The Golden Cat

King (actually two authors, both British) continues the adventures of the cats from The Wild Road in this story of ordeals, magic and redemption. Comparisons to Watership Down are inevitable, but these cats are both more and less human than Richard Adams's rabbits, though no less heroic. Through magic, felines ally themselves with foxes and fish; one cat even reads. They travel the wild roads, though something seems wrong with these occult pathways. This mystery drives the book, along with two quests for kittens--one by the golden offspring of the Mau, an archetypical mother, and one by Sealink, a sassy wanderer from New Orleans. The cats of New Orleans also suffer a strange decay. Is it the oppressive domination by the cat Kiki la Doucette? The aftermath of the cats' battle against the Alchemist in the previous volume? Or the stealing of cats for experimentation, la Adams's The Plague Dogs? Connections are made and interestingly explored, and the cats become truly human (and humane) characters. A must for cat lovers, this book offers rewards for any fantasy reader who can accept a primarily feline cast. (May)