I read this book incredibly slowly (for me), especially since I enjoyed it so, but I was reluctant to let the characters go - Sandhri, with her quick wit and sharp tongue; Naive and scholarly Raschid; Sweet-natured Yarim and the precocious little brat, Itbit. Kidd is excellent at writing characters, and you even feel yourself feeling sympathy for some of the villains, and shedding a tear for poor, misguided Sarwah. Aside from endearing characters, we also have plentiful action, intrigue, betrayal, assassins. And, of course, the typical Kidd epic battle scene (although in this case, it doesn't feature as the climax). All in all, an absolutely engrossing read, and a must-read for Furry fans.

One thing I did notice, however, is that Paul Kidd tends to sexualise his Furries, which might not sit to well with people that are used to, say, Redwall or the Deptford books. His furry characters are decidedly anthro (ie: the females have breasts) and his books do have a tendency to have sexual references. This is fine, unless you mistake them for a children's novel because they have "funny animals" in them. Don't - cos aside from the sexual references, there's also some rather grusome scenes! I also was very wary at reading this book because the folks at "Something Awful" forums, I think it was, had picked up on Itbit and were implying that there were child sex-slaves in the book. There aren't. There IS Itbit, who is a ten-year old child (a cute wee green mouse) that has a fascination with sex. But since she grew up in a harem (somewhat like their mascot, until she comes of age) and being animal-people, one can expect them to be a little more open with sexuality than us rather straight-laced humans, I see nothing wrong with it. She very definitely does not engage in any sort of sexual practice, but considers it delightful when others do, especially when they are In Love. And if there's one thing I can say about Kidd, whilst the setting is an "Arabian Nights" style one and there is indeed a harem, he's decidedly less sexploitative then some other Furry authors (whom I will not name here, but some of you will know to whom I refer) and has decidedly stronger female roles. In fact, the only thing that mildly bothered me was despite the fact that Kidd seemed perfectly happy with F/F relationships, his chars tended to react to his M/M one with disgust and mockery. Which I suppose somewhat makes sense when you consider who was involved...

Right, after that lengthy tirade, a plot summary!

Sandhri, mistress of a thousand fleas and teller of ten thousand tales, is a humble street beggar, telling stories for coins. And then one day a handsome grey Jackel dressed in scholarly robes comes to listen to her tales and gradually they fall in love. ( )

No other author has entertained me with such magnificent storytelling as Mr. Kidd. Aku-Mashad is a fanciful setting with vivid images of beauty everywhere... not to mention lively characters one genuinely cares about!

From the noble, heroic Raschid and feisty, quick-witted Sandhri to the strong-willed yet tragic Yarïm and the mischievously cute Itbit, and so many in-between. Even the so-called secondary characters seem as alive as real people.
Not only that, but the plot comes together so well that the entire way through I was left gripping the cover wondering how things would turn out for the characters in the face of so many perils.

Fangs is definitely side-by-side with A Whisper of Wings as my favorite novels of all time (Heh, I could go on for paragraphs about Whisper; it was so wonderful! I could definitely see traces and themes of that story within this one), and what's more is that there's a continuation to their adventures! That's right, Paul Kidd's actually written a sequel continuing the tale of the Kingdom of Osra (but I warn you now, read the FIRST book before even looking at the next; don't even read the description to Fangs II, as it might spoil some of the events of the first story, and trust me, this is a tale best experienced on a clean slate. It makes the suspense and the ending so much more satisfying!).

Again, such a marvelous story. Like the Kashran realm of A Whisper of Wings, the world of Aku-Mashad and its magnificent characters will not be soon forgotten. ( )