Tailchaser's Song is a fantasy novel by American writer Tad Williams. First released on November 21, 1985, it is Williams' first published work. The story focuses on a personified cat named Fritti Tailchaser, set in a world of other anthropomorphic animals who live in their natural environments but each have their own language, mythology, and culture. It is reportedly being adapted into an animated feature film. Plot summary The novel is set in the world as cats see it, with humans being mysterious and distrusted creatures in the eyes of feral cats. The cats see themselves as the first and most important species; the novel takes the approach that all creatures consider their kind to be the dominant species of the planet. Their myths view humans, or "M'an", as a race of deformed descendants of cats. The book makes reference to mythologies of frogs, foxes and ravens as well as more thoroughly developing a system of cat mythology. Tailchaser's Song begins, after quoting a poem by Christopher Smart, with an exposition of the central elements of the cats' mythology, starting with a creation myth. This both frames the further developments of cat mythology and culture throughout the story and provides necessary backstory for the novel itself. Meerclar Allmother is identified as the primordial creator of all other beings, who brought forth a pair of cats who are the progenitors of the entire species as well as divine figures. Harar Goldeneye is the male, and Fela Skydancer the female. The first litter of this pair are also divine. These three cats are called the Firstborn; the middle child, Grizraz Hearteater, raises a monstrous hound out of jealousy and sets it to attack all cats. The eldest of the three, Viror Whitewind, slays the creature but is himself mortally wounded. Hearteater is driven out and flees beneath the ground where he searches out arcane lore, while Whitewind's death causes his father to flee to the heavens after searching for Hearteater in a murderous rage and causes his mother to be silent for the rest of his life. His youngest brother, Tangaloor Firefoot, renounced his claim to the throne and fled from the court out of grief. As a result of a further encounter with Firefoot, Hearteater is blinded by sun after having spent so much time beneath the earth, and retreats back beneath the ground, where it is supposed that he plots