Catfantastic V - Andre Norton and Martin H. Greenberg

Catfantastic V
Edited by Andre Norton and Martin H. Greenberg
Daw Books
Copyright Date: 1999
0886778476

The jacket cover description:

Here's a book you can get your paws into as you explore the universe from a cat's-eye view. In this latest edition of tales about our furry friends you'll meet bold new adventurers, loyal companions, determined protectors, cats who can solve mysteries – or created them. You'll recognize such familiar felines as Skitty and Hermione, and encounter tabbies who are high-tech whiz-kits or wizards familiars.
Let some of today's finest tale-spinners, from Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey to David Drake and Barry Longyear, lead you along trails only the cleverest of cats could find or follow, pathways to realms only reachable with the aid of our fearless four-footed comrades.
From a world where learning the truth about the native life-form could transform a boy's future...to a cat who discovers that love can even conquer time...to a cat familiar ready to tempt her wizardly master to seek out the greatest of magics...these are fantastical romps to claim the hearts and imaginations of cat companions everywhere.

I love cat stories, and I've been a sucker for the earlier anthologies of Catfantastic. I'll admit that right from the start. I have enjoyed volumes I-III previously. This is another exceptional one in the series. As a lover of the previous books there was story after story from authors I recognized: Andre Norton had another story about Noble Warrior, P.M. Griffin's Tenth Life Cat is set using the same rules as her stories about Turtle from previous books, there's another Skitty story by Mercedes Lackey, and these are just a few of the many offerings.

There are a few stories where the cat dies at the end, fair warning, as they are more than slightly sad, but overall there are some absolutely wonderful stories. Some of my favorites included: Grow Old Along With Me by Lee Barwood (I wish this story could happen for real), Goliath by R. Davies (a bit sad, but lovely), A Cat's Tale by Paul Goode, Preliminary Report by Barry B. Longyear, Tenth Life Cat by P. M. Griffin (which I've already mentioned), and too many others to mention.

There were a couple of stories I didn't care for, but I'm sure someone else considers them to be their favorites: the story of Hermione (on stylistic grounds: the actual Story was Great, but I don't care for the Excessive capitalization Hermione uses in her Writing, much as I have in this sentence), and The Maltese Feline (I just don't care for that style of story with any characters).

So many of the authors were familiar to me from outside of the Catfantastic world too: Lyn McConchie, who's written with Andre Norton, P. M. Griffin the same, Mercedes Lackey, and several others.

A great book for any cat lover, sure to leave you purring with delight (it sure did me, and kept me up nice and late, reading). I should give it five stars if I did ratings. I think I'm going to have to set up a rating system and graphics soon, given the number of times I've said that lately.