Spotlight: The Panda's Dream, by Lawrence Schoen
Some of you may remember Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, the 2015 furry novel by Lawrence M. Schoen that won a Coyotl Award. Lawrence has continued to write in that world, and his latest work is a novelette published late in 2023 called “The Panda’s Dream,” which calls back to some of the characters from the original novel.
“The Panda’s Dream” is not very long, but it was good to revisit the world of Barsk, and the premise is engaging: an Ailuros (a panda) has been having dreams about a Fant (elephant) child he spent time with (Pizlo, from the original novel). The dreams signal to him that he must change the way he thinks about the world, and so he enlists the help of a capybara therapist to help him discuss them. If you enjoyed Barsk, I definitely recommend checking out this story!
You can purchase or review “The Panda’s Dream” on Amazon, but it’s also available through a free download if you sign up for Lawrence’s newsletter. And on the off chance that someone on this list has a SFWA membership and access to the forums, you can upvote “The Panda’s Dream” for Nebula consideration.