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    Catalyst: A Tale of the Barque Cats
    Unavailable
    Catalyst: A Tale of the Barque Cats
    Unavailable
    Catalyst: A Tale of the Barque Cats
    Audiobook8 hours

    Catalyst: A Tale of the Barque Cats

    Written by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

    Narrated by Laural Merlington

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Since the early days of interstellar travel, Barque Cats have been highly prized crew members, 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, 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 Chessie is kidnapped-er, catnapped-from Dr. Jared Vlast's vet clinic at Hood Station. And 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 the kidnapper'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 the 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 to save the Barque Cats, other animals, and quite possibly the universe as they know it from total destruction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJan 5, 2010
    ISBN9781441838315
    Unavailable
    Catalyst: A Tale of the Barque Cats
    Author

    Anne McCaffrey

    Anne McCaffrey, a multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner, was one of the world's most beloved and bestselling science fiction and fantasy writers. She is known for her hugely successful Dragonriders of Pern books, as well as the fantasy series that she cowrote with Elizabeth A. Scarborough that began with Acorna: The Unicorn Girl.

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    Reviews for Catalyst

    3.5/5

    141 ratings15 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Loved it. Love cats. Now I feel I know them a little better
    • 2/5
      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 (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.
    • 3/5
      I loved Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series when I was a teen, but sort of forgot about her later. When a saw something about the Barque cats on someone’s web site, I had to find the books. Apparently, ‘Catalyst’ is a sort of prequel to another series of books she wrote, a series that the Barque cats play a part it. This is their origin story. Set in the far future, interstellar trade is constant. Many of the space ships have cats on board to catch cargo destroying rodents and to patrol for air leaks, electrical shorts and the like. The most expensive cats are the Barque cats, a pedigreed line of unusual intelligence and ability. When a very pregnant Barque cat is catnapped during a stop at a space station, the ship’s Cat Person (the human to tends to and works with the cat) is heart broken. Carl Poindexter grabbed the cat for two reasons: one, his son had been pestering him for a cat and two, she-and her unborn kittens- are worth a lot of money. And Carl has schemes above and beyond simply selling the kittens.. Add to this problem a possible disease breakout that has all animals, planetside and on ships, impounded. Then a cat who wants to rule the universe and who pilots his own spaceship appears and things get really interesting… While shelved in the regular adult fiction, I would have placed this book in either young adult or children’s books. It’s really written for preteens, in a simple and unsophisticated style. I found the human characters rather flat and couldn’t bring myself to care about them, and the action was muddled. I really enjoyed the sections told from the cats’ points of view; they really seemed to be the smartest characters in the novel. But despite my love of cats and stories about them, I was disappointed in ‘Catalyst’.
    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 3/5
      First line:"How much for that pretty kittycat you got there, young Lady?"I love Anne McCaffrey and enjoyed this easy to read book that I do believe was written for a younger audience.Although, I must say that it is not my favourite of McCaffrey's works, I did find it to be be a sweet and charming story that introduces us to the telepathic Barque cats.McCaffrey and Scarborough obviously know cats and anyone who has ever lived with a cat knows that a lot of what the authors describe is very realistic. I know my cat 'speaks' to me.
    • 5/5
      Anyone who really loves cats will love this book.Ann McCaffrey really knows cats very well and their antics.
    • 3/5
      I loved Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series when I was a teen, but sort of forgot about her later. When a saw something about the Barque cats on someone’s web site, I had to find the books. Apparently, ‘Catalyst’ is a sort of prequel to another series of books she wrote, a series that the Barque cats play a part it. This is their origin story. Set in the far future, interstellar trade is constant. Many of the space ships have cats on board to catch cargo destroying rodents and to patrol for air leaks, electrical shorts and the like. The most expensive cats are the Barque cats, a pedigreed line of unusual intelligence and ability. When a very pregnant Barque cat is catnapped during a stop at a space station, the ship’s Cat Person (the human to tends to and works with the cat) is heart broken. Carl Poindexter grabbed the cat for two reasons: one, his son had been pestering him for a cat and two, she-and her unborn kittens- are worth a lot of money. And Carl has schemes above and beyond simply selling the kittens.. Add to this problem a possible disease breakout that has all animals, planetside and on ships, impounded. Then a cat who wants to rule the universe and who pilots his own spaceship appears and things get really interesting… While shelved in the regular adult fiction, I would have placed this book in either young adult or children’s books. It’s really written for preteens, in a simple and unsophisticated style. I found the human characters rather flat and couldn’t bring myself to care about them, and the action was muddled. I really enjoyed the sections told from the cats’ points of view; they really seemed to be the smartest characters in the novel. But despite my love of cats and stories about them, I was disappointed in ‘Catalyst’.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      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 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...
    • 3/5
      Although I love the idea of telepathic cats (and cats in general) I wasn't smitten by this book as I usually am by Anne McCaffrey's writing. I thought the writing style was more appropriate for YA fiction. I also found the bugs that are responsible for the cats becoming telepathic to be repellent. I wouldn't want thousands of bugs scuttling all over the place. I don't think I'll be looking for any more of the Barque Cats books.
    • 3/5
      As a cat owner, this book was enjoyable at times when a cat character's behavior envoked a sense of familar patterns with my own cats but overall the characterization and development was shallow. Many of the human characters were minor variations on other characters that were better presented in the Acorna series.
    • 3/5
      Not a bad book, fun, easy read. Not McCaffrey at her best but sometimes a little Anne McCaffrey is better than nothing. A pleasant way to escape this world for an afternoon or evening. I am a little interested, though, in how she paints the world if the cats take over...
    • 3/5
      This book was okay - just good enough for me to finish reading it. The plot moved kind of slow and was fairly predictable. The characters were not as fully developed as they could have been. It felt like I was watching a movie more than reading a book.
    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 3/5
      A valuable breed of spacefaring ships' cats, a catnapping con man, strange shiny beetles, and an Egyptian-descended cat with plans for galactic domination add up to a story that is pleasant enough but not as charming or sheerly fun as it should be.
    • 3/5
      I have to agree with previous reviews on this one, it seems somewhat juvenile when compared to other Anne McCaffrey works. I was really hoping for more being the cat lover that I am. That said, it wasn't bad, I did enjoy it, I just wasn't as wowed as I had hoped to be. I will definitely go on to read Catacombs. I really miss Anne, she was one of my first introductions to Fantasy and Sci-Fi and has been a favorite of mine for many years.