Review: “Cat and Mouse” by Ralph Williams (1959)

Posted on January 23rd, 2008

This novelette opens on a swamped extraterrestrial natural resources warden that has an invasive pest problem it needs handled.

The warden sees an answer on Earth with a mountain man named Ed and opens a doorway outside of Ed’s cabin that leads to the infested world. Ed, the sensible type, keeps an eye on the doorway and tests out the passage for safety. Eventually curiosity gets the better of him and he goes exploring.

His reconnaissance leads him to the pest and he starts a-feudin’ with it, finally coming out on top. When Ed finishes with it, he prepares to go trapping in the new world, but finds the doorway has closed.

I did not, but other readers may find it heavy-handed that Ed’s interactions with his cat Tom are later mirrored by the warden’s interactions with Ed. For example, Ed digs a hole to allow his cat into a lean-to to kill mice. Then the warden opens the doorway so Ed can go in and remove the pest.

Just like Tom found his hole to the lean-to had been filled in by Ed after all the mice were gone, Ed found his doorway had been removed when he went to go a-trappin’ after he cleared out the pest.

The grizzled country loner characterization of Ed was well done and I can recommend it on that basis alone.

So Recommended. Step through the link to find it in a couple formats at Project Gutenberg or at Manybooks.net in more.

Tags: free science fiction, public domain science fiction, Review, speculative fiction
Filed under Free Stuff, Review, Science Fiction & Fantasy (SFF), Williams, Ralph | Comments Off