Title: Priye
Author: Lynn Strong
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: December 3, 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Alternate History
Length: 63 pages
Source: I received a free copy from the author.
Rating: 4 Stars
Blurb:
Wander the world of the Catsprowl with a Miyazaki-style look through the eyes of a catfolk kitten in a large, multicultural, multi-religious city which is full of book-keepers and bath-houses, priests and prophets and pigeons, and even one small kitten’s nemesis: soap and water. (This is one of the three novellas collected in Chai and Cat-tales.)
Priye
For a small alley-kitten, human words make a tricky tangle of misunderstandings that bite back. Purring and hissing and yowling are much more clear.
A human named her Priye, though, and he taught her that it means someone who is darling, someone who is treasured.
Growing up in the nooks between three cultures is hard, but Priye wants to make her own way. And she wants to repay the kind people who feed small hungry kittens.
But it’s not always easy to hunt when everyone else is bigger and stronger and faster. The humans who named her like soap and water entirely too much.
But maybe they have a point about sharing things instead of hunting things? (They absolutely do not have a point about soap, though. Soap is the most horrible thing ever.)
For the neurospicy folks who struggle with the words people expect, this one is for you. For the disabled folks and those who need to hear that your value isn’t in your work output, this one is for you too.
Content Warning: An accidental injury.
Review:
Cozy fantasy is underrated.
Xenofiction is one of those micro genres I’m always excited to discover! The world looks different when viewed through the eyes of a kitten who is regularly flabbergasted by the ridiculous things humans say and do. Honestly, my favourite scenes in this piece were the ones that described silly human customs and choices in vivid detail without Priye quite understanding the significance of them in that moment. What a fabulous opportunity to view the world from a different perspective while wondering if the main character might someday understand some of these things a little better.
I would have liked to see a little more attention paid to the world building, especially when it came to what cats are and are not capable of doing in this universe. Without giving away too much information, the cats in this world are different from the ones in ours in a few significant ways, and I was surprised that those moments were given more time to shine. There was more the author could have done with these details, and I would have gone for a full five-star rating if that had happened.
The conflict was understated and suited the plot nicely. It was exactly the sort of thing I’d expect a kitten to eventually have to deal with, and I liked the way her feline and human companions rallied around her once it occurred. This remained firmly in the cozy niche of the fantasy genre while still leaving room for a reader to wonder what might happen next. It was a smart balance between providing a challenge for Priye to overcome and remaining true to the playful and relaxing vibes of this tale as a whole.
Priye made me yearn for more.
Title: The Witch of Cromer
Title: 
Title: 
Title: Bodega Botanica Tales
Title: Pathways to Bolingbrook
Title: Tiny Forgotten Wishes
Title: 
Title: Iago Wick and the Vampire Queen (Lovelace & Wick #1.5) by Jennifer Rainey
A Review of A Divine Tale
Author: Jonathan Antony Strickland
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: September 8, 2012
Genres: Fantasy, Humour
Length: 13 pages
Source: I received a free copy from the author.
Rating: 3 Stars
Blurb:
This is a story about Seglaman the Snow God, and how other God’s use his sorry tale as a reminder to younger less experienced God’s as a warning to never become too comfortable when ruling over mortals who worship them.
Review:
Kindness matters.
While religion was discussed in this tale, this was not at all what I’d consider the inspirational genre. For one thing, the protagonist was a Snow God who, to be frank, was not the nicest deity around. Mr. Strickland also wasn’t shy about pointing out some of the dangers of blindly following any sort of belief whether it’s religious, political, ideological, or otherwise. My hope is that other readers will be intrigued by this approach to what can be a sensitive topic for some and willing to listen with an open mind regardless of your personal beliefs.
This came across to me as more of the first draft of a story than the finished product. There wasn’t much time spent on character or plot development, and that made it more difficult for me to remain interested in what was happening than I hoped I would be. A lot was going on here with Seglaman’s relationship with the mortals he ruled over that I wished had been explained in greater detail. As much as I wanted to give this tale a higher rating, I had too many lingering questions to do so.
With that being said, the ending made me smile. It veered off into the direction I was hoping it would head, so I was able to see Seglaman’s reaction to something he never saw coming in advance. My apologies for keeping this vague, but other readers should be pleasantly surprised by those moments like I was. It went a long way in tying up loose ends for a Snow God and the mortals he ruled over alike.
A Divine Tale was thought provoking.
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Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy
Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Humour, Jonathan Antony Strickland, Self-Published, Short Story, Social Commentary