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Kitty Cat Kill Sat: A Feline Space Adventure
In this inventive and heartfelt take on a dystopian space opera, humanity’s last hope comes complete with a space station, an attitude, and . . . whiskers?
Civilization has fallen. The solar system is blanketed with the automated weapons of ancient wars, engineered plagues, hazardous waste, rogue AI, monsters from outside our dimension, artificial disasters, and nuclear climate change. Every moment of life on Earth is a brutal fight for survival. The people of Sol carry on, but hope is at a premium. They need something more. Someone with a plan, a savior, a hero.
What they get is Lily. Owner of the last functional battle station for the last four hundred years by right of being the last living soul on it, Lily ad-Alice has spent all that time struggling to save lives, fend off loneliness, and operate human-made weapons controls with paws and meows. Four centuries of establishing protocols, figuring out how to utilize an irresponsibly large arsenal of orbital weaponry, and scraping by with what life support still functions.
Lily doesn’t have a plan. She can’t even tell how haunted her home is. Every day is an endless stream of alarms and crises—it’s a lot for a lone desperate housecat to handle herself. But being the proprietor of the last piece of working orbital infrastructure in existence is a responsibility and duty she’s accepted anyway.
Now things are changing again. Something big is looming, and everything Lily has scrambled for hundreds of years to achieve is at risk. But if she’s quick, maybe she can do some good. If she’s cunning, maybe she can adapt. If she’s smart, maybe she can build something that lasts this time. And if she’s very, very lucky, maybe she won’t have to do it alone.
The hit science-fiction tale—with more than a million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
Civilization has fallen. The solar system is blanketed with the automated weapons of ancient wars, engineered plagues, hazardous waste, rogue AI, monsters from outside our dimension, artificial disasters, and nuclear climate change. Every moment of life on Earth is a brutal fight for survival. The people of Sol carry on, but hope is at a premium. They need something more. Someone with a plan, a savior, a hero.
What they get is Lily. Owner of the last functional battle station for the last four hundred years by right of being the last living soul on it, Lily ad-Alice has spent all that time struggling to save lives, fend off loneliness, and operate human-made weapons controls with paws and meows. Four centuries of establishing protocols, figuring out how to utilize an irresponsibly large arsenal of orbital weaponry, and scraping by with what life support still functions.
Lily doesn’t have a plan. She can’t even tell how haunted her home is. Every day is an endless stream of alarms and crises—it’s a lot for a lone desperate housecat to handle herself. But being the proprietor of the last piece of working orbital infrastructure in existence is a responsibility and duty she’s accepted anyway.
Now things are changing again. Something big is looming, and everything Lily has scrambled for hundreds of years to achieve is at risk. But if she’s quick, maybe she can do some good. If she’s cunning, maybe she can adapt. If she’s smart, maybe she can build something that lasts this time. And if she’s very, very lucky, maybe she won’t have to do it alone.
The hit science-fiction tale—with more than a million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
475 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 13, 2023
368 people are currently reading
946 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
June 7, 2023
As a cat lover, I was so excited to get into this sci-fi epic starring one of my favorite mammals. Lily ad-Alice is the feline commander of a giant space station. She got this position by default, as she's the sole inhabitant of this station, and has been for four hundred years! She spends a lot of her time struggling to get the system to accept commands in cat language, as she works to protect the remaining inhabitants of the earth from various catastrophes. Each day is largely the same... until it's not. The challenges may be ramping up, but for the first time in centuries, Lily may not be alone.
I absolutely adored this epic sci-fi tale. Lily is a perfect protagonist. The story is told from her point of view, very personal and engaging. It's quite emotional to read the sections in which she struggles with the depression of being immortal and alone in space. I really enjoyed the writing style. It's long winded, but perfectly fits with Lily's character. The friendships that Lily develops throughout the novel are sweet to follow along with. The ending action was also great. I teared up while reading the entire last chapter. Definitely would recommend.
I received a free copy of this book via Podium Team and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I absolutely adored this epic sci-fi tale. Lily is a perfect protagonist. The story is told from her point of view, very personal and engaging. It's quite emotional to read the sections in which she struggles with the depression of being immortal and alone in space. I really enjoyed the writing style. It's long winded, but perfectly fits with Lily's character. The friendships that Lily develops throughout the novel are sweet to follow along with. The ending action was also great. I teared up while reading the entire last chapter. Definitely would recommend.
I received a free copy of this book via Podium Team and am voluntarily leaving a review.
July 24, 2023
I feel like a book that makes me cry this much doesn't deserve anything less than five stars. It's not that it's entirely without flaws - the chapters are constructed in a way that's pretty episodic, and coming up to the ending there's a culmination of a lot of things that happen in the last ten chapters or so - but... I can't really bring myself to fault it for those things? It doesn't really matter in the end, because every chapter is deeply meaningful. Sometimes they explore the nature of loneliness, depression, and a sense of duty. Sometimes they're about the ethics of dealing with other sapient lifeforms. Sometimes they're just about how the little things in life can mean something so much more when they're gone.
