A new Argaea novel is always cause of celebration for me. Not to knock any of Kyell Gold’s other books — I’m sure Out of Position and Waterways are quite good — but there’s a pretty big thrill for me whenever I get to revisit the world of Volle and his companions. Only part of that has to do with my hopeless fetish for period clothing and medievalish fantasy.

Gold’s world is one of the most fun and rich I’ve visited in quite some time, in or out of the fandom. There are so many fascinating details about the society that it’s easy to fall into the setting completely; it feels logical, believable. The Panbestian Church, the rules of conduct and small greetings amongst carnivores and herbivores, the way the wider variety of physical differences establishes a range of behaviors, clothes, grooming practices and architecture that are both practical and fantastic, all of these things make Argaea stand head and shoulders above many other imagined furry societies. This is a bit of an over-reach here, especially considering the main focus of the stories (horny spy foxes and the wolves who love them), but Argaea is the closest we’ve come in furry fiction to the complexity and depth of Middle Earth, and I suppose this makes Gold our very own gay furry Tolkien.

Tolkien never had his hobbits bumping uglies, though, which is his loss. Another one of the charms of Gold is that he takes what’s long been considered vulgar and really put forth the work to make it respectable. Another one of the reasons I love Argaea is that Volle was the first novel that bridged the gap between porn and literature for me, and you always have a special place in your heart for the first time.

Before I descend any more into blowing Kyell’s huge…talent, let’s talk about the new novel that’ll be coming out this year at Further Confusion. Shadow of the Father finds us peeking back into Argaea several years after the events of The Prisoner’s Release. Volyan’s all grown up now, ready to step into the Lordship of Vinton, but we’re not following him. Instead, the action focuses on Yilon, his younger brother, who is whisked from the palace in Divalia to assume the lordship of a provincial country called Dewanne. As soon as he gets there, he and his companion — a mouse named Sinchon — are thrust into the middle of a very old social rivalry and complex political situation that tests their wits, determination and relationship.

This is a pretty big departure for Gold; there’s still the intrigue you’ve come to expect in the Argaea novels, but the novel is much more action-oriented than the previous ones. Most of it takes place within a breathless day, and both our protagonists are placed in mortal peril several times through that span.It’s the tensest novel yet, and while that works well for its readability, I think characterization suffers just a little bit.

Most of the action follows Yilon, as you might suspect, but there’s very little to recommend him to the casual reader. He’s young and impetuous, sure, and thrust into a life that he doesn’t want, but it’s easy to think that much of the trouble he’s put into is a situation of his own design. The situation is bad, it’s true, but young Yilon doesn’t think about the consequences of what he’s doing too often, or the effect his actions have on the people around him. He assumes that he exists in a vacuum, and he doesn’t realize otherwise until it’s too late.

On the other hand, he appears to be merely extending the long line of bad decisions that got him into this mess. Shadow of the Father turns out to be a great title for this novel, in more ways than one. I don’t want to say too much else for fear of giving away too much of the plot, but everyone who causes Yilon’s situation could have made better choices. When you take the long view, the characters (including, I suppose, our young hero) becomes more sympathetic, but while you’re reading the novel you just want to grab him by the scruff and whap him across the nose a few times.

Sinch steals the book as a much more sympathetic protagonist, though that might be my herbivore bias talking. His arc is quite satisfying; he goes from a meek little rodent who has the potential of being a pretty decent thief one day to a bad ass who’s come through his trial by fire golden pure. He makes mistakes, too, but he shows bravery, a steady head and tremendous will. I wonder if there’s a connection between that and the fact that his father has been missing for quite some time?

Either way, Gold shows a tremendous grasp of character and the complex relationships of family and political allies. He adds a sense of tension that makes this novel taut and thrilling. If you liked his previous Argaea stories, this latest will certainly not disappoint. Heck, even if you’re new to the world of Volle and his companions, Shadow marks a good entry point for great, lusty medieval fantasy.