The Blood Jaguar (Tor Fantasy) [Mass Market Paperback]

Michael H. Payne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999 | Series: Tor Fantasy

It is a different world. It's North America, but very little of what you know is the same. The sun still shines and the grass still grows, but there are no people. There are, or perhaps there aren't, twelve Curials -- kit fox, dolphin, raven, lioness, and the rest -- who intervene in the lives of the inhabitants. There are the inhabitants, a myriad of animals: mice, otters, meekrats, and buffalo, to name a few. They live in their towns and cities, pursuing various occupations, having occasional celebrations...and now and then they live in fear.

In fear of the Blood Jaguar, the thirteenth Curial, who returns from time to time and visits a horrible plague on the world, nearly killing it entirely. At such times, a fisher, a skink, and a bobcat are somehow impelled to go on a quest to stop her. They always fail. There is no reason to think that this time, of all times, Bobcat will somehow not fail.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bobcat just wants to hang out and have fun rolling in catnip, loving his rabbit girlfriend, playing pranks, and betting on otter polo matches. Then his friend Skink loses his luck, an omen of terrible destruction, and Bobcat himself is visited by a horrific vision of a burning jaguar that inflicts real wounds. They consult the shaman, Fisher, and the omens are confirmed. The Blood Jaguar, the thirteen Curial, or god, is returning to inflict a plague that will kill almost everyone in the world. And when the Blood Jaguar returns, a bobcat, a skink, and a fisher must go on a quest to stop her and prevent the plague. The quest has always failed. Why should this one succeed?

The Blood Jaguar will doubtless be likened to classic talking-animal novels like Watership Down and the Redwall series, but those are not entirely valid comparisons. The Blood Jaguar investigates the nature of magic, of reality, and of divinity, penetrating levels of meaning and truth. Appropriately, the nature of the novel changes until it can be read with equal validity as fantasy, alternate history, or science fiction. This is a fine book for both adults and youngsters, both animal fantasy fans and science fiction fans, both action/adventure readers and philosophical seekers. Michael H. Payne's first novel is multilayered and remarkable. --Cynthia Ward --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Somewhere near a blissful river in an alternative North America where wild animals run their own idyllic society, a tiny band of unlikely questors sets out to save their world from a deadly plague. Lizardly little Skink, head cook and tart-tongued shaman Fisher and brash young Bobcat all have heard ancestral stories about the deadly Blood Jaguar, a supernatural "Curial" who for endless cycles of beastly history has brought decimating disease upon the land. Each time the Jaguar returned, a skink, a fisher and a bobcat tried vainly to stop her, and now it's smart-mouthed Bobcat's coming-of-age turn, hung over though he is from wild catnip, to take her on. Payne's anthropomorphized animals, for all his creaky attempts to build quirky personalities and idiosyncratic dialects, are as limp as this tired old plot. Predictable obstacles, friendly but dissolving Curials and vapid villains clog Payne's muzzy message.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; Reprint edition (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812566750
• ISBN-13: 978-0812566758
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,500,190 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A new twist on an old plot, January 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Blood Jaguar (Hardcover)

We have all read the same story before (over and over again) -- small band of plucky heroes must travel long distances to overcome powerful bad guy. It's been done best in the "Lord of the Rings" series and countless times since. You can describe the plot in your sleep. I always enjoy books that take this approach and set it on it's ear (and I'm not talking about a "Bored of the Rings", I mean a real reworking of the plot). "Villains by Necessity" is a wonderful example of what I'm talking about, and so is "The Blood Jaguar". The principles of the story (Skink, Fisher and Bobcat) have only the vaguest clue what's going on, and Bobcat not even that. They aren't guided by any prophecy (at least overtly), they aren't "pure", they're just muddling along trying to save the world. Add to this a really nifty world set up (talking self-aware animals, reminds me of the "Spellsinger" series) and characters that you really care about (no large ensemble casts to confuse you) and you've got a funny, clever book that is very easy to read. I hope Mr. Payne will write more about this universe.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful first novel from a new fantasy author., January 15, 1999

By 

Steve Gattuso ([e-mail]) (Los Angeles, California.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blood Jaguar (Hardcover)

Every so often you find a rare surprise. That first novel that captures the imagination and holds it from cover to cover. Michael H. Payne's _The Blood Jaguar_ is just such a book. He's created a rich world of possibilities, a North America on an Earth where man never arose and the other animals did, with their lives guided by the twelve Curials. The trio of heroes, Bobcat, Skink and Fisher, are all fully realized characters whom you really feel for as they take a remarkable journey to stop the thirteeth Curial, the Blood Jaguar, from unleasing her Plague Year. Here's hoping Payne takes us back to their world for further stories.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, talking animals that seem real!, January 13, 2000

By 

Cara (Kootenays, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blood Jaguar (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

When I bought "The Blood Jaguar" I was not sure what to expect (paperback ed.) The cover was enough to hook my interest, and as soon as I opened the book I couldn't put it down. The moral, psychological, theological and fantastical situations that Bobcat, Skink, and Fisher find themselves in are thought-provoking. The 'gods' in the story have many burdens which have been layed out before them, especially the Blood Jaguar. Bobcat's confrontation with her is poignant and ironic. I hope that you'll find the ending satisfying, and I relate to another reviewer in saying that the book ended too quickly. I want more! Thanks, Michael H. Payne.