''Ratha's Challenge'' is the fourth book in ''
The Books of the Named
''The Books of the Named'' (also known as the ''Ratha series'') is a series of young adult prehistoric fiction novels by Clare Bell
Clare Bell (born 1952) is a British author in the United States best known for her Ratha series of young adul ...
'' series of
young adult
A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
prehistoric fiction
Prehistoric fiction is a literary genre in which the story is set in the period of time prior to the existence of written record, known as prehistory. As a fictional genre, the realistic description of the subject varies, without necessarily a c ...
novels by
Clare Bell
Clare Bell (born 1952) is a British author in the United States best known for her Ratha series of young adult fantasy novels about prehistoric big cats. These books, also called the ''Named series'', are about intelligent self-aware large cats ...
.
As Ratha struggles to reconcile with Thistle-chaser, the daughter she once tried to kill, the Named are locked in another struggle when they confront a strange clan of highly sapient ''
Dinaelurus
''Dinaelurus'' is a genus of the Nimravidae, an extinct family of feliform mammalian carnivores, also known as "false saber-toothed cats". Assigned to subfamily Nimravinae, ''Dinaelurus'' was endemic to North America during the Eocene- Oligoc ...
'' called the Face-Tail Hunter Tribe (so named for their capability of bringing down
mammutids called Face-Tails) who are driven by and completely dependent on the telepathic song of their leader, True-of-voice. When an accident leaves True-of-voice on the brink of death, Ratha must choose whether to destroy or to save the hunters. It is her daughter who has the knowledge to show Ratha the way... if she can listen.
1994 American novels
American young adult novels
Young adult fantasy novels
American fantasy novels
Children's novels about animals
Novels set in prehistory
Margaret K. McElderry books
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