The Tarot of the Cat People is a deck which delves deeply into the realms of science fiction and fantasy and comes up with something akin to tarot symbolism.  Not quite, but almost there.  The artwork is stunning, although it isn't my taste, and the style of the whole thing is just a bit weird.

The first thing I thought when I saw the people in the cards was, this is what the world would look like if the Mongol hordes lived in the future.  There is a definite asian/indian kind of look to them.  Hair and clothes are bizarre, in some ways kind of 70's-ish.  There are cats in all cards but unlike the Unicorn Tarot, the cats have reasons to be there.

The enclosed booklet is thick and spends a great deal of time describing the Outer Regions, the fictional land wherein the story of these cards takes place.  If you read the whole thing through it reads like a sci-fi book.  Each suit is described as a kingdom within the Outer Regions.  The suits are the traditional Swords, Wands, Cups and Pentacles.

The deck is standard size but the cards are slippery and slide out of the reader's hands often.  Shuffling may get easier as the cards wear down somewhat.  I feel that the fantasy story involved in the cards would make this a wonderful deck for a person to begin reading with who had no experience with cards but was a fan of science fiction.  Cat fans will also like it.  I highly recommend buying the book as well if you are going to get this deck.

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Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace