CATS OF KATLYN

Slack offers the first book in an imaginative fantasy series with a feline protagonist.

When Tailey is a kitten, his father tells him he has an important destiny involving fighting an ancient evil. Tailey’s instincts lead him to a little girl named Megan, and he becomes her devoted companion and protector. She’s sought by an entity known as Ichneumon, “the Possessor of Souls,” for her innate magical abilities. While out hunting one night, a magical cat’s-eye stone transports Tailey to a faraway planet called Katlyn. There, he’s quickly befriended by a panther named Klawed and a small, furry Neptunian named Nep. Klawed and Nep’s ancestors fought and defeated Ichneumon centuries ago, and it appears that he’s gaining power again. At the same time, a horde of creatures called the Animond were transformed into ghouls by “the evil of the ebony”sword and gain power deep within a mountain cavern. Meanwhile, Tailey, Klawed, and Nep are joined by a Greenwolf pup named Luna and a giant Animond named Yahmond Yah. They all come together to save their planet and help Tailey find his way home. The author attempts a lot of complex worldbuilding for such a brief novel, which makes the beginning feel overcrowded with exposition. Tailey is effectively made the center of the story, but there is so much going on around him that he almost gets lost amid reams of information. His bond with Megan drives his actions, but the two characters get little time together before they’re separated, and only one brief scene shows Megan’s sadness over Tailey’s disappearance. The supporting characters are intriguing, but their backstories are only briefly sketched out, and descriptions of the fictional planet of Katlyn are sometimes creative but often undermined by pedestrian prose: “The visual effect of this landscape was enhanced by the pale-blue of the sun. Colors were deeper, bolder, because of the tinted light.” Overall, there are wonderful ideas here, presenting an opportunity for an inspired series. However, the book’s rushed execution results in it having little of the whimsy or mysticism that readers might expect.

A promising but underdeveloped series introduction.