Sep 10
Click for full imageWord association game: say the first two words that come into your head when I say “Sci Fi”. Laser guns? WRONG! It’s cat people! Eat your words! Though, lasers… not bad actually. Add them in with some weird cloaked alien holding a gun. Might help distract from the fact we have friggin’ cat people on there.
(Average: 5.34 out of 10)
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September 10th, 2009 at 10:05 am
I have to admit… I’m starting to appreciate cat people that little bit more.
Once I get round to writing my great sci fi novel I’ll include some as a sort of comedy Jar Jar character! haha
September 10th, 2009 at 10:19 am
I’m fine with Cat People, though I’d be always waiting for them to drop a hairball at an inappropriate moment.
But I am completely bemused by the creature in the cloak behind the two in the passageway.
Could I really suspend my belief to encompass Crocodile People that would have the Cat People’s backs? I’m struggling with that one….
September 10th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Those are clearly Aligator people. Fierce rivals of the Crocs.
The Cat people are a very strange colour, u think the artist just had too much orange ink left over from his last drawing?
Just from the cover im guessing that the cats are at war with the lizard people and there’s this one “good” lizard dude in the whole universe who is one their side. Maybe he leads them through some secret way into a fortress to get their stolen catnip? he dies at the end saving some cat people, and then they realise maybe not ALL the lizard people are bad. I’m sure its a very touching moment.
I also love the lasers going accross the cover, nice touch
September 10th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Okay, I’ve read this, and own this, and can’t say anything bad about Michael Whelan art. He at least reads the books and has painted a number of good CJ Cherryh covers (including the Faded Sun series). This is the 5th book in the series, and the funniest (but only if you’ve read the others and know the society and politics). The Hani (the cat race) are based around how lions work, while the cloaked individual is a Kif, a highly unpleasant race who like to trade via intimidation. However, this Kif (IIRC) is loyal to the Chanur for reasons presented in the 3rd and 4th novels.
Now, to run down the comments —
1) Yes, the Kif has the Hani’s backs. He has good reasons to do so.
2) The Hani are described as as golden-furred, so the painting is pretty spot on.
3) The fight from the cover is over a McGuffin that various races all want. Political and economic intrigue and all that.
September 10th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Thanks Susano, sounds like a good book and a good series! Sounds like Cherryh started playing around with the fictional worlds a bit by that point while not poking fun too much, intruiging… Does it give any insight into the animalistic origins of the Kif? They look almost birdlike to me.
I have to agree with you, Michael Whelan’s done a good job here. You can tell from the cover he’s a gifted artist. However, Marseguro’s still No.1 on my list of books discovered via GSS covers though – that one was somehow just so Stainless Steel Rat that I knew I’d have to read it!
September 10th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
It may well be exactly as described in the book in this case, and is even well drawn i’ll grant… unfortunately that doesnt stop it from looking pretty cheesy.
I’ve read more than my fair share of sci-fi/fantasy and love the genre, but sometimes it boils down to some dude with a pet dragon and a magic sword fighting Lord Evilman, and unfortunately this is reflected in the cover for all the world to see.
Respect to the artist for taking the time to read the book. I’ve read atleast a few of the books/covers we’ve looked at here, and have enjoyed them, but i’d much rather they had plainer covers or even if the artist atleast had read a chapter or two.
My housemate has read the Man-Kzin Wars books and tried to defend their covers… i guess its all about taste.
You say Hani and Kif, I say Cat-man and Crocodude 😉
Tomato, tomato
September 11th, 2009 at 12:00 am
JustinLeego — The Kif are vaguely reptilian. I know they can only eat live food (they’re revolted by dead or cooked meat) and have two sets of teeth for masticating stuff into pure pulp. Oh, and probably nocturnal. Other than that…. can’t recall.
CSA — If you think this cover is cheesy, don’t even think about the other Chanur covers… or the Faded Sun covers… or the Morgaine series covers… or….
Ahem… I digress.
September 11th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I does sound like a better plot with more detail than a fair percentacge of the stuff i read over the years.
Maybe you could submit a photo of Gate of Ivrel? Are there worse?
September 11th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I have the omnibus edition, which has all three covers on it. I’ll see what I can do.
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Let’s not forget the most important thing about the kif (other than their incredibly backstabbing natures): their *names*. Who can’t love people with names like ‘Akkhtimakt’ and ‘Akukkakk’ and (my personal favourite) ‘Sikkukkut’.
(The strange thing is all these names *are* actually pronounceable. They just scare the hell out of you on first glance, quite like the kif themselves.)
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:08 am
Haha nice!
You would have never guessed the Kif would knife you in the back. They dress so trustworthy in their… dark robes…. 😉
Good names though! I would hate to have to say those ones on the spot. It would be like your teacher doing the registry and coming across that student with an awkward name and trying there name about four times before simply just giving up.
May 28th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Not hugely cheesy, really, if I’m honest. You can do a LOT worse than this I hope 😛 Otherwise we have a problem here.
I’ve read the books; all of them, and the covers are all pretty accurate. This one does have a twinge of when it was published, though, with the purple haze all over it.
Funny how I haven’t seen Chanur’s Venture or The Kif Strike Back yet….
June 28th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Why are cat people always so angry on these things? Why can’t we get covers that show the other side of cat people? Cat people relaxing, cat people at play, cat people grooming themselves with their own tongues.
Yes, that’s the cover I would like to see.
September 10th, 2019 at 7:51 am
“It’s the Muppet Show with our very special guest star Chanur and his Feline Fighters! Wooo!”
September 28th, 2023 at 3:23 am
Best episode of “Laser Cats” ever.