From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more...

https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/ --
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On 8/11/26 07:21, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more...

https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

Do not forget the Aeslin mice in the Incryptid series. They undertake long journeys to get the stories of their worshipped people
back to the rest of the flock.

bliss
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

In article <115fb56$sfq$1@reader1.panix.com>,
James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more...

https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

I do not doubt that there are some significant exceptions,(*) but I
think the record will show that almost every SFF story features highly intelligent animals.

-GAWollman

(*) AI and robot stories, I guess. Are cyborgs animals? Discuss.
--
Garrett A. Wollman | "Act to avoid constraining the future; if you can, wollman@bimajority.org| act to remove constraint from the future. This is Opinions not shared by| a thing you can do, are able to do, to do together."
my employers. | - Graydon Saunders, _A Succession of Bad Days_ (2015) --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On 8/11/26 10:21 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more...

https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

Very interesting - thanks.

A much too quick survey of my shelves yielded the following examples:
Kipling - Jungle Book
Cordwainer Smith - Instrumentality of Mankind (lots)
Simak - City (I remember dogs and ants - were there others?)
OrCOBrien - Mrs Frisby & the Rats of NIMH
Brust - jhereg (Dragaera universe)
Butcher - Harry DresdenrCOs dog Mouse (and presumably other temple dogs) Reynolds - hyperpigs, dolphins (Revelation Space);
- Tantors (elephants[1] - Poseidon's Children series)
Andrews - at least one grizzly bear (Hidden Legacy series)
Aaronovitch - some foxes (Rivers of London series)


Tony
[1] Tantors emphatically say they are no longer elephants, and take
offense when they are called elephants.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

In article <115fn90$6486$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:

On 8/11/26 10:21 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more...

https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

Very interesting - thanks.

A much too quick survey of my shelves yielded the following examples:
Kipling - Jungle Book
Cordwainer Smith - Instrumentality of Mankind (lots)
Simak - City (I remember dogs and ants - were there others?)
OrCOBrien - Mrs Frisby & the Rats of NIMH
Brust - jhereg (Dragaera universe)
Butcher - Harry DresdenrCOs dog Mouse (and presumably other temple dogs) >Reynolds - hyperpigs, dolphins (Revelation Space);
- Tantors (elephants[1] - Poseidon's Children series)
Andrews - at least one grizzly bear (Hidden Legacy series)
Aaronovitch - some foxes (Rivers of London series)

Tony
[1] Tantors emphatically say they are no longer elephants, and take
offense when they are called elephants.

Then there are edge cases like Tormals (probably not) & Norbears (probably so). --
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On 8/11/26 2:36 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <115fn90$6486$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:

On 8/11/26 10:21 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more... >>>
https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

Very interesting - thanks.

A much too quick survey of my shelves yielded the following examples:
Kipling - Jungle Book
Cordwainer Smith - Instrumentality of Mankind (lots)
Simak - City (I remember dogs and ants - were there others?)
OrCOBrien - Mrs Frisby & the Rats of NIMH
Brust - jhereg (Dragaera universe)
Butcher - Harry DresdenrCOs dog Mouse (and presumably other temple dogs)
Reynolds - hyperpigs, dolphins (Revelation Space);
- Tantors (elephants[1] - Poseidon's Children series)
Andrews - at least one grizzly bear (Hidden Legacy series)
Aaronovitch - some foxes (Rivers of London series)


Tony
[1] Tantors emphatically say they are no longer elephants, and take
offense when they are called elephants.

Then there are edge cases like Tormals (probably not)

Heavens to Murgatroyd - I'd forgotten about them. (and agreed - probably
not)

& Norbears (probably so).

And them. (and agreed - probably so)
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <115fn90$6486$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:

On 8/11/26 10:21 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more... >>>
https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

Very interesting - thanks.

A much too quick survey of my shelves yielded the following examples:
Kipling - Jungle Book
Cordwainer Smith - Instrumentality of Mankind (lots)
Simak - City (I remember dogs and ants - were there others?)
O|ore4raoBrien - Mrs Frisby & the Rats of NIMH
Brust - jhereg (Dragaera universe)
Butcher - Harry Dresden|ore4raos dog Mouse (and presumably other temple dogs)
Reynolds - hyperpigs, dolphins (Revelation Space);
- Tantors (elephants[1] - Poseidon's Children series)
Andrews - at least one grizzly bear (Hidden Legacy series)
Aaronovitch - some foxes (Rivers of London series)


Tony
[1] Tantors emphatically say they are no longer elephants, and take
offense when they are called elephants.

Then there are edge cases like Tormals (probably not) & Norbears (probably so).

The enhanced dogs in "Starship Troopers" are offstage so it's hard to
say how smart they are, but they can talk.

