Feisty Felines and Other Fantastical Familiars
Standalone Short Fiction ~ “And Have Never Forgotten”
Mercedes Lackey & Friends
When the witches and wizards are away, the familiars will play!
Gifted adventurers across time and space often travel with an animal familiar—usually a cat, but possibly other fuzzy, scaly, or prickly creatures. These magical companions lead their humans into mischief, help them out of sticky situations, or offer opinionated commentary along the way.
We're familiar with familiars . . . or are we?
Compiled by New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson and award-winning editor Allyson Longueira—and their Publishing graduate students at Western Colorado University—Feisty Felines and Other Fantastical Familiars features 26 never-before-published short stories and poems crafted by Mercedes Lackey, Heather Graham, Jody Lynn Nye, John Hartness, Steve Rasnic Tem, and many others.
You’ll love this collection kitty-littered with surprises at every turn. Some stories are whimsical, some are sad, some will tug at your heartstrings—and some will stay with you long after you close this book.
From mischievous cats to cunning ravens, skittering spiders to—a cow?—these feisty familiars will take you on a magical trip to places even wizards don’t tread.
“The Dragon’s Cat” by Jody Lynn Nye
“So Burn Us Both” by Lisse Kirk
“Trial By Cow” by Andrew Rucker Jones
“Blackwood’s Tomb” by Joseph Floyd
“The Ritualist and the Hedge Wizard” by Kit Calvert
“Beneath the Wings of Night” by Ngo Binh Anh Khoa
“Kitten For Sale” by Aster Marsh
“The Dreamer” by M. Lalli Lassegard
“A Rat, a Root, and a Big Orange Fruit” by Zach Shephard
“Second Life” by Christina Sng
“The Witching Hour Letters” by Amanda Cecelia Lang & Brittany Peshek
“The Familiar’s Familiar” by Maegan Langer
“The Cat” by Sandy White
“Some Spider” by Pines Callahan
“Scary, Scary Skunk” by Heather Graham
“Orphans” by Matt Beswick
“The Last Life of Hilde the Small” by Jessica Feather
“And Have Never Forgotten” by Mercedes Lackey
“Fluffy” by T. Chandler
“Earth, Bonding” by Kerri J. Roe
“Not Common” by Lois Bartholomew
“The Secret of the Sorceress” by Alexander Hay
“Sink or Swim” by Rebecca M. Senese
“Old Crow” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Tail-End” by Lia Wu
“Renfield” by John Hartness
The story “And Have Never Forgotten” is currently available exclusively in this anthology. Also available in audiobook format, narrated by Brenda McGinnis.
First published July 2024