Pit Fighters 3. Side Gig by Rick Griffin [Book Review – Furry / LGBTQ]

Title: Pit Fighters 3. Side Gig

Author/Illustrator: Rick Griffin

Publisher: RGS Studios

Length: 11,920 words

Genre: Furry / LGBTQ

After taking another severe blow to his finances, Paris tries to find a better way to pay off his contract early. But is he giving in too soon?

This book contains some adult content and situations.

 

Volume three of Rick Griffin’s Pit Fighters series picks up shortly after the end of volume two. Which means that Paris is hurting. In a way, that’s the main theme of the book. Paris goes through a mass of different things here, all of which hammer home the reality of his situation: he’s out of his depth, he’s in debt, and both pits are getting deeper by the day.

The thing with Paris is that he’s such a sweet-natured character, that you want to root for him. On top of that, his misfortune may be partially due to his own leaping into things without thinking, but for the most part, he’s falling prey to manipulation. From the company itself building a system that guarantees their own success over would-be fighters to Porte’s toying with the bunny, he’s constantly on the backfoot in that regard.

Though, of course, he’s not without allies. Logan and Kinny feature less in this volume but are still there for Paris. He also gets to meet his hero Sultan, who himself adds a little to the worldbuilding with his own views on the system the company runs. Sultan also acts a means to give Paris a big enough kick to try moving forward rather than running in circles, which was nice to see.

The internal art remains as good as ever too. Rick’s work is wonderfully emotive and has a real classic feel to it. Throw in that the humour is also really good, with not only Logan being quite lovable, but Paris’ obliviousness to the advances of a female customer being genuinely funny.

This isn’t entirely more of the same though, as we see some minor changes in tone to both volume one and two, at least as it pertains to Paris and Porte. You see, there’s another encounter with the two, and this time, Rick takes us into an explicit scene. It’s short, which makes sense given the set up for it, but of course, if erotica is a no-go for you, it may be a put-off. I would say that the rest of the book should still be enjoyable, even in that case though.

The second shift with this scene is in how it’s portrayed. The last time, it was clear that Paris was conflicted. Here, he is desperate in some respects. He states himself that he needs some physical attention, but I think that, really it comes to needing to feel protected more than anything. He is in a tough situation and just wants a bright light at the end of the tunnel. And Porte clearly knows this. As a result, while it’s not a non-consensual encounter, you will be aware of Porte’s goals being less than pleasant.

Overall, I enjoyed this again. The character growth here is well-handled and comes from Paris accepting his situation and gaining some resolve to find a way forward. Pit Fighters 3 is a quick read, and the story will offer plenty of enjoyment for my fellow furries. Another consistent 4 out of 5 release.