Reading: Catamount

 It's been a moment since I updated and also a moment since I finished reading a book- having been side-tracked with projects and other life matters. But as promised, I'm writing up a little review of Michael Peak's Catamount- a loose sequel to his first novel Cat House which I wrote about previously.

 

                My copy of Catamount, with another lovely cover illustrated by Dan Craig

 

    Catamount picks up with Sarena, the mountain lion from Cat House who allied herself with the housecat protagonists of the first novel, and with reporter Laura Kay. The book follows Sarena and Laura as they both follow independent but interconnected paths. Sarena is looking for more mountain lions and befriends an equally lonely bald eagle. Laura is following both a story on a proposed mountain lion hunt put forth by the game commission and a story about some vicious guard dogs that escaped. It is also clear that the author did a lot of research about mountain lions and environmental issues in California- the book being inspired by a real life ballot measure to protect the state's dwindling puma population.Peak leans into environmental issues and makes them a direct focus as we follow Laura and Sarena. Laura befriends a mysterious rock star and joins him in a mission to save the mountain lions from being hunted, while Sarena's lonely path shows us the direct plight that SoCal's pumas face. She also faces the threat of the pack of escaped dogs and is plagued by visions of being hunted by them. In the human world, Laura learns about how dogs and men hunted the lions by exhausting and treeing them- a particularly cruel fate for a threatened animal.

    Like Cat House, Catamount uses the same elements of fantasy and mythology. The animals believe in a creator spirit and in representational deities of each animal. There are also other magical elements at play- the somewhat silly but earnest plot point where the rock star Keith has a mysterious psychic connection with animals and with his twin sister- and it is revealed at a pivotal moment that he has the power to heal animals too. This comes into play when Sarena is caught in a horrible steel trap and expects to die, but Keith and Laura stumble upon her and save her life. Keith telepathically communicates with Sarena and convinces her to let him help her and later his powers connect to other animals as well. We don't really learn much of the how or why of these powers but they don't seem out of place when our animal characters often have prophetic visions and dreams connected to their protector deities.

    Keith also becomes pivotal in lobbying for environmental protections and uses his money and influence to insure that mountain lions will be protected. He and Laura develop feelings for each other as they work and spend time together, which breaks Laura's pattern of only going on first dates. Peak's previous book was criticized a bit for being rough with its depictions of women- since the human perspective was mainly Roger, who was a friend of Laura's and a bit of a sad sack with intimacy issues. Laura feels well-written and fully fleshed out- smart and confident but with some emotional barriers that she works on in the course of the book. It's thanks to Laura that Keith is encouraged to do his part for the environment and it is also thanks to her that a poaching operation is busted.

    The story jumps back and forth through several viewpoints- Laura, Sarena, and the pack of guard dogs who are desperate to survive now that they are in the wild. They are somewhat the "villain" of the book, but are themselves sympathetic. While they intend to kill Sarena they are not in and of themselves bad- just in a bad situation. The dogs are definitely traumatized by their time being trained as guard dogs and they are extremely eager for human companionship and validation which they sadly cannot have. The dogs are viewed as a danger and a nuisance by humans due to their attacks on livestock and other pets- the only prey they're skilled at catching. The dogs also notice Sarena and her eagle friend hunting together and devise a plan to take the eagle from her, erroneously believing that the eagle is her captive. The real villains of the story are the corrupt game commission board members and the NRA, along with a taxidermist who is illegally poaching and smuggling animal pelts and weapons into Mexico. The book makes no pretensions about hiding its pro-environment and anti-NRA stance which, frankly, is refreshing given how conservative and militaristic a fair amount of SF/F can be.

    Overall it's a quite enjoyable book. If you like talking animal fiction and tales of cunning critters, this book is a lot of fun. There's a lot of moving parts in the story and you'll probably like seeing how our heroes come out triumphant. The animal friendships are quite sweet too.

Catamount definitely feels more mature and better written than it's predecessor- though I wouldn't say Cat House was a bad read either. However, you'll find no sexual content in this book and it has a very different mood than Cat House- which had much more of a risque plot and some darker elements which Catamount does not have. It's always neat to see how an author develops from first book to the second and how their priorities may change in terms of what story they want to tell. I can happily recommend Catamount as a fun and engaging fantasy novel.