Catalyst

January 4, 2010
Award winning authors McCaffrey and Scarborough team up for their 11th collaboration: a book that mixes science fiction and feline fetishism. When professional Cat Person Janina foolishly reveals to criminal Carl "Ponty" Poindexter just how valuable Barque cats are, her precious Barque Chessie is soon stolen, to be returned only after dangerous misadventures nearly kill the feline. At the same time, a corrupt and well-connected landowner is using an insect infestation to justify a massive public health panic, hoping to acquire cheap land but instead sparking a Federation-wide overreaction that threatens to end in mass cat slaughter. The only hope for the endangered felines may be the determined Janina and her friends, along with the megalomaniac cat Pshaw-Ra, whose grandiose claims of feline supremacy are backed up with advanced, cat-friendly spacecraft. McCaffrey and Scarborough's simple prose is more suitable for younger readers, but the overstrained plot is ultimately disappointing.

January 15, 2010
The telepathic "Barque Cats" travel aboard space ships, where they sniff out oxygen leaks and other problems. When a corruption-riddled government plots to destroy all animals across the galaxy under the pretense of a transmissible disease, only a pair of felines and two determined young people stand steadfastly in the way. Frequent writing partners McCaffrey ("Dragonriders of Pern" series) and Scarborough ("The Healer's War") join forces in the first of a two-book series, set in a world where cats are valued as much for their hard work as for their companionship. VERDICT With youthful protagonists and an incorrigible cast of cats, this lighthearted sf tale is a good choice for cat lovers as well as fans of the authors. [Library marketing; also available as an ebook, ISBN 978-0-345-51897-2.]

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2010
In the first of two books representing something of a departure from their previous collaborations, McCaffrey and Scarborough posit a future in which, Earth having lost the atmosphere required to sustain life, governments develop colonies on other worlds, Earths megacompanies profit by supplying transport and other necessities, and the Galactic Government controls all planets, moons, and space stations in the galaxy. Crucial to spacefarers are the telepathic Barque Cats, trained to patrol their spaceships, looking for leaks, varmints, and other problems. When corrupt government officials declare a plague and plan to destroy animals across the galaxy, including the Barque Cats, two young people (a veterinarian and a cat person), a clever Barque kitten and the boy who is its special person, an ancient Egyptian cat with mysterious powers and a hidden agenda, and a con man join forces to try to prevent the tragedy. The storys universe is painted in broad strokes, giving a rough sense of planets, ships, and space. The human-feline interactions work well, and the intriguing plot is sure to entertain genre readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)