Stray Cat Strut 8

Stray Cat Strut #8

by RavensDagger

It’s back to school for Cat Leblanc, where the cyborg samurai gets high marks in ultraviolence against both gangsters and aliens, in this cyberpunk adventure.

Things are quiet in the megacity of New Montreal. Too quiet for Catherine Leblanc. Earth is safe, the extraterrestrial Antithesis are laying low, and there’s only so much tweaking Cat can do to upgrade her mecha—especially without any enemies on the horizon. So to keep her from being bored to death, her girlfriend Lucy suggests she pick up some new skills by signing up for classes at CIAL University.

But while learning about ancient tactical strategies is perfect for use on the battlefield, it’s less effective when it comes to handling Cat’s family life. Lucy is having more and more success studying the culinary arts in pursuit of her own agenda of growing her grassroots group, the Kittens, into a revolutionary force. They’re ready to rise up for their cause, and they’re not the only ones fed up with government ineptitude and the established status quo.

Meanwhile, criminal gangs are waging war in the streets, protesters are wreaking havoc against the city’s elite, and Cat has just received new marching orders to organize the latest samurai Vanguard recruits into a team capable of enforcing the law. And as if teaching the untested and unruly warriors any sort of discipline weren’t challenging enough, she must also secretly gather the city’s gang lords to issue them an play nice or get nuked.

But when the Antithesis awakens, hellbent on wreaking ever more havoc, human treachery will be the least of Cat’s problems . . .

The eighth volume of the hit LitRPG sci-fi series—with more than 26 million views on Royal Road—now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

Tropes corporate politics, gang wars, and alien invasion.

Genres: Litrpg, Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Audiobook

385 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2026

About the author

A bird that likes comfy and happy things, and also knives. Once ate a god’s eye and awakened the ability to see all that is good in the world. Known to steal shiny ideas and baubles. Currently forbidden from writing his own bios.

Reviews

[Pieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun entertaining read of our favorite sassy "samurai" warrior, this time dealing less with the alien invasion and more with the difficulties of free time and the dredges of cyberpunk society (although just gangs, not the sewers). The step back from the high stakes of earlier volumes feels a bit empty, but considering I read it mostly for the fun interactions and the digs at capitalist society (although not nearly as bleak from a character perspective as is usual for cyberpunk) I don't mind too much. So, solid addition to the series.

[JK · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this series. I read the first book of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series at about the same time and was seriously underwhelmed. And yes, I got the satire (it was obvious enough). But this series has satirical elements AND a much more interesting world AND much better characters AND a better story overall. Not to forget that Carl was a pretty boring and thoroughly underdeveloped character, while Cat feels a lot more complex and has a better character arc.

I fell in love with Cat pretty much immediately. A sassy, sarcastic, lewd, foul-mouthed, lesbian orphan, problems with authority, loves to blow stuff up, good with kids, deeply in love with her girlfriend, lazy, heroic, has no problems killing Aliens and sometimes people - what else can you wish for? It's also great that it's not just the weapons and the gear that get regularly upgraded, the characters are constantly developing and growing too. So I really enjoyed the change of pace in this book to have very little alien action, focusing instead on what is going on between missions. Especially the relationship between Cat and Lucy gets developed a lot in this book and it's just always really cute to see this two together.

I started with the first book less than 3 months ago and I'm definitely hooked. This series is so addictive. Can't wait for the next one.

These books are all really well written, but there should also be praise for the audiobook narrator. I listened to all of these on Audible and Hollie Jackson did such a great job. She is a perfect fit for Cat, but I also loved how she managed to give all of the major characters their own unique and recognizeable voices. The best moments are when Cat trades blows with her best friend Gomorrah or gets insulted by her equally sarcastic AI.

If you're looking for a great, fun litRPG series, that gets never boring and features a cool, badass, yet really likeable female main character, instead of some boring dude, look no further! It's also great to see that, while she describes herself as a bitch that's only looking out for her own and would always prefair to just stay in bed with her girlfriend, she always ends up doing the right thing, in her very own way. Haven't encountered such a relatable superhero in a while.

[Ken Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a really good story

This was a tale of that cooling off period after a big battle. And ya have to love the very last line of the book. Had me lol-ing...