Man-Kzin Wars IX — Larry Niven

THOSE KZIN DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY'RE LICKED
(AND MAYBE THEY AREN'T . . .)

It was so unfair! Here the Kzin were, warcats supreme, carving out empires like the indefatigable lords of creation that they were--and then they ran into those pesky humans. Mere apes! Contemptible weed-eaters! Hardly worth screaming and leaping upon....

But when the feline Kzin moved in to take over the monkey-occupied worlds, they got clobbered. The humans, with their underhanded monkey cunning, turned communications equipment and space drives into weapons that cut the dauntless Kzin heroes into ribbons. When the humans gained a faster-than-light drive, it was all over but the, uh, howling. The Kzin had lost their first war in centuries of successful conquest.

Still, you can't keep a good warcat down, and the Kzin have by no means given up. New weapons, new strategies, and new leaders--the Kzin are on the march and the humans had better keep their powder dry. Once again, it's howling time in Known Space!