Anthropomorphic Dreams Publishing

Escape Pod, the science-fiction podcast magazine has two new episodes with anthropomorphic characters in them.

His Master’s Voice is an interesting look at genetic engineering and uplifted animals.

And Littleblossom Makes a Deal With the Devil is a war drama, complete with AI battle tanks and intelligent missiles.

Different Worlds, Different Skins
Humanity’s Encounters with Other Races

Print Book, $17.95, available from Amazon and Lulu.
PDF Download, $8.95, available from Lulu.

Download a sample of the book here.

What if humanity shared Earth with other sentient species? What would first contact with an alien race be like? What wonders or horrors could be wrought by our experiments to create new life-forms, both biologic and mechanical?

This anthology is rated general interest. There are a few stories which cover concepts of romantic love and sex, violence and death, however nothing explicit is shown “on screen.” The ratings of the stories range from G to PG-13.

This anthology examines these ideas, showing humanity’s interaction with the Other, in the form of anthropomorphic animals. The stories cover diverse genres, from science fiction and fantasy, to historical fiction and contemporary fables, exploring themes of race and culture and the endless possibilities of the human condition.

Featuring Stories by Michael Bard, Austen Crowder, Bernard Doove, Seth Drake, William Eakins, Lanny Fields, Phil Geusz, Jason Gillespie, Chris Goodwin, Searska Grey Raven, Renee Carter Hall, Stefan Kaiser, James R. Lane, Alan Loewen, Paul Lucas, Eric Luhman, Brian Miller, Ken Pick, J. Scott Rogers, Will A. Sanborn, Kris Schnee, Sean Silva, Tim Susman and Wookie.

Cover artwork by Sara “Caribou” Palmer.

Khrysha the hangvixen takes some time alone to relive the past and meditate on a particular execution which affected her deeply.

Rated mature for discussion of capital punishment.

“Kill 23″ by Ken Pick

Read by Peter Katt

Music elements by Infinity Squared

Download or listen to the episode here.

Escape Pod ran an interesting story, Little Ambushes, which examines the idea of  a cultural exchange program with aliens from a distant world.  It covers some interesting ideas, like what it would be like teaching art to someone with different senses.  It also deals with a non-human intelligence and culture well, but in an understated way with a nice bit of character drama as well.

Escape Pod’s story βoyfriend is another story featuring artificial lifeforms as characters, this time in the form of virtual dating partner apps for your smart phones. It’s an interesting concept that’s wonderfully drawn and fleshed out with some good character drama. This should strike chords with anyone who remembers being a teenager and/or being one of the quirky ones.