Dragons, Cats, and Formidable Femmes (Ginger Blue Publishing)
by Jean Marie Ward
Dragons, Cats, and Formidable Femmes is Jean Marie’s new collection of short stories across the years. I should mention that there’s a lovely introduction by Jody Lynn Nye. We’ll give a brief description of each story without any spoilers, as is our custom.
“Lord Bai’s Discovery” is first, and he’s a dragon who’s complaining about his food to his human companion. The complaints are…dealt with.
“Most Dead Bodies in a Confined Space” is an inter-species murder mystery. There’s a clever preying on our assumptions here!
“Hoodoo Cupid” is a cut-throat corporate romance involving voodoo dolls and falcons. Easily the best story in the lot, and it made me wish I’d published the story myself.
I assumed the less-than-50-word short story “Yesterday I Will” was a time-traveling tale, and it was. But it was also wrapped in an enigma.
A dragon that was the spirit of Vesuvius spars with an Italian tax collector. You were paid that gold how many years ago? Then you owe back taxes. So “The Taxman Cometh” is a battle of wills and lava that ends unexpectedly.
“Rosemary’s Kitten” suggests that demons were a lot like kittens. One kitten in particular, to be precise.
Would you like to meet “The Nameless Stranger”? The paranormal investigators would, but she sees them coming a mile away.
Two houseflies have what can only be described as a ‘religious’ experience in “A Taste of Paradise”
“Protective Coloration,” told from the POV of a con runner, is about a snooty convention writer guest and a rabid fan who are both not what they seem. Boy, are they not what they seem. Had me on the edge of my seat.
I really enjoyed “The Big Fish” which was about a magical koi, unemployment, dogs, and a very enterprising cat.
A congressman, a senator, and a lobbyist walk into a bar and annoy a waitress who sics a reporter on them. No one can explain what happened next in “District Coincidental.”
After the fall of Constantinople, they rebuilt “The Sultan’s Bath” with merely human skill, but there was one thing they could not get right without an entrapped djinn’s help. A secret history of the Ottoman empire. Fascinating.
“Fire Sale” is about an intended hostile takeover of a California winery run by the current incarnation of Dionysus, by the current incarnation of Mammon. Mother Earth gets involved. It’s wild.
In just a few paragraphs, “About the Flies” tells of a murder, revenge, self preservation, and an exorcism.
The previous story was short; the next is quite long. In “Lord Bai and the Magic Pirate” we get another tale about the Dragon Lord Bai and this time he has snuck into a conference on the problem of counterfeiters reprinting books of magic spells and impoverishing sorcerers. It’s a mad adventure that involves a Kami and poisons and slaves, which all works out in the end in a surprising way.
Next, “Make it Rain” is another tale of the imp-disguised-as-a kitten–Rain. In this story he gets out of his apartment and causes mayhem. A fun romp.
I don’t normally like slice-of-life stories, but “Clear as Glass” was a slice of the life of a conniving murderess…and then “Green Eyes” spoke of another conniving female who got away with a crime.
I absolutely loved “Dragon Trap,” which was full of familial loyalty and betrayal, and was set in Mongolia. Surely the most formidable femme in the book was the main character!
Sally, the cat obsessed with the X Files, is back from “Most Dead Bodies in a Confined Space” and in “Ghosted” they have to deal with a very persistent ghost cat. Quite amusing.
The beautiful “The Gap in the Fence” has a child dealing with the Fae and explores what it’s like to lose a beloved pet. It’s easily the tightest writing I’ve seen in a while. Don’t miss it. But the next story,”The First Stone” was, by contrast, a quick study in horror.
Lord Bai the Dragon is back in a caper that has him hoping to get a favor our of Gilgamesh–yes, that Gilgamesh–and it’s called “Lord Bai’s Masquerade” because he uses the fact that he is a shapeshifting dragon to get results.
The interlude of the cat story “Duzell’s Due” is like a palette cleanser before “Pas de Demons.” This is the story of two monsters–a vampire and a North American evil creature called a cauchemar. In a battle of cunning, who will win? Chilling.
On the other hand, the tiny “Brownies” caught on video are a breath of wonderment.
The grande finale is a quantum entanglement love story: “The Wrong Refrigerator.” The entire collection bubbles with whimsy and wit, emotion and humor, and occasional chilling fear. Well worth your time.