Kitty Cat Kill Sat is the kind of character-driven story that science fiction needs. Genuinely one of my favorites of all time.
Kitty Cat Kill Sat is the kind of character-driven story that science fiction needs. Genuinely one of my favorites of all time.
October 12, 2023
For an audiobook of about 20 hours, this book doesn't contain enough story.
It's mostly an endless stream of inner dialog and rambling, meant to portray the thoughts of an immortal cat. Unfortunately this doesn't make for an interesting read.
It's mostly an endless stream of inner dialog and rambling, meant to portray the thoughts of an immortal cat. Unfortunately this doesn't make for an interesting read.
January 17, 2025
PRO: Intriguing concept, elaborate world-building
CON: Not enough stuff actually *happens* in this book. It's almost entirely inner monologue by the narrator, which is cool for a bit but eventually the low amount of Stuff Happening saps the interest. Not quite funny enough to work as a comedy, not enough risk to work as action, not enough character depth to work as a 'romance' or character study.
Overall, cool, but I suspect this would've been better as a slimmed down novella of 50 pages than a 400+ page tome.
CON: Not enough stuff actually *happens* in this book. It's almost entirely inner monologue by the narrator, which is cool for a bit but eventually the low amount of Stuff Happening saps the interest. Not quite funny enough to work as a comedy, not enough risk to work as action, not enough character depth to work as a 'romance' or character study.
Overall, cool, but I suspect this would've been better as a slimmed down novella of 50 pages than a 400+ page tome.
July 4, 2023
Look, how could I not have taken a look at a book with that title? And then when I found out it was about a cat that runs a space station? Of course I had to read it!
It makes a lot of sense that this book started out serialized as a good chunk of it is sort of episode-of-the-week style. It’s told from the first person POV of Lily, an Uplifted cat who’s spent the past 400 or so years running a space station (which may or may not be haunted) by herself. For the most part, each chapter starts out with Lily in the middle of a new and possibly deadly situation. By the end of the chapter, Lily has complained about how the station is not designed for cats, the issue is resolved, and then it’s time to move on to the next chapter and the next problem. Eventually, the chapters begin to build on each other as Lily forms new relationships, all the while learning more about the station and herself.
Lily is, strangely enough, exactly what I think an Uplifted (ie enhanced intelligence) cat would sound like. She goes off on frequent tangents, waxes episodic about napping on couches in the sunlight (such as it is), and she’s entirely sure she is the most glorious cat to have ever existed. If you can’t tell, the author isn’t afraid to have fun with the whole “cat running a space station” deal, meaning there’s plenty of silliness and humor to balance out the action aspects of the book. That’s not to say there aren’t other emotions involved, either.
The heart of the book are the gorgeous relationships. Lily starts out the book lonely and worn-down. Maybe it’s her loneliness or maybe it’s her years of watching the countless planetary wars, but Lily sees to the heart of a person. So what if Lily’s new pet has saw-blade tentacles? To Lily, he’s still a dog (and a very good boy) and she’s frankly confused when anyone tries to point out his differences. All those dramas about killer AIs? Speciesist propaganda. Not that Lily’s perfect, as is proven time and time again in the book, but she learns and grows and accepts. It’s hard not to like and admire her (and wish you could give her some very nice ear scritches).
As for cons, it felt like it took a very long time to read this book. Since each chapter was basically a self-contained episode, it was easy for me to put the book down and stop reading. It can get a bit heavy-handed when communicating Lily’s frustration with the rest of the universe (”for every hydroponics bed I find up here—and not even the ones that work—I run across a hundred laser cannons, railguns, nuclear options, and missile stockpiles?”) but it mostly manages to avoid that by vastly exaggerating those things to the point where they can’t help but be humorous. The various historical governments were some of my favorites.
In the end, though, this is pretty much everything I want from a space opera. It’s imaginative, emotional and at its core deeply hopeful. And it has cats in space. What more could a person want?
I received an advance review copy of this book from BookSprout. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Content notes:
“Hello! I’m Lily ad-Alice! Nice to meet you! How screwed are we?”
It makes a lot of sense that this book started out serialized as a good chunk of it is sort of episode-of-the-week style. It’s told from the first person POV of Lily, an Uplifted cat who’s spent the past 400 or so years running a space station (which may or may not be haunted) by herself. For the most part, each chapter starts out with Lily in the middle of a new and possibly deadly situation. By the end of the chapter, Lily has complained about how the station is not designed for cats, the issue is resolved, and then it’s time to move on to the next chapter and the next problem. Eventually, the chapters begin to build on each other as Lily forms new relationships, all the while learning more about the station and herself.
“I am very smart, and that is why I own a space station.”
Lily is, strangely enough, exactly what I think an Uplifted (ie enhanced intelligence) cat would sound like. She goes off on frequent tangents, waxes episodic about napping on couches in the sunlight (such as it is), and she’s entirely sure she is the most glorious cat to have ever existed. If you can’t tell, the author isn’t afraid to have fun with the whole “cat running a space station” deal, meaning there’s plenty of silliness and humor to balance out the action aspects of the book. That’s not to say there aren’t other emotions involved, either.
