one of my favorite fantasy stores is one about cats. wish I could remember the name, but reasonably famous author, and the cats are the equivalent of secret agents.
bah.
yes, it sounds exactly like that stupid hamster movie.

Sounds like Achmed the I Just Get These Headaches's Book of Humorous Cat Stories.

I'll pass.

I am disoriented, frightened, and confused.

We've had cats in space for years.

RandomAxe: There've been about 68 SF/F anthologies of cat-related stories before, but it doesn't mean this one won't be worth having.

And SF needs to get back to its strong tradition of supporting short fiction as a way of grooming new authors. Not every good short-story writer makes a good novelist, or vice versa, but the major publishing houses have been scrambling and rambling fairly embarrassingly since the mid-90s like they hadn't since the mid-70s, and returning to a form of the process that served them best for most of the last century would probably be a step in the right direction.

The thing that bugs me right now is... I don't like series. In the 90s it seemed as though you couldn't be picked up by a publisher unless you were selling a trilogy. Now it seems as though even those with trilogies aren't even being considered.

Maybe an emphasis on short stories will re-educate publishers (and readers!) on how something slightly less long that Robert Jordan's latest posthumous opus can be pretty good. But I'm not going to hold my breath.

It could be worse - I have a CD called "Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers". I got it for free because somebody I know plays fiddle on it, but I understand some losers actually pay for it.

NuclearPenguins: Man-Kzin Wars

Best god-damn short story compilation series ever.

Ah, here we go. Diane Duane (new window)

Dammit, you're gonna get the furries/Avatarpsychos all excited for NOTHING, Ellen. Unless one of those commissioned authors goes rogue. Which they seemingly totally could:

She's also defined "cat" rather broadly, so you've got everything from sabre toothed tigers resurrected by mad scientists, to manticores, tigers, and house cats.

/goroguegoroguegorogue
//if only for the future Fark thread amusement
///Caturday tag?

The coolest thing about the Kzin is that the females aren't sentient, just ... cats, albeit big ones. In a world where the women only need a dish of dry food, a bowl of water and a litter box, a man could truly be king. Although he'd have to clean out the litter box.

Here's some inspiration for the short stories:

ptomblin: It could be worse - I have a CD called "Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers". I got it for free because somebody I know plays fiddle on it, but I understand some losers actually pay for it.

My boyfriend's grandfather is a pretty well known Irish-American musician. And my boyfriend has damn good taste in beer.

If he had a cat, or if it was "Irish Drinking Songs for Bunny Lovers" then I would totally drop money on that.

However, I might still track that down and buy that the next time I have to do a stupid gift exchange game. I'm just really amused that that even exists.

/it's an easily amused Saturday

linuxpyro: Here's some inspiration for the short stories:

Want.
I do not farking care if it's illegal. Want.

FunkOut: radioman_: The coolest thing about the Kzin is that the females aren't sentient, just ... cats, albeit big ones. In a world where the women only need a dish of dry food, a bowl of water and a litter box, a man could truly be king. Although he'd have to clean out the litter box.

Depends whether cleaning up the excrement of a partner kills the romance or amps it up.

In Germany this is called breakfast.

Sounds like Furry slash fic.

I liked the first couple of "Catfantastic" books when they first came out. Although it was twenty years ago.

Cordwainer Smith frowns upon your shenanigans.

http://www.troynovant.com/Franson/Smith-C/Game-Rat-Dragon.html

Katie98_KT: one of my favorite fantasy stores is one about cats. wish I could remember the name, but reasonably famous author, and the cats are the equivalent of secret agents.

H.P. Lovecraft had a story or two like that in his Dream Cycle; cats are an important piece of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, where they act somewhat as secret agents/military. Doubtful that's what you're thinking of, though.

Ctrl + F, "Cherryh." Not found. What's wrong with you farkers? Link (new window)

I am not proud of this, but I own Catfantastic, a late-eighties era anthology of similarly-centred stories. (I think I used to also own the sequel, Catfantastic II, but got rid of it because it was not very good.)

I love short stories, and I particularly like genre fiction short stories. Honestly, there seems to be a sizable cadre of genre writers who write excellent short stories but kind of suck at longer fiction (Harlan Ellison, Ramsey Campbell, Robert Bloch, to name a few), so I love and collect anthologies.

That said, I still kind of hate the idea of themed anthologies like this. Not ones about "horror" or "awesome science fiction," but "cats" or "dragons" or other specifics. It feels like cheap pandering and too frequently results in inclusion of shiatty stories to pad the book. (Also, to be honest, it feels weirdly fetishy. Not in a sexual way, but in that it supports the idea that it serves people who just can't enjoy fiction unless there is a specific element present.)

Sum Dum Gai: cats are an important piece of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, where they act somewhat as secret agents/military. Doubtful that's what you're thinking of, though.

This is true. I was thinking that Katie98_KT was looking for Cat-A-Lyst, by Alan Dean Foster, but I was also wrong.

Niven's Nth Law: Someone will reference his stories well before you get to the thread.

Nicely done, Speakers-To-Fark.

Going to....... actually no. Get me down!

More of these please.

one of my favorite fantasy stores is one about cats. wish I could remember the name, but reasonably famous author, and the cats are the equivalent of secret agents.

Katie98_KT: Ah, here we go. Diane Duane (new window)

This is the series with the cats acting as the agents that work the dimensional doorways in the London underground. I think the second one in that series is "To visit the queen". They also tie into her "So you want to be a wizard" series.


That said, I still kind of hate the idea of themed anthologies like this. Not ones about "horror" or "awesome science fiction," but "cats" or "dragons" or other specifics.

Since there are billions of short stories out there, how would you chose 10-12 without picking a specific theme?

What about the unfurred felines?

One of the best fantasy books I've ever read was about a cat.

I'm reading these to my daughter. We're on book four now.
>

NotARocketScientist: This is the series with the cats acting as the agents that work the dimensional doorways in the London underground. I think the second one in that series is "To visit the queen". They also tie into her "So you want to be a wizard" series.

yea, so I was browsing her website to see what was up- apparently she WAS working on a web distribution of a third book in the series, but stopped in 2007/2008 after 8 chapters of a proposed 12. I can't seem to find out what happened with it, there's no information anywhere. plus she doesn't seem to have written much in the past couple years.
any guesses? anyone know anything?

Am I actually the first??

Katie98_KT: Ah, here we go. Diane Duane (new window)

love that book, im currently searching for the sequels, but then again i like most of her work

Let me be the first to say this idea C'mells.

Greebo from the Disc World.

/That's better

VictoryCabal: Sounds like Furry slash fic.

ALreaddy been done, as referred to above... that is, the man-kzin wars book series.