Tailchaser's Song (Daw Book Collectors) by Tad Williams (2000-12-01)

I read Tad Williams' Memory Sorrow and Thorn trilogy years before reading Tailchaser's Song, and was continually struck at how much of what he did in Tailchaser was reused in Memory Sorrow and Thorn. They are different stories, yet it is neat to see how the author has continued to develop some of his earlier ideas and worked them into a greater piece as his skills improve.
More specific to this novel, Tailchaser's Song is a wonderful tale of adventure and coming into one's own. The personal ethics expressed in this story are rather unique in the fantasy world. The values are real and are not based on some extrodinary gift of the character (which typically separates the reader from the character), but on a choice and dedication to what is right.
Williams does a wonderful job of spinning this tale and keeping interest. Parts of it are predictable, but there are few (if any) let downs. The most impressive feature of the book, and what really makes it stand out, is the perspective. The main character is a cat, and the whole world is cleverly shown through a cat's eyes. It is very believable, and makes you look at your own pet differently -- with more respect, even.
This is a great book for anyone who likes adventure or fantasy stories. Tad Williams fans will feel at home, and cat lovers will delight in the telling of the tale.

I picked up Tailchasre's Song not expecting it to capture my interest, although I am a cat-lover. I was between Warriors Books. When I started reading it, it was amazing to me how much it was like the Warriors, which I LOVE. I'm not finished with it yet but I will be soon. It's so hard to put it down.

Tailchaser and young Pouncequick set off on a journey to find Tailchaser's fela(girl cat)friend, Hushpad. Along the way they meet Roofshadow who is also missing some friends. They suspect strange "cats" with red claws (as Pouncequick put it).

Roofshadfow's family and friends were attacked by them yet there were also some cats missing.

Roofshadow, Tailchaser and Pouncequick set off into the unknown to try to find their missing friends.

Much different from the average Fantasy Tale. It has all
the main components, but all characters are animals. At
first this twist was enough to keep it fresh enough to
read on, but by 2/3rd through the book this premise wore
a bit thin and the faults of the storyline began to show
through. Underneath the feline facade, the story is an
average one, not really all that exciting or suprising,
and definitely not one of the more interesting in the
fantasy genre.

I love this realistic fantasy about a ginger tom named Fritti Tailchaser (the cats in this book have first names and last, just as we do)who goes of on an adventure in search of his kitty friend, Hushpad.He encounters many strange things, but suddenly is caught by a strange gang of terrible underground cats who are plotting to kill the sun, all above-ground dwelling animals and their hope.Chances of escape for Tailchaser is one-in-a-million, but Fritti Tailchaser himself is a one-in-million cat.

Tad Williams confounds me completely. I'm either gushing over one of his works or shaking my head in disappointment. I'm beginning to wonder if he has a split personality. Memory, Sorrow, Thorn is one of my all-time favorite trilogies, and I'm enamored of the Shadowmarch trilogy. On the other hand, I simply couldn't get through the Otherland series. I finally gave up halfway through the second book. Tailchaser's Song, while better than Otherland, falls into that category. Slow and semi-interesting. It isn't bad exactly, but not good either. I wouldn't call it unoriginal but definitely uninspiring. The characters are nice, nothing spectacular but likable and realistic (for cats anyway.) The feline angle was amusing and is probably what kept me going. It was, though, very easy to put down. Honestly, if it hadn't been so short, I really think it would have suffered the same fate as Otherland; abandonment at the used book store only half finished.

As I was browsing the book store one day, searching for something to read over vacation, I came upon this book. Surely, the cat on the cover intrigued me and so did the wording on the back. Flipping through the pages, the detailed explanation of different words in the cat 'language' as well as a list of some of the more creative names for cats, dogs, and squirrels finally made me buy the book. And after reading it I was very much hooked upon furry fantasy and have since read most anything I could get my hands on.
The storyline keeps you hooked as you see through the eyes of Fritti Tailchaser, a tom cat living at the outskirts of the city that embarks on an adventure filled quest to find his beloved Hushpad. The cat personalities are totally believable and you'll find yourself wondering if this sort of world actually does exist somewhere out there with all the stray cats of the world. Ever wonder why your cat circles three times before laying down? What do they think about us humans? How do they percieve the world around them and how it came about? Tad Williams enchanting tale answers all of these in a wonderful fantasy story that I recommend to most anyone.

