Catfantastic II

Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag of 18 fantasy stories (no sci-fi this time).
Review: Bell, Clare: "Bomber and the Bismarck" - The HMS Ark Royal rescues a cat with bomber-jacket markings from the North Sea, and takes him on as their new ship's cat - to discover that they have the only (unofficial) survivor of HMS Hood aboard.

Belden, Wilanne Schneider: "A Puma and a Panther" - Belden's stories tend to be about exceptional children, but in this case, the story isn't told from the viewpoint of Christine or her little brother Ian. Instead, we have Bat's viewpoint - who's settling for life as Christine's pet, since he's denied his rightful place as her familiar, having been born into a non-magical world.

Boyer, Elizabeth H.: "The Last Gift" - My favorite story in this book. Isolf, presented to the jotun on her 16th birthday, is lonely, so the jotun decides to create a new creature to be her companion - but he only has tiny scraps of spirits left from the making of the world's animals, and they're a mixed bag. Combining them in his cauldron to make a bigger piece produces unexpected results. "I don't remember adding claws - or teeth!"

Cirone, Patricia B.: "Papercut Luck" - Ling Mei is now alone on the family junk; by chance, she wasn't aboard when the Emperor's soldiers seized her family. All the lucky papercuts in the market have been sold, so she buys one for courage, since courage can make luck.

Dunn, Marylois: "Shado" - Cat and White Cat are back (see _Tales of the Witch World 1_ and _Catfantastic_). White Cat is deeply depressed, having been prevented from having kittens for the last 2 winters. Cat, out hunting field mice on a foggy morning, finds just the thing to cheer her up.

Griffin, P.M.: "In Bastet's Service" - No relation to her stories in Catfantastic 1 or 4, but rather to those in 3 & 5. These stories begin with a cat facing Bastet prior to reincarnation, and by their very nature have dea ex machina situations, but not quite in a way that makes sense. For instance, the cat facing his 2nd incarnation in this story died of abuse in his 1st life; Bastet now intervenes to try to help him recover. We're never told why, if she can do this, she left him to his fate before.

Inks, Caralyn: "Shadows" - The world setting here is unfamiliar to me, and we're never told much about it. Jariel Belldancer and his camilacat partner break an ancient trap, to free a tortured human and the shadow of an immortal Pierdon.

Major, A. R.: "The Execution" - New York City is divided into many 'kingdoms' of cats (a cross between kingdoms with formal courts and gang territories). Since Flintface the dog killed a kitten after receiving his only warning, the local king put out a contract on him - and Sir Ex has been assigned to get Flintface to 'the place of execution' at 5:30 Wednesday morning.

Mayhar, Ardath: "Hermione at Moon House" - See also Catfantastic 1, 3, and 5 (but not 4). After the distressing end of her last job as a (19th century) wizard's familiar, Hermione was happy to relocate to the home of a nice, quiet astronomer. Unfortunately, kittens have a talent for finding trouble wherever they happen to be, despite a mother's best efforts. Written in the same old-fashioned diarist style as the previous entry in volume 1. If you like the content here, try Robert Lawson's _Ben and Me_.

Miller, Ann & Rigly, Karen: "Quest of Souls" - The cat and apprentice must rescue the souls of the rest of the castle's inhabitants from a 'soul robber.' We don't see enough of the victims to care much.

Miller, Sasha: "Ede's Earrings" - Ede is the familiar of Ferdon, a young wizard (just out of the Academy) with his first practice. He depends on her, so she's able to keep him out of most kinds of trouble - until he meets Dala one market day. This one is continued in Catfantastic 3 & 5.

Moon, Elizabeth: "Clara's Cat" - This story is told from Jeanine's point of view - Clara's closest relative, a divorced alcoholic who's moved in to take care of Clara in more ways than one. This one's pretty disturbing, since Jeanine's intention of murdering Clara for her money is made clear.

Norton, Andre: "Hob's Pot" - 2nd installment of the adventures of Noble Warrior, Siamese cat (in his own language, his name's Thargun Neklop), and his 'princess' Emmy. (A Noble Warrior story appears in each of the 5 volumes of Catfantastic to date.) Emmy's father has now returned from his work with the East India Company - but one of his parting gifts bears a curse.

