Cat's Meat (Spoilers all Hobb books and short stories)

[KekPafrany]

Does it contain spoiler about the City of Dragon too? Because I will wait with the reading until I am lucky enough to have that book.

Fennel - now I looked up in the dictionary, and I have to agree, it's a good name for him

Yes, Jinna's cat [[Fennel]]...such a great name for a cat!!

For further info on cats within the realm, you may like to look here (link has spoilers for all books including RWC).

[Farseer]

Sorry, KekPafrany, as I did mean to add "not including City of Dragons or Blood of Dragons". At this stage the link only has RWC spoilers up to the end of Dragon Haven.

I'm still at the start of Chapter Four in CoD! Hopefully I will get some read during my trip...the way I'm going, fool-ish will have received and finished reading it before I do!

[fool-ish]

Sorry, KekPafrany, as I did mean to add "not including City of Dragons or Blood of Dragons". At this stage the link only has RWC spoilers up to the end of Dragon Haven.

I'm still at the start of Chapter Four in CoD! Hopefully I will get some read during my trip...the way I'm going, fool-ish will have received and finished reading it before I do!

That'll be just short of two months off...I should hope you'll have read it by then. There really aren't enough hours in the day though, I understand that all too well

Oh and Fennel is the best cat! As cheeky as they come and with his 'your lives should revolve around me' attitude, he made me laugh.

[Omie]

The cats in Robin Hobb's writings bear an uncanny resemblence to her dragons.

I would love to read a short story or scene depicting a 'conversation' (read: bitch fest) between a cat and a dragon. 'A cat may look at a queen', indeed.

I found Cat's Meat deeply, inexplicably disturbing, despite being my favourite short story from The Inheritance

[Narya]

I had a hard time justifying what happened to Meddalee - even if she was conspiring with Pell to have Pell kill those that stood in their way. There's killing in self defense, and then there's cold blooded killing to preempt someone else's cold blooded killing. But I suppose cats have their own ethics.

[Lady Persephone]

I really liked 'Cat's Meat'. I hadn't read it before, but it was my favorite story in The Inheritance.

And you couldn't have read it before had you wanted to - it's a completely new story. Incidentally, my favorite too.

I liked the little references, like Chalcedean blades and Forge. A subtle reminder that Forge wasn't always synonymous with tragedy. And cats speak to whoever they please and can apparently influence people's thoughts... guys, I think we have found the secret rulers of the Realm of the Elderlings. Not the humans. Not the dragons. Not the Elderlings of ages past. The secret overlords, the movers and shakers of the realms are the cats. The Others are right to fear them.

Now I'll have to re-read all the books and confirm all events as unfolding according to the cats' secret conspiracy.

I knew it!!!! This just makes all the little pieces and hints we find scattered throughout the trilogies all fall into place!    Cats DO rule the realm!  Maybe they caused the cataclysm???