9th out of 92 books
—
196 voters
Tailchaser's Song
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 world of whiskery heroes and villains, of feline gods and strange, furless creatures called M'an. The book was Tailchaser's Song, the author was Tad Williams. The legend was born.
Mass Market Paperback, 378 pages
Published
December 2000
by DAW Books Inc.
(first published 1985)
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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 copies they sell nowadays have some...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 copies they sell nowadays have some...more
May 05, 2012
Mariel
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
pussies (no pun intended)
Recommended to Mariel by:
architects are better than engineers. Fact!
There is a scene in a (I could be wrong) little known film from the early '90s called Sweet Nothing. Michael Imperioli (you probably know him from The Sopranos) is addicted to the drugs he's peddling. You know, dealing drugs on the side of his little league Wall Street job wasn't as fun and easy as it first seemed. His not really his friend boss (played by Paul Calderon) looks at him with abject disgust and proclaims: "You crackhead motherfucker." It's not that good of a film but I always liked...more
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
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 still my favorite cra...more
It’s very Watership Down, except cats are cooler than rabbits. (Sorry Fiver! You know you’re still my favorite cra...more
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]
Crazy cats [X]
Some kick ass cat fight scenes [X]...more
Omg is so cute!!! It got it all:
Cute cats [X]
More cute cats [X]
Cat fights [X]
Evil cats [X]
Crazy cats [X]
Some kick ass cat fight scenes [X]...more
Aug 18, 2007
amelia cavendish
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
cat lovers
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 disappeared along with m...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 disappeared along with m...more
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
"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 I lost my...more
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.
Before I read this book, I didn't know who Tad Williams was, or what this book would be like. Because I'm pretty sure all of you know how it feels when you need something to read over the summer, and this was it. Would I recomend this novel? Yes, i would. Because, if you are any kind of reader -whether you're into adventure(which it has), a book that'll make you think(this book does that too, trust me), a sad book that'll make you tear up(this too), or just a plain o' book about kitties- you got...more
I am a crazy cat lady. It's true. So you know I'm going to love this book to itty bitty pieces. And I do. Mostly. I read it when it first came out and it was like my itty bitty feline loving heart was over the moon. Brave cats, smart cats, questing cats, mysterious cats, mythic cats! But even as a youngster I felt there were parts that were stilted, but for the most part getting to read about the secret lives of cats trumped that. I still feel that way. I'm sure nostalgia colors my view but I do...more
I hate it when this happens. I pick up a book and it takes me over a month to complete it. This was just so boring, dull, and needlessly complex, that I dreaded having to pick it up. I was scared maybe the problem was with me, but just hours after finishing it I was a quarter of the way through another book. Tailchaser's Song is a story of a wildcat that goes in search of his missing childhood friend, only to uncover a nasty secret. The first part of the book is just a blur to me. I just couldn'...more
I picked up "Tailchaser's Song" after reading Tad Williams "Otherland" series and being very impressed with the depth of writing, complexity, and imagination in those books. "Tailchaser's Song," while still being a great book, has a very different feel to it. Part of the difference is probably simply that this is the first book that he wrote, and every author evolves over time. Another huge difference is that, while his "Otherland" books are set in an extremely complex world, "Tailchaser's Song"...more
May 06, 2011
Mykle
added it
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 finally got around t...more
How slowly? Well, in 1985 I received a hardback of Tailchaser's Song from Tad Williams himself. I finally got around t...more
The last time I read this was about 30 years ago, I do remember at the time that I had absolutely loved this book but didn't remember anything about the book itself. So, out of a nostalgic feeling, I decided to re-purchase it, I'd lost my original somewhere along the line, probably lent it to someone and it never came back, stuff happens.
Have you ever gotten that impression where the memory of a thing is better than the thing itself? A kind of you can't go back home kinda feeling? Well, that's p...more
Have you ever gotten that impression where the memory of a thing is better than the thing itself? A kind of you can't go back home kinda feeling? Well, that's p...more
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.
The story it...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.
The story it...more
I remember getting my hands on Tailchaser's song right after finishing The Otherworld saga for the first time, like an addict desperate for another fix of Tad Williams, no matter how small or childish it may be.
