Ratha's Creature

The Named #1

by Clare Bell

Ratha and her clan are the Named, a band of intelligent wild cats whose society is based on herding deer. The Named have laws, language, traditions, and leaders. They also have enemies. The predatory raiders of the un-Named are driving them close to the edge of survival. Then Ratha, a mere yearling, discovers what she calls the Red Tongue: fire. Her new weapon gives the Named a new defense, but it also rouses the ire of Meoran, the tyrannical clan leader. Soon Ratha finds herself in exile among the un-Named, but determined to survive.

Genres: Fantasy, Animals, Young Adult, Fiction, Animal Fiction, Cats, Anthropomorphic

259 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

I've been really busy with the Ratha's Creature Graphic Novel project! The idea of adapting Ratha's Creature as a graphic novel is now moving much closer to reality. Our Kickstarter is 75% funded, with 5 days left.

http://bit.ly/rathakick

Tod, Dani, Ian, and Sheila have put together a real treat for Ratha fans -- a music video about how the artists are developing and visualizing Bonechewer for the Ratha graphic novel.

See it here at: http://youtu.be/CTJ_UilUX2A




















To promote it, project artist Tod Wills
is doing a Livestreaming art marathon:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/icon-day

His info headquarters for the livestream is:

http://djinni.livejournal.com/475140....

Here is a graphic you are free to use to link to the kickstarter:
http://todwills.deviantart.com/art/Ra...

Quick Kickstarter link

http://bit.ly/rathakick

If you like what you see, please pledge on Kickstarter.

A sample page from the Graphic Novel and the promo image are in my Goodreads photos, so take a peek.

I've put more info in the blog below:

If this graphic novel takes off, I will also be further inspired to write more Ratha books!



















Another good thing is happening! Imaginator Press and I are exploring the possibility of doing a Ratha's Creature graphic novel! To measure reader interest, we have a survey here, so please participate.
http://imaginatorpress.wufoo.com/form...

By filling out the survey, you'll be entered to win a $25 gift certificate from the offline or online bookstore of your choice. Help us out and perhaps win something nice to read.

Many good things have happened since my last update. The first, and best is that Sheila Ruth of Imaginator Press worked with me to get all of the Ratha books back into print. You have probably seen them on this site, in trade format, and gorgeous new covers by artist Lew Lashmit, re-copyedited (though not word of the story changed!) and lovely new interior and graphic design by 1106 Design.

The books are also available in many formats from E-Reads, Amazon, and other sites. I've set up an online bookstore on my webpage so that people can by autographed editions.

I've been publicizing the series by attending many conventions and events. Sheila and I also ran a Ratha fan art contest on the Facebook series fan page ( http://www.facebook.com/rathaseries ) and Wildfire, which was great fun and the artists enjoyed it. We also showcased about 10 artists by posting interviews and images on my upgraded webpage, http://wwww.rathascourage.com.

Even though many of these activities took me away from Goodreads, I'm glad to be back and to support Imaginator Press's Ratha's Creature giveaway.

I've also been reading lots of good books and I will be cataloging and commenting on those as well.

Clare Bell
11/7/2011




Wow, it has been a great Spring 2009!

From March 14 to May 9, I posted an experimental Ratha novelette on Twitter, entitled "Ratha's Island", which kept me very busy. You can find the entire story archived here:
First archive for Ratha's Island on the Forum http://forum.rathascourage.com/index....
While visiting the Forum, check out the Named role-play at: http://forum.rathascourage.com/index....

Ratha's Courage was a finalist for the Ursa Major Awards, and is still in the running for the ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Award/

In January, I attended Further Confusion 09 in San Jose as a Guest of Honor and had a great time. I plan to go again to FurCon 2010.





Ratha's Courage is on the Ursa Major Awards Recommended Reading List for Novels. The Ursa Major Awards are the furry/anthropomorphic community's equivalent of the SF world's Hugo Awards http://www.ursamajorawards.org/ReadLi...

Ratha and the Named on Twitter! See the ClanChirps, http://www.twitter.com/rat

Reviews

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ratha is a young female in a tribe of intelligent, talking big cats who call themselves The Named. The book follows her growing up & negotiating the tumultuous power struggles of her world.

