Tom

by Dave Freer

Tom is a cat in trouble. The worst possible kind of trouble: he’s been turned into a human. Transformed by an irascible old magician in need of a famulus -- a servant and an assistant, Tom is as good at being a servant as a cat ever is. The assistant part is more to Tom’s taste: he rather fancies impressing the girl cats and terrorizing the other toms by transforming himself into a tiger. But the world of magic, a vanished and cursed princess, and a haunted skull, and a demon in the chamber-pot, to say nothing of conspiring wizards and the wickedest witch in the west, all seem to be out to kill Tom. He is a cat coming to terms with being a boy, dealing with all this. He has a raven and a cheese as… sort of allies.
And of course there is the princess.
If you were looking for ‘War and Peace’ this is the wrong book for you. It’s a light-hearted and gently satirical fantasy, full of terrible puns and… cats.

Genres: Fantasy, Humor

224 pages, Paperback

Published November 27, 2016

Reviews

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom is a kitten. At least until he discovers that a wizard bearing fish may be looking for someone to sweep and do the dishes. . . .

The spell teaches him some human things, but he has more to learn. It involves a princess, the danger of using cleaning spells on magical locations, the curse on the royal family, the chatter of an animated skull who thinks his current master is nothing on his old teacher, a bejeweled slipper jumps between worlds, the wickedest witch of the west, a Goth bar, the secret weakness of a demon, an old plan, gnomes, and more.

[Dawn Paris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Tom cat has got himself into such a situation. He's stuck in a tower with a grumpy wizard, the demanding skull of the previous housekeeper, a vicious raven, and a tripping demon--and they all expect quite a lot of work out of a tomcat transformed into a boy. Compared to poor Tom, the princess has it easy: she's just got to avoid assassins and escape a family curse.

This book has bumbling and magic and suspicious items in the pantry. It has knights and magicians and godmothers and evil plots. It's just plain fun.

[Anonyma'am · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! Young-street-cat-turned-teenage-human-with-tail who often still acts and thinks like a cat, both from his viewpoint and other people's. An unusual cheese. A demon who discovers the joy of being stoned. A little world hopping. I could go on. I'm not a child nor a YA, but if you can take a break from being a serious adult you might love this, too.

So why only 4 stars? Well, the serious adult part of me couldn't overlook the sometimes odd punctuation (yeah, I'm a hypocrite here) and (AAAAUGH!) *missing words* which often forced me to re-read the sentence again. And again...and again, if my sleeping pill was kicking in. Also, the spelling of a character's name kept changing (no, not "Tom"), sometimes on the same page. And finally, there are two "meanwhile, in other parts of the land" story lines injected into the chapters as bold type and italic type. This kind of confused and frustrated me because there is no real world-building or character-establishment before these happen. Maybe it was the sleeping pill. Maybe I'm just stupid. I got it by the middle of the book, though.

But my final review: I wish there was a sequel.

[April Calhoun · Rating 5 out of 5]

A whimsical romp!

So many twists and turns in this girl meets cat adventure. A joy to read!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun and funny.

I always enjoy freer's writing but this one really got me. In someway it reminded me of dragons ring and dog and Dragon. Definitely worth every penny.

[Joanne G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young cat is enticed by a bowl of fish and finds himself transformed into a mostly human assistant to a curmudgeonly wizard. Initially, his plight is hard and he wishes for the simplicity of being a cat again, but, as time goes on, he begins to see some advantages to his human existence--especially when an attractive girl comes into his life.

As I was reading TOM, I couldn't help but compare the style to that of Sir Terry Pratchett with the humor, outlandishness, and colorful characters. I was initially lost in the book due to three separate viewpoints that were meant to inform the reader of aspects of the players at hand, but they were too short or confusing for me to be able to grasp. Further in the book, all became clear again, and I enjoyed the wild romp at the end.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall good reading time

Overall good reading experience - good characters, good story short me nice twists. The only confusion was there was three storyline and it caused me confusion - especially since only a page or two of story for the other two. Eventually it did all come together and made since!

[Heidi J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, lighthearted fantasy fun

An entertaining fantasy with wizards, princesses, demons, godmothers and cats. The humor reminded me of Terry Pratchett's work, with characters that seem to be only humorous stereotypes to begin with but who develop and become deeper as the story progresses.

[Jack Bunce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deft magical sense of delight!

Funny. Inventive. Amusing. Something unique and wonderful to be discovered in every scene. Explains a lot about the mysteries surrounding cats. I will certainly be treating mine much better!

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read and funny

I liked the concept of the cat being the wizards apprentice. There were several times when it was slow but overall it was a fun book.