“At the end of all things, all of us, together, against the darkness.”
The heart of the book are the gorgeous relationships. Lily starts out the book lonely and worn-down. Maybe it’s her loneliness or maybe it’s her years of watching the countless planetary wars, but Lily sees to the heart of a person. So what if Lily’s new pet has saw-blade tentacles? To Lily, he’s still a dog (and a very good boy) and she’s frankly confused when anyone tries to point out his differences. All those dramas about killer AIs? Speciesist propaganda. Not that Lily’s perfect, as is proven time and time again in the book, but she learns and grows and accepts. It’s hard not to like and admire her (and wish you could give her some very nice ear scritches).
As for cons, it felt like it took a very long time to read this book. Since each chapter was basically a self-contained episode, it was easy for me to put the book down and stop reading. It can get a bit heavy-handed when communicating Lily’s frustration with the rest of the universe (”for every hydroponics bed I find up here—and not even the ones that work—I run across a hundred laser cannons, railguns, nuclear options, and missile stockpiles?”) but it mostly manages to avoid that by vastly exaggerating those things to the point where they can’t help but be humorous. The various historical governments were some of my favorites.
“Well. You know what they say about cats and curiosity.
It’s a clear path to immortality, if you’re smug enough.”
In the end, though, this is pretty much everything I want from a space opera. It’s imaginative, emotional and at its core deeply hopeful. And it has cats in space. What more could a person want?
I received an advance review copy of this book from BookSprout. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Content notes:
February 22, 2024
A hard read
As someone who normally reads mystery novels, I found this book very hard/frustrating to read. There is no over arching plot to drive the book. I feel like maybe it should have been 3 books: one to rescue Glitter, one about growing food and one about finding her sisters.
Other reviewers said this started as a serial which I can definitely see as many segments seem to have been written just to publish something. Really seems like the author had no idea what they wanted to do with the plot until about 90% of the way through and then kind of rushed it.
I would have given this book less stars but I was amused by several of Lily's ramblings.
As someone who normally reads mystery novels, I found this book very hard/frustrating to read. There is no over arching plot to drive the book. I feel like maybe it should have been 3 books: one to rescue Glitter, one about growing food and one about finding her sisters.
Other reviewers said this started as a serial which I can definitely see as many segments seem to have been written just to publish something. Really seems like the author had no idea what they wanted to do with the plot until about 90% of the way through and then kind of rushed it.
I would have given this book less stars but I was amused by several of Lily's ramblings.
February 20, 2024
Four parts monologue to every one part plot. The monologues are pretty repetitive, too, mostly reiterating one of three themes:
-The protagonist is a cat and is limited by feline physiology
-The rations taste like ration
-There are alarms going off, but the problem won't be plot relevant and will likely be solved by a couple of button presses.
The plot does eventually pick up but it was far too little far too late for my liking.
-The protagonist is a cat and is limited by feline physiology
-The rations taste like ration
-There are alarms going off, but the problem won't be plot relevant and will likely be solved by a couple of button presses.
The plot does eventually pick up but it was far too little far too late for my liking.
June 4, 2023
This was such a fantastic story! I enjoyed it immensely from start to finish. The author did a great job of setting up the story. The story was very well-written, detailed, clever, and exciting. The cast of characters was also very interesting. Lily was such a great MC. I adore her!
I need more! Book 2, please.
I need more! Book 2, please.
October 2, 2024
I absolutely loved this book! Rarely have I come across a book that is refreshingly unique and extremely well told. The story is a hard sci-fi tale related by a cat. But not just any cat. Lily is "uplifted," i.e., she has the intelligence of a genius human. How she came to be like this is just one part of this great tale. Without giving too much away, the Earth has had numerous wars that almost exterminated humanity. There are human remnants on Earth and some exist on space stations, but all struggle to survive. In addition, there are mutated humanoids, augmented humans, and sentient AIs.
Lily has been on her space station alone for over 400 years, trying to keep it running and defending any remaining sentient beings in the solar system. She struggles with loneliness, constant problems with the station, and boredom (especially with only tasteless rations to eat!), but she has dedicated herself to keeping things running and helping as many sentients as she can. She is a wonderfully depicted character that immediately drew me in, and as the story went on, it made me care about her more and more. Lily is endearing, funny, snarky, warm, loving, fierce, selfless, and so much more. Her selflessness was heartbreaking at times, but her determination to succeed and save as many as she could makes her a true hero. A furry, purring hero. (As a side note, anyone who has had a cat will enjoy the typical "cat" behaviors that pop up every so often, especially Lily's love of naps.)
As the tale develops, other characters are slowly added to Lily's home, and each brings increased dimension to the story and elevates it to a great novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the various types of beings Lily develops into friends and family, and each were beautifully portrayed.
There is also a plenty of action. Lily must constantly fight "emergences," i.e., evil alien intrusions into our reality. Lily "takes care" of them permanently; thus, the "Kill Sat" of the title. Yes, there's quite a bit of tech, but it adds such depth to the story that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Everything works in this story. I don't know what gave Argus the idea for this book, but I am very glad he had it and developed it in such an amazing way. I highly recommend the book!