For some reason, from the brief description I'd read of this series, I expected the characters to feel like 'aliens' - but overall, I thought this felt more like an animal story. I'd recommend it more for fans of animal stories than pure sci-fi fans (think Tad Williams' 'Tailchaser's Song', for example).

The first issue Ratha encounters is a gender issue: she is picked by her mentor to be trained to be a scout, but female cubs are generally not given this training. I felt this aspect of the book was the weakest, as it echoes the many, many, many fantasy books where the young woman has to overcome sexism to follow her dreams. However, in nature, among big cats, female felines are certainly not at all prevented from hunting and scouting. Actually, they are often the main hunters. The author put quite a bit of effort into emphasizing that her characters think 'like cats', but I felt that portraying a research-based, inventive feline-influenced society fell by the wayside.

However, I did like the interesting dynamic that Bell sets up between the intelligent cats and the non-talking (non-sentient?) cats. The portrayal of the social confusion, rumors/stereotypes and emotional turmoil this rift causes is done quite nicely.

I also liked the idea of a group of predators discovering the benefits of herding and protecting prey, and enjoyed Ratha's innovative and fumbling attempts to harness fire for her species' benefit.

The book follows a plotline of conflict, exile, then return, and allows Ratha growth in maturity and experience along the way. There are 5 books in this series, so there's plenty to-come after this one for those who want to find out more about Ratha and the fate of her tribe - but this installment ends at a satisfying juncture.

A copy of this book was provided to me by Netgalley and Open Road Media. Many thanks for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this about 15 years ago, and it's always stuck with me as one of my favorite series ever. I'm working on re-reading them all, especially with a brand-new book in the series having just been released.

So far, they're as good as I remembered them being. The story is set sometime in pre-history (it's hard to tell at times), where a Clan of sentient big cats survive by herding their own deer for food. Ratha begins the story as a cub just learning the ways of the herder, when a lightning storm causes a wildfire big enough to cause the clan to run with the herd off of Clan Ground. On the journey back, Ratha discovers that the Red Tongue (fire) can be "tamed," and begins to take care of it by feeding it twigs. When she attempts to return to the clan with her creature, she is banished.

This series is a much more mature version of the Warriors series by Erin Hunter, which is geared towards grade-schoolers (and also quite fun!). While both series are quite willing to have horrible things to happen to their characters, Clare Bell is much more up-front about what is going on and the descriptions can be pretty harsh sometimes.

Overall, it's a really fun story about what things could have been like if there had been a group of intelligent cats that were effectively on the level of humans.

[Kat (Lost in Neverland) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came back and gave this a three star rating, because my previous one was only 2 stars. After I finished it, I couldn't get it out of my head, and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Though gruesome and depressing, it's almost poetic in a dark, haunting way. It actually makes me want to get the second one and possibly read the whole series.

UPDATE 10-16-11: Ah, to heck with it, I'll give it a four star! *audience cheers*

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

(This is another book for which I wish GoodReads allowed fractions of stars, but anyway)...
I picked this up as a Read-a-like for the Warriors Series, which I love to pieces. This book had a similar feel, while still holding a very separate identity. I would indeed recommend it to someone looking to for new "animal-related fantasy."
In many ways, this story reminded me of the Lion King. And, since this is copyrighted in 1983, it came first! The main character, Ratha, is far from perfect.. and I love it when protagonists are laden with flaws. She is irritable, indecisive, very prideful, and perhaps a bit too nosy. However, she makes up for it by being quite brave, resourceful, and for her ability to adapt to change. Her surroundings and way of life change so much during her first year of adulthood, and she just rolled with the punches.
The storyline did lag a bit during the middle, but it was worth it. You meet her Creature pretty soon, and it vanishes until the last fifty pages. I kept wondering why the book was named after it, but the reader will see why (I don't want to give any spoilers!). I can see how this first book could expand into a series, and I look forward to the next book.

[Sheila Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ratha's Creature is an intense, emotional roller coaster of a book. It's the coming of age story of a remarkable adolescent, but it's also a story of the eternal battle between social status quo and social change. Ratha is a remarkable character that you can't help but like in spite of her shortcomings, and teens will identify with her struggle to make sense of the world around her and find her place in it. Recommended for mature teens due to violence and adult situations.

Read my entire review.

[Xarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this years ago and remembered really enjoying the series. In re-reading it, I found I didn't remember any of it, but I still really enjoyed it! I also found it to be a little more "grown-up" than I had remembered it to be, especially for being classified as a young adult.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My absolute favorite book! A coming of age story told through the eyes of a prehistoric clan of wild cats. Themes like learning, belonging, and loyalty are key.

[Carrie-Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up this was one of my absolute favorite series.
The creatures were a mix of feral and intelligent, and never ceased to give me goosebumps at certain points.
Still one of my favorites 17 years later.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Bad: Alright, first off, this story had a TERRIBLE editor. I found many mistakes, and one in particular made me want to drop the book and never read it again. Apparently the author thought that commas/punctuation was not needed at the end of speech. I found that a really dumb mistake, and I noticed it right away. And commas in general are super sparse.

Also, I didn't really relate with Ratha much at all. Sure, she could be bold and daring sometimes, but most of the time she was just annoying. And the whole relationship with Bonechewer was just hard to watch.

The Good: The author did have great description, and the fight scenes were intense. I thought that she had something good going with the Red Tongue, but then she just lost it. And I was left hanging without a definite storyline! But, we're not talking about what's bad, we're talking about what's good.... The author obviously did her research on big cats, which I enjoyed very much. She captured Ratha's kind almost perfectly, and I liked the way the clan worked. I found it very interesting. The beginning was great, captivating even. But after she was kicked from her clan, it started going downhill.

Other Notes: For the people who want a more mature version of Warrior Cats, this is NOT the book. Sure, the fighting scenes are more gory, and the description of things can be harsh, but its not Warrior Cats at all. Its not based around the survival of the clan, or even learning to coexist with other clans. So if what you're looking for is a do-over of Warrior Cats, I suggest you move on.

This book did nothing for me and I don't plan on reading the next one.

[Vesper Vesper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ratha’s Creature was a great read, and truly different. I don’t find many books where the main character is full-blown animal (aka, no shape-shifting abilities), and it brought me back to the time when I used to roleplay as a wolf. Upon first getting this book, I wondered what the “creature” part of the title meant, and during the part it was revealed, I had to remind myself that we’re in the mind of an animal who has never seen the likes of what Ratha encounters, which only makes sense! It was actually very refreshing to step outside my boundary and read something so… “innocent.” It made me think about how animals might refer other things that we know of... (continued via website)

[Sparrowkeeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is now one of my all time favorites - it is an amazing story written by Clare Bell, and a story I shan't forget anytime soon. I was brought into the thrilling world of Ratha and the Named, intelligent cats living millions of years ago. By the first page I was hooked; all the characters were well developed and the plot exciting and original. Clare obviously researched to write these novels, and for that I respect her for it. She's an amazing, talented author and now one of my all time favorites!

~Sparrow

[Alyson Errichetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept, but a little slow in reading. The Warriors books are much better and much more engaging.

[PEN Center USA · Rating 5 out of 5]

1983 PEN Center USA Award Winner for Young Adult Literature (tie)

[Aeryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was one of the best books ive ever read. I love how she said the eyes of most of the Un-Named we different from those of the clan.

[Madison Stove · Rating 1 out of 5]

There’s cat sex.

[Dakoda Rayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great piece of animal fiction, blending a unique plot with intriguing characters with good personal histories. A good blend of natural behaviors paired with anthropomorphic ideas surrounding community,religion, etc, this was a home run.

[Kenya Starflight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy a well-written xenofiction novel, but it takes a skilled writer to pull it off. Too often writers of xenofiction make the mistake of "humanizing" their animal characters too much, and as a result it often feels like one is reading a book about humans in animal clothing instead of actual animals. "Ratha's Creature" deals with animals that are more human-like than one would expect... but not only does Clare Bell tell a gripping and fascinating story about her prehistoric cats, she manages to get inside their heads and present us with a truly animal point of view of the world.

Ratha is a cat-like creature living in prehistoric times, closely related to the saber-toothed cat. Her people, the Named, have learned to ensure a constant food supply by herding their own livestock rather than relying solely on hunting... but the wild Unnamed are a constant threat, poaching their food and launching savage attacks. When Ratha learns how to harness and use the power of fire to guard the herds, she finds herself banished by a power-hungry leader who fears she will use the flame to take control of the Named. Ratha must learn how to survive as a rogue creature, and in the process she learns more secrets of the flame... and shocking secrets about the Unnamed that could shatter her world forever.

