THE WILD ROAD

By Gabriel King

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I don't usually read books with cats as the main characters, but I was desperate; so I picked up this one--- Lucky Me.

The Wild Road will have you feeding stray cats after the first ten pages, and will have you staying up late to finish it.

Set in England, this is the epic adventure of a ragtag band of cats. Led by Tag, a young cat lured from his from his home to become the apprentice to the Majicou- A wise and powerful cat who has spanned centuries with his nine lives.

The bad guy in the story is The Alchemist- a human "wizard" that has been studying felines for centuries, discovering the secrets that only they know. He is just one step away from breeding the Golden Cat that will be the key to the greatest secret, The Wild Road, which will give him control of the world.

The cats go through many trials and tribulations along the way, (with the help of a few non-cat allies- A magpie and a fox), on the way to Tintagel where the struggle with the Alchemist reaches its climax.

Even though the characters are cats, you often forget they are not human heroes- they all have strong personalities, and you will grow to like and admire most of them in a very few pages.

I can recommend this book to anyone. There are a few scenes that may be a little too sad or too graphic for young children, but with a little editing, it is a story that you could read to your children for the enjoyment of the whole family.

THE SEQUEL IS OUT!   THE GOLDEN CAT I haven't read it yet, but I'm going to!

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July 5, 1999- Well, I just finished THE GOLDEN CAT and must admit I was somewhat disappointed- While the story is a continuation of THE WILD ROAD, with most of the same characters, it just was not as good. The story was OK if kind of disjointed and not as interesting and exciting as the first.

What really bothered me is that it lacked "heart"; None of the characters, (even though mostly they were the same), were as poignant as before- They were barely likable, much less lovable.

I'm very sorry to say that The GOLDEN CAT seemed to have been written just to fill a contract or something, not a labor of love that the WILD ROAD obviously was.