The Wild Road

Zusatztext "Absolutely magical . . . Always intriguing." --Richard Adams      Author of Watership Down "A magical quest fantasy--a Watership Down for cat lovers." --The Daily Telegraph (London) "A diverting fantasy tale." --USA Today Informationen zum Autor A lifelong cat lover, Gabriel King has shared a home with every variety of feline, from stray to pedigree. He lives in London. Klappentext In the grand storytelling style of Watership Down and Tailchaser's Song comes an epic tale of adventure and danger! of heroism against insurmountable odds! and of love and comradeship among extraordinary animals who must brave The Wild Road . . . Secure in a world of privilege and comfort! the kitten Tag is happy as a pampered house pet-until the dreams come. Dreams that pour into his safe! snug world from the wise old cat Majicou: hazy images of travel along the magical highways of the animals! of a mission! and of a terrible responsibility that will fall on young Tag. Armed with the cryptic message that he must bring the King and Queen of cats to Tintagel before the spring equinox! Tag ventures outside. Meanwhile! an evil human known only as the Alchemist doggedly hunts the Queen for his own ghastly ends. And if the Alchemist captures her! the world will never be safe again . . . Leseprobe         Among human beings a cat is merely a cat; among cats a cat is a         prowling shadow in a jungle.         --Karel Capek They called the kitten Tag. They fed him, and he grew. They put a collar around his neck. They entertained him, and the world began to take on shape. It was his world, full of novelty yet always reliable, exciting yet secure. He was a small king; and by the time a week was out, he had explored every inch of his new kingdom. He liked the kitchen best. It was warm in there on a cold day, and from the windowsill he could see out into the garden. In the kitchen they made food, which was easy to get off them. He had bowls of his own to eat it from. He had a box of clean dirt to scrat in. The kitchen wasn't entirely comfortable--especially in the morning, when things went off or went around very loudly without warning--but elsewhere they had given him a large sofa, covered in dark red velvet, among the scattered cushions of which he scrabbled and burrowed and slept. He had brass tubs with plants and some very interesting fireplaces full of dried flowers, out of which flowed odors damp and sooty. Up a flight of stairs and into every room, every cupboard and corner! It was big up there, and full of unattended human things. At first he wouldn't go on his own but always made one of them accompany him while he inspected the shelves stuffed with clean linen and dusty books. "Come on, come on!" he urged them. "Here now! Look, here!" They never answered. They were too dull. A further flight up, and it was as if nobody had ever lived there--echoes on the uncarpeted stairs, gray floorboards and open doors, pale bright light pouring in through uncurtained windows. Up there, each bare floor had a smell of its own; each ball of fluff had a personality. If he listened, he could hear dead spiders contracting behind the woodwork. Left to himself up there he danced, for reasons he barely understood. It was a territorial dance, grave yet full of energy. Simply to occupy the space, perhaps, he leapt and pounced and hurled himself about, then slept in a pool of sunshine as if someone had switched him off. When he woke, the sun had moved away, and they were calling him to come and eat more new things. They called him Tag. He called them dull. "Come on, dulls!" he urged them. "Come on!" They had a room where they poured water on themselves. Every morning he hid outside it and jumped out on t...

Product details

• Authors: Gabriel King
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.03.1999
• EAN: 9780345423030
• ISBN: 978-0-345-42303-0
• No. of pages: 480
• Dimensions: 108 mm x 176 mm x 28 mm
• Series: Random House Worlds
• Subject: Fiction > Science fiction, fantasy