Bell writes a thoughtful and surprisingly epic tale about Ratha and the Named, laying the foundation for their history and painting their world as a harsh but beautiful place. She's constructed a believable culture for her prehistoric cats, and has done her homework on the world they inhabit and the creatures that live there. And despite the Named herding animals and learning to use fire, she's managed to make them still feel and think like animals rather than humans with fur and claws. I appreciate seeing this in a work of xenofiction.

Ratha herself is a well-written character, one who starts off as reckless and headstrong but grows and develops over the course of the novel into a capable creature. Her mentor, Thakur, is a complex character, well-meaning but flawed and with his own motivations that are slowly made clear over the course of the novel. Bonechewer, an Unnamed Ratha gets to know over the course of the novel, has his own ties to many of the characters, and is fascinating to get to know as well.

For teens and older kids who have read all of the "Warrior Cats" books, or feel they've outgrown them, "Ratha's Creature" is an excellent novel to move on to. It's a xenofiction book that actually feels like it stars animals instead of humans in animal costumes, and weaves a compelling world to explore.

[Adonijah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ratha’s Creatures Review by Adonijah Emanuel

Ratha and her clan (the Named) are a clan of a strong, self-aware, cheetah like prehistoric big cats. They have laws, languages and traditions and live by herding the creatures, dapple backs (horses) and three horns (deer), they once hunted. Surrounding the Named are the more numerous non-sentient UnNamed, who prey on the clan’s herds. Mating between Named and UnNamed is forbidden, since the clan believes that the resulting young will be UnNamed animals.

Ratha, a young female, bucks the clan tradition of male dominance by training with the herding teacher, Thakur, to become a herder. All the herders are male except for Fessran , a strong-willed female who became a herder before Meoran took over leadership. Attacks by the UnNamed are driving Ratha’s clan close to the edge of survival. Only her discovery and her use of fire (“ The Red Tongue” and the “Creature” of the title) offers the clan a chance to survive.

Meoran, the tyrannical male clan leader, oppose Ratha and drives her out of the clan. In exile among the UnNamed, Ratha meets a lone male and discovers that the clan is wrong about some of the UnNamed, he speaks very well and is as bright as any clan member. She dubs “BoneChewer”. He teaches her to hunt, the two mate and she has his young. When the cubs don’t develop according to her expectations, she realizes that they are probably non-sentient. She flies into a rage, attacking BoneChewer, biting and crippling the female cub, Thistle-Chaser and abandoning her mate and the litter.

Returning to the clan at Thakur’s bidding, Ratha re-acquires “her creature”, the Red Tongue. With it, she overthrows and kills Meoran. When the UnNamed attack again, she, Thakur and Fessran lead the clan in striking back with a new weapon, fire. The enemy flees in terror. After the battle, Ratha emerges as clan leader. She makes Fessran chief of the FIrekeepers, those who build and tend fire for the clan. The Firekeepers also wield torches in battle. Ratha gives the Red Tongue each a torch, and they fight the UnNamed.

At once a wonderful fantasy and an intricate allegory. The great wild cats, a mixture of human intelligence and animal instinct, lend the story a visceral power that is impossible to ignore. A highly remarkable book.

I GIVE IT 5 STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this book, for the first time, when I was in the sixth grade (roughly 1994, I believe.) Back then, it had a different cover, though. I remember thinking "Didn't I see this as a cartoon once...?" because of the CBS Special that aired about it. In any case, I'm a big cat person, so to have found a book about talking cats that was so well-written was something that excited me beyond belief.

The way the story flows, the hardships that Ratha faces (as well as the other characters of the book), and the believable environments and personalities of the characters involved, as well as the depth, is just amazing. It really is a book that can draw you into it, and for the entire length of the book, you're engaged in it and the world around you fades. You travel With Ratha and see the things she sees, feel the things she feels and stand with her at the end of it all.

Clare Bell has this ability to really connect you with the world she is writing about, and if fantasy is your favourite genre, then this book (and all books after it in the series) is definitely a recommended read.

However, I wouldn't recommend it on a 6th grader's bookshelf... maybe a 9th grader, if only because of the questionable scene between Ratha and Bonechewer. There weren't a lot of details, but there is a sexual scene that some people might not want to have their children reading. I personally didn't mind it myself, as it lent to the depth of the challenges that Ratha faced, but I know some people who would complain. However, in the rest of the series (well, one through four, since I haven't read the fifth one yet), there are no such instances like the one in the first book.

