Tansy Rayner Roberts

I follow Tansy Rayner Roberts' book updates (via her newsletter and her Patreon), so when I saw the posts talking about a Kickstarter for a book with time traveling cats, I knew I had to back it. I ended up backing at a decently high level, which got me copies of all 3 book formats (paperback, digital, and audio) and yet after reading what Tansy (and other readers) had to say about the audiobook I knew that was the format I wanted to read this in. And I'm glad I did! Ciaran Saward is a new-to-me narrator, but did such a wonderful job with this book.

To start with: the basic plot is that cats can both speak and time travel. They can bring humans with them when they travel, but without a cat, humans are stuck moving through time the usual way. At the start of this book, the time travelers get a clue about the location of the time traveler they previously lost in time, and decide to mount a rescue mission to get her back.

Of course, things go wrong and get complicated, and the result is a romp through time as our cast jumps here and there trying to save everyone without getting in more trouble. (Spoiler: trouble finds them. Of course.) It's a lot of fun to see different time periods through the lens of travelers from our future, and the humor throughout was tons of fun.

While I would say that this is meant to be a book for adults, due to the age of the protagonists (all out of college) and some of the subject matter (mostly around grief and betrayal) it could easily be read by young adults. Younger children could also read it as well and enjoy it a lot, though I would recommend that an adult read it along with them to help with some of the more adult themes or references.

I had a ton of fun with this book, though, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who thinks it sounds remotely interesting. I'd also suggest the audiobook; while Tansy's print books are good, the audio steps this one up a notch and makes it even better. Regardless of what book sites may say, this was marketed on Kickstarter as a standalone, and it definitely works as one. (I'm unclear if series plans have been added now that the book is published, or if it is going to remain a standalone.)… (mais)

I helped kickstart this but at the time I could only afford the e-book and because I am a bear of very little brain I kept forgetting to download it (and when I remembered, the tablet battery was flat). So I was glad to be able to snaffle a print copy off Tansy at Continuum this year.

It's GREAT and it's QUEER and there's NON-BINARY REP and it's about a WRITER (well, she's one of the main POV characters) and there's THEATRICAL SHENANIGANS and I yummed it down on my commute today and now I want to reread the main trilogy plus like a whole bunch more of these novellas because it's such a strikingly well-built universe and the characters feel so real and just *grabby hands*.… (mais)