Scarborough, Elizabeth: "The Queen's Cat's Tale" - Camelot, from the viewpoint of the aforementioned cat, now that she has retired with the Queen into a convent.

Schaub, Mary H.: "The Keep-Shape Spell" - These characters reappear in Catfantastic 3 & 4, but not 5. This time, the spell revealing a creature's true shape accidentally hit the wizard's *cat*, so Drop (formerly Raindrop) must adjust to life as a human for awhile.

Schlobin, Roger C.: "Of Age and Wisdom" - A tale of ancient times, when cats and dragons (of the Chinese variety) ruled the earth, but don't expect Dunsany here.

Schwartz, Susan: "Critical Cats" - The protagonist, Puff, has spent his life in a wire cage, as a blood donor for the animal hospital, and is embittered toward humans. Nevertheless, he's drawn as a poor soul whose attitude needs changing, to be 'saved' by the pet-patient in the next cage. (Puff is left in hospital by the grateful owner.) Stylistically well-written, I suppose, but the preachy aspect isn't to my taste.

Springer, Nancy: "In Carnation" - The nameless cat, whose previous 8 'lives' have spanned millenia, can take a human shape, but forgot human speech 4 lives ago. In this life, she takes human shape (naked, of course) and gets a job as a carnival stripper.

Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag of 18 fantasy stories (no sci-fi this time).
Review: Bell, Clare: "Bomber and the Bismarck" - The HMS Ark Royal rescues a cat with bomber-jacket markings from the North Sea, and takes him on as their new ship's cat - to discover that they have the only (unofficial) survivor of HMS Hood aboard.

Belden, Wilanne Schneider: "A Puma and a Panther" - Belden's stories tend to be about exceptional children, but in this case, the story isn't told from the viewpoint of Christine or her little brother Ian. Instead, we have Bat's viewpoint - who's settling for life as Christine's pet, since he's denied his rightful place as her familiar, having been born into a non-magical world.

Boyer, Elizabeth H.: "The Last Gift" - My favorite story in this book. Isolf, presented to the jotun on her 16th birthday, is lonely, so the jotun decides to create a new creature to be her companion - but he only has tiny scraps of spirits left from the making of the world's animals, and they're a mixed bag. Combining them in his cauldron to make a bigger piece produces unexpected results. "I don't remember adding claws - or teeth!"

Cirone, Patricia B.: "Papercut Luck" - Ling Mei is now alone on the family junk; by chance, she wasn't aboard when the Emperor's soldiers seized her family. All the lucky papercuts in the market have been sold, so she buys one for courage, since courage can make luck.

Dunn, Marylois: "Shado" - Cat and White Cat are back (see _Tales of the Witch World 1_ and _Catfantastic_). White Cat is deeply depressed, having been prevented from having kittens for the last 2 winters. Cat, out hunting field mice on a foggy morning, finds just the thing to cheer her up.

Griffin, P.M.: "In Bastet's Service" - No relation to her stories in Catfantastic 1 or 4, but rather to those in 3 & 5. These stories begin with a cat facing Bastet prior to reincarnation, and by their very nature have dea ex machina situations, but not quite in a way that makes sense. For instance, the cat facing his 2nd incarnation in this story died of abuse in his 1st life; Bastet now intervenes to try to help him recover. We're never told why, if she can do this, she left him to his fate before.

Inks, Caralyn: "Shadows" - The world setting here is unfamiliar to me, and we're never told much about it. Jariel Belldancer and his camilacat partner break an ancient trap, to free a tortured human and the shadow of an immortal Pierdon.

Major, A. R.: "The Execution" - New York City is divided into many 'kingdoms' of cats (a cross between kingdoms with formal courts and gang territories). Since Flintface the dog killed a kitten after receiving his only warning, the local king put out a contract on him - and Sir Ex has been assigned to get Flintface to 'the place of execution' at 5:30 Wednesday morning.

Mayhar, Ardath: "Hermione at Moon House" - See also Catfantastic 1, 3, and 5 (but not 4). After the distressing end of her last job as a (19th century) wizard's familiar, Hermione was happy to relocate to the home of a nice, quiet astronomer. Unfortunately, kittens have a talent for finding trouble wherever they happen to be, despite a mother's best efforts. Written in the same old-fashioned diarist style as the previous entry in volume 1. If you like the content here, try Robert Lawson's _Ben and Me_.

