Al Sarrantonio, Haydn of Mars

Haydn of Mars

Al Sarrantonio

Ace, Jan 2005, $6.50, 272 pp.

ISBN: 0441012361

Many thousands of years into the future, a terraformed Mars is populated by sentient felines that walk on two legs and contain retractable claws and opposable thumbs amongst other innate skills. Humans are extinct on the planet and thought to be creatures of mythology. Princess Haydn's father dissolved the monarchy and established a republic in its place, but he was assassinated soon afterward. Haydn married someone she did not love in order to unite the clans and keep the F'ror clan in check.

The plan failed and Frane of the F'ror declared herself queen. Haydn fled while the F'ror occupied the planet. The princess in exile spends the next year on the run hiding from her enemies while making new allies who hone her into a warrior worthy of the crown. She leads an army against the mighty F'ror knowing many will die, but that in the end it will be her against Frane.

The key characters seem humanoid so that for long stretches readers will forget they are intelligent cats. Haydn is a sympathetic figure who Frane hates because the princess married the tomcat she loved. She had him killed because she did not want her rival to have him any longer. Just one more bill for Haydn who pays quite a price to become a worthy monarch. Al Sarrantonio writes an enthralling, Martian, science-fiction tale that leaves fans purring in delight as two more cat tales will follow.

Harriet Klausner