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Cat Magic
A brilliant novel that stretches the boundaries of both dark fantasy and horror. — Set in the world of modern American witches, Catmagic is full of action, terror, and wonder, enormously entertaining and profoundly human. — Takes place in Maywell, New Jersey, a sleepy little town, the forces around it quite, until in a laboratory George Walker completes his first experiment in reanimation: He kills an animinal and brings it back to life.
Human subjects are next.
Human subjects are next.
376 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1986
54 people are currently reading
1029 people want to read
About the author
Whitley Strieber
152 books1,251 followersAmerican writer best known for his novels The Wolfen,The Hunger and Warday and for Communion, a non-fiction description of his experiences with apparent alien contact. He has recently made significant advances in understanding this phenomenon, and has published his new discoveries in Solving the Communion Enigma.
Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the blockbuster film about sudden climate change, The Day After Tomorrow.
His book The Afterlife Revolution written with his deceased wife Anne, is a record of what is considered to be one of the most powerful instances of afterlife communication ever recorded.
Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the blockbuster film about sudden climate change, The Day After Tomorrow.
His book The Afterlife Revolution written with his deceased wife Anne, is a record of what is considered to be one of the most powerful instances of afterlife communication ever recorded.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
August 1, 2021
3.5 stars
There are some really interesting elements here: witchcraft, a scientific study into life after death, a priest with a dark past. These made for some great scenes, especially when the darker subject matter came to the fore, but unfortunately I found the story to be too convoluted and disjointed.
There are some really interesting elements here: witchcraft, a scientific study into life after death, a priest with a dark past. These made for some great scenes, especially when the darker subject matter came to the fore, but unfortunately I found the story to be too convoluted and disjointed.
February 21, 2022
-Ideas interesantes casi tapadas por el despliegue técnico.-
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Gato mágico (publicación original: Cat Magic, 1986) nos lleva a Maywell, un pueblo de los Estados Unidos de América en el que creyentes (y practicantes) de la brujería y la Wicca conviven en paz con los que no creen o creen en religiones más convencionales, una de las cuales tiene un líder que odia a las brujas y planea hacer algo al respecto. En el pueblo también viven científicos que experimentan sobre resurrección, al pueblo también llega una ilustradora para trabajar con una de las brujas más importantes de la localidad en su nuevo libro y, además, también visita el pueblo un gato sobrenatural con intenciones poco claras.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Gato mágico (publicación original: Cat Magic, 1986) nos lleva a Maywell, un pueblo de los Estados Unidos de América en el que creyentes (y practicantes) de la brujería y la Wicca conviven en paz con los que no creen o creen en religiones más convencionales, una de las cuales tiene un líder que odia a las brujas y planea hacer algo al respecto. En el pueblo también viven científicos que experimentan sobre resurrección, al pueblo también llega una ilustradora para trabajar con una de las brujas más importantes de la localidad en su nuevo libro y, además, también visita el pueblo un gato sobrenatural con intenciones poco claras.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
December 31, 2015
I found this book completely and absolutely boring and nonsensical and stupid.
I am not from the US and I do not have any idea about Wiccan or whatever (it seems a bunch of hippies to me doing nature rituals and all that, a religion for the ones who need to believe in something and dont know exactly what).
The book itself is crap, the giant cat, the fairies, the characters, everything is so absultely absurd that I pity the day I found this piece of sh** in a book market.
The worst thing: the writing so full of stupid images, that are just a bunch of words put together (the dream of the consciousness of nature in the wild scent of love travelling through space and time in the wings of a dove, and such crap)
The only good thing about this is that I have finished it today and I can forget about it.
I am not from the US and I do not have any idea about Wiccan or whatever (it seems a bunch of hippies to me doing nature rituals and all that, a religion for the ones who need to believe in something and dont know exactly what).
The book itself is crap, the giant cat, the fairies, the characters, everything is so absultely absurd that I pity the day I found this piece of sh** in a book market.
The worst thing: the writing so full of stupid images, that are just a bunch of words put together (the dream of the consciousness of nature in the wild scent of love travelling through space and time in the wings of a dove, and such crap)
The only good thing about this is that I have finished it today and I can forget about it.