Miller, Ann & Rigly, Karen: "Quest of Souls" - The cat and apprentice must rescue the souls of the rest of the castle's inhabitants from a 'soul robber.' We don't see enough of the victims to care much.

Miller, Sasha: "Ede's Earrings" - Ede is the familiar of Ferdon, a young wizard (just out of the Academy) with his first practice. He depends on her, so she's able to keep him out of most kinds of trouble - until he meets Dala one market day. This one is continued in Catfantastic 3 & 5.

Moon, Elizabeth: "Clara's Cat" - This story is told from Jeanine's point of view - Clara's closest relative, a divorced alcoholic who's moved in to take care of Clara in more ways than one. This one's pretty disturbing, since Jeanine's intention of murdering Clara for her money is made clear.

Norton, Andre: "Hob's Pot" - 2nd installment of the adventures of Noble Warrior, Siamese cat (in his own language, his name's Thargun Neklop), and his 'princess' Emmy. (A Noble Warrior story appears in each of the 5 volumes of Catfantastic to date.) Emmy's father has now returned from his work with the East India Company - but one of his parting gifts bears a curse.

Scarborough, Elizabeth: "The Queen's Cat's Tale" - Camelot, from the viewpoint of the aforementioned cat, now that she has retired with the Queen into a convent.

Schaub, Mary H.: "The Keep-Shape Spell" - These characters reappear in Catfantastic 3 & 4, but not 5. This time, the spell revealing a creature's true shape accidentally hit the wizard's *cat*, so Drop (formerly Raindrop) must adjust to life as a human for awhile.

Schlobin, Roger C.: "Of Age and Wisdom" - A tale of ancient times, when cats and dragons (of the Chinese variety) ruled the earth, but don't expect Dunsany here.

Schwartz, Susan: "Critical Cats" - The protagonist, Puff, has spent his life in a wire cage, as a blood donor for the animal hospital, and is embittered toward humans. Nevertheless, he's drawn as a poor soul whose attitude needs changing, to be 'saved' by the pet-patient in the next cage. (Puff is left in hospital by the grateful owner.) Stylistically well-written, I suppose, but the preachy aspect isn't to my taste.

Springer, Nancy: "In Carnation" - The nameless cat, whose previous 8 'lives' have spanned millenia, can take a human shape, but forgot human speech 4 lives ago. In this life, she takes human shape (naked, of course) and gets a job as a carnival stripper.

Rating:
Summary: Grand feline adventures! ^_^
Review: Nothing quite like curling up with a purring cat in your lap and an adventures cat in your book! ^_^

As with all compendiums there are some good, and some bad stories, but I feel that the good drasticaly outweight the bad. I've found this to be a well collected anthology series and would highly recommend it to anyone who is fond of cats!

Rating:
Summary: A delightful collection of shorts!
Review: These are great stories not only for cat people, but fantasy/si-fi readers as well. A collection of shorts is a wonderful place for authors to get exposure and feel out new story lines as well as giving beginning and long-time genre followers a chance to expand their tastes. It is always fun when you see someone new in the older collections grow to become a fine author!

Rating:
Summary: A delightful collection of shorts!
Review: These are great stories not only for cat people, but fantasy/si-fi readers as well. A collection of shorts is a wonderful place for authors to get exposure and feel out new story lines as well as giving beginning and long-time genre followers a chance to expand their tastes. It is always fun when you see someone new in the older collections grow to become a fine author!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful stories!
Review: This is a great book, filled with lots of stories of cats and magic. Any cat fanatic should love it!

Rating:
Summary: Cat Lover Heaven!
Review: This series of short story books is an absolute pleasure to read!
Totally enjoyable short fantasy stories. Enough to get a taste of the author's style. A whole lot of fun.
Please keep them coming!

Rating:
Summary: Cat Lover Heaven!
Review: This series of short story books is an absolute pleasure to read!
Totally enjoyable short fantasy stories. Enough to get a taste of the author's style. A whole lot of fun.
Please keep them coming!