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Goddess
Russell Rittenhouse knows exactly what he wants: move from his job as a librarian at Bennett University to a professorship. Find a house. Find a wife. The American dream! And his fantasies revolving around “Goddess,” a pinup magazine featuring women with the extraordinary gift of size-shifting—well, those are just fantasies.
Kailani, the beautiful otter princess of a tiny Pacific island, is an unexpected complication. Yet she might be the key. If Russell can sway her to go along with a millionaire’s schemes for a hotel on her island, his professorship—his life plan—is assured! What could possibly go wrong?
Goddess is the first short novel from Arilin Thorferra, the founder of “The Giants’ Club” and an acclaimed macrophile storyteller.
Kailani, the beautiful otter princess of a tiny Pacific island, is an unexpected complication. Yet she might be the key. If Russell can sway her to go along with a millionaire’s schemes for a hotel on her island, his professorship—his life plan—is assured! What could possibly go wrong?
Goddess is the first short novel from Arilin Thorferra, the founder of “The Giants’ Club” and an acclaimed macrophile storyteller.
148 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 11, 2016
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13667163
As a horror fan, giants hold a very special place in my heart. A childhood full of monster of the week movies made me into the horse I am today. Giants played no small (ahem) part in helping me see monsters as more often dangerously misunderstood creatures than outright evil figures.
And, yet, I don't particularly find myself attracted to the giant mythos. Not that I'm against Macrofurry stuff. I do like transformation stories and I do like submissive characters; so there's quite a bit of overlap there with size shifting.
In this tale set in a furry universe in a vague period prior to Hawaii's statehood, Russel the cougar is looking to become a literature professor at a very posh American University in San Francisco. It's probably in the 1950's, even if the villain of the piece, Cornelius Bennett, is known as a "rail baron." The first few pages felt nearly as staid and boring as any academic event that one might expect, but when the curvaceous otter Kailani enters the scene, things to pick up. I enjoyed every scene Kailani was in; even the scene where they are discussing The Great Gatsby. She is simply one of those people who are larger than life. *ahem*
And it's to the authors credit that Kailani's robust presence doesn't overshadow the other characters in the scene with her. Russell becomes a bigger personality when he's with her and, later, trying to be with her. Often in stories with this type of transformation from quiet protagonist with a plan to hero of the tale, the author relies on the cast to tell the hero/heroine that she changed. Here, I felt it.
No one had to tell me.
I especially liked feeling all of Russell's conflicting emotions and I cheered as he scrapped the burden of a lifetime of checklists and mile-markers.
I liked that both San Francisco and the islands felt very real and well researched. I did not feel the time period as well researched, but then I am OK with an alternate reality of an Earth packed with multiple species having a different history. I tend to demand it, in fact, so I didn't really miss the temporal veracity too much. It's enough that nothing really contradicted the feeling of a mid-20th century America... not even the color's in the magazine Russell should hide when he has company.
Trader Vic being in San Francisco, also suggests the 1950's... but that brings me to the only serious flaw to this tale. There are too many mentions of things from our mundane universe. I say this fully aware that this isn't a big deal for most of the Furry reading community. Things change in a culture with multiple species, I should think, otherwise all these creatures might as well be humans in zipper back fur suits.
But that said, this novella is worth reading for the adventure and the soft romance... even if I sometimes forgot what species Russell was. And if you love giant, powerful female furs going doing a bit of wrecking ball work, this book is a must buy.
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13667163
As a horror fan, giants hold a very special place in my heart. A childhood full of monster of the week movies made me into the horse I am today. Giants played no small (ahem) part in helping me see monsters as more often dangerously misunderstood creatures than outright evil figures.
And, yet, I don't particularly find myself attracted to the giant mythos. Not that I'm against Macrofurry stuff. I do like transformation stories and I do like submissive characters; so there's quite a bit of overlap there with size shifting.
In this tale set in a furry universe in a vague period prior to Hawaii's statehood, Russel the cougar is looking to become a literature professor at a very posh American University in San Francisco. It's probably in the 1950's, even if the villain of the piece, Cornelius Bennett, is known as a "rail baron." The first few pages felt nearly as staid and boring as any academic event that one might expect, but when the curvaceous otter Kailani enters the scene, things to pick up. I enjoyed every scene Kailani was in; even the scene where they are discussing The Great Gatsby. She is simply one of those people who are larger than life. *ahem*
And it's to the authors credit that Kailani's robust presence doesn't overshadow the other characters in the scene with her. Russell becomes a bigger personality when he's with her and, later, trying to be with her. Often in stories with this type of transformation from quiet protagonist with a plan to hero of the tale, the author relies on the cast to tell the hero/heroine that she changed. Here, I felt it.