Small enough to keep a young reader's attention, but engaging enough to capture even the oldest of readers, this book series is, above all, an outstanding read.

[Ashley Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ratha's Creature is a quick read, with intense page-turning action the entire way through. It does not bog down in descriptions, and every word seems to have intent for moving the story forward.

This book is a coming of age story, where a young female cub must learn to survive on her own among what her clan believes to be unintelligent, mindless members of their own species. She is banished from her own clan by Meoran, the clan leader, and the one who teaches those he (cruelly) rules that the other Un-Named are mindless beasts. She must learn the secrets of the Un-Named and learn to survive around them while she herself is coming of age and going through puberty.

The book reads more like an animal story than one where the creatures are extremely anthropomorphised. They even include their own exclamations that remind me of a panther's yowl, showing that these are just self-aware, thinking cats, and not humans in cat form.

[Katarina Bambina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the cheesy tag line on the back of this book, I thoroughly enjoyed rereading it (I first read this book when I was 12). The description is amazing, the characters interesting, and the idea more or less original (despite all the cat books that have been written after this book came out in 1983). If you like "Watership Down", I would highly recommend this book-- and so far my students like it!

[Anna11 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Think that this is a great book. I LOVED it! Not only has it taught me quit a bit about mountain lions it has also inspired me to want to read more books. Before I read Ratha's creature I didn't want to have anything to do with reading. I also love goodreads it is amazing i started to find many books that i would like to read. I loved the way ratha really learned to like the red tonge(fire) and used it to help her clan keep the "un-named" cats off her land.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are old friends. No matter how long since I last saw them, once I'm back in the story, it's as if no time at all has passed.

[Miles Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book several years ago after recieving it as a gift. I love how it features a strange, almost sci-fi world set on another planet that never progressed past the ice age. It stuck with me a long time after, and started an obsession with strange, unique sci-fi and fantasy worlds, untouched by the hand of man.

I’d recommend this book to ages 15+ due to violence and sexual themes.

Be aware, this review contains minor spoilers!

For starters, let’s discuss the core aspect; Ratha herself, our not-so-heroic hero. Ratha is the best and also worst aspect of this book. For one, she’s unpredictable and her incredibly short temper and impulsiveness is what drives most of the story to its end. It’s always interesting seeing how she responds to the situations she finds herself in and more often than not the reader may find themselves sighing or cringing as her temper rears its ugly head again and again. Although she’s clearly affected by the many tragedies she lives through and suffers clear bouts of depression, she doesn’t develop much over the course of the book and never seems to mature completely. There isn’t a single character who she doesn’t hate at some point!

Whilst I felt that side characters were interesting for the most part, I felt like Ratha’s relationship with Fessran needed more initial explanation as to my eyes they seemed to go from rivals to fast friends willing to die for one another in a matter of moments, all this despite Ratha’s foul-temperedness and unwillingness to cooperate.

I also felt that there was a huge missed opportunity concerning certain members of the Un-Named, the ‘witless’, as they’re known. These are cats that cannot speak and have reverted back to their primal roots and whilst they could have been developed into unique characters with unique and even enhanced abilities due to their different mindset they’re consistently portrayed as lesser beings, always beneath other cats and controlled, always described as ugly or disconcerting due to the absent look in their eye. To avoid spoilers showing what I mean in-context, please skip to the end of this paragraph! Ratha even goes so far as to attempt to kill her own daughter when she turns out to be ‘witless’ and though it’s mentioned in passing how she wishes she could go back and promise to love them the way they are, her mate tells her on his deathbed that she was right in leaving them and right in trying to kill them as they grew up to be savages.

The core cast of characters is portrayed in a way which ties in very well to their feline forms and the writing style weaves into this very nicely. Never do the cats start to feel too anthropomorphic and they don’t do anything that their bodies and minds aren’t suited for. In addition to this, rather than constant, forced use of fantasy language the author uses two or three made-up terms, and the rest are just onomatopoeia meant to represent the sounds cats make in relation to what the characters are feeling. That being said, with so many “arrrr”‘s I couldn’t help imagining Ratha in an eyepatch.

