Fifteen years ago, a young author surprised and enchanted readers with his first novel -- the story of Fritti Tailchaser, a courageous tom cat in a...
read full description
reviews
Jan 25, 2012
karen
rated it: 
i am a book thief.
this is not to say that i steal books from bookstores or libraries (although i considered performing a superheist at the morgan to get all their byron books with his notes in the margins)
but when i was twelve, i borrowed this book from someone. and i never gave it back. shocking, right?? even more shocking is that i do not regret it. "my" copy is fat, with sprouted, swollen pages soft to the touch, and has been read at least twenty times. the c More...
this is not to say that i steal books from bookstores or libraries (although i considered performing a superheist at the morgan to get all their byron books with his notes in the margins)
but when i was twelve, i borrowed this book from someone. and i never gave it back. shocking, right?? even more shocking is that i do not regret it. "my" copy is fat, with sprouted, swollen pages soft to the touch, and has been read at least twenty times. the c More...
29 comments
like
(50 people liked it)
Dec 03, 2008
Alfonso
rated it:
I’m trying to find a way to say how much I loved this book and look manly at the same thing… but fuck it! there is no way in hell I can pull that one off! Well maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger can… so with that in mind do me a favor and while you read this review imagine Schwarzenegger is the one reading it… please? Remember my manly reputation is in stake here!!!!
Omg is so cute!!! It got it all:
Cute cats [X]
More cute cats [X]
Cat fights [X]
Evil cats [X]
More...
Omg is so cute!!! It got it all:
Cute cats [X]
More cute cats [X]
Cat fights [X]
Evil cats [X]
More...
20 comments
like
(17 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
amelia
rated it: 
I read this book years ago and loved it to bits, so when I saw it in a bookshop recently I just had to buy it. Now it is always very different reading a book years on, especially when you have such high expectations, but overall this didn't disappoint.
This book is essentially about cats, or the folk, as they like to call themselves and one kitten in particular, Fritti Tailchaser, who goes on a desperate quest to discover what has happened to his beloved Hushpad, who has disappeare More...
This book is essentially about cats, or the folk, as they like to call themselves and one kitten in particular, Fritti Tailchaser, who goes on a desperate quest to discover what has happened to his beloved Hushpad, who has disappeare More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Sep 11, 2008
Juushika
rated it: 
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
More...
5 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Mar 25, 2008
maricar
rated it: 
Growing up surrounded by cats of every size, color, and temperament, it was definitely interesting to read Williams' take on the ways these creatures live. Like any who'd care to notice, Williams was quite right in saying that while dogs are boundlessly eager to please, cats display a languorous disdain towards their keepers. I remember remarking once that they treat our home more like a motel--they stop by when it's time to be fed, putter around for a short nap, and then set out again without s
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jan 13, 2009
Firekeeper
rated it:
"Tailchaser's Song" has an interesting story, and the author did a good job of giving the animals different cultures. But I felt nothing for the characters. You meet Hushpad once, and she becomes Tailchaser's best friend somehow. Suddenly she's gone and you're obviously supposed to feel pathos for her, but I couldn't. Taiilchaser himself didn't have much of a personaliity either. The only characters with personality were the squirrels (who have a cool way of talking), Eatbugs (for whom
More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Apr 18, 2010
Eh?Eh!
rated it:
Another long ago read that I can't quite remember. I did own it but lent it out and never saw it again. I have mental images of a cat with red claws, evil cats with chilling graveyard breath, and a climactic showdown involved a Jabba-the-Hut-sized evil cat god. I think I cried, too, but I can't remember why or for what...need to read this again.
44 comments
like
(6 people liked it)
May 06, 2011
A lot of people -- several dozen of them, all excellent fine people -- are waiting for me to read their books. There's an unwieldily stack of these books, depressing in its height, even now crouching on a shelf behind me like some kind of mess-monster, mocking me and making me feel bad. I intend to read every one of these books. I promised I would. Slowly, I am reading them all.
How slowly? Well, in 1985 I received a hardback of Tailchaser's Song from Tad Williams himself. I f More...
How slowly? Well, in 1985 I received a hardback of Tailchaser's Song from Tad Williams himself. I f More...
6 comments
like
(6 people liked it)
Mar 13, 2011
Lani
rated it:
I was pretty sure I'd read this book before since I've read several Tad Williams books and I'm a sucker for YA fantasy. Apparently not!
I just wasn't impressed with this at all. It seemed like a cheap ripoff of Watership Down with even more stilted writing. The pacing was pretty awful, and the long journey sections were EXTREMELY slow.
I found the ending extremely rushed. I kept looking at the number of pages left and wondering how Williams was going to pull all of the for More...
I just wasn't impressed with this at all. It seemed like a cheap ripoff of Watership Down with even more stilted writing. The pacing was pretty awful, and the long journey sections were EXTREMELY slow.
I found the ending extremely rushed. I kept looking at the number of pages left and wondering how Williams was going to pull all of the for More...
Nov 12, 2011
Jeff
rated it:
A fantasy adventure with cats could easily go terribly wrong in so many ways This one went right in so many ways.
