I'm extremely picky about talking animal stories. I loved
Watership Down as a kid - and few match up.
Lupus Rex doesn't - quite - I prefer my talking animals to
less closely resemble oddly-shaped humans and more closely resemble animals who
happen to talk. That said, Cash produces a well written tale that is both
suitable for children and enjoyable by adults. The characters are fairly
lightly developed - it's a kids' book after all - but different from each other
and sympathetic. It also has the charm of being an underdog story. Out of all
the species he could have chosen, Cash makes quails the heroes.
It does fall into the "prey vs. predator" trope to
a point - and then mildly subverts it. A couple of things irritated me (king
snakes eat other snakes, so why are they allied with them?) but, for the most
part, this is a well written, if simple story about how might doesn't always
equal right. He does frustratingly malign wolves, but that's another matter.
Copy received at World Fantasy Con.
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