Thanks.

This YouTube account can give you a solid introduction to the genre:

https://www.youtube.com/user/FilmNoirTV

No offense taken. Sounds like the sort of thing I would have previously dubbed "Norse"(since the Norse worldview was dominated by fate and ended with even most of their gods getting killed). Each to his own, I suppose.

Knowing what you've told me now, I've actually been angling for something of the "noir" persuasion for a while now. There will be later chapters where the tone is much more light-hearted and humorous, but rest assured, this will not be one of those stories where the good guys have it easy.

A clarification: by that comparison, I didn't mean to infer that your fiction is pessimistic, Jack. I hope you understand that. Film noir is a very popular and engaging genre, and I happen to like it. Zootopia itself has a light film noir aspect to it as well. And there are literary versions of that genre. But pessimism would be considered one aspect of a film noir, or literary version thereof. So it isn't considered light, comedic or melodramatic, in other words. Just FYI.

From the Oxford online English dictionary:

"FILM NOIR

[film nwar]
NOUN

A style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. The term was originally applied (by a group of French critics) to American thriller or detective films made in the period 1944–54 and to the work of directors such as Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder. A film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace."

Thanks. I had a lot of fun writing it, because it's a break from my usual style - and I love caves and underground passages. Hearing it described as "noir" is kind of interesting for me, as I'm not familiar with the genre - but I guess I pegged it anyway.

Glad you liked the range of species I included; I've got a number of plans in that respect (I'm also a fan of nocturnal animals). I've heard quite a bit of feedback about Olivia in particular; there's actually a joke in her name which is a little clearer for people who've seen the show Loonatice Unleashed (or just for people who know some French). I'll probably make it a bit clearer later on.

So, having read this first chapter of your story, I have to tell you that I really like the "film noir" feel of it, befitting not only certain characteristics of the original movie, but also of the underlying mystery of the nighthowlers. You've got a well-developed and keen writing structure for this sort of story concept, an it was easy to follow and engaging. And, of course, I like that you're setting the early elements of the story in the Noctural District, as I had mentioned to you before (and that you've included some new mammals, some of which are very distinct noctural species)! I really think you're on the right track here...and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

Miss Poisson. An interesting name for the primary antagonist, and of making her a skunk.