Exploring New Places

by Fred Patten (Editor), Michael H. Payne (Contributor), Alan Loewen (Contributor)

There's Always Another Horizon

People travel for all sorts of reasons. Some seek knowledge, others want to escape. An explorer might want to know what lies beyond the seemingly endless desert, but most people just want to get out a little and meet the neighbors. That’s a much longer trip when they live in the next galaxy.

Exploring New Places is an anthology of 19 short stories about anthropomorphic animals venturing into unfamiliar territory, and you can join them. Whether they are a rabbit in a spaceship searching for their creator, bats sailing into the wind, a gorilla student wandering off in a museum, or two-tailed squirrels confronting interstellar explorers; these animals will take you to parts unknown and new worlds of imagination.

Journey with them, and light a candle in a far away place.

Contents:

To Drive the Cold Winter Away by Michael H. Payne
In Search of the Creators by Alan Loewen
The Rocky Spires of Planet 227 by Mary E. Lowd
Defiant by Harwich Wolcott
Why Indeed by Pepper Hume
Come to Todor! by Fred Patten
You Are Our Lifeboat by Dan Leinir Turthra Jensen
The Animal Game by Vixyy Fox
Ashland's Fury by MikasiWolf
Legacy by M.R. Anglin
Umbra's Legion: Shamblers of Woe by Adam Baker
Umbra's Legion: Where Pride Planted by Geoff Galt
Beyond Acacia Ridge by Amy Fontaine
One Day in Hanoi by Thomas "Faux" Steele
Welcome, Furries by Cathy Smith
Back Then by Frank LeRenard
Tortoise Who by Mary E. Lowd
I am the Jaguar by Cairyn
The Promise of New Heffe by Kary M. Jomb

Cover art by Demicoeur

401 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2018

About the author

Fred Patten was an American writer and historian known for his work in the science fiction, fantasy, anime, manga, and furry fandoms through both print and online books, magazines, and other media.

Reviews

[Michael Miele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exploring New Places takes the concept of exploration as the central theme and shows a good variety of short stories centered around this. There are a good few space exploration stories that make up the majority of the content but that's not all that's on display. And as such, you get to experience different takes on what exploration means to the writers. The stories in this anthology were more mixed for me. A good amount of them have strong ties to the theme and make good use of it. Some of them, however, don't feel as strong in comparison. Worth mentioning that reading the short story version of Beyond Acacia Ridge was compelling enough to get me to check out the novella version.