I usually tend to avoid the fantasy category unless something good pops up. Don't get me wrong, but I usually prefer Sci-Fi as they have more complex plots and I'm about 5% more likely to see less cliches, unlike Fantasies which tend to be rehashes of Lord of the Rings (which I really did not like). I really wanted to like Tad, I really did, but after This one and a failed attempt to read Dragonbone Chair, I figured it IS possible to compare him to Tolkien... they're both masters of cliches, except Tolkien invented most of them. The reason I review Tailchaser is because its the only Tad book I read all the way through. I grabbed Tailchaser because I was both a Cat lover and a fan of Watership Down. As it turns out, I made a mistake. This novel happens to be the very essence of what I'm trying to avoid! Wall to Wall cliches and predictable plot elements. These things made me stop reading Dragonbone after about five chapters. Of course Simon is the kitchen boy who is destined to save the world... but we're speaking Tailchaser. The mysterious things that keep chasing Tailchaser and crew are obviously rip-offs of the ringwraiths, Eatbugs is the gandalf wannabe... except Gandalf was sane and intelligent. Puncequick is the annoying child who's there just to screw things up. Of course, an evil god wants to take over the world. Need I name any more common cliches? How about the predictable plot elements, like that he Cat Queen obviously won't help so Tail has to continue on with just a few companions? How about the deus ex Machina devices, such as how Eatbugs just HAPPENS to be some God who opposed Hearteater? IF you didn't see most or all this book coming half a mile away, this is probably the first book you read or you didn't try. Anyway, I'm done being negative, and therefore have no more to say on this book. Try reading Feist.

Tailchaser's song is a wonderfull book about a young tom cat named Fritti Tailchaser. When Fritti's feline friend Hushpad goes missing, Fritti along with a young kitten named Puncequick, and a old crazy tom named Eatbugs, will journey far into the cat world of legend and lore,of kings and queens,princesess and princes, and even travel where all cats fear, cat hell itself

By:Hannah (AKA) Graciecat

I've read "Tailchaser's Song" several times, and I still enjoy it. I won't try and compare it to "Watership Down" really, because there's not much point. "Song" is fantasy--completely. "Down" really isn't. "Song" is a shallower book--it does not have the depth or the language. I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't place too many expectations on it. Enjoy it for what it is: an adventure.

Tailchaser's Song is a philosophic quest that is told in an enchanting way. The requisite battle between light and darkness is there, but there are no straight paths, just a lot of wisdom to gather if you keep your ears perked. I still greet cats with the musical language Tad Williams transcribes for those of us who are a bit too slow to understand cat speech just yet. This is one of my sacred trio of favorite books. As an added bonus, the quotes that introduce each chapter are wonderful as well.

Tailchaser's Song is a philosophic quest that is told in an enchanting way. The requisite battle between light and darkness is there, but there are no straight paths, just a lot of wisdom to gather if you keep your ears perked. I still greet cats with the musical language Tad Williams transcribes for those of us who are a bit too slow to understand cat speech just yet. This is one of my sacred trio of favorite books. As an added bonus, the quotes that introduce each chapter are wonderful as well.

This book was very good. It gave a different view of the world through another spieces eyes. The Cats had their own religion, language and names for themselves. I was so caught up in the book that I finished it in 4 days. I wish there was a sequal(or if there is can someone tell me what its called?), I didn't want it to end. By the way, the guy from Oregon is a moron, and if he doesn't like these kinds of books then why is he buying them?

This was one of the most interesting and cool books i have ever read. Many stories have the hero as supersmart, superstrong characters. This book not only has an undersized, but easily distracted failure of a cat. In the end, the hero Tailchaser comes out on top. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes cats or likes a story where the hero isn't immortal. This book is also good for small children to read, so read on and have fun!

I simply adore how this is written, with very little linking to humans or their words. One can almost feel the atmosphere as you this, especially the darker pieces towards the end.
Was almost sad to reach the ending as I really felt for Tailchaser.

This started and moved along very comfortably - in a Hobbit sort of a way. Our likeable but not especially strong or gifted hero sets off on an adventure - to find his lost fiancé. On his way he meets the tough and noble Thanes (rangers), encounters a royal court where he befriends a bluff and hearty prince and is discomforted by the dissolute Queen mother and her Consort, forms a strange alliance with a traditionally opposed race, and becomes a vital part in the defeat of an ancient evil foe. OK, standard fantasy fare here, but generally a well enough executed enjoyable derivative (and what more should you reasonably expect from a first novel?).

There is some originality in making all the characters cats in a contemporary rural setting, with "M'an" as their incidental servants. Fortunately Williams keeps this in the background and doesn't milk it too much to be clever or confuse a (adolescent) fantasy with a social satire.

There's a nice epilogue too, with (spoiler warning) Tailchaser finding that his `heart's desire' is not what he thought it to be. Williams does a decent job showing how his protagonist has grown through his experiences and is now a far wiser and self-assured animal.

