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Ratha's Creature
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Read Ratha's Creature
The Named: Book 1

Ratha's Creature (1983) (edit title/settings)

by Clare Bell (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Ratha and her clan are the Named, a band of intelligent wild cats whose society is based on herding deer. The Named have laws, language, traditions, and leaders. They also have enemies. The predatory raiders of the unNamed are driving them close to the edge of survival. Then Ratha, a mere... read more

Summary edit see section history

Ratha and her people (the Named) are a clan of a strong self-aware leopards- and cougar-like prehistoric big cats. They have laws, languages, and traditions and live by herding the creatures, dapple backs (horses) and three horns (deer), they once hunted. Surrounding the Named are the more... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Ratha and her people (the Named) are a clan of a strong self-aware leopards- and cougar-like prehistoric big cats. They have laws, languages, and traditions and live by herding the creatures, dapple backs (horses) and three horns (deer), they once hunted. Surrounding the Named are the more numerous non-sentient UnNamed, who prey on the clan’s herds. Mating between Named and UnNamed is forbidden, since the clan believes that the resulting young will be UnNamed animals, which you find out happens in this amazing story.

Ratha, a young female, bucks the clan tradition of male dominance by training with the herding teacher, Thakur, to become a herder. All the herders are male except for Fessran, a strong-willed female who became a herder before Meoran took over leadership. Attacks by the UnNamed are driving Ratha's clan close to the edge of survival. Only her discovery and use of fire (“The Red Tongue” and the “Creature” of the title) offers the clan a chance to survive.

Meoran, the tyrannical male clan leader, opposes Ratha and drives her out of the clan. In exile among the UnNamed, Ratha meets the lone male Bone-chewer and discovers that the clan is wrong about some of the UnNamed - Bone-chewer speaks very well and is as bright as any clan member. He teaches her to hunt, the two mate and she has his young. When the cubs don’t develop according to her expectations, she realizes that they are probably non-sentient. She flies into a rage, attacking Bone-chewer, biting and crippling the female cub, Thistle-chaser and abandoning her mate and the litter.

Returning to the clan at Thakur‘s bidding, Ratha re-acquires “her creature”, the Red Tongue. With it, she overthrows and kills Meoran. When the UnNamed attack again, she, Thakur and Fessran lead the clan in striking back with a new weapon, fire. The enemy flees in terror. After the battle, Ratha emerges as clan leader. She makes Fessran chief of the Firekeepers, those who build and tend fire for the clan. The Firekeepers also wield torches in battle. Ratha gives The People of The Red Tongue eacha torch, and they fight the UnNamed.

Ratha’s victory is bittersweet, however. Her mate Bone-chewer was fatally injured in the fight and Ratha finds him dying. Despite everything, she still loves him and is wounded by his death. She is also troubled by the changes Red Tongue has made in her people. However, she knows that with the Red Tongue, the Named will survive.

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First Sentence edit see section history

Ratha leaped over a fern thicket and dug her paws into the spongy ground as she dodged sharp horns.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 5 in The Named. (standard series)

Followed by Clan Ground.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Clare Bell (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1983
ISBN: 0689502621
Page Count: 259

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Violence, mild sexuality.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Ratha's Courage
  • Ratha and Thistle-Chaser
  • Clan Ground
  • Ratha's Challenge
  • The Jaguar Princess
  • Tomorrow's Sphinx
  • People of the Sky

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