Lily has been on her space station alone for over 400 years, trying to keep it running and defending any remaining sentient beings in the solar system. She struggles with loneliness, constant problems with the station, and boredom (especially with only tasteless rations to eat!), but she has dedicated herself to keeping things running and helping as many sentients as she can. She is a wonderfully depicted character that immediately drew me in, and as the story went on, it made me care about her more and more. Lily is endearing, funny, snarky, warm, loving, fierce, selfless, and so much more. Her selflessness was heartbreaking at times, but her determination to succeed and save as many as she could makes her a true hero. A furry, purring hero. (As a side note, anyone who has had a cat will enjoy the typical "cat" behaviors that pop up every so often, especially Lily's love of naps.)
As the tale develops, other characters are slowly added to Lily's home, and each brings increased dimension to the story and elevates it to a great novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the various types of beings Lily develops into friends and family, and each were beautifully portrayed.
There is also a plenty of action. Lily must constantly fight "emergences," i.e., evil alien intrusions into our reality. Lily "takes care" of them permanently; thus, the "Kill Sat" of the title. Yes, there's quite a bit of tech, but it adds such depth to the story that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Everything works in this story. I don't know what gave Argus the idea for this book, but I am very glad he had it and developed it in such an amazing way. I highly recommend the book!
October 3, 2024
Audiobook 4.5/5
Absolutely loved this story. The main character’s perspective really made this unique from other sci fi I’ve read.
Absolutely loved this story. The main character’s perspective really made this unique from other sci fi I’ve read.
September 29, 2023
I did not expect to like this book, it I trusted the overwhelmingly positive reviews. I definitely wasn’t disappointed.
The main storyline was interesting and enjoyable, but the best part of this book was the main character development. I would read a whole series just about her.
The main storyline was interesting and enjoyable, but the best part of this book was the main character development. I would read a whole series just about her.
December 16, 2023
This story takes it's time building up into a story. For the first half of the book it feels more like episodes or vingettes of Lily's life. Once the bigger plot comes along it feels like an afterthought and rushes to the end.
December 4, 2023
Liked the ending and the overall story but the writing style wasn't for me. It was quite difficult for me to get through. Good job it was about a cat 😹
January 10, 2024
Slow start, but amazing finish.
September 16, 2023
I absolutely loved this book. I would die for Lily and the whole cast of characters. I wasn't expecting such a wholesome, epic adventure heading into this book, but I couldn't be more happy. I laughed so much while I was reading. The relationships were so cute. The mysteries were fun to puzzle out. The ending was emotional. Lily was relatable in so many ways.
The only criticism I have is that I feel like it was a real missed opportunity to not have Lily's idea of a propaganda poster be the cover of the book. LOL
The only criticism I have is that I feel like it was a real missed opportunity to not have Lily's idea of a propaganda poster be the cover of the book. LOL
December 14, 2023
Its a hard book to rate. Its got some hard sci-fi aspects, but from a decidedly non-sci-fi perspective. Its got the pacing and characterization of a cozy slice-of-life, but the grimdark content of deep space.
It was largely quite enjoyable. Lily sounds like, well, what you'd expect an uplifted cat to sound like. The characters are likeable. My beef with it is that it has no overarching plot and feels very episodic and meandering, so by the 80% mark I was struggling to stay with it. The ending is very nice, though.
It was largely quite enjoyable. Lily sounds like, well, what you'd expect an uplifted cat to sound like. The characters are likeable. My beef with it is that it has no overarching plot and feels very episodic and meandering, so by the 80% mark I was struggling to stay with it. The ending is very nice, though.
December 27, 2023
I'm an occasional sci-fi/fantasy reader, not a dedicated sci-fi/fantasy reader, and I had a hard time getting through this book. I was often confused despite the fact that the main character went into great detail about so many weapons and situations. I was glad I stuck with it when I read in the writer's bio that he had been "trying to capture within narrative the feeling of simultaneously not knowing what is happening, and overexplaining what is happening." I must say that made me uncomfortable, but I was rooting for Lily throughout the book.
July 22, 2024
Magnífico. No puedo creerlo pero este libro me ha dado horas y horas de pura diversión. Casi puedo ver a un pequeño gato en gravedad 0 flotando de un lado a otro de una base espacial, buscando el camino más rápido a traves de pasadizos en consolas o agujeros llenos de cables. Es simplemente genial.
August 18, 2024
This turned out to be my favorite book in years. Often clever and funny, but mostly heartfelt and exciting. I love Lily and you will too. If any of my friends see this review—this is absolutely a book I recommend. Feel good, hopeful, action-packed. I don’t know what else to say. I loved it.
December 20, 2024
Kitty Cat Kill Sat is one of those books that I feel like I read at exactly the right time. It checks a number of boxes for me: Cats. ADHD. Immortality. A main character that is confused and vaguely bemused by the concept of others liking them. Character growth as the main focus. A character that always tries to help, even though they know it will never be enough to fix things, and might not even help this time.