By far the best aspect of this book was the world that it wove. The world was very harsh, with an overarching premise of the old ways vs the new, and Ratha earning the chance to see both sides for herself. Both the named and un-named have their own flaws, culture and views which are explored and expressed. Similarly, I thought the concept of the cats discovering fire, whilst simple in theory, is very unique to animal fiction books. I highly enjoyed the concept of the clan cats figuring out how to herd prey animals, and the clan customs felt logical and open for a lot of development over the course of the series. Whilst I can’t delve too deep into the world without spoiling it, I felt that it wrapped up nicely although there were a few loose ends left that the sequels may take advantage of.

Overall, Ratha’s Creature was an enjoyable read. It lived up to its potential fairly well and whilst the hotheaded protagonist was at times exasperating, the world and the cats themselves more than made up for it.

[Thistle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't believe in fate, but sometimes there are happy coincidence. When I was offered Ratha's Creature for review, I grinned like a madman. This was my favorite book of all time! The username that I've been using online for 20 or so years (Thistle-Chaser) comes from it. My oldest LJ icon is from it. I still have a VHS tape of the CBS Storybreak animated special from the 80s of this book.

And then I waited. And waited. Usually when I accept a book for review, they send it in a day or two. This one never arrived. But now I was itching to read it, so I went out and got a copy myself. (I still have my physical copy, but I wanted an ebook version.) As of writing this review, the review copy still hasn't arrived, but that's moot at this point.

I was a little worried to reread it. I read it first in the early 80s, and I haven't read it in the last ten or more years. Would it hold up? So many books/shows I liked back then do not.

I'm happy to say that I loved it just as much. "Talking animal" stories, stories about animals with cultures, social structures, all that, are my favorite kind of story, and this is one of the best examples of the genre.

This was also the book that made me worry that maybe I was actually a furry.

The plot centers around Ratha and her clan. Set in a prehistoric world, her feline clan (the Named) were different than other animals -- they had "light in their eyes" (self-awareness, thus the ability to have names and to speak). Most of their species, and all other animals on the planet, lacked self-awareness -- they were just plain dumb animals with empty eyes.

Because the "Un-Named" (their species without the self-awareness) outnumbered the Named so greatly, the Named were always under pressure of extinction. One day lightning strikes, starting a forest fire, and Ratha realizes how fire could change their lives. She's just a young female cub though, and the leader of the Named drives her out because of the challenge the power of the fire (called "Red Tongue") might be to his rule. (One of the many things I enjoyed about this book was that it wasn't simple -- the clan leader was correct, to hold his power he did have to drive her out... even if it would hurt the Named in the end.)

Driven away from the Named's lands, Ratha met an Un-Named male (who she named Bonechewer) and fell in love with him. Cats of the book's world experienced heat, and then-younger me found the sex between Ratha and Bonechewer to be oddly sexy and hot, thus my Furry worries. Even more oddly, I found the heat scenes to still be quite sexy. How I could find two cats having sex could be hot is beyond me, but I did.

I loved every part of the book. The Named clan structure and how they were herding other animals, the Un-Named "culture". The plot was great and exciting, and the characters were all wonderfully believable. (Ratha is so wonderfully flawed -- she tries hard, but she's young and very much not perfect.) While it is a YA book, it is fully and totally enjoyable to adult readers as well.

This book had one other big strong point: It did that very rare thing where I didn't feel at all like I was reading, instead I saw the entire thing play out in my head. Even when I get lost in a book, I'm almost always aware that I'm reading and imagining it, but in Ratha's Creature it's like I skipped the middle 'reading' step and was getting it sent straight into my head.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll admit I decided to read this book because the Warriors series is one of my favorites. I thought it would be just as good as those, maybe even better. But sadly I was disappointed.
This book was similar in a few ways but felt more realistic than the Warriors series. The cats in this book were more mean and harsh. Their mood swings sometimes annoyed me. They’d be so suddenly offended or violent. Which in reality is pretty realistic if you’ve ever hung out with any type of cat.
So I guess I’m saying I enjoy my cat books to have a little hint of humanity in them. Probably because the characters are a bit more relatable and easier to like that way.
The characters in this story sometimes gave me whiplash. I’d begin to like them then suddenly they’d do something that felt completely weird or out of character. The author did a great job at making these cats more realistic in that sense. Especially when Ratha became a mother. It showed how harsh mothers can be to their offspring in real life. For me that was a hard thing to accept from her character. But I also knew that was the author just showing us Mother Nature at work. Which was also really cool. Since I don’t think a lot of people know just how cruel animals can actually be. But it’s completely natural. I also liked that the author found creative ways to give the characters a reason to act how they’d probably act in real life. Even if sometimes the reason wasn’t always very realistic. The author stayed pretty true to cat characteristics.
I liked the plot but it did feel a little slow at times. The fact that it felt like Ratha only had her creature for maybe 10 minutes of reading was a bit disappointing though. I understand that what happened was needed for character development. But it just didn’t move along very smoothly for me. I’m not sure if I enjoyed this book enough to read the rest of the series. It was good to see Ratha triumph in the end. And if the book had been more exciting I’d be picking up the second right now.