William Hyde
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> writes:

Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <115fn90$6486$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:

On 8/11/26 10:21 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more... >>>>
https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

Very interesting - thanks.

A much too quick survey of my shelves yielded the following examples:
Kipling - Jungle Book
Cordwainer Smith - Instrumentality of Mankind (lots)
Simak - City (I remember dogs and ants - were there others?)
O|ore4raoBrien - Mrs Frisby & the Rats of NIMH
Brust - jhereg (Dragaera universe)
Butcher - Harry Dresden|ore4raos dog Mouse (and presumably other temple dogs)
Reynolds - hyperpigs, dolphins (Revelation Space);
- Tantors (elephants[1] - Poseidon's Children series)
Andrews - at least one grizzly bear (Hidden Legacy series)
Aaronovitch - some foxes (Rivers of London series)


Tony
[1] Tantors emphatically say they are no longer elephants, and take
offense when they are called elephants.

Then there are edge cases like Tormals (probably not) & Norbears (probably so).

The enhanced dogs in "Starship Troopers" are offstage so it's hard to
say how smart they are, but they can talk.

There were also superintelligent talking dogs in _Methuselah's Children_.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

In article <115g2bo$aiuh$2@dont-email.me>,
William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:

The enhanced dogs in "Starship Troopers" are offstage so it's hard to
say how smart they are, but they can talk.

This again raises the issue: humans are also highly intelligent
animals. At what point does it no longer make sense to talk about
"intelligent animals" as if "non-human" is implied. Because of course
nearly any alien is also going to be an intelligent animal (unless
it's an AI, plant, or robot), unless you're going to insist on a
cladistic definition of "animal" (which still includes humans but
excludes anything that didn't evolve on earth). At some point you
have to allow that "people" is wider than "human", and then the whole
framing of "highly intelligent animals" breaks down.

-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | "Act to avoid constraining the future; if you can, wollman@bimajority.org| act to remove constraint from the future. This is Opinions not shared by| a thing you can do, are able to do, to do together."
my employers. | - Graydon Saunders, _A Succession of Bad Days_ (2015) --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On 8/11/26 09:29, BobbieSellers wrote:

On 8/11/26 07:21, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more...

https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-
animals/

-a-a-a-aDo not forget the Aeslin mice in the Incryptid series.-a They undertake long journeys to get the stories of their worshipped people
back to the rest of the flock.

-a-a-a-abliss

And in my old slow memory I dug up an Olaf Stapledon story I read in the 1950s. Sirius a Novel by Olaf Stapledon
Sirius is a 1944 science fiction novel by the British philosopher and
author Olaf Stapledon, whose title character is a dog named Sirius with humanlike intelligence. A sense of existential questioning suffuses the
book, as the author delves into aspects of Sirius's psyche. The novel
deals with many human issues through Sirius and his experiences, his
unusual nature, his ideas and his relationships with humans.
The Wiki entry is longer.

The outcome is ultimately tragic as in the other
Stapledon story that influenced me strongly "Odd John"
which is about more than human mutants.

Every SF story is about animals though the elves, gnomes.
leprechauns and especially the humans would deny it.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On 8/11/2026 9:21 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more...

https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

Zero for me again.

A few great animal SF/F stories:
1. The Pip and Flynx books by Alan Dean Foster
2. "The Zero Stone" by Andre Norton
3. "Daybreak-2250 A.D." by Andre Norton
4. The Incryptid books by Seanan McGuire - Aeslin Mice of course
5. "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
6. "The Last Dog on Earth" by Adrian Walker
7. "The Inheritance" by Ilona Andrews
8. "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
9. "Agent To The Stars" by John Scazi
10. "Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy, 1)" by Ilona Andrews
11. "Ariel" by Steven R. Boyett
12. "Dogs of War" by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Lynn

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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

Garrett Wollman <wollman@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> wrote:

This again raises the issue: humans are also highly intelligent
animals. At what point does it no longer make sense to talk about >"intelligent animals" as if "non-human" is implied. Because of course
nearly any alien is also going to be an intelligent animal (unless
it's an AI, plant, or robot), unless you're going to insist on a
cladistic definition of "animal" (which still includes humans but
excludes anything that didn't evolve on earth). At some point you
have to allow that "people" is wider than "human", and then the whole
framing of "highly intelligent animals" breaks down.

