tailchaserssong

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Tailchaser's Song

Tad Williams

Williams, Tad. Tailchaser’s Song. Daw Books. New York, New York. 2000.

Tailchaser’s song is a wonderful, funny, and somewhat suspenseful tale told from the point of view of the feline. It was written by Tad Williams, and also has an introduction by him. He is a New York Times best-selling author. This story lets readers delve into the mind of cats, and see what they think of the world around us. Readers have been entranced by this novel since its publishing in 1985.

Jake is a pet cat that wants more in life. His owners are nice, and the other cats of the neighborhood are decent to him. However, he believes his life to be boring. When a feisty white she-cat moves into town, Jake is tempted to go with her on her runaway journey to find the legendary Tailchaser; the myth of a cat with future-telling powers. The she-cat, Lilian, wants to know if she will ever have a mate. As for Jake, he just wants to find if he has a destiny larger than just being a house pet.

Jake throws caution to the winds, and decides to join her in the deadly quest. They encounter many dangers, and end up following strange rumors of wild cats up into the mountains. There they meet a group of feral felines that shun the easy life of a pet. Just before the wild cats decide to kill the two trespassing travelers, Jake makes up a wild story of how Tailchaser sent them. The wild cats take in Lilian and Jake and, despite Lilian's pleas to just confess, Jake keeps up a desperate flow of lies. Even though the stories are unbelievable, it keeps the wild cats from killing the pair. The wild cats have a leader named Willow. Though she seems like the only authority, Jake hears a mysterious secret conversation that convinces him that another cat is giving orders in the shadows. Terrible, cruel orders for death. When Jake spills this out to Lilian, Willow overhears and a fight breaks out to keep the secret. While everyone is fighting, both physically and verbally, the truth about Jake and Lilian comes out. They make a mad escape and make it out of the wild cats territory. But Lilian is wounded, and barely alive. Jake realizes, as he whispers to her through the night so that she won't fall asleep and die, that he needs her and has fallen in love with her.

Jake works his hardest and, by a miracle, he nurses Lilian back to health. They realize that they have been pulled in too deep with the wildcats, and they need to solve all the mysteries. They creep back to the wild cat's camp, and sneak in during the dead of night. There, they both witness another conversation between Willow and the mysterious hidden leader. The two leaders are planning Jake and Lilian's demise. Jake jumps out of hiding and confronts the cats, finding that the second leader is actually the legendary Tailchaser. And he is not what he seems.

Throughout the novel readers will be cheering for Jake and Lilian, and will feel as if they have been sucked into the story and are cats themselves. Tailchaser’s Song leaves readers wondering what their own tabby cat dreams about.

5 out of 5 stars

Contributed by L. Hansen

Jan. 25 2012