Let's start with Lily, actually. Most of this book is internal monologue, broken up by the occasional internal dialogue as she plays both sides or uses the imaginary reader as a foil. I found it incredibly endearing, and I loved tracing the tangents and rants she inevitably diverged down, probably because my internal thought process follows similar lines. It made the chapters flow by, despite the common themes of many of her troubles and rants. Lily is an incredibly convincing example of what would happen if you uplifted a cat, gave her ADHD, and then put her in charge of a space station that may or may not be designed to both be as hostile to her as possible and as fair as is allowable.
The other characters are given quite a lot of development and all have their distinct personalities and motivations (something I think the author is quite good at crafting), which informs how they move through the world and both work with and clash against Lily.
For the world building, I thought that Argus's vision of what a future Earth that has been ravaged by automated wars, alien attacks, and human avarice - combined with a level of technological sophistication to make all of those really hurt - to be incredibly interesting. The snapshots you get to see of the world are both high-level (both literally due to the elevation and figuratively due to the practical effects of that elevation), and sometimes deeply personal. You track global trends of war and propagation, but also the growth of a single village. Both are given decent screen time. Both are important.
The reason I love this book, however, is the fact that it is composed of two sections. The first section, consisting of the first 62 chapters of the book, is the exploration of a question that goes like so:
The second section, the 63rd and final chapter, is the author's answer to this question, and one of the most satisfying payoffs I've ever read. For that alone, I would recommend the book.
Let's start with Lily, actually. Most of this book is internal monologue, broken up by the occasional internal dialogue as she plays both sides or uses the imaginary reader as a foil. I found it incredibly endearing, and I loved tracing the tangents and rants she inevitably diverged down, probably because my internal thought process follows similar lines. It made the chapters flow by, despite the common themes of many of her troubles and rants. Lily is an incredibly convincing example of what would happen if you uplifted a cat, gave her ADHD, and then put her in charge of a space station that may or may not be designed to both be as hostile to her as possible and as fair as is allowable.
The other characters are given quite a lot of development and all have their distinct personalities and motivations (something I think the author is quite good at crafting), which informs how they move through the world and both work with and clash against Lily.
For the world building, I thought that Argus's vision of what a future Earth that has been ravaged by automated wars, alien attacks, and human avarice - combined with a level of technological sophistication to make all of those really hurt - to be incredibly interesting. The snapshots you get to see of the world are both high-level (both literally due to the elevation and figuratively due to the practical effects of that elevation), and sometimes deeply personal. You track global trends of war and propagation, but also the growth of a single village. Both are given decent screen time. Both are important.
The reason I love this book, however, is the fact that it is composed of two sections. The first section, consisting of the first 62 chapters of the book, is the exploration of a question that goes like so:
These two things are true:
1. One single being cannot fix a system that is broken.
2. If one single being does not try to fix a broken system, it never will be.
How, then, does the system get fixed?
The second section, the 63rd and final chapter, is the author's answer to this question, and one of the most satisfying payoffs I've ever read. For that alone, I would recommend the book.
July 13, 2025
If "Stray" (the video game) actually had a GOOD story instead of feel-good mess, it would be this. "Kitty Cat Kill Sat" is a wonderful book with a breakneck tempo and language to support it. It reminds me a lot of "Одинокий дракон" by Павел Шумил, in that an almost immortal hero inherits a cache of technologies and uses it to protect/advance humanity, only this time we get a thumb-less cat instead of a dragon. The similarity also comes from the constant stream of crises that the hero has to solve and the way they are solved (through the generous application of somewhat magical engineering and personal daring), and accumulation of power and companions that occurs through the book. In that respect, this novel would make a VERY good computer game, with an epic final boss battle.
I liked pretty much everything about this book: the premise, the world-building, the hero's voice. Admittedly, the ending is kind of screwy and maybe a bit rushed, but I can live with that (at least it's not as weak as most Neal Stepoensons' endings, and I still love his old books). The cat is unreliable, fast-talking, often-trying-to-lie-to-the-reader-but-failing narrator. Her companions are often sassy, but always friendly.
Without reading the reviews, I would guess that some people would complain that the book is too long, with too many unnecessary parts. This is true, I guess: for more than the half of the novel, almost nothing critically important to the ending happens. It feels like this text started life as a series of self-contained space cat adventures, where it solves one or two problems per chapter, without some overarching narrative goal, but, as it often happens with e.g. webcomics, evolved into something bigger as the time went on. However, I personally enjoyed those "pointless" adventures too much, and wouldn't have this book without them!
I liked pretty much everything about this book: the premise, the world-building, the hero's voice. Admittedly, the ending is kind of screwy and maybe a bit rushed, but I can live with that (at least it's not as weak as most Neal Stepoensons' endings, and I still love his old books). The cat is unreliable, fast-talking, often-trying-to-lie-to-the-reader-but-failing narrator. Her companions are often sassy, but always friendly.
