The Books of the Named

Synopsis

The Named are a clan of powerful, highly intelligent, almost cheetah-like creatures belonging to the Dinaelurus nimravid family. They follow a set of laws, speak their own language, and uphold traditions, surviving by herding local prey animals such as dapplebacks, which are anchitheriine equids, and three-horns, also called tri-corns, which are protoceratids. Around them live the more numerous Unnamed, who are far less intelligent and sometimes attack the Named’s herds. The Named forbid mating with the Unnamed, believing any offspring will always be born Unnamed. A young female named Ratha defies the clan’s male-dominated traditions by training with Thakur, the herding teacher, to become a herder herself. All herders are male except for Fessran, a strong-willed adult female who became a herder before Meoran, Ratha’s uncle, took over leadership and began ruling the clan harshly. Constant attacks from the Unnamed push the clan close to extinction. Ratha discovers how to tame fire, which she calls the Red Tongue, but Meoran opposes her unusual partnership with it and drives her out of the clan. While exiled among the Unnamed, Ratha meets a lone male who speaks the Named language fluently and is just as bright as any clan member. She names him Bonechewer. He teaches her new hunting methods, they mate, and she gives birth to his cubs. When the cubs do not develop as she expects, she realizes they lack her intelligence. Enraged, she attacks Bonechewer, bites and cripples the female cub, Thistle-Chaser, and abandons both her mate and the litter. Thakur calls her back to the clan, where she reclaims her creature, the Red Tongue. Using it, she overthrows and kills Meoran. When the Unnamed attack again, Ratha, Thakur, and Fessran lead the Named to fight back with fire, causing the enemy to flee in terror. After the battle, Ratha becomes clan leader. She appoints Fessran as chief of the Firekeepers, the group responsible for building and tending fire for the clan, who also carry torches in battle. Ratha gives each Firekeeper a torch, and they fight the Unnamed. Her victory is bittersweet: Bonechewer is fatally wounded in the fight, and Ratha finds him dying. Despite everything, she still loves him and is deeply hurt by his death. She also worries about the changes the Red Tongue has brought to her people, but she knows that with it, the Named will survive.

Publication history

The fourth book in the series arrived in 1994, while the fifth was acquired by Viking Children's editor Sharyn November in a 2005 deal that also covered reissuing the first four books under her Firebird Books imprint. An animated adaptation aired on CBS Storybreak in the mid-to-late 1980s, a program that adapted modern and classic children's literature. The book itself won the International Reading Association Award in 1984.

Themes

Across the series, leadership and challenge appear again and again, with one critic calling the feline society both prehistoric and futuristic. Evolution is a central theme of the first book. The fourth installment, Ratha's Challenge, looks at individuality plus family and societal bonds. A reviewer noted that the first book’s story mirrors the painful development of human society and the power struggles that risk a return to savagery. Even though the characters are animals, the work examines human ideas; in the first book, Ratha follows the classic hero’s journey.

Reception

Critics have found much to admire in The Books of the Named, particularly the first novel, Ratha's Creature. Trev Jones of School Library Journal described it as difficult yet charged with powerful emotions, praising the growth of the main character Ratha and the skillfully developed writing of the characters. Ben and Beth Nelms of English Journal noted the novel was slow-paced at first but commended Clare Bell's attention to detail. David Bratman of Mythprint called the writing velvet-smooth compared to other first novels, well-edited and ingeniously conceived, though not finely-polished; he compared the book to Watership Down, noting the characters are clearly cats but possess complexity that satisfies human readers. Another commentator called the book absorbing, gripping, and rich in texture and imagination.

The descriptive elements across the series have also drawn praise. Carolyn Polese praised the fourth book's vivid descriptions of the characters' lives and society, as well as its depiction of Thistle-Chaser's struggle growing up, but noted an awkward re-capitulation of earlier books that reduced the quality of the early chapters. VOYA magazine praised the descriptive writing and characterization of the fifth book. English Journal said the same book contained vivid descriptions and dialogue that captured and held the reader. Sally Estes of The Booklist praised the writing in the fourth book but noted that readers unfamiliar with the earlier story might have difficulty understanding it, and that there may be too much introspection.

Characterization has been singled out repeatedly. Polese praised the entire series for its portrayal of feline protagonists, noting that Ratha herself may be most appreciated by adult readers as a guilt-ridden mother. School Library Journal praised the second book's characterization, though noted it was not as intensely dramatic as the first. In a starred review of the third book, Carolyn Polese praised its writing, saying there were no easy answers to be found and calling it powerful. She also praised its portrayal of emotional trauma as clear-sighted, both painful and healing in its accuracy.