Catfantastic 5

Published six years before Andre Norton's death, this is the last of the five wonderful cat-themed anthologies she edited with the ever-busy Martin H. Greenberg. In her brief Introduction Norton describes its furry protagonists as "cats of the past, cats of the star-wide future, cats who live lives of their own among human kind, cats who can take matters into their own paws and may have a great deal more power than we understand, cats who can face down Death itself for a purpose, and cats we wish we could actually invite within our doors for a visit and a long talkfest." Among the 24 stories collected here are Lee Barwood's "Grow Old Along With Me" (the sweet and touching story of an aged housecat who discovers that he can literally give new life and youth to himself and the old couple who adopt him); India Edghill's "The Courtesan Who Loved Cats" (a murdered courtesan and her favorite cat, likewise murdered, find unexpected revenge); Rosemary Edghill's "The Maltese Feline" (a hard-boiled mystery translated to Arthur's court, with the Sam Spade role filled by one Artos Pendragon); Paul Goode's "A Cat's Tale" (a Louisiana police detective and an Italian restaurant's Abyssinian cat team up to battle a protection scheme); P. M. Griffin's "Tenth-Life Cat" (a little Burmese, having had her nine lives, asks the goddess Bast to grant her a tenth so she can finish the job she left undone at the close of the first); Caralyn Inks's "Kindred Hearts" (a young leukemia survivor asks a rehabber and her therapy cat to help her defeat the darkness that's "eating up" her grandfather); Mercedes Lackey's "A Better Mousetrap" (the delightful shipscat SKitty and her mate SCat confront an alien cult that worships the very pests they and their kittens have been joyously slaughtering for the past two years); Sharon Lee's "The Big Ice" (an aging Maine widow finds an unexpected ally in her battle against loneliness); Barry B. Longyear's "Preliminary Report" (a stray cat helps a homeless young man turn his life around); Lyn McConchie's "Lullaby" (in Norton's Witch World, a dravencat adopts an amnesiac young girl after saving her from a would-be rapist); Ardath Mayhar's "The Very Early Hermione" (a kitten and her familiar-mother plot to save their herbalist master from a corrupt government official); Sandra Miesel's "Miss Lotte" (a tale of voodoo and magic set in 1950's Louisiana); Sasha Miller's "Kitten Claws" (a magician and his wife--formerly his cat-familiar--contend with a jealous woman and the issue of whether their imminent baby will be entirely human); Norton's "Noble Warrior and the `Gentleman' " (a Siamese temple-cat, transferred to early-19th-Century England, and his "princess" Emmy are recruited by a ghost to settle an old debt of honor), Mary Schaub's "The Cat, the Sorceress, the Buttons, and WHY" (a scholar's cat must save his master, the master's housekeeper, and the young prince of the land from a powerful sorceress who has already engineered the murder of

Bailey, Robin Wayne: "The Golden Cats" - The_Judgment Night_ never reached the established colony of Tucker's World, but crashed on Cirrun, stranding the survivors on a world seasonally wracked by the Fever Winds - and which may have a native intelligent race.Barwood, Lee: "Grow Old Along with Me" - Aging cat is abandoned by the heartless humans he lives with, to be rescued by an elderly neighbor, who cares for his Alzheimer's-stricken wife.Carr, Jayge: "Puss": `Puss in Boots', rewritten as OK science-fiction.Davis, R: "Goliath": A `cats are aliens' story. See Norton's _Star Ka'at_ for a better example.Drake, David: "Dragon, the Book" - Foolish magician trusts his familiar, although he killed her mate in an ill-considered attempt to get a powerful magic tome.Edghill, India: "The Courtesan Who Loved Cats" - A cat asks for an incarnation to avenge her beloved human companion. This one is set in India, complete with Hindu deities in the afterlife.Edghill, Rosemary: "The Maltese Feline" - A hard-boiled detective story in an Arthurian setting, where magic is used in place of machines. See Simon Hawke's _The Nine Lives of Catseye Gomez_ if you like this one.Goode, Paul: "A Cat's Tale" - Lt. Mufasa Mubaric (not *my* spelling) of Monroe, Louisiana went to Antonio's to meet the anonymous informant who e-mailed him - who turns out to be Giacomo, the restaurant cat.Griffin, P.M. "Tenth-Life Cat" - Another Bastet story (see Catfantastic 2, 3). This time the petitioning cat has completed her 9th life, and asks to go back in time and avert a disaster that occurred in her 1st life. No explanation is offered for why she left her 1st-life partner's soul to suffer so long, or why Bastet did not intervene sooner (dea ex machina is a feature of these stories, but only when convenient for the narrative). I recommend instead her Trouble stories from Catfantastic 1 and 4.Inks, Caralyn: "Kindred Hearts" - `Kitty Kitty' is used as `furry love therapy' for seriously ill patients - but he can mindspeak, and has real healing ability, unknown to the families of his clients.Lackey, Mercedes: "A Better Mousetrap" - see my review of her collection _Werehunter_.Lee, Sharon: "The Big Ice" - Not a Liaden story, but the human protagonist reminds me of Zhena Trelu in _Carpe Diem_.Longyear, Barry: "Preliminary Report" - Cats have the task of trying to shape up their human companions; the cat delivering this report (in a hard-boiled style) has a few choice words to be passed up the line to whoever dishes out these assignments, as well as for his fellow cats who are getting tangled in bureaucratic nonsense and touchy-feely meetings. (They've been watching too many talk shows.)McConchie, Lyn: "Lullaby" - A dravencat story (see Catfantastic 4), dealing with the descendants of Many-Kills and her human sister.Mayhar, Ardath: "The Very Early Hermione" - See also Catfantastic 1, 3, 4. Hermoine, in her later years (now with a new human charge, a witch) has been asked for a story of her youth

Catfantastic V is a pleasant addition to theis series. I waited a long time with baited breath for this book to be published and it was well worth it. Old stories continue with Skitty, Scat and Ferdon The Magician as well as delightful stories that introduce new authors and characters. Many of the stories are sad to read but force you to think, reflect, remember and IMAGINE. Can't wait for the next edition to publish!

I have enjoyed other books in this series, and find that the publishers reviews are accurate if shallow. This volume is plagued with uneven writing, and many of the stories are written in worlds created by other writers rather than the original ones that I prefer. As I was reading this, I noticed that each story seemed to deal with death, mortal illness, and tragedy. It is certainly worth buying, reading, and keeping, but the overall tone is much more serious than others in this series.

Catfantastic V takes us on another journey into the what-if world of cats. There are some good, strong stories here, and some (if you excuse the expression) real dogs. There are also some mediocre performances by some well known names. The standout stories include Barry Longyear's "Preliminary Report" in which a cat's secret life and network are revealed in a fun and satisfying story, Rosemary Edghill's "The Maltese Feline" in which we see combined a magical world with old fashioned hard-boiled detective story, and Sharon Lee's understated "The Big Ice" with its elegant and compelling excursion into a brisk New England morning. Also well done were Lawrence Watt-Evans' offbeat "Trixie" and Susan Schwartz's workmanlike "Hobson's Choice". There were several rather disturbing stories -- perhaps representing a real-world New Age belief -- a "healing feline angel theme" in which cats risk all or give all for stupid or weak humans. The most disappointing stories for me were done by Jaygee Carr, Mercedes Lackey and Rose Wolf; each gives the feeling that they were off-handedly written between other projects.Generally a really readable book and a must for cat people, with some stories that all sf and fantasy readers will be glad to have seen, Catfantastic V is worth putting on your shelf or giving to your cat-owning friends.