No one had to tell me.
I especially liked feeling all of Russell's conflicting emotions and I cheered as he scrapped the burden of a lifetime of checklists and mile-markers.
I liked that both San Francisco and the islands felt very real and well researched. I did not feel the time period as well researched, but then I am OK with an alternate reality of an Earth packed with multiple species having a different history. I tend to demand it, in fact, so I didn't really miss the temporal veracity too much. It's enough that nothing really contradicted the feeling of a mid-20th century America... not even the color's in the magazine Russell should hide when he has company.
Trader Vic being in San Francisco, also suggests the 1950's... but that brings me to the only serious flaw to this tale. There are too many mentions of things from our mundane universe. I say this fully aware that this isn't a big deal for most of the Furry reading community. Things change in a culture with multiple species, I should think, otherwise all these creatures might as well be humans in zipper back fur suits.
But that said, this novella is worth reading for the adventure and the soft romance... even if I sometimes forgot what species Russell was. And if you love giant, powerful female furs going doing a bit of wrecking ball work, this book is a must buy.
October 19, 2016
"Goddess" is a decent romance story about what we really want in life, and size-changing otters.
Aside from the plot element that some people can change their size to become 80 ft tall, the plot is a standard romance/romantic comedy and it serves fine as that. Although I do think the third act goes a bit long without our love interest, and the climactic sequence is a bit jarring. The author alludes to the destructive power of giants but the chaos that ensues really diverges from the rest of the book's tone.
Character-wise Russell is a bit on the dull side, but that is intentional given where he begins the story. Also the book's antagonist is very understandable and believable, and doesn't even step up as the real antagonist until the third act. The book has a few descriptive phrases that leaped out at me like "fur the color of malted milk" or "pipe smelled like leather dipped in tar" but beyond the occasional turn of phrase, the prose is fairly standard.
There is a single sex scene which is written quite well. It's almost entirely sensual foreplay and suggestion with next to no graphic detail. While macros don't hold any particular interest to me and thus I can't comment on how well that is done, the scene (and really tany interplay of the main character and the giantess) is one of power exchange. The power dynamic is presented well enough that as someone who enjoys power exchange, I was left satisfied.
Finally a note about the cover. I thought thta since the cover depicted a canine woman, that would be our main love interest. However, the cover of the book is the cover of a fictional magazine depicting size-changing women. The actual love interest/size-changing character is an otter.
While I would give this book 3.5, there's no split-star system, so I will round up in the author's favor: 4 stars.
Aside from the plot element that some people can change their size to become 80 ft tall, the plot is a standard romance/romantic comedy and it serves fine as that. Although I do think the third act goes a bit long without our love interest, and the climactic sequence is a bit jarring. The author alludes to the destructive power of giants but the chaos that ensues really diverges from the rest of the book's tone.
Character-wise Russell is a bit on the dull side, but that is intentional given where he begins the story. Also the book's antagonist is very understandable and believable, and doesn't even step up as the real antagonist until the third act. The book has a few descriptive phrases that leaped out at me like "fur the color of malted milk" or "pipe smelled like leather dipped in tar" but beyond the occasional turn of phrase, the prose is fairly standard.
There is a single sex scene which is written quite well. It's almost entirely sensual foreplay and suggestion with next to no graphic detail. While macros don't hold any particular interest to me and thus I can't comment on how well that is done, the scene (and really tany interplay of the main character and the giantess) is one of power exchange. The power dynamic is presented well enough that as someone who enjoys power exchange, I was left satisfied.
Finally a note about the cover. I thought thta since the cover depicted a canine woman, that would be our main love interest. However, the cover of the book is the cover of a fictional magazine depicting size-changing women. The actual love interest/size-changing character is an otter.
While I would give this book 3.5, there's no split-star system, so I will round up in the author's favor: 4 stars.
November 12, 2025
It's interesting to see how much was actually packed into such a short book - there's romance, action, and even time for a bit of courtroom drama. The story itself is fairly simple despite that, but the author has told it in such a way that makes me interested for so much more.
January 12, 2016
Simply lovely story of a giant furry nature.
Ever feel stuck repeating past routines, waiting for something to hit you in the face?
Something big has hit the main character, and it's not the giant, it's love.
Ever feel stuck repeating past routines, waiting for something to hit you in the face?
Something big has hit the main character, and it's not the giant, it's love.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews