Review: Enjoyable new series and a very good read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 24, 2013
I usually prefer hard core SF to Fantasy...but I am a cat lover, all kinds of cats...so I picked this up looking for a nice afternoon's read and am very glad I did.  This is an indie publishing book, but it far transcends its humble entry into the publishing world.  The story concept is original, the characters are well-drawn and believable, and the author, H. Leighton Dickson is a fine wordsmith.In a far Earth future, perhaps humanity has extinguished itself through warfare, plagues, and environmental abuse;  but before it became history, some humans tried to save the human genome by creating human-animal genes.  Millenia later, this story opens in a high culture, medieval, pre-Industrial very stable and class-structured Asian society based on a combination of Japanese/Chinese/Indian cultures with a bit of the Raj for good measure.  The members of this society are human-animals genetic heirs including sapient cats of every sort, monkeys, dogs and other former animals, now persons in their own right and who have somehow been guided by the 'Ancestors' (extinct humans) into a semi-historical human social structure that also includes some abilities that humans may never have had - practices of what we would call Magick, and the high spiritual arts and mastery over the elements.  The story opens with something going wrong. a mystery that upsets the stability of the Empire.For me, what lifts this book out of the standard medieval fantasy romance genre is the reawakening of the link to the human past, the sciences of genetic engineering and cryoscience.  The story is a tale of the journey of discovery, not only of how to prevent the unexpected change of a long-standing Empire, but also is a personal journey of two Lion brothers, Kirin who is a Captain of the Imperial guards, devoted to Bushido and very much an upholder of the rules of the Empire, and twin brother Kerris, a bohemian genius of interesting powers.  With brotherly rivalry and distrust, they embark with a very interesting party to solve the mystery.  The questors represent not only varyingraces making up the Empire, but the prejudices and class and racial problems that exist among the various kinds of cats- Lions, Tigers, Panthers, Snow Leopards. Cheetahs, and mixed breed Mongrels- all persons but not all considered equal in the eyes of the Empire.This is not just a romp with characters dressed up in Lion suits.  The author has created believable characters who are truly Lions, and other cats, who face real situations, make real, difficult decisions and live with the terrifying consequences.  I have read all three books now, enjoyed them all immensely and can recommend to other readers who enjoy a bit of fantasy, a bit of romance, a bit of SF and very good writing and story- telling.