A new book by Gwyneth Jones, whether a novel, novella or collection, is cause for celebration in this house. She’s been my favourite sf writer since reading Kairos in the early 1990s, and I’d even go so far as to say sheäs the best science fiction writer who is still writing the UK has produced. Big Cat and Other Stories collects eleven stories originally published between 2007 and 2016 (and one original to this volume), only two of which I’d previously read. Three of the stories are set in worlds from Jones’s novels, although one of those novels was published under Jones’s YA pseudonym, Ann Halam. This does mean for those three that you get more out of them if you know the original novels, more so for the story which lends the collection its title as it’s set in the universe of the Bold As Love quintet and features its central triumvirate of characters. The stories are chiefly science fiction but spread widely across the genre, from the slightly off-kilter pulp adventure on Venus of ‘A Planet Called Desire’ and the Leigh Brackett/Lovecraft mashup of ‘The Vicar of Mars’ to the near-future of ‘Stella and the Adventurous Roots’, ‘Emergence’ and ‘Bricks, Stick, Straws’, although they depict worlds not quite the same as our own. All of the stories are a hit of the pure Jones, and if you appreciate her science fiction then Big Cat and Other Stories is as good a selection as any other. Recommended. ( )

I'm realizing that, much as I love short stories, it's been a long while since I read a single-author collection, and in most of the single-author collections I can think of, the author pretty much stays in their stylistic lane. As a result, I'm finding it interesting to think about why I responded well to some of the stories in this diverse collection, and poorly to others. I note that in every case, it's the characters which drew me into the world, most especially in "Big Cat" and "Bricks, Sticks, Straw" and "The Vicar of Mars" (and to a lesser extent, "The Ki-Anna"). In each of those stories, the struggles of the characters kept me engaged with the possibilities of the world. The conflicts seemed, for want of a better word, "human."

With the very notable exception of "Bricks, Sticks, Straw", I also note that I didn't respond as well to the "hard sci-fi" elements of stories like "The Flame is Roses" or "Emergence" or "The Seventh Gamer." To me, these felt more like the technologies were being explored than the characters were, and I just didn't find myself drawn into the puzzle as well.

Some of the stories are in very clear genres. "Stella and the Adventurous Roots" is a charming fable, and I like fables. "The Old Schoolhouse" is probably a pretty good horror story in the style of H.P. Lovecraft, but I don't care for Lovecraft. "Cheats" is the first chapter of a young adult book. It's not supposed to be a self-contained story, and it's not for my old eyes. ( )

The majority of the stories in this short story collection I did not enjoy - although they covered a large breadth of sci fi. For me personally I found many of them too chilling/horror but others may enjoy this type of content. I especially did not enjoy the first story - I spent the read being confused and trying to work out who was who And what was happening. I did enjoy Planet called Desire. ( )

I was given a free copy of this anthology in exchange for an honest review.

Big Cat is a collection of short stories from Gwyneth Jones. It’s a versatile anthology, so there’s something here for everyone. They are all prefaced by short notes, which makes it easier to skip through to the ones that appeal to your taste. The themes are a mix of dystopia, aliens, AI, gaming and technology. The stories are very concept-driven, rather than character-driven or plot-driven. It makes sense for science fiction, but I would have liked to see a little more of the other elements. There was only one story that I thought was fully complete as a short story, Stella and the Adventurous Roots. The tale of a bloodthirsty alien plant was chilling and accessible, with a touch of poetry at the end.

I felt like all of the other stories needed more room to breathe, to unfold. That there was something more to be said. It’s in the nature of science fiction to tease and leave things mysterious, but in this case I usually found myself wanting just a dash more character insight, a few more steps in the plot, some more background. They could have easily been longer short stories or novellas. The explanatory notes mentioned that many of the stories were written for other anthologies, so there might have been word limits at play. I still enjoyed most of the stories as they are, but I was often vaguely dissatisfied and felt that there was some unfulfilled potential there.

The title story, Big Cat, wasn’t the best way to start off the collection. It’s a short story related to her novel, Bold as Love. It doesn’t work very well as a standalone story. The impression I got from it was of an edgy dystopia where musicians are part of the government. It was a confusing read, but it did really showcase Gwyneth’s creativity.

The only story I actively disliked was A Planet Called Desire, about a man that is sent to Venus. The main character was a creep and the world-building felt incoherent. There was some exotic alien sex in it that made me cringe.

If I were to cherry-pick my favourites, the first would be Bricks, Sticks, Straw. It was a clever story that was a bit ambiguous. As far as I can tell, it was about disordered personalities, stranded in space, that are confused over their humanity or lack thereof. I would love to read an expanded version.

The two gaming stories that finish off the collection, The Seventh Gamer and Cheats were fun reads. They are the most accessible to read and ask some interesting questions. If aliens or AIs were acting as players in a game, how would we know? How far can gaming technology go, even into the depths of space?

The Big Cat anthology is a bit patchy and uneven, but it’s worth reading for the good parts. Your idea of the good parts might be different than mine, but some of the fun of reading the short story collection is finding that out. It’s easy to skip between stories until you find something that works for you and I think everyone will find at least one story that they enjoy. ( )

I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This collection of short stories by Gwyneth Jones references various fantasy/science fiction series she has written previously, none of which I had read. Although I think it would have added considerably to the impact of many of these stories to know about these other worlds, the stories are all strong enough to be read as standalones. All of the stories are thought provoking and make me want to know more about this writer so I think they are probably a very good introduction to her work. The writing is engaging and the stories and characters are well developed and intriguing with some fascinating ideas about the development of AI and sentient life and possible future scenarios. The last story, featuring Anne Hallam, I found particularly haunting, although the premise reminded me very strongly of Anne McCaffrey's "Ship" world. All in all, this collection made me want to investigate this writer further which I think has to be considered a good thing. ( )