I was already a fan of Tad Williams from reading the Shadowmarch Quadrilogy an epic fantasy adventure I rate as one of the best. When I read that Tailchaser's Song was going to be made into a movie I looked up the book to find that it was Tad William's first novel. Besides I always need to read the book before seeing the movie so I can gripe about the resulting screenplay. More...
I was already a fan of Tad Williams from reading the Shadowmarch Quadrilogy an epic fantasy adventure I rate as one of the best. When I read that Tailchaser's Song was going to be made into a movie I looked up the book to find that it was Tad William's first novel. Besides I always need to read the book before seeing the movie so I can gripe about the resulting screenplay. More...
Jan 01, 2009
Jaymi
rated it:
While camping last month, a friend and I got into a conversation about books that we read over and over and over again. Mine was Watership Down, affectionately known as "the bunny book". It's one of those rare stories that never grow old for me. Last week, she loaned me Tailchaser's Song. This book, is the cat's version of Watership Down. It's the tale of Fritti Tailchaser, who's lost his friend from kittenhood; disturbed by this loss, he sets out to find her. The book describes his to
More...
Jul 27, 2011
I really liked reading this book and I liked Tailchaser and how he was on a quest to find his missing friend and her name was Hushpad. I really like her and she was my favorite cat in the bookThis book was very different for me to read but I really liked it because instead of the characters being people they were all cats. I liked Hushpad because she was a very friendly cat and she was also very loyal to her friends. She also had an excellent idea of what the future would hold for her. Huspad h
More...
Dec 22, 2010
Sirr
rated it:
One of my all-time favorites; I was so happy to find his other books are superb. All rate 4+ and come with my highest recommendations if you like fantasy.
Tailchaser's Song, however, is not fantasy per se. It is a wonderful story that all cat lovers must read. You will enjoy it tremendously and perhaps adventure into his other works. I always wished there was a follow up to Tailchaser's Song, so it was with great pleasure that I discovered his other works, and that they are often VOLUME More...
Tailchaser's Song, however, is not fantasy per se. It is a wonderful story that all cat lovers must read. You will enjoy it tremendously and perhaps adventure into his other works. I always wished there was a follow up to Tailchaser's Song, so it was with great pleasure that I discovered his other works, and that they are often VOLUME More...
Oct 29, 2009
Christina
rated it:
It has been a while since I have read this book. . .probably 7 or more years. . .yet I still find myself comparing other books to it.
I believe some people are being overcritical of certain aspects of the book and are actually overlooking the fact that its supposed to be from a cat's point of view, not a human's. Not one of us can say that we know what cats think or know, so there's no point in getting upset with a book because it is speculating on such things. You will lose sight of More...
I believe some people are being overcritical of certain aspects of the book and are actually overlooking the fact that its supposed to be from a cat's point of view, not a human's. Not one of us can say that we know what cats think or know, so there's no point in getting upset with a book because it is speculating on such things. You will lose sight of More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 16, 2011
Regina
rated it:
I had forgotten to add this one to my list of read books until I saw a review of it listed on the site. I LOVED this book! I also read it when I was in high school and it was one of my first adventures with a "real" fantasy novel (i.e. one that was not strictly young adult). Unfortunately when I was growing up my family hated cats so I was forbidden from ever owning one (which explains why my whole adult life I have had at least one) so this book appealed to me for that reason as well.
More...
Jan 28, 2011
Tania
rated it:
Okay, so I'm not sure why Juushika hated this book so much. Granted, I get it that the cats in the book might be somewhat fictionalized, but cats have basic traits shared with the cats in the book. Cats were once feral, and could always go back to being feral at any point. They certainly don't need humans to survive. I enjoyed the fictionalization of their society, and thought it brought a lot to the book. The plot is well-written, the book is interesting and absorbing, and the cats are fic
More...
Sep 29, 2009
Abigail
rated it:
This is a book I should have read years ago so that by now I would be re-reading it for the second or third time. I've run across recommendations for this book many times and it's kind of pathetic that it's taken me so long to acquire and read this book.
The only 'negative' comment on it was Lily's, who remarked that she liked it but that it was weird and probably not for everybody. ...I don't think she's aware that I grew up reading "Watership Down" and "Redwall." More...
The only 'negative' comment on it was Lily's, who remarked that she liked it but that it was weird and probably not for everybody. ...I don't think she's aware that I grew up reading "Watership Down" and "Redwall." More...
Sep 18, 2011
Audrey
rated it:
This novel is in the same arena as Watership Down and, even though I don't consider myself to be a cat person, I love reading (good) books from alternate perspectives (eg. Traveler - told from the perspective of Robert E. Lee's horse). This is a great book for young people (I think I read it during middle school) because it is fanciful but also quite serious. It maintains a level of intensity (sans gratuitous violence) so the pages fly by.
Hell, this could be written about and told by More...
Hell, this could be written about and told by More...