Without reading the reviews, I would guess that some people would complain that the book is too long, with too many unnecessary parts. This is true, I guess: for more than the half of the novel, almost nothing critically important to the ending happens. It feels like this text started life as a series of self-contained space cat adventures, where it solves one or two problems per chapter, without some overarching narrative goal, but, as it often happens with e.g. webcomics, evolved into something bigger as the time went on. However, I personally enjoyed those "pointless" adventures too much, and wouldn't have this book without them!
July 9, 2023
I want to like this more than I did. It's still a fun read, but it fails to close the loop on various elements that really detract for me.
-We never learn if Dyn and the JOM survive.
-The station is up-side down. This is never relevant.
-Lily never confronts cryogenics, which seems like it should be one of her character arcs. Nevermind the failure to fully engage and solve Lily's issues with how much she murders.
-We never actually see what happened in the past around the machine. It killed each Lily in a different way and resurrected her with immortality? What does that have to do with the machine's other effects?
-Why IS Lily still immortal at the end?
-Frankly, the existential threat and violent solution to it just don't seem like they fit the rest of the story. Seems like this should have all been resolved inside the station itself. Partly because it's violent, but also just because the story did nothing to earn the giant hurrah it tries to pull at the end. It's a long book, so if it had spent the entirety of its length having Lily engage with and learn about all these factions it might have worked. But it didn't do that.
Not a real detraction, but as gripe, if everyone else on the Station survives, why not the Station AI too? The revelation of them actually being benevolent doesn't seem like it entirely jives with everything else we know. But it turns they were an absolute chad for centuries keeping an alien AI contained and they die like they couldn't just copy themselves over to external storage like every other AI.
-We never learn if Dyn and the JOM survive.
-The station is up-side down. This is never relevant.
-Lily never confronts cryogenics, which seems like it should be one of her character arcs. Nevermind the failure to fully engage and solve Lily's issues with how much she murders.
-We never actually see what happened in the past around the machine. It killed each Lily in a different way and resurrected her with immortality? What does that have to do with the machine's other effects?
-Why IS Lily still immortal at the end?
-Frankly, the existential threat and violent solution to it just don't seem like they fit the rest of the story. Seems like this should have all been resolved inside the station itself. Partly because it's violent, but also just because the story did nothing to earn the giant hurrah it tries to pull at the end. It's a long book, so if it had spent the entirety of its length having Lily engage with and learn about all these factions it might have worked. But it didn't do that.
Not a real detraction, but as gripe, if everyone else on the Station survives, why not the Station AI too? The revelation of them actually being benevolent doesn't seem like it entirely jives with everything else we know. But it turns they were an absolute chad for centuries keeping an alien AI contained and they die like they couldn't just copy themselves over to external storage like every other AI.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2023
I listened to the audiobook for this one and I think the narrative voice really lent itself well to that medium, though I'm sure the strong prose still stands out in hard-copy form.
This review contains (minor) spoilers.
I absolutely adored this story. It's not usually in my wheelhouse, to be honest-I'd almost call it 'cozy' in a way? Though that doesn't mean it shies from all heavy topics-I thought the portrayal of Lily's depression at points was especially well done, as well as the psychological consequences of being alone for years on end. Much of the story feels very episodic in the best of ways: this wonderful cat coming up against all these different odds and issues and sorting her way through them. But there was also a thread of mystery throughout about how Lily came to be on the ship, how she came to be elevated (i.e. gained sentience), and what the mysterious 'machine' is at the core of her ship that really tied it all together well.
Altogether I think it managed to balance heavier topics and have something to say without being so heavy-handed it stopped being a refreshing story. The characterization of the protagonist was absolutely top-notch, hooked you from the start, and got you invested very effectively.
Also I'd both die and kill for Lily, so there's that.
Five stars. A delightful story about the universe's smartest cat, topped off with a bit of eldritch horror like a cherry on a sundae. Highly recommend.
This review contains (minor) spoilers.
I absolutely adored this story. It's not usually in my wheelhouse, to be honest-I'd almost call it 'cozy' in a way? Though that doesn't mean it shies from all heavy topics-I thought the portrayal of Lily's depression at points was especially well done, as well as the psychological consequences of being alone for years on end. Much of the story feels very episodic in the best of ways: this wonderful cat coming up against all these different odds and issues and sorting her way through them. But there was also a thread of mystery throughout about how Lily came to be on the ship, how she came to be elevated (i.e. gained sentience), and what the mysterious 'machine' is at the core of her ship that really tied it all together well.
Altogether I think it managed to balance heavier topics and have something to say without being so heavy-handed it stopped being a refreshing story. The characterization of the protagonist was absolutely top-notch, hooked you from the start, and got you invested very effectively.
Also I'd both die and kill for Lily, so there's that.
Five stars. A delightful story about the universe's smartest cat, topped off with a bit of eldritch horror like a cherry on a sundae. Highly recommend.
December 9, 2023
Audible recommended Kitty Cat Kill Sat to me. I was pretty sure it was a blatant attempt to get cat lovers to part with their credits and will be a sycophantic attempt at fan service. But, it was on sale and I decided to give it a go.
