Jody Wallace’s Cat Ship series is part of the Obsidian Rim shared universe futuristic sci-fi romances. As of 2021, the collective dissolved, but the authors can continue their individual Obsidian Rim adventures. With the release of Catagenesis, Wallace now has three Cat Ship books available for our reading pleasure!

Reading Catagenesis inspired me to share my three favorite things about Jody Wallace’s Cat Ship series.

The stories take place on a world called Trash Planet

As I wrote in my post about the movie Space Sweepers, the Korean science fiction blockbuster, I’m a fan of waste management adventures in space. Jody Wallace’s Cat Ship series features that trope, so I immediately became a fan.

The Cat Ship series is a world of haves and have nots as well as low tech and hi tech, factors which lend themselves to cross-class romances, mystery, action-adventure, and an inventive setting that’s pretty unique in the world of sci-fi romance books.

We’re introduced to the world of Trash Planet in Catalyst (Cat Ship #1). The scrappy female MC of that book, Su Abfell, is scrapyard picker who lives on Trash Planet. Trash is her treasure. The male MC, Wil Tango, is a high-class dancer who finds himself on the wrong side of the law. And then there’s Pumpkin, a sassy sentient cat whose mysterious origin launches Su and Wil on a high-stakes adventure.

Cats, cats, and more cats!

The standout feature of the Cat Ship series is the sentient cats populating the stories. These frisky felines can do lots of neat supercat tricks, including teleporting. It’s not just what they do, but how the author describes them. The more she describes them, the more cat action you want to experience. And just about everything they do is hilarious!

The Cat Ship series is truly a sci-fi romance series for cat lovers as well as those who enjoy the inclusion of pets in their science fiction romance books. Jody Wallace is a genius at describing cats, their behaviors, their quirks, and they’re appearances. Even when cats are doing the most ordinary of things, like licking their butts, they’re depicted with a loving—and scrupulous—attention to detail.

Gen ships, intragalactic war, cryo sleep, and far future adventures

Okay, so those elements add up to way more than three, but not only are they connected, they also underly the premise of the whole Cat Ship series. Jody Wallace has built a truly immersive world with situations, romances, and characters that span millennia.

Furthermore, each book builds to the resolution of a nail-biting mystery: what will be the fate of the “…secret generation ship full of cryopreserved humans…and freakishly intelligent cats.”? (from the blurb of Catapult (Cat Ship #2)). I, for one, can’t wait to find out. Fingers crossed we’ll get another book in the Cat Ship series. No pressure, Jody Wallace!

Two humans, a bunch of cats, a space ship...and murder.

Han-Ja Gee has made a fine living on Trash Planet trading information and secrets with those who are willing to pay, either in money or in more secrets. He thought he knew everything...until a talking cat interrupted a business meeting. But cats can't talk. Cats are so rare that only very wealthy people own them. If he can discover the truth about the cats, he can pay off the life-debt he owes and leave Trash Planet forever.

Farah Shine Collins is a passenger on an ancient generation ship who wakes up two thousand years late in a galaxy that barely survived a catastrophic war...and the cats on her ship have become sentient. Her struggle to adjust becomes infinitely worse when she's asked to partner with an information broker named Han-Ja, who is clearly trouble, to solve a murder on board the ship. 

A murder for which the primary suspect is Farah's mother. A murder that not even mind-reading cats seem to know anything about. A murder that is only the first in a string of deadly attacks that threatens to tear the whole ship apart.

Han-Ja just wanted to escape a brutal racketeer. Farah just wanted a place that she and her mother could call home. Neither expected to fall in love while locked on a murder ship with three thousand terrified colonists and almost as many angry cats. But if they cannot stop the killer, the collateral damage will be a lot more than their hopes and dreams. It will be their lives.

About the Author

Jody Wallace’s 30+ titles include sf/f romance, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance. Her fiction features diverse protagonists, action, adventure, and humor. Her readers frequently comment on her great characters, suspenseful stories, and intriguing and creative world building. When describing her methods, Jody says: “There are two sides to every story. I aim to tell the third. And I add cats regardless.”

Outside of her fiction career, Jody has employed her Master’s Degree in Creative Writing to work as a college English instructor, technical documents editor, market analyst, web designer, and all around pain in the butt. You can learn more about her at https://jodywallace.com