Vulcan's Kittens

Children of Myth #1

by Cedar Sanderson

Linnea Vulkane is looking forward to a long, lazy summer on Grandpa Heff's farm, watching newborn kittens grow up and helping out with chores. That all goes out the window the night Mars, god of war, demands her grandfather abandon her and return to Olympus for the brewing war. Now Old Vulcan is racing around the world and across higher planes with Sekhmet to gather allies, leaving Linn and an old immortal friend to protect the farm and the very special litter. But even the best wards won't last forever, and when the farm goes up in flames, she is on the run with a daypack, a strange horse, a sword, and an armful of kittens. Linn needs to grow up fast and master her powers, before the war finds the unlikely refugees...

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2013

About the author

Author, illustrator, perennially inquisitive. Urban fantasy with pixies, cozy supernatural sleuthing, & sci-fi twists. Books & art at http://cedarwrites.com

Reviews

[Wyldkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vulcan’s Kittens is a charming story about a young girl who goes to spend the summer with her grandfather in the country. Before the summer is over she is fleeing for her life, with some very large kittens in tow, while coming to grips with her unusual family tree. Who says the ancient gods are just myths? It reminds me of the coming-of-age stories I read in my youth.

The pacing is a bit rough in the first part of the book, jumping back and forth between today, tomorrow and yesterday. But the author gives you plenty of time markers, so you never get lost. By the second half of the book everything is flowing smoothly.

The characters, for the most part, are well developed and those that trace back to myths have more than enough traces of their origins to be recognizable.

POV shifts are usually at the chapter breaks, so the reader doesn’t get confused head-hoping.

The plot is well developed and the story is just the right length for a Young Adult novel. Plus it leaves you wanting more. I could wish that she wasn’t stopping at two books though.

Hard to put down. It is a fun read for young and old. I got a major kick out of the SF book name dropping. –grin- I found the lack of page numbers at bit disconcerting at first, but got over it pretty quickly since the chapters are fairly short. I highly recommend it.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

The story is well written and I liked many of the characters—Linnea, Bes and Blackie in particular. Linnea is a strong (too strong) interesting girl, whose learning and accomplishments come very easily. She never makes a wrong move, and that makes her less than realistic. A lot happens in the book but nothing really major is resolved. The plot feels more like a very long setup for the next part of the story, rather than being a complete tale.

My final issue with book centers on Sanderson’s concept of the gods. To me books like this come off as somewhat smug. The authors try to fit all the various pantheons into one framework and it all gets a lot too neat. Real life and real beings are messier than that, and trying to get them all stuffed into one paradigm just emphasizes how artificial that paradigm is. Feels more like the authors are trying to demonstrate how clever they can be, and in the process, pitchforking the reader out of the story-world. All in all not a bad book, just a little too comfortable and unthreatening.

[Red Tide · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a younger reader

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. The story involves gods from a lot of different pantheons and it was cool watching them be meshed into new groups that never would have occurred to me. The part that held my interest most was the immortals' origin story.

Unfortunately I didn't finish the book because I got lost in the number of gods and then bored. The origins of the immortals didn't get answered by the time I stopped reading. Not bad if I was into mythological universes. I hope that she writes more straight science fiction soon.

[Margi Dyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw the blurb for this book I thought it was a short story. Finished a book and was looking for something while I fell asleep. Well, that didn't work. Two hours later I'm still reading. Loved the story, kept me engrossed. Finished the next night. Excellent story line with very few things I would change.

[Karsten Stiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story about a war between different kinds of gods and a young girl who gets involved with it, because she's the granddaughter of one of them .... Oh, and she has to take care of a bunch of cute kittens of divine descent. too - which is one reason, why she gets into trouble.

[Greg O'Bergin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this author but this was too clearly a Children's book (caps intended). I am not the target audience for this sort of book so I shall not be reading any more of the series.

[Jimmy Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good writing!

I usually do a four or five star rating, unless I just cannot finish the story. This would be a good older child's story.

[Marcia G. Morrione · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vulcan's Mysterious Kittens

I highly recommend this book for all those who enjoy Mythology and Magical stories. It is a highly entertaining book fill of Myths and Magic.

[Joanne G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's rare to find a sweet story with extremely likable characters, but Cedar Sanderson pulls it off with the coming-of-age tale of 12-year-old Linnea--without the usual angst and battle between generations. Instead of sulks and resentment, we're treated to kittens and babies. I enjoyed the re-imagining of mythological gods and goddesses who set up the conflict in the book. The story ended abruptly, but I understand the age group this was written for wouldn't be apt to read a thousand-page tome, so I'm more understanding of a cliff hanger in this case. I'll just have to pick up the next book to see how the kittens and babies fare.

[Wampuscat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel had an interesting take on the origin of myths and gods. The story is definitely a YA level, but I still enjoyed it for the unique perspective. I would say it is very much geared toward young girls of the age that the main character is. All the characters are interesting and likable. Linn grows throughout, as do her Kitten companions, but there are some hiccups that strained my belief a few times. The story is never boring because you are always learning something new about why things are the way they are.

I have to say I was kind of disappointed by the ending because it left a major loose thread hanging while still being on the anti-climactic side. I wanted to see Linnea do a bit more fighting, or at least see her mythical god friends do what they do.

There is obviously more to tell in the story, so be prepared to read on to the next book if you want to know what becomes of Linn and her 'Kitten' friends.

I give this one 3 stars and call it a Decent YA Read.

[Kjirstin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun, although I really had no idea what to expect. The young heroine goes to visit her grandpa for the summer, and quickly discovers that he, his farm, and her entire family are not entirely what they seem. There's a lot of adventure and action, and survival themes are explored instead of glossed over the way they often are in this sort of story.

I liked the kittens of the title, too, and the idea of gathering together all sorts of mythological traditions, with a semi sci-fi explanation for them. I'll be quite interested to see where things go from here.

[B.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, I am in no way related to the author of this book. We just happen to have the same last name.

Second... WOW. This book was awesome. I wish I'd had it around when I was a teen. I've always been into mythology and Ms. Sanderson put an intriguing spin on it all. I loved Linn. I loved Heff. Oh, heck, I loved it all. Plus, kittens! I had so much fun reading this book. And now, I have to go back to adulting which is kind of a bummer.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very pleasantly surprised by this coming of age tale. the heroine, or one of them, is 14 years old when she finds out she's half immortal. her grandfather is hephaestus and her grandmother is pele. some of the old gods decide to wage war...her job is to protect the kittens of Sekhmet and survive when the old gods attack while her grandfather is called away. it's really very, very good.

[Darren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting idea, but not very well written, and a number of typos. At the end, the author reveals it was written as a National Novel Writing Month project. Which makes sense - it could have used more work. But my twelve year old daughter loved it!

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent young adult modern (can't say "urban" about this story) fantasy novel, female protagonist. New author, well edited, smooth flow of narrative. Recommended: fans of Rick Riordan's Olympus books.

[Heidi J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we have mythological beings in the modern world plus kittens. A young teen protagonist with a story that appeals to adults. It's an unusual match up, and it works. I'm especially jealous of all Linn's outdoor skills!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Loved this series. I WANT MORE !!!!!

the people are believable situations are great and I just need more then two books.

Such a fun read