March 23, 2013
As a fan of Strieber, i picked this book up for the hell of it. The premise sounded ok, but I'm never a big fan of how witchcraft is handled in fiction so I was a bit hesitant. Whitley Strieber proved me wrong as he approaches modern witchcraft and Wicca in a tactful and honest way in this book, coupled with a great story of life, death, and rebirth. What impressed me was his grasp of witchcraft. I was fearing a cheesy "evil witch" or magical spells being cast to enchant silverware to dance or something. But he did it in a way that could honor the spirit of what witchcraft really is about: love, intent, and communion with the world around us. Blending that with his gritty, dark, truthful, personal storytelling, he is able to deliver both a story to entertain and a message to contemplate. Well done, Mr. Strieber.
March 17, 2013
This was my fourth time reading CAT MAGIC, and I still enjoy it.
I don't like how the author blends ancient Witchcraft myth & legend into story that is trying to portray 'modern' Wicca in a positive light. But -it was written in '86, before the new generation of Pagans became the 'in' thing, and it does help Strieber weave an interesting web.
For those who have read this already read this, the part with the frog in the lab... it breaks my heart every time! Ripped away from Summerland, and thrust back into pain and confusion - it makes me shed a tear and resent life.
My full review is up on BBB - http://beckisbookblog.wordpress.com/2...
I don't like how the author blends ancient Witchcraft myth & legend into story that is trying to portray 'modern' Wicca in a positive light. But -it was written in '86, before the new generation of Pagans became the 'in' thing, and it does help Strieber weave an interesting web.
For those who have read this already read this, the part with the frog in the lab... it breaks my heart every time! Ripped away from Summerland, and thrust back into pain and confusion - it makes me shed a tear and resent life.
My full review is up on BBB - http://beckisbookblog.wordpress.com/2...
July 17, 2011
This book changed my life. It gave me the keys to find what I believe in which eased the ache in my soul.
December 2, 2015
I thought it would be your average trash book, and it is, but it was also a bit whimsical and just plain weird. I really liked Mother Star of the Sea.
October 19, 2012
I read this book when I was 14 in 1986,
the same month I got This Mortal Coil's "It'll End In Tears",
and first dropped L.S.D.;
I am re-reading it, now, inside of cannabis vapors,
so my judgment is, still, the opposite of clouded.
This book is slow to start,
but is an earthen version of the samekind of disinhibiting stimuli as
Gustav Meyrink's "The Angel of the West Window",
Gerard de Nerval's "Aurelia"
and Philip K. Dick's "V.A.L.I.S.",
but couched in a 80's horror novel.
Proof of re-incarnation and dreamie Dark Fantasy+++++
the same month I got This Mortal Coil's "It'll End In Tears",
and first dropped L.S.D.;
I am re-reading it, now, inside of cannabis vapors,
so my judgment is, still, the opposite of clouded.
This book is slow to start,
but is an earthen version of the samekind of disinhibiting stimuli as
Gustav Meyrink's "The Angel of the West Window",
Gerard de Nerval's "Aurelia"
and Philip K. Dick's "V.A.L.I.S.",
but couched in a 80's horror novel.
Proof of re-incarnation and dreamie Dark Fantasy+++++
January 21, 2021
Surreal and nonsensical, Cat Magic is a hard book to enjoy if you're a reader not completely engrossed in witchcraft and have a deep love for feline friends. Whilst there were elements of the story I did enjoy (the crazy scientist hellbent on killing and resurrecting his subjects for instance), the overall premise fell flat. Despite trying hard to loose myself in the surreal, I just couldn't suspend my belief enough to get into the book; a giant cat, larger than a mountain who looms large over a small town, seen by many yet largely ignored? Nah, didn't work for me.
November 25, 2016
Whitley Strieber is cracked. He was abducted by aliens! .....a whole bunch of times! (you can read about that in his book "Comunion"). "Cat Magic" was written by Strieber and his buddy Jonathan Barry. Only....Barry doesn't actually exist. Just Strieber. Strieber alone wrote this book. Why did he list Jonathan Barry? Because Whitley Strieber is cracked! This book still wasn't bad I suppose. It's not a "true" story like Comunion was. It's a novel...about witches n shit.
September 30, 2013
Started out fine. But after about 100 pages began to bog down with a bunch of pseudo philosophy/religious junk and the story got strung out badly.