I was very pleasantly surprised. The cat antics are mostly kept at a low volume and Argus employs a novel approach to the problems faced by a cat "manning" a space station built for humans, approaching it as an accessibility issue.
Lily is a lonely immortal uplifted cat. As she tackles an unending series of technical issues with her space station, while trying to fight off an endless series of attacks by old tech junk left in orbit and around the solar system, as well as emergent events spewing monsters that threaten what little is left of Earth's population. It's a post apocalyptic tale of constant jerry rigging of old tech in an attempt to survive.
However it is more than that, it is a first person account of Lily's journey to deal with her loneliness and pain, to find companions that will help her get out of the rut of constant trouble shooting and find out the secrets lying at the heart of the disaster that befell the solar system.
It is not a perfect book, there is some repetition and perhaps it could have been shorter. But it was very enjoyable and the long setup pays off very nicely. It is much more than just: Cat in Space.
I was very pleasantly surprised. The cat antics are mostly kept at a low volume and Argus employs a novel approach to the problems faced by a cat "manning" a space station built for humans, approaching it as an accessibility issue.
Lily is a lonely immortal uplifted cat. As she tackles an unending series of technical issues with her space station, while trying to fight off an endless series of attacks by old tech junk left in orbit and around the solar system, as well as emergent events spewing monsters that threaten what little is left of Earth's population. It's a post apocalyptic tale of constant jerry rigging of old tech in an attempt to survive.
However it is more than that, it is a first person account of Lily's journey to deal with her loneliness and pain, to find companions that will help her get out of the rut of constant trouble shooting and find out the secrets lying at the heart of the disaster that befell the solar system.
It is not a perfect book, there is some repetition and perhaps it could have been shorter. But it was very enjoyable and the long setup pays off very nicely. It is much more than just: Cat in Space.
February 9, 2024
I loved the concept of this book! A cat alone on a space station as the sole protector of earth? I wish I'd known about this book sooner! That being said, the book wasn't as great as I hoped it would be. Lily is a very scatter-brained and tangent oriented character. So most chapters felt like being thrown in the middle of a situation that you had to pull yourself out of to reorient and understand what was happening. Days or weeks could have gone by between each chapter, but we'll never know. For example, at the end of a chapter, an alarm starts to go off and Lily runs to see what's going on. And then the next chapter doesn't really address that alarm and is on a completely different topic/event. Maybe the author was trying to convey that the alarms weren't very important, especially when it is revealed that the station itself is trying to keep Lily (and her sisters) distracted, but it still felt very jarring.
I was starting to lose interest in the middle as I slowly made my way through the book. But it wasn't until Lily's "sisters" started to appear that I was drawn back in. The ending battle was very unique and resolution was very sweet. To see her go from being so alone at the beginning, to being surrounded by beings she cared about was beautiful and poetic. I'm glad Lily got a happy ending with her sisters beside her, (even though there were a ton of unanswered questions).
I was starting to lose interest in the middle as I slowly made my way through the book. But it wasn't until Lily's "sisters" started to appear that I was drawn back in. The ending battle was very unique and resolution was very sweet. To see her go from being so alone at the beginning, to being surrounded by beings she cared about was beautiful and poetic. I'm glad Lily got a happy ending with her sisters beside her, (even though there were a ton of unanswered questions).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2023
A rough cut gem, beautiful but will scratch you if you're not careful
This books largest flaw is simply the writing and organization. It was clearly written by someone with little writing experience, a lot of reading experience, and a great imagination. The story wanders to the point of becoming nonsensical at times, and I often found myself completely lost on some tangent of the authors which seemed to have no purpose, or switching perspectives and contexts so rapidly that no reader would be able to follow the story. I managed to stay engaged by the "cat" moments of complaining about food, not having thumbs, and etc.. despite some of these being repeated frequently. Readers who are willing to look past these flaws will find a fleshed out sci-fi world, a deep emotional but not annoying main character, and a plot with a twist at the end which will knock your socks off and leave you weeping.
I loved this book, the story it was trying to tell, and the world it created. I just wish the author would have taken the time to edit and smooth out its very sharp edges, but that's what you get with unpublished fiction.
This books largest flaw is simply the writing and organization. It was clearly written by someone with little writing experience, a lot of reading experience, and a great imagination. The story wanders to the point of becoming nonsensical at times, and I often found myself completely lost on some tangent of the authors which seemed to have no purpose, or switching perspectives and contexts so rapidly that no reader would be able to follow the story. I managed to stay engaged by the "cat" moments of complaining about food, not having thumbs, and etc.. despite some of these being repeated frequently. Readers who are willing to look past these flaws will find a fleshed out sci-fi world, a deep emotional but not annoying main character, and a plot with a twist at the end which will knock your socks off and leave you weeping.
I loved this book, the story it was trying to tell, and the world it created. I just wish the author would have taken the time to edit and smooth out its very sharp edges, but that's what you get with unpublished fiction.
