#Fantasy Worth Reading: The Cat Who Would Be King #Bookreview

The Cat Who Would Be King by Bethany Hoeflich is a humorous novella about an alleycat's accidental rise to the top of society.

From the blurb:

The sky is blue.

Water is wet.

And cats most definitely do not talk.

Reporter Thomas Kane knows that boring articles don’t sell newspapers, and as the newest hire at the Daily Gazette, he’s always on the lookout for a tantalizing story to write. When he gets a tip about an interview with Bastien the First, the elusive and presumably dead king of Qar, Thomas assumes it’s a cruel prank by jealous coworkers determined to see him fail.

As a cat, life is far superior for Bastien than his two-legged counterparts. Bastien has settled nicely into retirement where he enjoys a quiet life as a pampered tavern cat while keeping his true identity a secret. Obscurity has its downsides, however, and it’s time for his extraordinary story to be told.

My thoughts:

Bastien the cat has decided it's time to tell his story. And what a story. It seems Bastien's life as a wharf-prowling feline is over when a wizard acquires him for experimentation. The wizard doesn't expect him to survive and tells him so, but Bastien not only survives the experiment, he gains the ability to talk in human speech.

At first the wizard is pleased. He believes he has the perfect spy to serve his mysterious plans. However, the wizard soon discovers that cats rarely do what others want them to do. As the wizard reveals the depths of his evilness, Bastien discovers that the kingdom is tottering on a knife edge. Bastien proves to be the right cat at the right time.

Hoeflich does a wonderful job portraying Bastien's perspective. The reader gets a very credible cat's-eye-view of the wharfs and the castle. The contrast between the characters of Bastien and the wizard is also well done. Bastien searches for kindness and a good meal while the wizard exhibits a maniacal obsession with political power. If you like cats and some humor with your fantasy, you'll enjoy The Cat Who Would Be King. 

Story links:

Goodreads  Amazon

What People 100 Years Ago Thought Life Would Be Like Now

 

We may think we're living in a world no one could have ever imagined, but there are some creative minds who believed they could see what the future might bring. Life one hundred years ago might seem like medieval to us now. Yet there were folks with eyes to a technological tomorrow.

One of the big themes people in the last century imagined were domed cities. We don't have those. Yet. It's something scientists and science fiction authors still see in our future based on pollution and climate change. We could at least control the climate inside the domes.

Everything flying. Whoosh! People thought cars, jetpacks, houses, even cities, would be flying by now and part of everyday life. While that still could be a possibility, it isn't as practical as it might have seemed. Now a vast system of ultra fast monorails to travel the world...

Robot helpers. While we aren't overrun by robots yet, more and more things are becoming automated. We're rushing faster toward that world. Finger crossed it isn't a Skynet future!

People thought we'd be able to control the weather. I think Earth is winning on that front. We need to use our technology to learn to adapt rather than control it. Though, wait... Wasn't there the rumor that someone did have a weather machine?!

We should have the moon as our playground, right? Folks a century ago thought we'd be taking regular recreational trips to our moon by now. While I don't see the moon as a playground, it would be a vied-for source for companies to mine materials. Though, then we'd have to imagine our world without a moon and the trouble its loss would cause. Mars seems to be our fascination for our next home these days.

What do you think life will be like one hundred years from now?