Here’s a review of “Cats in Victory” from the ActuSF forum. It’s in French, so I’ve taken the liberty of running it through Babel Fish:

Cats in Victory de David Barr Kirtley really did me hot in the middle. A ground populated by men cats created millenia ago by men who started from then a long time. But there are also men dogs whom one believes disappeared. And when men cats and men dogs meet again it can be only one disaster. Unless a badly liked feeling do not come to change the things: curiosity. In short one spoke about positive SF it does not have there so a long time. This text is a splendid example in spite of its wrongfully naive tone. And it is a nice homage in Cordwainer Smith some share.

Of course, doing you hot in the middle is definitely one of my goals, so I’m glad to hear that I’m succeeding.

Here’s a review of “Cats in Victory” from Loose Leaf Stories:

Another short story from Lightspeed Magazine, “Cats in Victory”! Don’t let the first sections mislead you, “Cats in Victory” is science fiction, not fantasy. I loved Tailchaser’s Song, so I’m naturally fine with cats – or catmen – as characters. “Cats in Victory” is written by David Barr Kirtley, a chronic and incorrigible contributor to sci-fi publications. It’s a pretty good story, very much in the spirit of Planet of the Apes. I won’t be saving it off to my hard drive or anything, but it was a fun read and I’d certainly give anything else by Kirtley a shot! Lightspeed offers “Cats in Victory” both in print and podcast. Happy reading!

One thing I’m wondering is what exactly qualifies an author as “chronic”? Is that sort of like “prolific”? Jeff Carlson just referred to me as “prolific” too, which sort of surprised me, since I’ve been managing about two short stories a year lately, which doesn’t seem like that much to me. Or is it “chronic” meaning like “badass?” — like “You are totally chronic, man, totally.” Is that something the kids are saying these days? In any event, I’m happy to be referred to as chronic, since I confess I’ve always sort of liked to think of myself as like the gout of science fiction.

A few more comments on “Cats in Victory.”

On the StarShipSofa forum, subgenre says, “I liked the idea of taking a childhood fantasy with moral simplicity and racist undertones and re-envisioning it as a morally complex post-apocalyptic tale.” Dinsdale says, “I liked both stories this week, especially ‘Cats in Victory.’ Great stuff, kind of reminded me of Planet of the Apes. I like that type of story. I wish the monkeyman would’ve protected his amulet better. I wonder if the author has considered a sequel?” And Talia says, “‘Cats in Victory’ was just great. Made me think of Thundercats, which made me wonder if that was one of the cartoons that inspired the author.”

Over at Lightspeed, Non Believer writes, “I think the ‘Cats in Victory’ story is a likely outcome of genetically enhanced intelligence in animals. Not the apocalyptic background, but the creation of those animals to be used as soldiers, slaves, servants. Our pets are our slaves, despite how awful it sounds. They are pampered, loved, and well cared for, but they are not free to leave. Even when they are free to leave, we have created a learned captivity behavior in them, so they don’t leave. I don’t say it’s bad. I am not one of those over-the-top PETA folks. I am saying that if we converted them into a more intelligent and interactive being, they would likely still be in the position of pet/food/slave. I hope we never go down that road.”

If you’ve read “Cats in Victory” and want to comment on it, you can do so over at Lightspeed. There are a handful of comments so far. Brett writes, “I was a little turned off at first that it was going to be a fantasy story, but my curiosity got the better of me. I’m glad I kept reading.” Marianne writes, “Great story. I really enjoyed it.” And Chris writes, “Loved this. Loved it so much. Well done.”

Over on my Facebook page, Katie writes, “I think you read this at Alpha (’08). I loved this story!” To which I replied, “Yup, this is the same story I read at Confluence in ’08. I remember that some people didn’t get to hear the end of it because they were all like, ‘Oh, we have to go see the guest of honor speech blah blah blah.’ Some friends they are. I was tempted to never publish this story just so those people would never get to find out how it ends, but finally I decided to take mercy on them.” To which Katie replies, “Well, I’m glad it’s finally published! I’ve been telling friends about this story and now they can read it!” Rachel adds, “Oh, yeah, I remember this story! And you should consider the heretics who failed to listen to the whole story justly punished, since they had to wait until now for the final revelation of Cat’s will. Like Katie, I’m glad it’s now in a place where I can make people read it.”

Thanks everyone for your comments!