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Stray Cat Strut #5
Stray Cat Strut 5
Cyborg samurai Cat LeBlanc takes charge when aliens overrun a city—only to discover humans may be the greater threat—in this cyberpunk adventure.
A small city mostly populated by well-to-do retirees, Burlington, Vermont, is now home to the Antithesis. The alien flora has taken root underground and throughout the surrounding woodlands, giving birth to monstrous beings driven by instinct to consume Earth’s own living creatures. With only three rookie samurai to protect them and resources dwindling fast, the people of Burlington are facing extinction.
Cat LeBlanc’s success against the Antithesis in the megacity of New Montreal has raised her profile amongst the samurai. And despite her antiauthoritarian attitude and appetite for destruction in combat, she’s been assigned to assume command of Burlington’s defenses. Against her better judgment—and though it means taking time away from her girlfriend, Lucy, and their adopted gang of children, “the kittens”—Cat accepts the mission.
Accompanied by pyrotechnic nun Gomorrah, Cat finds Burlington’s downtown is indeed struggling to survive, but the privileged residents of River Heights thrive behind the protection of their privately funded militia. Worse, the undisciplined trio of samurai-in-training she’s supposed to lead are variously arrogant, rebellious, and insecure. Now, Cat must forge a fighting force out of them while playing politics with the city’s wealthiest power brokers.
Unfortunately, their enemy doesn’t also suffer from political and personal conflicts. The Antithesis is of one mind, a hive determined to spread their contagion across Earth. And if Cat can’t rally the samurai, soldiers, and citizens of Burlington to work together, the fall of the city may foretell humanity’s eventual fate . . .
The fifth volume of the hit LitRPG sci-fi series—with more than nine million views on Royal Road—now available on Audible and wherever ebooks are sold!
A small city mostly populated by well-to-do retirees, Burlington, Vermont, is now home to the Antithesis. The alien flora has taken root underground and throughout the surrounding woodlands, giving birth to monstrous beings driven by instinct to consume Earth’s own living creatures. With only three rookie samurai to protect them and resources dwindling fast, the people of Burlington are facing extinction.
Cat LeBlanc’s success against the Antithesis in the megacity of New Montreal has raised her profile amongst the samurai. And despite her antiauthoritarian attitude and appetite for destruction in combat, she’s been assigned to assume command of Burlington’s defenses. Against her better judgment—and though it means taking time away from her girlfriend, Lucy, and their adopted gang of children, “the kittens”—Cat accepts the mission.
Accompanied by pyrotechnic nun Gomorrah, Cat finds Burlington’s downtown is indeed struggling to survive, but the privileged residents of River Heights thrive behind the protection of their privately funded militia. Worse, the undisciplined trio of samurai-in-training she’s supposed to lead are variously arrogant, rebellious, and insecure. Now, Cat must forge a fighting force out of them while playing politics with the city’s wealthiest power brokers.
Unfortunately, their enemy doesn’t also suffer from political and personal conflicts. The Antithesis is of one mind, a hive determined to spread their contagion across Earth. And if Cat can’t rally the samurai, soldiers, and citizens of Burlington to work together, the fall of the city may foretell humanity’s eventual fate . . .
The fifth volume of the hit LitRPG sci-fi series—with more than nine million views on Royal Road—now available on Audible and wherever ebooks are sold!
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 27, 2023
37 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
RavensDagger
52 books215 followersA 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.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 11, 2024
This is fifth in a LitRPG series. Read in order.
Again, the blurb makes this sound way more dire than it actually is. You've read the others, so by now, you know what to expect. I think the author has firmly established the tone and expectations at this point, so that's just as well.
And I really liked this story. Cat is shunted to the defense of a nearby small town where she is put in charge of protecting the citizens. She gets to wrangle militia (private and public) and citizen volunteers as well as some newb samurai along with her friend Gomorrah. An interesting new wrinkle for her progression as a protector and all around ace. I enjoyed it and even liked the over-idealized inclusion of Lucy as civilian commander and organizer. Giving Lucy a heretofore unseen excellence in organizing resources, both human and physical, was a surprise, but not a bad one. It was good to see how those two compliment each other, each excellent in their own ways.
Anyway, Still five stars, though largely because I'm into the power fantasy central to the story. And I enjoy the banter and playful tone with a semi-serious background.
A note about Steamy: There are a couple of Interludes but note the spelling. None are steamy. There's enough side-steam with Cat and Lucy to earn the tag, but it's the lowest possible to get there.
