Tailchaser's Song
US Hardcover Edition
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| Author | Tad Williams |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Braldt Bralds |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | DAW Books |
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Publication date
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November 21, 1985 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| Pages | 333 (Hardback) & 400 (Paperback) |
| ISBN | (Hardback) & ISBN (Paperback) |
| OCLC | 12799359 |
| 813/.54 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3573.I45563 T35 1985 |
Tailchaser's Song is a fantasy novel by American writer Tad Williams. It is about a personified cat named Fritti Tailchaser, set in a world of other anthropomorphic animals who live in their natural environments but each have their own language, mythology, and culture. It is the first book that Tad Williams wrote and published, and is being adapted into an animated film due to be released in 2018.
The novel is set in the world as cats see it, with humans being mysterious and distrusted creatures in the eyes of feral cats. The cats see themselves as the first and most important species; the novel takes the approach that all creatures consider their kind to be the dominant species of the planet. Their myths view humans, or "M'an", as a race of deformed descendants of cats. The book makes reference to mythologies of frogs, foxes and ravens as well as more thoroughly developing a system of cat mythology.
Tailchaser's Song begins, after quoting a poem by Christopher Smart, with an exposition of the central elements of the cats' mythology, starting with a creation myth. This both frames the further developments of cat mythology and culture throughout the story and provides necessary backstory for the novel itself. Meerclar Allmother is identified as the primordial creator of all other beings, who brought forth a pair of cats who are the progenitors of the entire species as well as divine figures. Harar Goldeneye is the male, and Fela Skydancer the female. The first litter of this pair are also divine. These three cats are called the Firstborn; the middle child, Grizraz Hearteater, raises a monstrous hound out of jealousy and sets it to attack all cats. The eldest of the three, Viror Whitewind, slays the creature but is himself mortally wounded. Hearteater is driven out and flees beneath the ground where he searches out arcane lore, while Whitewind's death causes his father to flee to the heavens after searching for Hearteater in a murderous rage and causes his mother to be silent for the rest of his life. His youngest brother, Tangaloor Firefoot, renounced his claim to the throne and fled from the court out of grief. As a result of a further encounter with Firefoot, Hearteater is blinded by sun after having spent so much time beneath the earth, and retreats back beneath the ground, where it is supposed that he plots further destruction.
After this introduction, Fritti Tailchaser, a young ginger tom cat, sets out to stray from his home and clan, the Meeting Wall Clan, in search of his friend Hushpad after strange disappearances of other cats have been reported. The kitten Pouncequick follows him, and eventually catches up. Together, they set out on a long journey to visit the feline royal Court of Harar, with the intention of resolving the mystery of the disappearances. They meet a rather crazy cat named Eatbugs, who travels with them for parts of the journey to the court. Soon they run into some Firstwalkers, cats who live in the wild, who are of a direct bloodline from Goldeneye and Skydancer. Their thane (leader), Quiverclaw, challenges Tailchaser ceremonially and is impressed enough to allow him and Pouncequick to accompany them for a time. Soon, they must part ways.
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