''Ratha's Creature'' is a novel 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 ...

.Reviews of ''Ratha's Creature'': * * * First published in 1983 by Atheneum-Argo, Margaret K. McElderry (hard-cover edition), the current edition was published in February 2011 by

Imaginator Press ''Imaginator'' is the third album from American rock group Nelson. It was released in Japan through Victor Entertainment in 1996, and later in the US through Fuel 2000 in 1998. The album is notable for being the second album recorded by the band ...

. This novel is the first in the ''

Ratha series ''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 ...

'', also re-titled as ''

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 ...

''.

Plot

Ratha and her people (the Named) are a clan of a strong, highly sapient, almost

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

-like species of ''

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 ...

nimravids Nimravidae is an extinct family of carnivorans, sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, whose fossils are found in North America and Eurasia. Not considered to belong to the true cats (family Felidae), the nimravids are generally considered ...

. They have laws, languages, and traditions and live by herding some of the local prey creatures, such as anchitheriine

equids Equidae (sometimes known as the horse family) is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, asses, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus '' Equus'', ...

called dapplebacks and

protoceratid Protoceratidae is an extinct family of herbivorous North American artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) that lived during the Eocene through Pliocene at around 46.2—4.9 Mya, existing for about 41 million years. Classification Protoceratidae was ...

s called three-horns (or tri-corns), they once hunted more ferally - though they still sometimes hunt prey they do not herd. Surrounding the Named are the more numerous not very sapient Un-Named, who occasionally prey on the Named clan’s herds. Mating between Named and Un-Named is forbidden, since the clan believes that the resulting young will always be born Un-Named. Ratha, a young female of the Named, 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 fully-grown female who became a herder before Meoran took over leadership. Attacks by the Un-Named are driving Ratha's clan close to the edge of survival. Only her discovery of how to tame

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

(The "Red Tongue”) offers the clan a chance to survive. Meoran, the tyrannical male clan leader, opposes Ratha because of her unusual partnership with fire and drives her out of the clan. In exile among the Un-Named, Ratha meets a lone male and truly discovers that the clan is wrong about some of the Un-Named - he speaks the language of the Named very well and is as bright as any Named clan member. She dubs him "Bonechewer". He teaches her new ways 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 not as sapient-minded as her. She flies into a rage, attacking Bonechewer, biting and crippling the female cub, Thistle-Chaser and abandoning her mate and the litter. Returning to the clan at Thakur‘s bidding, Ratha reacquires her "creature”, the Red Tongue. With it, she overthrows and kills Meoran. When the Un-Named attack again, she, Thakur and Fessran lead the Named 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 each a torch, and they fight the Un-Named. Ratha’s victory is bittersweet, however. Her mate, Bonechewer, 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.

Adaptations

An animated movie was made based on this book in the mid to late '80s for ''

CBS Storybreak ''CBS Storybreak'' is a Saturday morning anthology television series that originally aired on the CBS network from 1985 to 1989. Hosted by Bob Keeshan (and in its 1993 return by Malcolm-Jamal Warner), the episodes are half-hour animated adaptation ...

'', a show similar to the ''

ABC Weekend Special ''ABC Weekend Special'' is a weekly 30-minute American television anthology series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated. Similar to b ...

'' or ''

After School Special The American Broadcasting Company coined the term Afterschool Special in 1972 with a series of television films, usually dealing with controversial or socially relevant issues, that were generally broadcast in the late afternoon and meant to be ...

'', which created adaptations of modern and classic children's books. Clips are available on YouTube.

Sequels

*''

Clan Ground Clan Ground is the second book in ''The Books of the Named'' series of young adult prehistoric fiction novels by Clare Bell. The book was originally published in 1984 and was re-released in 2010 with a new cover illustration by Lew Lashmit. The ...

'' *''

Ratha and Thistle-chaser ''Ratha and Thistle-Chaser'' is a young adult novel, third in the series ''The Books of the Named'' by Clare Bell. The series follows a group of sentient, prehistoric large cats called the Named, led by the female cat, Ratha. It also deals with ...

'' *''

Ratha's Challenge ''Ratha's Challenge'' is the fourth book in ''The Books of the Named'' series of young adult 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, ...

'' *''

Ratha's Courage ''Ratha’s Courage'' is a novel by Clare Bell. It was published in 2008 by Imaginator Press. This novel is the final one in the '' Ratha series'', also re-titled as ''The Books of the Named ''The Books of the Named'' (also known as the ' ...

References

{{reflist

External links

* Author website: http://www.rathascourage.com 1983 American novels 1983 fantasy novels American fantasy novels Novels set in prehistory Children's novels about animals CBS Storybreak Debut fantasy novels 1983 debut novels