I thought the later half of the book rather poor to terrible. As a horror story it sucks with the main horror being the poor writing.
I thought the later half of the book rather poor to terrible. As a horror story it sucks with the main horror being the poor writing.
October 30, 2020
DNF before page 50.
Not absolutely terrible I suppose, but obviously written by a creep and I just really didn't care at all about the story. The dialogue is unrealistic, all the men are gross, and I didn't care enough about any of the characters, even the "witches." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Not absolutely terrible I suppose, but obviously written by a creep and I just really didn't care at all about the story. The dialogue is unrealistic, all the men are gross, and I didn't care enough about any of the characters, even the "witches." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
September 12, 2011
Fucking fantastic.
A book that really makes you think about the possibilities of what happens after you die.
Definitely a book you can't put down.
A book that really makes you think about the possibilities of what happens after you die.
Definitely a book you can't put down.
March 28, 2017
Le voy a poner a este libro 2,5. La verdad es que no sé por qué pero no creo que menos sea correcto para este libro porque tiene cosas buenas. Este libro llego a mis manos porque como ya he dicho en varias reseñas sigo un reto de juego de tronos y lo que nos pedían es que en la historia apareciera un felino y la verdad es que me volví loca por mi cuarto y no conseguí encontrar ninguno. Empece a pedir consejos por twitter pero al preguntarle a una gran amiga me dijo yo tengo uno por casa si lo quieres?. Fui a su casa a vernos un poquete y me lo dejo sin ninguna duda. La verdad es que se lo agradezco pero se ve que las lecturas no las tenemos muy parecidas XD. Yo soy mas de fantasía y ella un poco lecturas mas "adultas". Para empezar ella ya me dijo que no me iba a gustar mucho pero quise darle la oportunidad porque a veces las historias pueden sorprenderte. En un principio lo que me contaba en los primeros capítulos me pareció bastante interesante ya que eran un grupo de científicos que estaban investigando en animales la posibilidad de matarlos y traerlos de nuevo a la vida. Se ve que con el paso de los capítulos pues ha ido perdiendo mi interés. Empiezan con animales pero luego con la necesidad de la persona que da el dinero para el estudio pasan a los humano. Porque mas o menos de la mitad del libro en adelante es sobre lo que uno de los personajes que fallecen ve tras morir, parece interesante porque dices tal vez eso sea lo que podría pasar, pues si es eso prefiero no morirme. Empiezan a surgir situaciones de las que yo llamo "caos" y es que para mi es todas las ideas de historias sueltas que te vengan a la cabeza las vas enlazando con mas cosas ilógicas y al final....las haces "lógicas". Ahora soy yo la que no sabe si tiene lógica XD. Me han quedado algunos hilos sueltos, no pongo ejemplos porque serian spoilers demasiado fuertes. Referente a los personajes pues creo que algunos como el tio de Amanda, los dos primeros científicos, la monja, Robin, Uvas y seguramente algunos mas no han tenido ningun peso en la historia, los personajes que mas peso y mas nos han dejado conocerse han sido Amanda nuestra protagonista y el cura Simón. Otra de las cosas que no me han gustado del libro es que al existir un cura en la historia he leido capítulos y capítulos con conversaciones sobre religión , ya sabéis tipo " si expiar tus pecados dios te dejara ir al cielo" "sois unos pecadores", etc etc, puede que hay gente a la que le guste o no le aburra este tipo de capítulos pero conmigo he llegado a pensar en pasarme paginas sin leer, cosa que nunca me había ocurrido. Entretenido vale, recomendable no!.
June 26, 2020
Engrossing tale of a small town that not only has it's own college but also a good sized coven of witches. While there has always seemed to be a kind of balance between all the inhabitants, things are quickly coming to a head what with a revival preacher stirring up the good christian townspeople against the peaceful members of the coven who are also facing their own trials. Their leader, in her crone status, is steadily weakening, leading to her summoning an artist originally from the town to supposedly illustrate the leader's tales. Amanda is no witch, not at first, but slowly she is drawn into the wiccan world finding a power within her that she'd previously been aware of. However even with this new found power, she faces a huge challenge for as the crone must fall, the maiden will rise up. The question is whether she can find it within herself to rise up to defeat the darkness & save the coven from destruction
August 4, 2019
Uneven read. I became aware of Whitley Strieber earlier this year, read the first two books in his Communion series, so was curious to go back and revisit his earlier week. Catmagic, at first, seemed like a fairly by-the-numbers 80's horror novel much in the vein of a Stephen King or Dean Koontz. But it seemed as though a whole witchcraft subplot never really took shape and the cat was more a clunky plot device than anything else. The comparison might be unfair but Catmagic doesn't hold a handle to Cujo.
