Catspaw

Rating:
Summary: My absolute favorite book on Earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I've owned Catpaw for maybe three or four years. I must have read it at least one hundred times and I still never get sick of it. The other two Cat books were good as well, but Catspaw is the best of the three. Cat is such an interesting person. There is no way to dislike Cat. His insights into how bad humans are made me laugh. The book kept me in such suspense the first time I read it, that I could hardly put it down. I hope that Ms. Vinge adds a new book to her Cat series soon. I can't wait to read it!!!

Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: If I could use one word to describe this book, then yes, that's the word I'd use. But one word wouldn't do this story justice. Joan D. Vinge's writing is beautiful, lyrical, and her characters are off the scale. If you didn't fall in love with Cat in Psion (shame on you), then you'll fall all over yourself for him in this one. This book punches you in the face. It's long and it's dense, with enough twists and turns, and more than enough character, to make you wish that it was even longer. If you're going to die tomorrow, get this book today.

Rating:
Summary: i am crazy about this book!
Review: If you believe in some kind of intrinsic common human experiance, this book will excite you. You will.the 1st time i read this book i was 13 years old. i have since read it twenty or so times. Vinge's insight into human nature is spectacular. Her characters are thoroughly real and multi dimensional. Her plot keeps you on a speedcore edge. The world she portrays is one you can see easily evolving from the world we live in. The first person protagonist perspective of cat is both immediate and fluid; it is virtually impossible not to identify with him. You forget you are reading. You are living this life, this world, at a thousand miles a minute. You share his injustices, his victories, his defeats. Every time i do not want it to end. It is so rare you feel so alive while reading a novel, Vinge's humanity is unbelievable. It is so refreshing to find a sci fi novel that is not only realistic but also a protagonist who is both sensitive and tough. Things matter to these characters(even the nasty ones) the way they do to real people. even the supporting and antagonist characters behave in the ways of real people. We may judge them for their actions but we never question their motives. We understand the emotions behind them very intimately. This was the only book ive read since les miserbles that ive felt was true in such a strong way. Read it. Read Psion (prequel)and Dreamfall(sequel). i am always eager to relive cats experiances. another vinge epic: the snow queen, worlds end, and the summer queen, are also a spectacular 3some. no 1st person though. vinge must write more books about cat. this is imperative.i cant wait......

Rating:
Summary: one of sci-fi's overlooked gems
Review: In discussions of great sci-fi, Catspaw rarely comes up. Which is a pity. It is not only one of the most well-executed novels in its genres but also one of the most compelling. I first read the book in the mid-80s, immediately indentifying with the brash young outsider Cat. It quickly became one of my favourites. Now, in 2001, I still love and admire the book for its insights into society, human nature and politics.

Sadly, Vinge has not delivered books at the level of this and The Snow Queen consistently. While I enjoyed the other books in the Cat series, none compare to the almost epic Catspaw.

Rating:
Summary: Cat rocks!
Review: MEOW~! When I first read Catspaw I was about 12 or 13...and I really didn't get what was going on, but I LOVED Cat. He's so cute...He reminds me a lot of the charactors that I create now...ANYWAY, I re-read it again a couple days ago and finally understood the plot. DANG good book. It was the first of the series I read, and I'm re-reading Psion right now (it's sitting by my computer to read while the net loads!) Catspaw is most definatly the best in the series...(although Dreamfall made me cry!) Hey, I'd love to talk to Catspaw fans...write me?

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely awesome and vivid!
Review: This book has to be the best of the "Cat" series. The main man in the book, Cat, makes you want to love him, slap him, and then cry for him. Moving and so full of twists and turns it leaves you hanging word for word 'till the very end. A MUST for any sci-fi fan.

Rating:
Summary: CATSPAW creates a completely immersive world
Review: This is one of the few books which caused me to enter my accelerated-reading-mode, finishing the book in just under four days. Vinge creates a startlingly complete, complex, interwoven universe filled with characters so realistic a reader doesn't recognize his surroundings when he wakes up the next morning.