After the verbosity-fueled, description-induced high that can only be achieved by reading a series with a combined thickness that'd make Tolkien blush, I knew I needed something. And I got something. Writhing, pulsing and taking hold in that little corner of your mind you don't have any...more
After the verbosity-fueled, description-induced high that can only be achieved by reading a series with a combined thickness that'd make Tolkien blush, I knew I needed something. And I got something. Writhing, pulsing and taking hold in that little corner of your mind you don't have any...more
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 tour of the...more
Jul 27, 2011
Libby
added it
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 he...more
I don't think that my general dislike of cats is what colored my overall non-appreciation of Tailchaser's Song. Sure, I was apprehensive at the start, but I had no trouble falling in with the universe created here. It is more likely the author's buildup to some "catastrophic" battle that eventually takes place largely off-screen that is my biggest problem. The animal-centric journey there wasn't all that awful - not great, mind you, - but pretty typical of the largely tired cliched fantasy/quest...more
Oh, I loved this. I've been wanting to read Tailchaser's Song for a long time, while not being quite sure whether I'd really like it. I tend to like Tad Williams' work, though if he layered on the worldbuilding and description any thicker in some of his work, you could eat it. Fortunately, he didn't do too much of that here: you're left to play catch-up a bit, at times, which I honestly prefer.
The cats are sweet, but they're also not just sweet. They felt like cats. They fight and they yowl and...more
The cats are sweet, but they're also not just sweet. They felt like cats. They fight and they yowl and...more
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 VOLUMES and THIC...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 VOLUMES and THIC...more
Tailchaser's Song caught my eye on a friends list - I have read Tad Williams and decided to see how he made his start.
I'm glad I did. The protagonist is a young tom called Fritti, he meets and forms alliances with various species while on a quest to unravel the mystery of the disappearance of his friend Hushpad. The story follows a well-trod fantasy framework beyond the ultimate good vs evil battle to a point where Fritti recognises his quests end and his hearts desire are not the same things -...more
I'm glad I did. The protagonist is a young tom called Fritti, he meets and forms alliances with various species while on a quest to unravel the mystery of the disappearance of his friend Hushpad. The story follows a well-trod fantasy framework beyond the ultimate good vs evil battle to a point where Fritti recognises his quests end and his hearts desire are not the same things -...more
The last time I read this was about 30 years ago, I do remember at the time that I had absolutely loved this book but didn't remember anything about the book itself. So, out of a nostalgic feeling, I decided to re-purchase it, I'd lost my original somewhere along the line, probably lent it to someone and it never came back, stuff happens.
Have you ever gotten that impression where the memory of a thing is better than the thing itself? A kind of you can't go back home kinda feeling? Well, that's p...more
Have you ever gotten that impression where the memory of a thing is better than the thing itself? A kind of you can't go back home kinda feeling? Well, that's p...more
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 the true me...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 the true me...more
So unusual!
Told in very similar vein to Richard Adams' "Watership Down", this book is about domesticated (and feral or partially feral) cats. There is some inventive cat-slang (and some squirrel-slang!), good character development, adventure, cat-mythology, and just a touch of that mythology coming to life. A very well created fantasy story, overall!
And not too long and drawn out, like Tad Williams' four book trilogy "The Dragonbone Chair".
One more point: Tad has a bit of a bad habit of naming...more
Told in very similar vein to Richard Adams' "Watership Down", this book is about domesticated (and feral or partially feral) cats. There is some inventive cat-slang (and some squirrel-slang!), good character development, adventure, cat-mythology, and just a touch of that mythology coming to life. A very well created fantasy story, overall!
And not too long and drawn out, like Tad Williams' four book trilogy "The Dragonbone Chair".
One more point: Tad has a bit of a bad habit of naming...more
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. The forbi...more
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 fictiona...more
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."
Aside from all the fun cat char...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."
Aside from all the fun cat char...more
In short: a great way to while away an afternoon.
The problem with this book is that it is simultaneously too much like Watership Down and not enough like Watership Down.
Cats are going missing from the neighborhood, amongst them Fritti Tailchaser's beloved Hushpad. Fritti goes on a quest to find her, with tagalong Pouncequick and a mad old cat called Eatbugs.
They go to the cat kingdom, where there is a cat Queen and her Consort, and lots of talking and resting (you could think of it as the Lot...more
The problem with this book is that it is simultaneously too much like Watership Down and not enough like Watership Down.
Cats are going missing from the neighborhood, amongst them Fritti Tailchaser's beloved Hushpad. Fritti goes on a quest to find her, with tagalong Pouncequick and a mad old cat called Eatbugs.
They go to the cat kingdom, where there is a cat Queen and her Consort, and lots of talking and resting (you could think of it as the Lot...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tail Chaser's Song to be turned into an animated film | 5 | 28 | Apr 12, 2013 11:41am |
Tad Williams has held more jobs than any sane person should admit to—singing in a band, selling shoes, managing a financial institution, throwing newspapers, and designing military manuals, to name just a few. He also hosted a syndicated radio show for ten years, worked in theater and television production, taught both grade-school and college classes, and worked in multimedia for a major computer...more
More about Tad Williams...
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“Tangaloor, fire-bright
Flame-foot, farthest walker
Your hunter speaks
In need he walks
In need, but never in fear.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
Flame-foot, farthest walker
Your hunter speaks
In need he walks
In need, but never in fear.”

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