The Book of Night with Moon »

Rhiow seems a typical New York City cat: pampered by her Upper East Side owners, permitted in good weather to lounge on the apartment balcony, never allowed to run free. Or so the humans think. Rhiow is much more than she appears. With her teammates Saash and Urruah, she works with human wizards, protecting the world from dark forces and helping to maintain the network of magical transport gates that connect all parts of the world. The Book of Night with Moon is the gateway to an amazing, secret animal world. In it we learn much about cats: they have a complex language, society, and history; they can call on skills unknown to their owners; they live lives of challenge and danger that culminate, if they are lucky, in a "tenth life" that equates to the human heaven. That tenth life is the fate of one of Rhiow's team as they, plus the foundling Arhu, find themselves caught up in a danger that threatens not only the cats of the world, but humans as well.

VOYA

Have you ever wondered what is beneath Grand Central Station? There are mystic Gates, and the guardians are cats that live in the station, whose job is to keep the strands of all realities in place. However, an Evil manages to break through the gates and tries to flood New York with all means of black wizardry and horror. With fast-paced action, four cats try to send this Evil back to the Darkness from whence it came. The description of the world beneath the station is lyrical and evocative. The idea and portrayal of reality as a series of strands that must remain untangled is intriguing and thought provoking. The description and actions of the creatures of the Dark are true to their evil nature, but they lack the horrific details sought in true horror literature. While not the pace of an action movie, there are enough twists and turns and near misses here to keep a reader enthralled. Great care has been taken to discuss the language, Ailurin, used by the cats. There is an involved glossary in the back that contains a partial Ailurin vocabulary. Communications between cats is shown with italics. However, the italics and the need to look up numerous Ailurin vocabulary words can be distracting. The location and the use of cats as superior surreal beings are intriguing. The reader need only be a cat lover or fantasy reader to delve into the surreal worlds that are described. VOYA Codes: 4Q 3P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Will appeal with pushing, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).