So, I was happy to go along for the ride and thinking Williams (who I haven't read before) was a pleasant enough discovery for me. However he lost me with his magic and mysticism. Not because I don't like magic and mysticism, don't get me wrong (`some of my best friends..'etc.), but because I don't like the resolution to a whole novel (and, in this case, of millennia) to be based on an, until now, minor character, suddenly realising, "Hey, strewth, that's right - I'm a god! I can fix everything! Lucky you were humming that old tune, Tailchaser'. Really. And we're supposed to buy that somehow Tailchaser's done something wise and noble and insightful and deserves praise for something outside of anyone's control. Eatbugs' transfiguration could just as accidentally have happened a hundred years before, a week later, last summer - whenever. Just too dodgy for me for an author to place an essentially random event right at the climax of the novel and expect us to feel satisfied with the conclusion. The book heads right down this irrational hill after that, with Yoda/Guru frog just appearing from nowhere - who are these characters? Why is it that Lord Firefoot can only float in for a vision and then lose transmission? There's no attempt at explanation, and while you don't have to have a Silmarillion for every fantasy creation, you really should do better than this with your pivotal myth. I mean, the idea of the three deity brothers was fine, my basic beef is with the unsatisfying (deus ex Machina) way Firefox metamorphosises, particularly given how vital this is.

So, without the lazily plotted climax, this is a good book. With it, an average one.

If you like cats. I you simply like good stories. If you like a book you cannot put down after reading the first page...this one is for you. I first read this book in 1987 and have to admit to rereading it several times. It has a haunting quality about it. The authors insight in to cat behavior is wonderful. The author is also a top story teller. You will not be sorry that you read this book. My highest recommendations!

Well this book follows the great journey of a cat named fritti tailchaser. the writer takes us to the adventures of this cat along with his side kicks he picks up along the way. The story line does not differ from from "Watership Downs" by Richard Adams. Mr williams use great stories that the cats tell one another about past heroes and great cats. It is a simple book to read quite a catchy book. The book deals alot with the world issues, opressed people strugging to be free. A harse life for the cats and what they have to endure to be free.

It is very similar to Watership Down, only with cats. At times this does seem a bit like he "copied" from Richard Adams, but I still love the story anyway. I've re-read it many times over the years, and my 12 year old daughter just finished reading it for the first time.

What Adams did for rabbits in "Watership Down", Tad Williams accomplishes for cats in "Tailchaser's Song." But this is no mere rehash of Adams's work: Williams creates his own mythic world; and his characters, while certainly "human" enough to pull our heartstrings, retain their feline natures.

The story of Fritti Tailchaser is a beautiful adventure, and reaches epic and mythical proportions. Fritti's initial quest to find his missing female friend takes him beyond the daily "average" life of a cat: his eventual journey through a cat "hell" skillfully mirrors the epics and myths of the ancient world. This is an amazing novel, often overlooked, and I would highly recommend it to any lover of myth, folklore or adventure!

Tailchaser's Song was my introduction to Tad Williams and I was immediately hooked by this mesmerizing anthromorphic fantasy. Delightful prose, names that roll off your tongue and invite reading aloud, a well developed fantasy world from the point of view of cats (as opposed to a human viewpoint merely imposed upon animal characters)all help to make this a classic - one of the three or four best fantasies of its kind, it compares favorably with Watership Down and the Plague Dogs. Be careful, though, the longer you read it the more you begin to believe that you are a cat yourself!
If you love fantasy in general you've probably already know that Williams is an extraordinary writer, if not check out Mr. William's other fantasy books like his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series or his new Shadowland books. You won't be sorry.

This charactors in this book could easily be subsituted for human charactors. If have read Tad Williams Memory Sorrow & Thorn series you will see a lot of similarities. Don't let the cats on the cover scare you away this is just a straight up fantasy story using cats instead of people.

Tailchaser's Song has been one of my favorite books, and I have read it four times, since I first bought it two years ago. While it is often compared to Watership Down, the two are really nothing alike aside from the obvious animal-themed similarities. The characters are endearing and their troubles frightening enough to cause the reader to worry, but there is enough humor to keep it from becoming grim. The ending comes as a surprise, also, which is becoming more and more rare these days. All in all, a truly worthwhile read and enough to make even an ardent cat-hater think twice.

A most wonderful and charming "tail," this book will completely absorb you in the view of the world through a cat's eyes. Fritti Tailchaser, a young tomcat coming of age is absorbed into the supernatural dealings of the cat gods themselves when he embarks on a quest to locate his missing friend, Hushpad. Tad Williams conveys the politics and mythology of cats through this great odyssey. Also helpful is the included glossary of cat-language pronunciation and definations as well as the included list of characters. A wonderful story, if you aren't a cat lover, you may change your mind by the end of this book!