Jan 02, 2012
Monica!
rated it:
Friends, I am a fan of cats. Not necessarily a fan of their shedding, or of the terrible poufy eyes they give me, but I do love them like I love sunshine and Coke-flavored slushies. Hell, I used to have a friend who thought she was a cat! So you’ll have to trust me when I tell you this is the most phenomenal feline-related book ever written, topping even the oh-so-epic Algonquin Cat.
It’s very Watership Down, except cats are cooler than rabbits. (Sorry Fiver! You know you’re stil More...
It’s very Watership Down, except cats are cooler than rabbits. (Sorry Fiver! You know you’re stil More...
6 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Jul 05, 2009
Victoria
rated it:
Another spectacular animal fantasy, this book is probably the best stand-alone one I’ve ever read. The mythical cat-world Tad Williams creates is so vibrant and easy to lose yourself in.
This is a gripping, wild adventure tale about a young tomcat called Fritti Tailchaser, who one day sets off to find his good friend Hushpad, who vanished mysteriously. But little does he know, Tailchaser will not find this journey easy. His companions are wide and varied; a bouncy kitten, a half c More...
This is a gripping, wild adventure tale about a young tomcat called Fritti Tailchaser, who one day sets off to find his good friend Hushpad, who vanished mysteriously. But little does he know, Tailchaser will not find this journey easy. His companions are wide and varied; a bouncy kitten, a half c More...
Feb 20, 2008
Jyllian
rated it:
I have to say I don't like Tad Williams. This may be because an ex roommate's boyfriend could NOT shut up about him. It may also be the number of times I've picked up one of his books and put it down, just put off by how silly and meandering his writing seems.
I will also admit I haven't tried him in recent years.
And finally, I do like this book. I desire to read/own every 'talking cat" book out there, just as I must possess all cat shoes.
I've read this s More...
I will also admit I haven't tried him in recent years.
And finally, I do like this book. I desire to read/own every 'talking cat" book out there, just as I must possess all cat shoes.
I've read this s More...
Dec 02, 2011
Roxanne
rated it:
Tailchaser's Song is Williams' first book; I've loved others of his books but never got around to reading this one until now. It was a really fun read and a unique look into the minds of cats. Williams' cats are each unique characters without losing their catlike essence (by which I mean, they're totally cats, you can't imagine them as humans or hobbits or anything else). The plot's a little predictable, but it's still a fun and worthwhile read for fantasy fans and cat lovers.
Sep 26, 2011
Gena
rated it:
So, I read this as an eleven year-old, and it was my favorite book of all time. Of course, I read it before Watership Down. After Watership Down it paled a little, but I still loved it. I read and reread and reread it so many times, and it got me through some angst in my early teens. Or maybe it inspired said angst. Who can really tell? Anyhow, I just found my sad, yellowed, crumbling copy and am contemplating a reread. Wonder how it will hold up?
Jan 22, 2012
Travis
rated it:
I loved Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series (though I don't know that I would enjoy it now, as I've long since burned out on that sort of fantasy series), so even though I've not been reading much fantasy in recent years I gave this a try. I'm really glad I did, too. It did feel overly long; I think he really could have cut out quite a lot and it would have been a better read, but it was still an interesting story.
Nov 21, 2011
Kat
rated it:
Sometimes you reread one of your youthful favorites and find it wasn't as good as you recalled (sometimes not nearly as good), but for me that wasn't the case with Tailchaser's Song. Williams ably handles all the tropes of epic fantasy, keeping them fresh and interesting and even moving, mixing them with the myths and folktales of his wonderful cat-folk. A really delightful way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Sep 28, 2011
Kyleigh
rated it:
This book started off really good, but petered out towards the end. Williams does a wonderful job of creating the culture and society of the “Folk,” but that was the best thing going for this book. The love story that was so sweet and promising was forgotten soon after the action gets going. This book is good for getting into the mind of your cat, but not for much else.
Nov 20, 2010
Amber
rated it:
To be honest I thought it was really good. Now, it did have a few minor issues though. To me it seemed like there was a lot of nothing really going on...but that's just me. It seemed like in the end that's when all the AMAZING things happened, and it was all compacted...one thing right after the other!!!!!! To me the ending is what really made the book great. I would pick up a copy.
Dec 07, 2011
Sparrowkeeper
rated it:
Tailchaser's song is the thrilling, exciting novel by Tad Williams. From beginning to end I was captured in the world of young Fritti, and I enjoyed every last word of it. The ending left me satisfied but wondering, and I began to hope that maybe Tad would write a sequel. It might or might not happen, but still, Tailchaser's song is an awesome book I fully recommend.
Mar 30, 2011
Jericho "Jack" Aleksandr
rated it:
I might have liked it better if I were a cat person, but my complaint has more to do with the story itself than anything else... lots and lots anticipation, a false climax or two, and then the real climax resolved with a bit too much deus ex machina. The post-climax ending was very good, however - a fitting conclusion to the wanderer's coming-of-age.
Jan 04, 2011
Rusty
rated it:
Having read the Otherland series by Tad Williams, I was curious about his approach to literature for the younger set. Tailchaser's Song is well written, creative and imaginative. While it was a bit slow getting going it was quite a good little read. I think my 11-year-old grand daughter who would be a cat in another life will quite enjoy this one.