The quick and savvy Cat fends off many troubles in his life, going from the bottom of the trashpile all the way to the top, with several ups and downs in between.

I liked this novel so much I started "catspaw.com" many years ago, to be dedicated to sci-fi novels. (alas, the site never got past its domain name.)

Rating:
Summary: I read this book in one day!
Review: This was an amazing story, and when its all said and done isn't that what writing novels is all about? I haven't read either the first or third novels in the series yet, (but I have ordered them) but I know that Cat has now joined Ender who is at the pinnacle of my all time favorite characters list. What is it about wounded child-men?
This was an incredibly poignant tale told with just the right amounts of everything. I feel like I know Cat. I can't stop thinking about him. I want to know what happens to him next. I want to know if he ever finds happiness, and if not happiness, at least peace. I laughed when Cat laughed. I hurt when Cat hurt. Like Ender, Cat is now a part of my world. He is like a friend that I will go back to visit time and time again. Vinge just gives him so much life. Character driven stories are the best can. You'll like this book. The science was simple enough so you don't get lost trying to figure out what is going on. Vinge also doesn't assume the need to define everything in this futuristic world (She may in Psion, Book 1). Cat is a very introspective character but Vinge doesn't let him just THINK for chapters at at time, as other SF authors, who shall remain nameless, often do. There is emough action to appease those who must have it, there's even a little sex. Not too much, just enough. Also, there are so many wonderful characters in the story, with some of the most eccentric eccentricities. Come on, you just gotta read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Works great as a stand-alone.
Review: This was the first book I'd read in this series, many years ago. At the time, I was more impressed with it than I probably would be now, because I didn't recognize that the world she was building was somewhat standard cyberpunk (never even heard of cyberpunk at that time). Therefore the world seemed more original to me than it actually is (also illustrating one of my standard ideas about genre fiction--if someone who has never experienced a genre before suddenly comes to it, the most hoary and ancient cliches of that genre will seem dazzlingly fresh and familiar).

However, though the world fascinated me, in the end, the real heart of the series are Vinge's characters. Cat, Lady Elnear, Argentyne, Jiro, are all wonderfully drawn, and Vinge portrays them with a great deal of heart and honesty; she plays fair with the reader. Good social commentary too, with a message that is both uplifting and sobering; she explores a theme I've seen other authors do as well but one that I think is quite profound, that human connections are necessary to allow human beings to succeed in the face of evil (Cat's bond with Argentyne and his link to Mikah are what enable him to ultimately succeed in his goal). I recently bought a copy of PSION and I'm working my way through it, eager to meet Jewel and some of Cat's earlier friends.

Rating:
Summary: Works great as a stand-alone.
Review: This was the first book I'd read in this series, many years ago. At the time, I was more impressed with it than I probably would be now, because I didn't recognize that the world she was building was somewhat standard cyberpunk (never even heard of cyberpunk at that time). Therefore the world seemed more original to me than it actually is (also illustrating one of my standard ideas about genre fiction--if someone who has never experienced a genre before suddenly comes to it, the most hoary and ancient cliches of that genre will seem dazzlingly fresh and familiar).

However, though the world fascinated me, in the end, the real heart of the series are Vinge's characters. Cat, Lady Elnear, Argentyne, Jiro, are all wonderfully drawn, and Vinge portrays them with a great deal of heart and honesty; she plays fair with the reader. Good social commentary too, with a message that is both uplifting and sobering; she explores a theme I've seen other authors do as well but one that I think is quite profound, that human connections are necessary to allow human beings to succeed in the face of evil (Cat's bond with Argentyne and his link to Mikah are what enable him to ultimately succeed in his goal). I recently bought a copy of PSION and I'm working my way through it, eager to meet Jewel and some of Cat's earlier friends.