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Clan of the Claw #1
Exiled
First entry in a new series with three big all new novellas from multiple New York Times best-sellers S.M. Stirling, John Ringo & Jody Lynn Nye, Harry Turtledove, and Michael Z. Williamson! The cat-like Mrem, our heroes, battle the deep reptilian intelligence of humanoid dinosaurs in a Bronze Age world.
First entry in a new series with four big all new linked novellas from multiple best-sellers Harry Turtledove, John Ringo & Jody Lynn Nye, S.M. Stirling, and Michael Z. Williamson! After the extinction asteroid DOESN’T strike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving – but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved human-like shapes, but now it’s cold-blooded, magic-using reptiles against the hot-blooded, hot-tempered descendants of cats.
In a heroic, Bronze Age world similar to 300 , the Mrem Clan of the Claw and its sister warbands are expanding their rough-and-tumble territory, but now they face the Lishkash, masters of a cold-blooded empire of slave armies and magic. It’s mammalian courage and adaptation against reptile cunning in a clash of steel and will that determine who shall inherit the Earth.
First entry in a new series with four big all new linked novellas from multiple best-sellers Harry Turtledove, John Ringo & Jody Lynn Nye, S.M. Stirling, and Michael Z. Williamson! After the extinction asteroid DOESN’T strike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving – but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved human-like shapes, but now it’s cold-blooded, magic-using reptiles against the hot-blooded, hot-tempered descendants of cats.
In a heroic, Bronze Age world similar to 300 , the Mrem Clan of the Claw and its sister warbands are expanding their rough-and-tumble territory, but now they face the Lishkash, masters of a cold-blooded empire of slave armies and magic. It’s mammalian courage and adaptation against reptile cunning in a clash of steel and will that determine who shall inherit the Earth.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
30 people are currently reading
339 people want to read
About the author
S.M. Stirling
170 books1,645 followersStephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.
MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY:
(personal website: source)
I’m a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft. I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.
MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY:
(personal website: source)
I’m a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft. I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 3, 2025
The stories in this anthology were mediocre overall. I should have been warned when for the first story, Turtledove stole names from the musical Cats for his cat characters and names of pain medication for his dinosaur characters. The authors were inconsistent in the details of the world, the stories were bland and the cover art has nothing to do with the book.
December 31, 2012
Checked this out when it turned up on a "S.M. Stirling" book search in the library card catalog. The elevator pitch sounds promising enough: set on an earth where the asteroids didn't strike and end the age of the reptiles, five of sci-fi's best and brightest collaborate on a tale of sentient cat vs. telepathic lizard as the former fight to complete a mass migration away from their flooded homeland.
In practice, however, a mishmash of styles and lackluster writing combine to create an uninspired and frankly uninteresting collection.
Stirling's story is the best in a poor field, where most of the other authors seem to have called it in, writing well below their potential. Turtledove's opening chapter especially was so downright Boring that I nearly put down the whole thing right there. (Had there been anything else semi-compelling on my shelf at the time, I would have!) I've read Ringo but not Nye, so I presume she was responsible for the terribly unsubtle sexual overtones (both hetero and homo) running through their co-written closer, which was also filled with irritating characters I would have not mourned had the authors the courage to kill them off. The only surprise here was Michael Z. Williamson, who's "Battle Tide" in the middle of the book was surprisingly decent. Admittedly, I approached it with very low expectations, having abandoned the last book I read by him less than half-way through.
In addition, there are universe inconsistencies running through that annoy the detail-oriented reader. Does the Mrem's "Dancing" require physical proximity and multiple participants or not, and how fragile or powerful is it? Is there actually a permanent psychic link between the Dancers (Tutrledove vs. Ringo/Nye)? Are last names really that big a deal to the cats (Turtledove, Stirling), or do they function more like ours (Williamson, Ringo/Nye). Do the Lishkash actually have a *society* of sentient, clothing wearing, semi-free individuals, or do the godling nobles rule by brute force of mind over primarily dumb animals (Williamson)? None of these are insoluble, but their presence highlights the difficulty of creating something coherent with this many authors involved.
All in all, I do not recommend it and will not be picking up any sequels.
In practice, however, a mishmash of styles and lackluster writing combine to create an uninspired and frankly uninteresting collection.
Stirling's story is the best in a poor field, where most of the other authors seem to have called it in, writing well below their potential. Turtledove's opening chapter especially was so downright Boring that I nearly put down the whole thing right there. (Had there been anything else semi-compelling on my shelf at the time, I would have!) I've read Ringo but not Nye, so I presume she was responsible for the terribly unsubtle sexual overtones (both hetero and homo) running through their co-written closer, which was also filled with irritating characters I would have not mourned had the authors the courage to kill them off. The only surprise here was Michael Z. Williamson, who's "Battle Tide" in the middle of the book was surprisingly decent. Admittedly, I approached it with very low expectations, having abandoned the last book I read by him less than half-way through.
In addition, there are universe inconsistencies running through that annoy the detail-oriented reader. Does the Mrem's "Dancing" require physical proximity and multiple participants or not, and how fragile or powerful is it? Is there actually a permanent psychic link between the Dancers (Tutrledove vs. Ringo/Nye)? Are last names really that big a deal to the cats (Turtledove, Stirling), or do they function more like ours (Williamson, Ringo/Nye). Do the Lishkash actually have a *society* of sentient, clothing wearing, semi-free individuals, or do the godling nobles rule by brute force of mind over primarily dumb animals (Williamson)? None of these are insoluble, but their presence highlights the difficulty of creating something coherent with this many authors involved.
All in all, I do not recommend it and will not be picking up any sequels.
August 24, 2015
Excellent xenofiction on an alternate Earth; essentially derived humanoid cats (think Razorclaw Shifters from Dungeons & Dragons or The Elder Scrolls's Khajiit) with bronze metallurgy, primitive Paleolithic to early Neolithic herding and hunting culture and a communal clan system fight against magical wizard dinosaurs who live in castles; who can PSI dominate other creatures and who rule over their own kingdoms practically as gods made flesh over a slave fiefdom.
... it's a freaking ride of a book. Highly recommend.
... it's a freaking ride of a book. Highly recommend.
June 9, 2015
In this alternate universe nothing caused dinosaurs to become extinct. From them evolved a manlike creature that had strong mental powers and sought to control the world. Also involving were cat creatures similar to man. The two species were mortal enemies. Five authors have written four stories that follow the cat creatues flight to freedom similar to the Exodus of the Bible. This was an interesting read written by some prominent science fiction story tellers.
July 3, 2012
A collection of short stories in a shared world or intelligent cats and dinosaur decendants. As is usual in these things the stories are all a little differnt in style, but all good from a good group of writers (if you like your fantasy with no humans at all).
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September 17, 2012Did not finish - 1st story was written by an author that I haven't read before and was not interesting enough to keep me interested.
October 19, 2012
Excelant mid-length stories, the regular authours outstanding, the regular week story tellers still week. love the theme sort of hate the mind control stuff.
November 26, 2012
Good anthology, hangs together well.
January 19, 2014
I read the first one. Was not that impressed. Maybe I will come back and read the second one later
April 25, 2017
Fun little series of stories. Cat people vs Dino folk. Looking forward to reading the second book in the series.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews