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Book Review of Familiars

Familiars
Familiars
Author: Denise Little (Editor)
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
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The editor of Creature Fantastic (2001) and similar anthologies proffers 15 original stories featuring a pleasing assortment of magical familiars, or companions, not all of which are animals. Among the contributors are Jody Lynn Nye, Laura Resnick, Andre Norton, Bill McCay, John Helfers, and Josepha Sherman. Story subjects include a familiar with its own familiar; First Cat Socks; a college student who regresses to a previous life as a dog; the desperate struggle of a warlock and his dog against Cotton Mather; a California valley girl trapped in a sword; a Mae West Highland White dog; and a cutthroat saleswoman who is reincarnated as a rat to atone for her wrong-doings. The book concludes with an intricate, exciting novelette in which virtual and actual reality come into conflict. Although the emphasis is on humor throughout the collection, there is enough variety in it to please a broad range of fantasy readers.