This is the whole point of Cordwainer Smith's discussion of the
underpeople. I cannot answer your question but C'Mell may be able to.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more...

https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

A.A.Milne, Pooh the Bear
Max Kruse, Urmel aus dem Eis (and 11 more in the series)

-is
--
A medium apple... weighs 182 grams, yields 95 kcal, and contains no
caffeine, thus making it unsuitable for sysadmins. - Brian Kantor
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

Ignatios Souvatzis <u502sou@bnhb484.de> wrote:

James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more...

https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

A.A.Milne, Pooh the Bear

Pooh might be wise, but he is not highly intelligent. And Owl acts like he
has an MBA.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On 8/13/2026 1:18 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Ignatios Souvatzis <u502sou@bnhb484.de> wrote:

James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Stories Featuring Highly Intelligent Animals

Mutant mice, a witch's feline companion, a raccoon detective, and more... >>>
https://reactormag.com/five-sff-stories-featuring-highly-intelligent-animals/

A.A.Milne, Pooh the Bear

Pooh might be wise, but he is not highly intelligent. And Owl acts like he has an MBA.
--scott

You mean, Owl acts like he knows and understands everything, but it
falls apart on examination?

From The House at Pooh Corner:

"He could spell his own name WOL, and
he could spell Tuesday so that you knew
it wasn't Wednesday..."

pt


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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

You mean, Owl acts like he knows and understands everything, but it
falls apart on examination?

From The House at Pooh Corner:

"He could spell his own name WOL, and
he could spell Tuesday so that you knew
it wasn't Wednesday..."

Yes. Compare that with:

"Enterprise Information Portals are the Delivery Vehicle for Knowledge
Management. Enterprise Information Portals (EIPs) rapidly are becoming
the integration frameworks and transformation engines in the organization."

--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes:

Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

You mean, Owl acts like he knows and understands everything, but it
falls apart on examination?

From The House at Pooh Corner:

"He could spell his own name WOL, and
he could spell Tuesday so that you knew
it wasn't Wednesday..."

Yes. Compare that with:

"Enterprise Information Portals are the Delivery Vehicle for Knowledge
Management. Enterprise Information Portals (EIPs) rapidly are becoming
the integration frameworks and transformation engines in the organization."

I'm not sure I glean your meaning...
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

Scott Lurndal wrote:

kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes:

Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

You mean, Owl acts like he knows and understands everything, but it
falls apart on examination?

From The House at Pooh Corner:

"He could spell his own name WOL, and
he could spell Tuesday so that you knew
it wasn't Wednesday..."

Yes. Compare that with:

"Enterprise Information Portals are the Delivery Vehicle for Knowledge
Management. Enterprise Information Portals (EIPs) rapidly are becoming
the integration frameworks and transformation engines in the organization."

I'm not sure I glean your meaning...

He means "Eschew obfuscation".

William Hyde
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> writes:

Scott Lurndal wrote:

kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes:

Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

You mean, Owl acts like he knows and understands everything, but it
falls apart on examination?

From The House at Pooh Corner:

"He could spell his own name WOL, and
he could spell Tuesday so that you knew
it wasn't Wednesday..."

Yes. Compare that with:

"Enterprise Information Portals are the Delivery Vehicle for Knowledge
Management. Enterprise Information Portals (EIPs) rapidly are becoming
the integration frameworks and transformation engines in the organization." >>

I'm not sure I glean your meaning...

He means "Eschew obfuscation".

Ha!

"glean" -is- an "EIP" :-)

https://www.glean.com/

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:

kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes:

Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

You mean, Owl acts like he knows and understands everything, but it
falls apart on examination?

From The House at Pooh Corner:

"He could spell his own name WOL, and
he could spell Tuesday so that you knew
it wasn't Wednesday..."

Yes. Compare that with:

"Enterprise Information Portals are the Delivery Vehicle for Knowledge
Management. Enterprise Information Portals (EIPs) rapidly are becoming
the integration frameworks and transformation engines in the organization."

I'm not sure I glean your meaning...

That latter statement translates as "Companies change as people get
more information from centrallized web pages" but takes three lines
and many syllables to say it. Owl would have approved.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

begin fnord
kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes:

Yes. Compare that with:

"Enterprise Information Portals are the Delivery Vehicle for Knowledge
Management. Enterprise Information Portals (EIPs) rapidly are becoming
the integration frameworks and transformation engines in the organization."

Bet you the wankstain who wrote that thought a) split infinitives are
bad and b) "are rapidly becoming" is a split infinitive.

Or maybe they're just stupid.
--
Steve Coltrin spcoltri@omcl.org
"A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
- Associated Press
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

Steve Coltrin <spcoltri@omcl.org> wrote:

kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes:

Yes. Compare that with:

"Enterprise Information Portals are the Delivery Vehicle for Knowledge
Management. Enterprise Information Portals (EIPs) rapidly are becoming
the integration frameworks and transformation engines in the organization."

Bet you the wankstain who wrote that thought a) split infinitives are
bad and b) "are rapidly becoming" is a split infinitive.

Or maybe they're just stupid.

Most likely the latter. You attribute too much thought to the aforementioned wankstain.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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