September 2, 2008
I can't even remember how many times I have read this book. It was given to me by my mother and I have read it so many time that I have had replace it once and looking to replace it again. Nice light read that totally grabs you and puts you in the book.
February 9, 2011
This was my favorite book for years and years. I haven't read it for a long time, but I may try it again to see if I still like it. The spine and the cover captured my attention, and the writing kept it the entire way through.
April 6, 2020
Like if you had three fantasy nerds describe the first fantasy trope that came into their heads (Frankenstein's monster, fairies, and witches), and combined that with the ramblings of an insane conspiracy theorist, then molded that into a vaguely Stephen-King novel shaped book.
February 28, 2012
It's my favorite book
October 2, 2012
This was one of my favorite books in high school. It really made me think on how we are all connected and intertwined. The store is odd and twisted. Just my kind of book.
January 20, 2015
Would be zero stars if there was such an option.
October 14, 2018
This book is bad. Laughably bad. Hands down one of the worst books I have ever read.
February 6, 2024
More thoughts in my January wrap-up ⬇️
https://youtu.be/5T7-HJuf3J8?si=l_QyN...
https://youtu.be/5T7-HJuf3J8?si=l_QyN...
April 6, 2021
I genuinely enjoyed this one. It’s quite adept at evoking an emotional response from me. I always like seeing the thought process of characters i hate, and the evangelist, while not even being the scientists I’m convinced were inspired by peta‘s first raid, is a fun villain to read. You can sort of see him being similarly eccentric like the compulsive guy in Langoliers. Sometimes a strawman but always terrified. As for the pagan-ish plot, i was just glad it seemed to be treated with respect. Far too often it gets portrayed as evil or saccharine good, the kind of horribly annoying teenage girls who obsess over the zodiac and palmistry and tarot and charms and crystals, obvious candidates for that living on light nonsense. (Having been a teenage girl myself, i of course went through this phase and adopted wicca for several years, though I did try not to shout about it.) This main can almost be compared to ali from everlost; though I still think ali is more likeable, they are both relatively grounded and self possessed characters who see the wrong in the world around them and perhaps have less inhibitions regarding changing anything. It’s fun to watch the past lives play out in rapid succession, like the visions near the end of stephen king‘s the talisman, though the ending seemed oddly forced, like loose ends were being tied up just for the sake of it. I still enjoyed it though. It’s poetic in a way
September 3, 2017
About halfway into the book, I can safely declare I'm rooting for the Cat. The other characters so far are annoying, playing with life and death like no-one ever would get hurt, but the Cat is there to kick their behinds and ruin all their plans, and that's why I love him. Go Cat.
Mother Star of the Sea is my other champion, then come the frog and Tess the monkey. I'd love to see them unleash the apocalypse on bratty scientists, arrogant witches and our terminally dumb heroine and then ride in the sunset while chewing a Snickers bar.
EDIT: And by the end of the book I was ALSO shamelessly rooting for the extremists. "Terminally dumb" is the right definition for Mandy, because you don't prance around naked when your worst enemy is ready to burn you and your whole coven alive.
I was also insanely happy to see her die, even if I knew she would come back. How irritating. The only person I hated more was Bonnie.
Aunt Kate, on the other hand, had my sympathy when she remembered how her husband was a better person before Constance's manipulations brought him to madness. Was I really supposed to like that bunch of hippies?
Mother Star of the Sea is my other champion, then come the frog and Tess the monkey. I'd love to see them unleash the apocalypse on bratty scientists, arrogant witches and our terminally dumb heroine and then ride in the sunset while chewing a Snickers bar.
EDIT: And by the end of the book I was ALSO shamelessly rooting for the extremists. "Terminally dumb" is the right definition for Mandy, because you don't prance around naked when your worst enemy is ready to burn you and your whole coven alive.