This book took an incredible amount of imagination to write. I was very impressed with it. I generally pick it up at least once a year for some light reading. I really recommend that everyone who likes fantasy get this book!

this is a great book! i found it, casually browsing around one of my local bookstores, and decided to buy it on a whim. the cover beleyes the true worth of this novel, for it is not your every day, run of the mill cat story! i own many cats, and it is only natural for me to have an unflagging affinity for these creatures, but after i read it, i was left with a new respect for my furry friends. i strongly recommend tibook to anyone who feels like theres more than meets the eye to your pampered felines' lives!

this is tolkein for cat lovers. this book is exciting, touching, fun. words can't begin to describe the pleasure this book gave me, i read it as a child and continue to love it as an adult.run out and get this for yourself but buy extra copies because you'll want everyone you know to step into this world.

I read this book first in the third grade. Every time I have sat down and re-read it since then, I always discover something new. This is my favorite story, simply because it is not your typical fantasy novels. There are no elves or shape-shifting people, but in the world of Tailchaser, the cats themselves have the empire. Well written and crafted, I would recommend this for fantasy and adventure readers everywhere.

My copy is tattered and torn - a favorite re-read. The author KNOWS cats, their behaviour and body language, and very possibly how they think! This adventurous "TAIL" is full of suspense. The characters are extremely well developed and you will love each and every one. You will learn squirrel language and more! A marvelous source of unusual cat names - I have a "Pouncequick" too!!

Tad Williams has managed to give the Watership Down tradition a whole new energy. This book is about cats... cats and their hopes, cats and their religions, cats and their ledgends. It holds everything necessary to great literature, incorporating a complex but linear quest with an underlying spirituality(and even a buried message about animal captivity that fails wonderfully to detract from the story.) A very good book

Tailchaser's Song was an okay book. Nothing exceptional, or poor, just okay. The characters were good, and the plot wasn't bad, but a few plot threads were loose and the ending didn't resolve everything that it was supposed to. Also, the cat culture is not so realistic as it might have been. Tad Williams is good, though. The Otherland series is REALLY well done. For a good fantasy about cats, try The Book of Night with Moon by Diane Duane.

Fritti Tailchaser is a young ginger tomcat in a world where cats have their own language, culture, and mythology. When his friend and prospective mate Hushpad goes missing, Tailchaser sets out on a quest to discover what distant evil threatens the lives of the Folk. Tailchaser's Song is a generic fantasy questing novel with larger-than-life gods and a feline wrapping--but, unfortunately, Williams knows nothing about cats. Gross inaccuracies and general misconceptions strip away the feline aspect and so destroy this book's only unique aspect. I do not recommend it.

In plot, pacing, and writing style, Tailchaser's Song is unexceptional but not that bad. Williams knows how to write a novel, if not a very good one, and the book follows many common fantasy tropes. Tailchaser is an unassuming small "town" youth who leaves on an ill-advised quest which leads him to a big city, to an enemy city, and up against a scheming powerful antagonist so that good may triumph against evil. Bits of interspersed mythology create a powerful setting, yet this mythology still seem out of place when it enters the plot. Williams paces his book well, and Tailchaser's journey feels realistically long while maintaining interesting variety. Best of all, the book doesn't end as soon as evil is vanquished, identifying Tailchaser is a character in his own right and not just a tool of the story. All in all, the book is aptly- but not well-written: readable, passably skillful, but not memorable.

However, what sets this book apart is also what condemns it. Tailchaser is a cat, and his journey leads him through cat cities and against cat gods. But for all this focus on cats, Williams knows little about them. They speak a "high" language which is almost entirely spoken--but domestic cats don't vocalize among each other. Williams believes that kittens are born without fur, that cats prefer forests, that they live in teeming cities, that they can overdose on catnip. Cats also hunt mice and clean themselves and heckle dogs, but on the whole what Williams gets right are generalities and nothing more. Worse, he sets feral cats as the ideal--a dangerous and false lesson to the reader. Real cats are not the indigenous master species presented in Tailchaser's Song, nor do they hate humans for neutering, nor are housecats somehow inferior. Whatever personal secret it is that cats keep in their own silent, heavy-eyed company, despising M'an, building huge cat cities in forests, and originating from powerful old cat-gods is not it.

The premise of this book probably appeals most to cat fans--but the book itself will be most disappointing to cat fans. On the whole, the book is neither very good nor very bad. Capably written but not particularly skillful, it's a fairly average fantasy novel. The cat characters, on the other hand, could be quite exceptional--but this is not a book in the lines of Watership Down or even the Redwall series. In fact, there are barely any cats here--merely predictable human characters wrapped in cursory fur. With nothing else to endorse the book, I don't recommend Tailchaser's Song. While it is not outright bad, it is disappointing.