[Ha'Ani Whitlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because the whole situation of prehistoric big cats, some of which talk and keep livestock like humans, fighting against each other until one of them tames “the Red Tongue” kept me interested throughout, I consider this a good book. I liked Ratha, and I appreciate the author’s efforts to keep her realistic and flawed. The book’s world and story was strong enough to keep me reading.

However, I think the way the plot ‘flows’ is the book’s weakness. The whole story was predictable, and each time I reached a major plot point, I knew whatever happened happened because, well, because plot. I don’t know about y’all, but when I read a book, I don’t want to feel the plot like that. Things should just happen naturally. For example, Ratha realizes that her cubs are ‘witless’ and becomes so angry that she attempts to murder one cub, then purposefully injures her mate. In that moment, I knew the author placed that moment there for no reason other than to drive Ratha back to the Named. It was too obvious. She was also daydreaming way too much about raising her cubs to be like the Named—more daydreaming than is usually allowed for a book character—earlier in that chapter. So, I knew her cubs would turn out to be ‘witless’ already. Much of the book was like this: extremely predictable. Many moments in the book made me think, oh, this is happening so that this can happen later on, rather than, oh, this is happening because this happened earlier.

But other than that, I still think that this was a good book, and I admire the author’s creativity with this one. I think it deserves 3.8 stars.

[Pat MacEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I missed this series when it first came out, but the author was kind enough to give me a copy of the first book when we met at a convention in San Jose, where we'd been discussing alien-building. Ratha is based on large terrestrial felines, being largely leopard-like, and the author has done a good job of portraying feline societies of two types. In this case, the divide is one intelligence, language capability, and social behavior among felines whose troops resemble the pack structures of wolves and related canine species. The main character is a cub at the story's start and I found her fascinating, not least because I am the creature of several cats (and usually at least one dog). The description of herding behavior, and the legal system wrapped around it were convincing to me, though anthropomorphized to some degree. The central event, however, is the discovery of fire as a phenomenon that can be controlled by Ratha and those of her people who are willing to face their fear of the Red Tongue. There are a series of conflict involved in all this, including romantic liaisons, clashes between the two societies, and the establishment of heirarchy in each. It was a fast, easy read for all of this, and now I will go looking for the rest of the series.

[Valerio Pastore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quasi perfetto! Quasi, perché questo è un romanzo di crescita, un percorso alla scoperta del mondo e di sé, dove la protagonista, in un mondo dove alcuni felini sono dotati di intelletto e parola e fanno i mandriani, Ratha fà una scoperta esaltante e terribile -e ne pagherà lo scotto con l'esilio, durante il quale crescerà fino a realizzare il proprio destino, che lo voglia o no!
Quasi perfetto, perché è molto difficile seguire la sua crescita fisica. Il libro inizia con lei che è poco più che cucciola e poi tutto procede ad una tale velocità che quando arriva la maturazione si rimane spiazzati! Manca, a livello psicologico, quello sviluppo del personaggio che ne farebbe meglio apprezzare l'evoluzione. Ma per il resto, un ritratto come un film di Don Bluth bello maturo dovrebbe essere!

[Red · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's an art in the Ratha's series that is hard for me to find in other books. What they don't know we(the reader) might know, but what they do know we(the reader) might not know. It becomes immersing to have to figure out what some words mean, how they came to call something a "creature" even if it's not living, and how they function as a 'family'. Each character has a personality that isn't shoved into your face, they aren't cardboard either, you learn as you go instead of being given everything in the first meeting with the characters.


All of my Ratha's books were lost in moving, I will be buying them each one by one again. When I have this review will be updated/retouched upon.