Again, the blurb makes this sound way more dire than it actually is. You've read the others, so by now, you know what to expect. I think the author has firmly established the tone and expectations at this point, so that's just as well.
And I really liked this story. Cat is shunted to the defense of a nearby small town where she is put in charge of protecting the citizens. She gets to wrangle militia (private and public) and citizen volunteers as well as some newb samurai along with her friend Gomorrah. An interesting new wrinkle for her progression as a protector and all around ace. I enjoyed it and even liked the over-idealized inclusion of Lucy as civilian commander and organizer. Giving Lucy a heretofore unseen excellence in organizing resources, both human and physical, was a surprise, but not a bad one. It was good to see how those two compliment each other, each excellent in their own ways.
Anyway, Still five stars, though largely because I'm into the power fantasy central to the story. And I enjoy the banter and playful tone with a semi-serious background.
A note about Steamy: There are a couple of Interludes but note the spelling. None are steamy. There's enough side-steam with Cat and Lucy to earn the tag, but it's the lowest possible to get there.
December 14, 2023
I like that the fifth book of this series is not just an ever increasing escalation of difficulty. The challenge is difficult, but it is proportional to the characters growth from the last book and more just a different type of problem than straight escalation.
July 27, 2025
Cat is placed nominally in charge of the defence of a small city while the big players are off protecting more important places. The job comes with the usual issues of human stupidity, but it does give Lucy her moment to shine and take a more active role in Cat's new life.
It is a fun addition to the series with some great sass, cool fights and of course many explosions and flamethrowers. The world building and point mechanics remain reasonably plausible on the surface level, which is enough for me in this kind of story (and even the author on occasion lampshades it by having the MC wonder what the aliens behind the AIs purpose is). There is not much progress on any overarching plot, assuming there even is one beyond lets save people if possible and the short chapters can be a bit irritating at time (and are a reminder the story is/started out as a web novel).
So, yeah, a great entertaining read and solid addition to the series, but nothing new or unexpected.
It is a fun addition to the series with some great sass, cool fights and of course many explosions and flamethrowers. The world building and point mechanics remain reasonably plausible on the surface level, which is enough for me in this kind of story (and even the author on occasion lampshades it by having the MC wonder what the aliens behind the AIs purpose is). There is not much progress on any overarching plot, assuming there even is one beyond lets save people if possible and the short chapters can be a bit irritating at time (and are a reminder the story is/started out as a web novel).
So, yeah, a great entertaining read and solid addition to the series, but nothing new or unexpected.
October 3, 2025
Poor Catherine “Cat” Leblanc. She’s finally being forced to pay the piper for all the fantastic gifts she’s been given by defending a rich person’s community outside of Montreal. This is by being forced to take on an entire Antithesis force by herself. While I miss the cyberpunk, I love how she’s pushed to the limits here against the enemy hordes.
July 7, 2024
Once again, really enjoyed the story. It was nice to see Cat in a leadership role, and being not half bad at it. Bringing Lucy in to help was by far her best decision though. That girl is something else. Scary in a completely different way from Cat. Fortunately, the entire book wasn't all about taking on a delegating leadership role. There was still plenty of action that Cat took on personally.
I'm glad that there is the bond with Gomorrah, seeing them interact both as individuals and as Samurai is really fun. Myalis is still as sassy and snarky as ever. The new guys were a mixed bag of sorts. Really wasn't a fan of Arm-a-geddon at all, just his personality was gross. Sprout was a different type of Samurai than we've been dealing with until now, which was interesting. Manic was a lot like Cat, except obsessed with sound and music instead of explosions and stealth. Both really snarky and anti-authority.
No spicy scenes in the book. There are several interludes that are from different characters' POV. Myalis is also pushing Cat to spend more time with the kittens, which I think could be a cute little side chapter or two in upcoming books if the author follows through.
I'm glad that there is the bond with Gomorrah, seeing them interact both as individuals and as Samurai is really fun. Myalis is still as sassy and snarky as ever. The new guys were a mixed bag of sorts. Really wasn't a fan of Arm-a-geddon at all, just his personality was gross. Sprout was a different type of Samurai than we've been dealing with until now, which was interesting. Manic was a lot like Cat, except obsessed with sound and music instead of explosions and stealth. Both really snarky and anti-authority.
No spicy scenes in the book. There are several interludes that are from different characters' POV. Myalis is also pushing Cat to spend more time with the kittens, which I think could be a cute little side chapter or two in upcoming books if the author follows through.
