Catamount

by Michael Peak

Just when they have found each other, kindred spirits Sarena--a fearsome puma--and Lanakila--an eagle--dream of the coming of hunting invaders to the canyon. Original.

Genres: Animals, Fantasy, Cats, Birds

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

Reviews

[Lone Wolf]

‘Catamount’ tells the tale of Sarena the puma, who appeared in the author’s previous book, ‘Cat House’. Whilst in search of other pumas, she befriends a bald eagle, and together the two must face the dangers posed by humans and a pack of stray dogs. Running parallel to this is the story of reporter Laura Kay, who also appeared in ‘Cat House’, and rock star Keith Gallatin, who are investigating a proposed puma hunt.

I disliked the human part of the story. I found it boring and somewhat ridiculous – Keith apparently has magical powers, and we’re never told how or why. The whole thing is just hand-waved with a cliched “anything is possible if you believe” line.

Sarena’s story is more engaging and enjoyable, but there were a few factual errors. Sarena is constantly lamenting how lonely she is, when pumas are solitary animals – it’s normal and natural for them to be alone. At one point she isn’t sure she can kill a deer buck – the species isn’t given, but any species in which the male is called a buck is no problem for a puma. The author also doesn’t seem to know that female eagles are larger than males.

Most animals in the book get their own species name in “the common speech” – dogs are kribas, deer are alleen, eagles are ahila, etc. – but pumas are just plain old pumas, which I found a little odd since one of these is the main character. There are a couple of spelling mistakes too, such as “bail” of hay being used instead of “bale”, and “haunches” being spelt “honches.”

[M—]

A sweet book, but very, very fuffy. The environmental message was heavy-handed but did try its best to be entertaining. The wide cast of revolving-door narrators were perhaps the weakest part, particularly as the author did his damndest to humanize and develop positive motives for all of the villains as well. I think I would have rather preferred it to be written entirely from the animal perspective; the human element was vastly less interesting to me, although fairly important to the author's environmental message. Still, it's worth a casual read and perhaps is ideal for an early teen audience.

[Nicole]

A sort of follow up to Cat House, but it follows Sarina, the mountain lion on her journey to find more Pumas like her. A very nice and interesting read, although I didn't care for the telepathy or whatever it was part.

[P.M.]

A cougar, an eagle, and an environmental message. What's not to like?

[Beth]

I enjoyed the book the Cathouse better. This one was ok, but didn't hold my attention as well.

[Elijah Itah]

Nostalgic joy from my youth, and worth expressing wistful fondness for.