic work in that it was his first novel release, so he was under no pressure to produce anything. The story’s emphasis is on Volle’s overactive sex drive with relatively little attention paid to his difficult life as a spy in a foreign land. The story tells us over and over he’s tired of the double life he has to lead, and gay sex is the only thing he’s allowed to do where he can be himself, but we never see the hardships he must endure. The story is all about his sex life with none of the espionage to balance it. This pulls the story down but isn’t a deal-breaker because it is well-written and tasteful, and finding out who Xiller is really was a gut-punch of a climax. Volle screws up and loses someone who really could have been his husband, and he has no one to blame but himself. That hits hard. As I noted when I first read the book, I wish the story had been more balanced regarding his life as a spy relative to all the gay sex he’s having (and how every guy he meets finds him attractive and is hitting on him... yay for authorial fantasy fulfillment!), but for what it is, it’s still a good read. I think this even in hindsight.] ...more

Tagenar Tagenar rated a book it was ok

The Prisoner's Release and Other Stories by Kyell Gold

The Prisoner's Release and Other Stories (Argaea Book 3)
by Kyell Gold (Goodreads Author)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

[thoughts from 2013-ish. Perhaps it's been long enough to post some constructive criticism.]

A series of shorter stories set in the same world as Volle. Most of the stories are parallels or prequels to events in Volle and Pendant of Fortune.

“Inside th [thoughts from 2013-ish. Perhaps it's been long enough to post some constructive criticism.]

A series of shorter stories set in the same world as Volle. Most of the stories are parallels or prequels to events in Volle and Pendant of Fortune.

“Inside the Cage” has the best setup of all the stories, and is the most promising. I liked Jonas, and I wondered how he would find a way to escape a life of prostitution. And for a while I really felt for him. He’s in a strange country, no skills, no talents, and he has no idea what he wants to do except not be a prostitute. The story is on track right up until he accidentally kills his lover—I was hoping Gold would use that little detail from Volle, about him crying your highness while getting mounted. That was a great opportunity for a parallel story. But the tale takes an uncomfortable turn that doesn’t seem to do the setup justice. Jonas ends up starting a brothel in another country. I understand why Gold probably didn’t expand on that curious detail (way too difficult to work a story around it without it affecting what already happened in Volle), but I think Jonas deserved a much stronger story than that. I was hoping to see him make something else of himself.

“The Prisoner’s Release” is weird reading it after reading Volle. It’s a nice setup, but the love between Volle and Streak didn’t seem to have the same sincerity as he had with Xiller. The relationship wasn’t strong enough, and it didn’t seem like they could have any future together after how they met.

Gold addressed this in “Home Again,” an in-between story that bridges a small gap between the previous story and Pendant of Fortune. Nothing much really happens, but Volle does ask that question as the thrill of being free wears off and he wonders where he’s going to end up now.

Gold saved the best for last in “For Love or Family”, another story about a prostitute being liberated. This time it’s Richy, that adorable wolf everyone seems to fall in love with. This time he’s bought by one of his clients, and again the uncomfortable prospect of a client falling in love with his whore comes up. This time it works out…sort of. The ending is true to the setup, making it the best story in the collection. For the collection as a whole, it’s not a bad follow up, but it’s not the best.
_____
[August 2021: Inside the Cage had the most potential. I really, really wanted to see Jonas escape his life of prostitution. The story introduces this as his story arc, and then Gold made the story about Jonas going back to prostitution and finding a way to be happy in it. There’s no thematic reason for Jonas to end up content with his station in life. He doesn’t even figure out how to make it his own, or advance with it in some way. He just... settles. Like, this is all I can do, so I may as well be happy about it, despite trying and failing to escape it. Such an immense waste of potential I’m still thinking about it.

Every story fails in some way, even For Love or Family, which is the most solid story but still doesn’t convince me these two have any future together, given the way Inside the Cage showed how badly a client falling in love with his favorite prostitute can turn out. Richy and his client don’t have any meaningful connection besides sex, so taking it to the next level by having the client purchase his whore made me more uncomfortable than happy. The unaccepting parent trope is the focus, along with overcoming it with the person you love, which I understand (and I’m guessing is very personal to the author, as it comes up quite a bit in his work), but these two lovers needed more scenes together to convince me they had a future as a couple.

Gold is a good writer, but I think he fell into the same trap Robert J. Sawyer did, trying to crank out new material too quickly and not thinking things through.] ...more

Tagenar Tagenar liked James Steele's review of The Plague Dogs:

"[thoughts from 2005-ish]

The premise is excellent. Two dogs escaping from an animal research institute and trying to survive in the wild. But the descriptions just don’t describe anything, and the sentences are very long and tend to go off on tangents" Read more of this review »

Tagenar Tagenar made a comment on James Steele’s review of The Plague Dogs

" foxes are normally in favor of masturbation, but when an author masturbates in literary allusion and narrative technique, it's just insufferable. ...more "

Tagenar’s Year In Books

Tagenar’s Followers (28)

Tagenar’s Bookshelves

Tagenar’s Friends (1)

Tagenar

Goodreads Author

Combine Editions
Tagenar’s books

rss
Tagenar’s Recent Updates

See a Problem?

Preview — Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch

See a Problem?

Preview — The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

See a Problem?

Preview — Volle by Kyell Gold

Tagenar’s Friend Comments

	Don't Call Me Coach 4.01 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jake's List 4.27 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Exposure 4.09 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	C C S 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Solid Magic 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Tagenar’s Year In Books

Tagenar’s Followers (28)

Tagenar’s Bookshelves

Tagenar’s Friends (1)

Tagenar

Goodreads Author

Combine EditionsTagenar’s books

rssTagenar’s Recent Updates

See a Problem?

Preview — Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch

See a Problem?

Preview — The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

See a Problem?

Preview — Volle by Kyell Gold

Tagenar’s Friend Comments

Combine Editions
Tagenar’s books

rss
Tagenar’s Recent Updates