September 11, 2025
I usually really enjoy these books, but just over halfway through this one I was beginning to feel a bit bored and because I was getting bored I also had time to think about the Antithesis Aliens.
Given the author’s description of how they can live underwater, how fast they reproduce, their ability to convert virtually all biomass into new aliens and the amount of biomass across the whole world, they should have already taken over the whole of the Earth.
Also the author has a tendency to start storylines then abandons them, the biggest one being the ‘Kittens’.
If possible I would have given 3.5 stars.
Given the author’s description of how they can live underwater, how fast they reproduce, their ability to convert virtually all biomass into new aliens and the amount of biomass across the whole world, they should have already taken over the whole of the Earth.
Also the author has a tendency to start storylines then abandons them, the biggest one being the ‘Kittens’.
If possible I would have given 3.5 stars.
April 14, 2025
3.5 rounded up.
Cat is put in charge of a small city that's under attack and under defended. She also needs to manage three new Vanguard. Lucy shows up to help, and turns out she's a great manager in a crisis.
I loved all the action, as usual, but the pacing was very choppy. There were long intervals where Cat seemed to meander around. Sure, she made a lot of decisions, and did a great job managing the crisis, but it would have been better for me if the Cat's leadership and her fighting had been better integrated.
Still enjoying the series.
Cat is put in charge of a small city that's under attack and under defended. She also needs to manage three new Vanguard. Lucy shows up to help, and turns out she's a great manager in a crisis.
I loved all the action, as usual, but the pacing was very choppy. There were long intervals where Cat seemed to meander around. Sure, she made a lot of decisions, and did a great job managing the crisis, but it would have been better for me if the Cat's leadership and her fighting had been better integrated.
Still enjoying the series.
December 12, 2023
Ravensdagger should consider retirement
Another big fat dud for the declining Ravensdagger. His humor and wit has been replaced by cheesy dialogue about teen girls in their panties and whether or not they should put on a shirt if they want to leave a bedroom. Really just boring and lackluster.
Another big fat dud for the declining Ravensdagger. His humor and wit has been replaced by cheesy dialogue about teen girls in their panties and whether or not they should put on a shirt if they want to leave a bedroom. Really just boring and lackluster.
January 10, 2024
Light-hearted, kick-ass, fun!
Light-hearted, kick-ass, fun for the average gamer or anime fan. Action packed cyberpunk fighting aliens. Several anime references that the main character usually does not appreciate at all. Which is usually pretty funny.
Light-hearted, kick-ass, fun for the average gamer or anime fan. Action packed cyberpunk fighting aliens. Several anime references that the main character usually does not appreciate at all. Which is usually pretty funny.
January 17, 2024
A new Catventure
Warning! This book contains: gratuitous violence against plants, tits in a kiddie pool, some light kidnapping, a sex bot, the beginnings of a cult, and more cat puns than you expect (no, more than that). I would highly recommend this book.
Warning! This book contains: gratuitous violence against plants, tits in a kiddie pool, some light kidnapping, a sex bot, the beginnings of a cult, and more cat puns than you expect (no, more than that). I would highly recommend this book.
May 1, 2025
Better then the last one
Excellent book, with plenty action, new characters, engrossing story, character development and an awesome main character that's funny as hell.
Can't wait to read the next one.
Excellent book, with plenty action, new characters, engrossing story, character development and an awesome main character that's funny as hell.
Can't wait to read the next one.
December 20, 2023
If you’ve made it this far in the series you’ll love this one too. All action/fighting
December 20, 2023
Fantastic
Love the entire series, I can't wait for the next book, such fun and laughs with alien baddies to destroy.
Love the entire series, I can't wait for the next book, such fun and laughs with alien baddies to destroy.
February 8, 2024
Another very good installment. 👍🏽👍🏽
February 23, 2024
I love this series and I can't wait for the next book.
April 7, 2024
Again loved it!
April 20, 2024
Great serie
Stray cat continues in her usual style, somewhat improvised but quite effective. Lucy gets more involved, wrangling orphants does give organisational skills.
Stray cat continues in her usual style, somewhat improvised but quite effective. Lucy gets more involved, wrangling orphants does give organisational skills.
March 29, 2025
Frankly, this series is incredibly fun. Cat's humor and personality is lovely and her relationship with Lucy is adorable.
I'm looking forwward to more.
I'm looking forwward to more.
August 13, 2025
Can't wait for #6!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews