Field Research (short story) by M.C.A. Hogarth

6:10 pm 8 March 2015

The Furry Future - M.C.A. Hogarth, Bryan Feir, Yannarra Cheena, MikasiWolf, Tony Greyfox, Alice Dryden, Nighteyes Dayspring, Ocean Tigrox, Mary E Lowd, Dwale, T.S. McNally, Ronald W Klemp, David Hopkins, Michael H Payne, Watts Martin, J.F.R. Coates, Nathanael Gass, Samuel C Conway, Fred Patt

[This is only a review of Hogarth's short story, not the entire anthology - I couldn't figure out how to add the story to BL's database without including a URL, and this individual short story isn't available for download anywhere that I can see. Hogarth distributed her story, "Field Research," for free to her newsletter subscribers and Patreon supporters. I subscribe to her newsletter.]

This very short story gives some of the background of Kis'eh't, a Glaseah who later becomes a crew member of the Earthrise.

Kis'eh't is a brilliant chemist who had her pick of high-paying jobs but chose one that offered more interesting and flexible research opportunities. For her, doing research and practicing her religion are the same thing. It's all she wants to do, so it shakes her to her core when she learns that one of her research assistants has been terminated, and why.

This is a nice little extra for fans of Hogarth's Pelted Universe, although I wouldn't recommend it to Pelted Universe newbies. Kis'eh't's issues with academia and her internal struggle with the ethical issues surrounding her research's funding wouldn't be all that unfamiliar. However, there were other bits that would make more sense to those with a better grounding in the overall Pelted Universe.

I don't know that I'll ever reread this, but it was still nice seeing the Glaseahn religion through the perspective of a Glaseah whose area of study was a hard science, rather than soft.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

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Field Research (short story) by M.C.A. Hogarth