Gayle Greeno

Ghatti's Tale — (1993-1995) Publisher: The telepathic bonding between pairs of human Seekers and catlike ghattis enables the Seekers Veritas to distinguish truth from falsehood, insuring that justice prevails on the world of Methuen. When a renegade Seeker/ghatti pair begins targeting Seekers for murder, a young woman finds her world's salvation locked in the recesses of her hidden past. Strong characterization and inventive world building highlight this series opener, making it a good choice for most fantasy collections.

Finders Keepers

Finders Seekers is the first book in Gayle Greeno’s Ghatti’s Tale series. The Ghattis are large telepathic catlike creatures who lifebond with humans. Together, the two serve as a truthseeker team, sifting through the thoughts of people involved in civil and criminal disputes. When someone starts killing the Ghattis and their human companions, the Ghatti Khar and her bondmate Doyce set out to unlock the secret behind the deaths, and attempt to hold the world of Methuen together.

One of the goals we have at FanLit is to get a review up for every author in our database. When I saw that we didn’t have a review up for Gayle Greeno, I decided to reread Finders Seekers, a book that I had remembered enjoying when I was in my teens. I would have given it 3 stars back then. However, when I tried to reread it, I found that Finders Seekers had not aged well, and I couldn’t finish the reread.

If you’ve read a lot of fantasy, you’ve seen the telepathic animal/human bondmate in any number of variations — dragons, horses, hawks, wolves, etc. — and I didn’t find that the Ghatti variety added anything new or interesting to the concept. Additionally, the world — a human colony deserted due to environmental difficulties on the new world that has descended into a quasi-medieval society — is also familiar. Honestly, between the two issues, it was like reading the Pern books, but with cats.

That said, Finders Seekers isn’t necessarily bad. It just didn’t have much to distinguish it from all the other similar books that are available to read. You have your tragic heroine on a quest to save her society, telepathic bond animals, and medieval-style politicking. If that’s your cup of tea or if you are new to fantasy, this book will serve you well. However, if you’re looking for something new, I would recommend looking elsewhere. —Ruth Arnell