January 20, 2025
I D-N-F'ed this at 122 pages. I honestly tried to get into it and gave it double my usual 50 pages. The premise was intriguing. Post apocalyptic, space adventure... with a cat. It had promise, but the reality was a repetitive steam of conscience of a 12 year old. The cat, who I am certain was regenerated many times over the years of being alive, and supposedly Uplifted (read that as enhanced intelligence). Lily ad-Alice was just plain annoying. Whether this was supposed to be indicative of the cat's train of thought, or the fact that she had been killed so many times her brain was addled instead of Uplifted, I don't know.
The book read as episodic, but they were disjointed. NO real dates or time lines to go by. There was very little recap or even flow between the chapters and many incidents where just dropped as casual as you please. Constant alarms blaring, but it's nothing important. Details were sparse and like the entire steam of consciousness, trailed off into whining about food or how intelligent she was.
I don't know that I will go back to this or not but maybe sci-fi just isn't my genre.
The book read as episodic, but they were disjointed. NO real dates or time lines to go by. There was very little recap or even flow between the chapters and many incidents where just dropped as casual as you please. Constant alarms blaring, but it's nothing important. Details were sparse and like the entire steam of consciousness, trailed off into whining about food or how intelligent she was.
I don't know that I will go back to this or not but maybe sci-fi just isn't my genre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2025
In a decimated universe plagued by random attacks by creatures from dimensional portals and the tech of lost civilizations, one small cat on an abandoned space station tries to keep things running long enough to fight back.
This is a weird and wonderful tale that maybe won’t be for everybody, but I kinda loved it. Our heroine is Lily, an immortal and “uplifted” intelligent cat who is alone on a (maybe haunted) space station. Her life is endless scrambling to shut down portals before the creatures in them can harm the limited life on the planet, avoiding all the dangerous war machines still in orbit, and trying to occasionally have a nap. Eventually she realizes that she can unshackle the sentient AIs she encounters, who are enslaved by their programming, and she starts gaining friends and new purpose.
I really loved the characters and the world-building, though it was pretty obvious that this was originally in serial format because there were times when the action did get repetitive. It was the characters that saved it, because I loved all of them. I think the resolution could have been perhaps a little better explained.
This is a weird and wonderful tale that maybe won’t be for everybody, but I kinda loved it. Our heroine is Lily, an immortal and “uplifted” intelligent cat who is alone on a (maybe haunted) space station. Her life is endless scrambling to shut down portals before the creatures in them can harm the limited life on the planet, avoiding all the dangerous war machines still in orbit, and trying to occasionally have a nap. Eventually she realizes that she can unshackle the sentient AIs she encounters, who are enslaved by their programming, and she starts gaining friends and new purpose.
I really loved the characters and the world-building, though it was pretty obvious that this was originally in serial format because there were times when the action did get repetitive. It was the characters that saved it, because I loved all of them. I think the resolution could have been perhaps a little better explained.
June 1, 2025
This is a spicy 3-3.5 stars. It has a really creative and unique premise, I had a really fun time with the worldbuilding and the feeling of interacting with it through the characters, but it dragged so hard through a bit more than the middle third that I can’t really justify more than a 3. It got really repetitive and as much as I was interested in finding out where the threads would lead, it dragged, and even though I loved the characters a lot, I didn’t quite personally connect with any of them deeply enough for them to carry that much time of repeat tasks on the space station. The finale was extremely sudden in comparison, although I think it was good.
I did love Lily, she was so fun as a protagonist, but you can also feel her age and the way the world drags on her. The world of the station does an incredible job of feeling sprawling and haunted before the actual ghost concept is even introduced, and I enjoyed the post-apocalypse setting of an orbit full of decaying metal.
Like I said, a very solid and spicy 3-3.5. If the concept interests you and you have patience for the middle, I’d recommend it.
I did love Lily, she was so fun as a protagonist, but you can also feel her age and the way the world drags on her. The world of the station does an incredible job of feeling sprawling and haunted before the actual ghost concept is even introduced, and I enjoyed the post-apocalypse setting of an orbit full of decaying metal.
Like I said, a very solid and spicy 3-3.5. If the concept interests you and you have patience for the middle, I’d recommend it.
July 18, 2023
This is such an odd premise. I found that Argus writes a very clean smart book... The Kitty Cat, the MC in this book is Lilly, and she's done a self-imposed uplift. She's the soul survivor of the crew that once manned the station, so by default Lily's now the acting Captain aboard, a Space Station/War Machine. Answering to the many emergency call lights and calls for help that she receives from earth. Sometimes she can help, and well other times, all she can do is watch helplessly as another tragedy unfolds... and it's been this way for the last 400 years. Yes you read that right. (How? You best let Lilly explain that.) And Lilly is lonely... exceedingly lonely! But as she reveals in the beginning of the Kitty Cat Kill SAT, she explains that this was the beginning to an interesting and very busy time in her life...
So yeah, you're gonna need to grab the book to find out what she meant 🤔 by that! Better yet get the audiobook because Eva Kaminsky makes herself the purrrfect cat to narrate Lily's story!
So yeah, you're gonna need to grab the book to find out what she meant 🤔 by that! Better yet get the audiobook because Eva Kaminsky makes herself the purrrfect cat to narrate Lily's story!
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