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Cover of Magicats!
Book details

Magicats!

by Jack Dann, Gardner R. Dozois

Published 1987ISBN 978-0-4415-1532-5

Space-time for springers / Fritz Leiber -- The game of rat and dragon / Cordwainer Smith -- The cat from hell / Stephen King -- Out of place / Pamela Sargent -- Schrödinger's cat / Ursula K. Le Guin -- Groucho / Ron Goulart -- My father, the cat / Henry Slesar -- The cat man / Byron Liggett -- Some are born cats / Terry and Carol Carr -- The cat lover / Knox Burger -- Jade Blue / Edward Bryant -- Tom cat / Gary Jennings -- Sonya, Crane Wessleman, and Kittee / Gene Wolfe-- The witch's cat / Manly Wade Wellman -- Antiquities / John Crowley -- A little intelligence / Randall Garrett -- The cat / Gene Wolfe -- Afternoon at Schrafft's / Gardner Dozois, Jack Dann, and Michael Swanwick.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fantasy, Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.

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Full BookenDeX details

What the reading experience may hold

A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.

Themes to notice

Fantasy · Fiction

Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.

Content notes

Catalog signals suggest warfare and conflict. These notes may not be complete; consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.

These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.

Reading experience

Dark tone · Steady pace

Preview the edition to decide how it fits your available reading time.

Who it may suit

A good fit if…

Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.

At a glance

This book's DNA

A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.

ToneDark
LuminousDark

This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.

No plot details

Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc

A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.

Spoiler-free
12345
PeakRelative emotional intensity
Magicats!Jack Dann, Gardner R. Dozois
Powerful5/5

This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.

Before you choose

A quick reading snapshot

Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.

Reading lengthLength not listed
Publication eraModernFirst published or edition dated 1987
Primary categoryFantasyAlso cataloged under Fiction
ISBN-13
978-0-4415-1532-5
Language
English
Edition record
OL7525936M
BookenDeX editorial lens

A more thoughtful way into this book

This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.

Good to know

Preview the edition to decide how it fits your available reading time.

Begin with its place in Fantasy, then notice where the book resists that label.

Try this reading approach

Read for connection, not completion.

Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.

Three questions to carry with you

  1. Which familiar part of life becomes easier to see through this imagined world?
  2. What rules shape the world, and who benefits from them?
  3. Where does wonder, fear, or possibility change a character’s choices?

Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.