Catalyst

Pilot, navigator, engineer, doctor, scientist—ship's cat? All are essential to the well-staffed space vessel. Since the early days of interstellar travel, when Tuxedo Thomas, a Maine coon cat, showed what a cat could do for a ship and its crew, the so-called Barque Cats have become highly prized crew members. Thomas's carefully bred progeny, ably assisted by humans—Cat Persons—with whom they share a deep and loving bond, now travel the galaxy, responsible for keeping spacecraft free of vermin, for alerting human crews to potential environmental hazards, and for acting as morale officers.

Even among Barque Cats, Chessie is something special. Her pedigree, skills, and intelligence, as well as the close rapport she has with her human, show more Janina, make her the most valuable crew member aboard the Molly Daise. And the litter of kittens in her belly only adds to her value.

Then the unthinkable happens. Chessie is kidnapped—er, catnapped—from Dr. Jared Vlast's vet clinic at Hood Station by a grizzled spacer named Carl Poindexter. But Chessie's newborn kittens turn out to be even more extraordinary than their mother. For while Chessie's connection to Janina is close and intuitive, the bond that the kitten Chester forms with Carl's son, Jubal, is downright telepathic. And when Chester is sent into space to learn his trade, neither he nor Jubal will rest until they're reunited.

But the announcement of a widespread epidemic affecting livestock on numerous planets throws their future into doubt. Suddenly the galactic government announces a plan to impound and possibly destroy all exposed animals. Not even the Barque Cats will be spared.

With the clock racing against them, Janina, Jubal, Dr. Vlast, and a handful of very special kittens will join forces with the mysterious Pshaw-Ra—an alien-looking cat with a hidden agenda—to save the Barque Cats, other animals, and quite possibly the universe as they know it from total destruction. show less

This book encompasses all of: universal domination, catnapping, telepathy, space travel, disease... When Janina's valuable pregnant kitty Chessie, trained in helping out on space ships... as will be all of her progeny, is kidnapped, Janina must find her! While Chessie is away from Janina, she is sheltered in a barn with another pregnant cat, and the kittens get to know the kidnapper's young son, Jubal, and one of the kittens (Chester) ends up with an amazing bond (seemingly telepathic) with Jubal. Unfortunately, they later become separated, as well and while the government worries about and works to eliminate a disease amongst animals that could threaten everyone, Jubal insists he must find Chester.

I really enjoyed this. I waffled show more between 4 and 4.5 stars, but am going with 4. Science fiction is not always my “thing”, but the cats did it for me in this one. I do suspect, though, that this one is not going to be all that appealing to someone who isn't a cat person. It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, and there's no question I'll be reading the next book. show less

The Barque Cats are a special breed, trained from birth to serve as companions on spaceships. They keep the crews' spirits up as well as control the mice and rat populations and find any oxygen or other leaks within the ships. Chessie (more formally know as Thomas' Duchess) is one of the finest of her breed, and her soon-to-be-born litter has already brought in a good price. While stopped at the planet Sherwood, Chessie is catnapped from the local vet. As her keeper Janina tries to find Chessie, a supposed epidemic breaks out among the planet's animals, and the government begins impounding and threatening to kill all animals. It's a race against to time to save Chessie and her kittens and to discover the cause behind this outbreak show more before more animals across the galaxy are captured.

I enjoyed the story, following both the humans as they set about trying to uncover the motives behind the government's need to impound all animals and the cats who discover telepathic connections with humans thanks to a mysterious space cat name Pshaw-Ra. The stories were full of action and kept me turning the pages. But I had the impression that the book wasn't intended for an adult audience. As I read, I thought how much the young adult/teen crowd would love the story -- a good sci-fi/action adventure mixed with talking (albeit telepathically) animals.

That's not a bad thing. With the younger crowds being drawn more and more towards bright lights and shot-em-up video games, "Catalyst" is a book I think even they would enjoy. I know I did. show less

Chessie is a very expensive Barque cat, who assists the human crews on spaceships by catching rodents and detecting tiny air leaks. She is very pregnant when she is kidnapped from the vets office by Carl Poindexter. His son Jubal has been wanting a cat for a long time, and Carl will be able to make a lot of money off the extra kittens. Jubal telepathically bonds with the kitten Chester. Meanwhile Chessie's cat person has been frantically searching for her. When Chessie is turned in for the reward money the crew demands that Jubal give Chester back as well. Jubal is heartbroken and determined to get Chester back, so he signs onto another ship. Chester ends up meeting a cat with his own spaceship and plans for world domination. Meanwhile show more all domestic animals, including Chessie, are being impounded for a possible disease threat.
Well this one is going to win the if you don't have anything else to read award. The characters are really the only thing that kept me reading this story. I really liked Chester and his boy, Jubal. I have always enjoyed telepathic connections between animals and their owners. The story itself I found to be rather lackluster and somewhat stereotypical. I mean a cat who has plans of world domination, who'd have imagined that? I found the change in Jubal's father to be rather unlikely, and the I had a hard time buying the impounding of animals, especially when it would have created such havoc. show less

I love "The Rowan" and "Damia", written by Anne McCaffrey, so I was pleased to see she'd written a book (actually two) about the oh-so-mysterious Barque Cats. When another member here picked the first book, "Catalyst" as a challenge read, I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally read about the Barque Cats.

I was disappointed.

The characters weren't developed as well as in other books by the same author, and many of the situations just did not make sense, based upon what we had been told previously. I didn't form much, if any, attachment and/or interest in the main characters, but kept hoping for something better.

It didn't happen. Then the author added a Deus ex Machina type plot twist toward the end, and I almost didn't show more finish the book.

The story does not end, exactly, but leaves unfinished business for the second book, "Catacombs".

I was and am very disappointed in what could have been a great addition to the Anne McCaffrey legacy, but which turned out to be so mediocre that I doubt I'll pick up book two.

What a waste... show less

Wow. If this were a first book, by a new author or authors, I'd mark them down as authors to be aware of - very interesting ideas, medium-good writing (description, dialog, characterization), serious plot holes, and a heavy reliance on coincidence and deus ex machina. From McCaffrey and Scarborough, it's embarrassing. Even if it were written as a YA (which is sort of the flavor), it's one of those poor YA books where the author(s) talk down to the children reading and assume they can gloss over a lot of serious flaws in the story. The bugs - ok, maybe. Simultaneously the kidnapping of a pregnant Barque Cat (never happened before)? And also simultaneously, the arrival of a Maine Coon-type feral cat - who happens to be a pregnant queen show more (whose kittens can be mistaken for Barque Cats)? And that's just the setup - the trigger (or series of triggers) that _start_ the story. The rest of the story is equally poorly self-supporting. Deus (and diabolus) ex machina all over the place - Ponty (in both roles), Vlast, Klinger, Pshaw-Ra.... And then to top it off, the story just ends. No conclusion, in fact it's in the middle of a space chase. Read the next book to find the thrilling...well, not conclusion (since this is at least a trilogy). Next bit, anyway. Nope, not interested. Yuck. show less

enjoyable (probably more so if you really like cats), I felt like it was a bit slow but is taking its time laying a solid foundation (which is not unexpected for this author)