A Cat and His Human

League of Losers, Book 1

By: Michael Atamanov, Alix Merlin Williamson - translator

Narrated by: James Fouhey

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

When our protagonist, Andrei, discovers that his girlfriend has cheated on him, he finds himself with an unexpected choice to make: a quick death or a new life in another world he knows absolutely nothing about. 

Andrei chooses life and sets off alongside his pet, a ginger cat with a limp, for a primeval world fraught with danger. The trouble is...who is whose pet becomes entirely unclear; the man's consciousness is split between both creatures, and the little cat gets a far greater share of intelligence and wit than his hulking master. What do you do as a weak little kitty? Abandon the clumsy human who always seems to get into trouble and go in search of a new master? Or protect your human body in the hope of one day returning to it?

©2020 Michael Atamanov (P)2020 Tantor

Great beginning to a series

I was concerned that this story would be a bit juvenile. But my assumption was greatly proven to be wrong. This was a lot darker of a series than I originally expected, especially with the cover art and childish title. Great story a bit dark, which I prefer.

Horrible Dialog

This book might be a good read, the plot might be fun and complex and the story could be unique. Who knows. Certainly not me. I couldn't get more than an hour into this book before I HAD to put it down. The dialog is so unnatural and so full of needless exposition it HURTS. I couldn't listen to more than a sentence at a time without having to pause the audiobook to recover. Most character's first sentences read like dry cardboard, just spouting their full backstory without any prompting or reason. The way that the characters talk ends up with way too much unnaturally (and unreasonably) supplied information. I can't get over the fact that people just don't narrate their own reactions out loud like "Huh? It's gone?" or "How did I know that?", especially when they aren't asking that question at anyone. I tried to give it some leeway because it's a translation, but it's just too crude to bear. I will admit that the first scene (the scene in the sample) is written very well, but every other exchange of dialog is utter trash.

A Sneaky Buddy Comedy in the LitRPG genre

I wasn't expecting much when I started this book, the main character seemed somewhat like a thug; a bit dumb and brutish. But I gave it a chance because it had a cute kitten in it that somehow was a main character. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this was actually somewhat of a buddy comedy with the kitten being the smarter of the two.

The POV is shared between the two main characters, with chapters alternating between the two perspectives constantly shifting how a scene can be interpreted. in some cases a scene will be revisited from the other perspective to give additional context. The dynamic is a bit odd with both characters attempting to survive with one having the capabilities to act and the other struggling to do so when he knows better. the strange thing is is that this pattern actually kind of works.

The book isn't always haha funny but it is greatly entertaining and fun to see where a main character is clearly making mistakes while somehow being "lucky" enough to survive and even often succeed in crazy plans. All the while the reason for a success is sitting right next to him as a lucky charm with four paws.

This is clearly a Russian translation with some aspects of the culture and history only Russians might know showing through a few times in the book, but overall it was not distracting.

There is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but certainly worth picking up the next book for.

Such a fun ride!

I couldn't put this book down. Like all of his books, it's incredibly imaginative and makes me want to play D&D. Dive in and swim like a fish!

Sometimes it's nice to see things from a Russian

Part of the reason I enjoy this author is due to his foreign perspective and how he shows that people are people no matter where you're from. He also shows that the governments are corrupt no matter where you go (even when you leave this world for a new one).

He surprised me with the difficulty in perspectives that were used in this story and I would very much like to get the next book in this series to see how he has the MCs solve the problems presented.

Pleasantly Surprised

The most memorable moment is when the psionic realizes it's the Cat! It's a good read.

Watch out for whiskers

When you make whiskers mad, he’ll make you go then he will slow you down. lol

I was not the target audience, I guess

i struggled to finish this mess. this is supposed to represent someone trapped in a game? What a horribly designed game. The characters are uninteresting and the story slogs.

Good

Not as great as his other serieses. But still fun. Will listen to the next one.