Ratha's Creatures - The Named clan cats

Readers ask if the various creatures in the Ratha series really existed. The answer is yes, they are based on real fossils, but a few have been slightly modified. Keep in mind that I began the series in 1983 and wrote it until the mid 1990's. Paleontology has made huge leaps since then, finding many new prehistoric species and making new discoveries about old ones.

A case in point is Ratha herself. I originally based her on the leopard-like Nimravus (shown in the Charles R. Knight painting of Nimravus (bottom) fighting Eusmilus (top)). At that time, researchers thought that nimravids were directly ancestral to modern cats. A recent re-examination of nimravid fossil skulls revealed that the bony structure (bulla) of the middle ear is slightly different than in true cats. On the basis of this anatomical difference, some researchers place nimravids in a separate family, although some still disagree.



Painting by Charles R. Knight, copyright by Rhoda Knight Kalt

Renewed study of another fossil, Dinaelurus crassus, (Eaton, 1926), has changed the view of this animal from that of a leopard-like ambush predator to a cheetah-like prey chaser. Although no bones from the body have yet been found, the skull, as compared to other nimravids, has very cheetah-like characteristics.

The Named behave in some ways very much like modern cheetahs. They sprint after herdbeasts and knock the animals down with a forepaw swipe. Thakur, the herding teacher, has a slim athletic physique and loves to run. They had also been portrayed as very cheetah-like on the original series book jackets (in part because the cover artist for my cheetah book, Tomorrow's Sphinx, did covers for the later Ratha books).

My love for cheetahs may have unconsciously expressed itself in my descriptions of the Named, so that many people who visualized them (such as fans and artists) used pictures of cheetahs.

Ratha and her kind aren't all cheetah. They share cub-nursing duties in a common area, as do mothers in a lion pride. As shown in the books, they have solid-colored coats like lions, although the young have spots that later fade. The large clan males, such as Cherfan attack their enemies like male lions, body-slamming them and striking out with heavy front paws. The Named also jump like pumas and climb trees like leopards.

When I read the recent arguments that Dinaelurus was a cheetah-like cursorial predator, I decided to switch Ratha's ancestry from Nimravus to Dinaelurus. The two are sister species and very similar. So I invented the fictional species Dinaelurus ("terrible cat") illumina ("enlightened") sapiens ("human-equivalent mentality").

Imaginator Press Paperback of Ratha's Courage

Imaginator Press has been moving very fast to get Ratha's Courage into paperback for the October release date (Yay, Sheila Ruth!). Ratha fans probably noticed that Courage is back up on Amazon for pre-order, which is great. In the process of taking down the old Viking-Penguin page and putting up the new Imaginator page, the two early five-star reviews got lost. Luckily I had saved them. Usually I don't reprint reviews, as the Amazon Connect feature is not intended for that. When I asked one of the original reviewers to re-post on the new page, it would not accept the post, probably because the book has not been released yet. To help the book along and because it has had a rough road (undeserved) to print publication, I have decided to reprint the two five-star Courage reviews here so that they appear on my Amazon Connect feature as well as other sites that feature this blog.

(The new cover art is not yet up on the Amazon page yet, but as soon as it appears, I will add it to this post.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Long Awaited and Well Worth the Wait, November 2, 2007

By	J. Feldes "CoyoteWoman" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of 'Ratha's Courage' and hope I can do it justice with my review! Clare Bell has been in hiding for many years now, but she has finally come back to her fans with "Ratha's Courage". It picks up where "Ratha and Tail-Chaser" left off, furthering the tenuous relationship between the Named and the communal followers of True-of-Voice. I was awed by the amazing twist the story took towards the end as the lines of friend and foe blurred into something altogether new and different. Ratha continues to mature as leader of her tribe of fire-wielding talking cats. Ms. Bell's time away from the unique feline world she gave us has not lessened her familiarity with the personalities of the individuals (most noteably Thakur, Fessran and especially Ratha herself) integral to the story line, and the continuity is fantastic - no plot holes here! The story line is somewhat more sophisticated than the original 'Ratha's Creature', and would probably be hard for young (under 8 or so) readers to follow, but any pre-teen or 'young adult' should be able to catch on with ease. As with all the books, there are some sexual overtones parents may want to watch for.
'Ratha's Courage' was definitely worth the wait, and hopefully there will be another adventure of the Named waiting in the wings.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Another Fantasy Masterpiece by Clare Bell, March 1, 2008

By	'The Virginiaprograsser' "Always Have a Song ... (Tidewater, Virginia) - See all my reviews

I was also fortunate enough to recieve an advance copy of Ratha's Courage. It is amazing how vibrant and alive Bell's characters continue to be after all this time has passed between her last wonderful Ratha novel (Ratha's Challenge) and this worthy successor. Time has in no way dimmed Bell's skill as a writer and Courage delivers in every way possible.

I may be getting ahead of myself here but I can't wait for the next installment of The Named series. Through the power of Clare Bell's writing you end up caring about Ratha and her clan that much...5 Stars.

:)Steve Sikes-Nova
Educator, Audio Journalist, Music PR
Tidewater, Virginia, USA

Thanks folks!

CB