GABRIEL KING Gabriel King is actually two authors Jane Johnson and M. John Harrison. About Jane Johnson... "I live in rural isolation in the beautiful English village of Coleshill, Buckinghamshire; opposite the village duckpond and next to the pub, in a tiny 19th century cottage (with roses round the door, oak beams, and a primitive, but efficient, drainage system!) with my partner, Jad, a forester, and my Norwegian Forest Cat, Thorfinna Dorcas Lizzara (Finn). She has many grand champions in her pedigree, but has no airs and graces, spending most of her time outdoors, hunting and climbing trees. Born in 1960 in Cornwall (the ancient country of The Wild Road), I moved to London in 1978 to attend university and took a First in English, then a Masters degree in Old Icelandic--inspired directly by my great love of Tolkien and his fascination with the old languages." M. John Harrison (Mike Harrison) was born in Warwickshire in 1945 under the sign of Leo. He moved to London during the 1960s, working on the controversial and groundbreaking sf magazine New Worlds with authors like Michael Moorcock, JG Ballard, and Brian Aldiss. He has been a full-time writer all his adult life. He has led a twenty-year love affair with cats, since rescuing a stray in 1970s Camden Town. He currently lives in North London with a gorgeous black-tipped Burmilla cat who has an embarrassing pedigree name: Wychwynd Kojak, but known by friends simply as Iggy (for Iggy Pop--he had so much energy as a kitten that he broke his foot, running full-tilt the length of a vast polished wooden floor the very first night we had him). We saw him in a pet shop in the East End after a regular trip to the Mile End Climbing Wall, and despite his price tag (high) we had to save him. He is, of course, Tag, the hero of The Wild Road. Knowing this has made him very vain. It is his photo you see on the front cover of the UK edition of the book. THE WILD ROAD In the style of WATERSHIP DOWN and TAILCHASER'S SONG comes the epic tale of adventure and danger, of heroism, of love and of comradeship among extraordinary animals who must brave THE WILD ROAD. The Wild Road has all the traditional elements of a great fantasy adventure ... a young hero coming of age all unaware of his talents, a wise magical mentor, royalty to be saved and an evil and powerful villain. It just so happens that our hero is the Burmilla kitten Tag, his mentor the one-eyed black cat Magicou and the villain is the long-lived human Alchemist. But Wild Road does not have the feel of an animal story. The reader identifies with the feline protagonists as people and feels, like them, that the humans in their world are Dulls. This is a marvelous tale, whether or not you like cats ... but if you do, that makes it even more delightful. It is a story that can by enjoyed by younger readers, though not too young as the plot is quite sophisticated. Gabriel King takes young and old down his Wild Road into a well realized, mythic and fascinating feline world, with engaging characters. GOLDEN CAT Continuation of the enchanting quest that has been called "mythical" and "absolutely magical." Webrings FANTASY HOME EMAIL