Book description
The stranger Orange-Eyes, recognizing that the one who controls fire
can become absolute ruler, challenges Ratha's authority over the Named,
a clan of intelligent wild cats living twenty-five million years ago.
Born in England in 1952, Clare Bell moved to the US in 1957. She worked
in oceanography, electrical engineering, test equipment design and
mechanical engineering before she wrote her first book, Rathas Creature
(Atheneum-Argo Margaret K .McElderry 1983), the story of a prehistoric
wildcat who learns to tame fire. Since then she has continued to write
fantasy and science fiction for children and adults. She says, 'I am
still fascinated by prehistoric animals and big cats, as showcased in
the five Ratha series novels. I consider my two little cats, Danny and
Athena, to be research assistants as well as companions and have learned
a lot from them.''My stories show sociological themes as well, exploring
the changes that are brought about in culture through technology, even
one as crude as fire. I also enjoy creating plausible and workable
prehistoric animal and alien characters. The central theme of my fiction
is evolution, a result of my being influenced early by the works of C.
S. Lewis, Olaf Stapledon , and Arthur C. Clarke. '
