Catamount

by Michael Peak

SARENA

All of the creatures in the Canyon feared her, for none could stand against a determined puma on the hunt. All, that is, but Lanakila the eagle. Lanakila was master of the skies as Sarena was of the earth. They befriended one another, for each knew the pain of loneliness. Both had searched for their entire lives in hopes of finding another of their kind.

Yet even as Sarena found true friendship for the first time, both puma and eagle realized they might soon lose not only this new companionship but their lives. Each had received dream warnings from the animal gods, warnings of invaders in the Canyon -- and soon the hunting would begin. Even now the killers were scenting Sarena's trail. And if the four-legged murderers failed, puma and eagle would still face pursuit by the deadliest predators of all -- those who stalked on two legs and held the power of thunder in their hands.

Genres: Animals, Fantasy, Cats, Birds

282 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

Reviews

[Lone Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Catamount’ tells the tale of Sarena the puma, who appeared in the author’s previous book, ‘Cat House’. Whilst in search of other pumas, she befriends a bald eagle, and together the two must face the dangers posed by humans and a pack of stray dogs. Running parallel to this is the story of reporter Laura Kay, who also appeared in ‘Cat House’, and rock star Keith Gallatin, who are investigating a proposed puma hunt.

I disliked the human part of the story. I found it boring and somewhat ridiculous – Keith apparently has magical powers, and we’re never told how or why. The whole thing is just hand-waved with a cliched “anything is possible if you believe” line.

Sarena’s story is more engaging and enjoyable, but there were a few factual errors. Sarena is constantly lamenting how lonely she is, when pumas are solitary animals – it’s normal and natural for them to be alone. At one point she isn’t sure she can kill a deer buck – the species isn’t given, but any species in which the male is called a buck is no problem for a puma. The author also doesn’t seem to know that female eagles are larger than males.

Most animals in the book get their own species name in “the common speech” – dogs are kribas, deer are alleen, eagles are ahila, etc. – but pumas are just plain old pumas, which I found a little odd since one of these is the main character. There are a couple of spelling mistakes too, such as “bail” of hay being used instead of “bale”, and “haunches” being spelt “honches.”

[M— · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet book, but very, very fuffy. The environmental message was heavy-handed but did try its best to be entertaining. The wide cast of revolving-door narrators were perhaps the weakest part, particularly as the author did his damndest to humanize and develop positive motives for all of the villains as well. I think I would have rather preferred it to be written entirely from the animal perspective; the human element was vastly less interesting to me, although fairly important to the author's environmental message. Still, it's worth a casual read and perhaps is ideal for an early teen audience.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sort of follow up to Cat House, but it follows Sarina, the mountain lion on her journey to find more Pumas like her. A very nice and interesting read, although I didn't care for the telepathy or whatever it was part.

[P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cougar, an eagle, and an environmental message. What's not to like?

[Beth]

I enjoyed the book the Cathouse better. This one was ok, but didn't hold my attention as well.

[Elijah Itah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nostalgic joy from my youth, and worth expressing wistful fondness for.