The Tygrine Cat by Inbali Iserles

The last Tygrine queen is in trouble when another great cat clan, the Sa, wish to establish their rule over all felines and rid themselves of the other great cat clan and competition—the Tygrine cats. Knowing that her son must survive and preserve the Tygrine line, the Tygrine queen diverts the Sa’s attention as she tells her son, Mati, to escape onto a ship. Although successful, the queen dies at the paws of her enemies, leaving her son to make his own way into the world.

Mati gets off the ship after a long journey and stumbles into the marketplace and territory of the Cressida Cats. There he meets Domino, Binjax, and Ria. They take him to see Sparrow, and elderly cat, who agrees to introduce Mati to the rest of the Cressida Cats and their chief, Pangur, to see if they will accept him. While Domino and Sparrow may be friendly, Binjax, and the other cats are wary around him, and are not very receptive to newcomers. After awhile, Mati has begun to settle in and learn the way of clan life, including their superstitions and traditions.

But when trouble starts brewing and Mati’s past seems to be catching up to him, Mati realizes that his new life in the marketplace will not last long. Can he run forever, or will his past catch up with him? When Mati is the apparent perpetrator for a crime he did not commit, he is forced to flee and finally confront his past.

With Mati out in the wild, trying to fend for himself, there may be more danger than it seems. The dark servants of the Sa have powers beyond any normal feline, and they are out to finish the job once and for all. But being a descendant of the line that balances the Sa’s, Mati has a great destiny and also posses powers—powers that he had best discover and learn to utilize before the power-hungry Sa reach their ultimate goal and destroy the balance. Mati must grow up and leave the comforts and safety of the past if he is to learn about his heritage and follow his destiny. He must learn that no cat is perfect, and must choose carefully whom he can and cannot trust. Will this heavy burden and harrowing journey to destiny prove too much for an exiled cat?

An absolutely fantastic book! Author Inbali Iserles weaves a captivating and beautiful adventure in The Tygrine Cat! Creative and refreshing, this book will appeal to adventure and animal-lovers! This reminded me a bit of the Warriors series by Erin Hunter—a feline adventure with many different well-thought out and well developed characters that make the journey all the more interesting!

9.950 (out of 10)