I was also insanely happy to see her die, even if I knew she would come back. How irritating. The only person I hated more was Bonnie.
Aunt Kate, on the other hand, had my sympathy when she remembered how her husband was a better person before Constance's manipulations brought him to madness. Was I really supposed to like that bunch of hippies?
November 10, 2023
I think Whitley Strieber broke about every basic novel-writing trope in existence with this book. I'm pretty sure at least one person is naked once per chapter, but I don't think it's meant to be erotica despite lots of sex occurring, and if it is, it's about as arousing as an awkward clump of weird dirt. The protagonist picks up an uncomfortably young partner without dominating the entire narrative and derailing everything else with the act of their partnering. I definitely wouldn't call it romance. It doesn't actually properly feel like horror either, despite the cover and the witches, because it wasn't particularly suspenseful until the last chapter or two. It seems genuinely impossible to get from start to finish and predict where this is even going to go, because the beginning and the end totally feel like different books entirely and I'm unable to pinpoint an exact spot where one story turned into the other.
It was weird and I'd read it again if I stumbled upon it again. Maybe. You know how these things go.
It was weird and I'd read it again if I stumbled upon it again. Maybe. You know how these things go.
March 19, 2015
Skip it.
Started out okay but by the end it had devolved into a bunch of rants about witchcraft, folk lore, and dealing with guilt. All good subjects, but not when laid on with a shovel. The characters and plot were okay, but they just could not struggle through the mounds of prose that were heaped all about. Even the prose wasn't so bad, but it stood directly in the path of the plot and dragged it all down to a painful crawl. By the end I was skimming just to get through it and see if there was any nugget of gold. Nope.
Also, the e-book is clearly an OCR scan - that was not done well. If you don't mind the character named "Clark" being constantly referred to as "dark", good on you - get ready for lots and lots more of the same.
Started out okay but by the end it had devolved into a bunch of rants about witchcraft, folk lore, and dealing with guilt. All good subjects, but not when laid on with a shovel. The characters and plot were okay, but they just could not struggle through the mounds of prose that were heaped all about. Even the prose wasn't so bad, but it stood directly in the path of the plot and dragged it all down to a painful crawl. By the end I was skimming just to get through it and see if there was any nugget of gold. Nope.
Also, the e-book is clearly an OCR scan - that was not done well. If you don't mind the character named "Clark" being constantly referred to as "dark", good on you - get ready for lots and lots more of the same.
October 6, 2015
BOOK REVIEW....
I had trouble getting into this story from the beginning. A good part of that was the reading itself. But also the story. It was very wordy. I found myself wishing it was a paperback so I could skip in places. Over all it was just an okay story.
AUDIO REVIEW......
I found the narrator to sounded like she wasn't really interested in the story. The characters were different enough sounding to be able to tell the difference of who was speaking for the most part. However they were annoying sounding. I didn't like the sound of them at all.
*****Received this via audiobookblast in exchange for an unbiased review. ****
L.
I had trouble getting into this story from the beginning. A good part of that was the reading itself. But also the story. It was very wordy. I found myself wishing it was a paperback so I could skip in places. Over all it was just an okay story.
AUDIO REVIEW......
I found the narrator to sounded like she wasn't really interested in the story. The characters were different enough sounding to be able to tell the difference of who was speaking for the most part. However they were annoying sounding. I didn't like the sound of them at all.
*****Received this via audiobookblast in exchange for an unbiased review. ****
L.
June 22, 2024
Amanda comes to Maywell on the pretense to illustrate Constance Collier's new book but what she doesn't know is that Constance and the coven have brought her here to be the new Queen of the coven but first she must come back from the dead.
This is an excellent book with a lot of depth. there are several side stories that are connected in a way but they run their own courses and I enjoyed that. The religious element was done well showing that not all religion was evil just this one cult that has gone wacko. The bad guys are not always who you think they are going to be. I didn't find the horror scary but it was interesting and fun making for an engrossing read.
This is an excellent book with a lot of depth. there are several side stories that are connected in a way but they run their own courses and I enjoyed that. The religious element was done well showing that not all religion was evil just this one cult that has gone wacko. The bad guys are not always who you think they are going to be. I didn't find the horror scary but it was interesting and fun making for an engrossing read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews