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Jan 28

He can't wait for her to leave so he can eat that birdClick for larger image

Ryan Comments: No one is free of servitude to their feline pets.

Published 1982

Actually, that cover IS a classical work of art!I would touch it without protective gloves.I've seen worse. Far, far, worse.Interesting, but I would still read it in public.Middlng: Neither awful nor awfully goodWould not like to be seen reading that!Awful... just awful...That belongs in a gold-lame picture frame!Gah... my eyes are burning! Feels so good!Good Show Sir! (Average: 6.88 out of 10)
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26 Responses to “Faragon Fairingay”

  1. THX 1139 Says:

    Well, the cat had a lot to prove with a name like that.

  2. Bibliomancer Says:

    R.I.P. Fritz the Cat, 1959-2020

  3. JuanPaul Says:

    Kitty is hung over. Top up his mamosa and reheat that loaded potato.

  4. fred Says:

    Cat got slippers.

  5. Alice Says:

    @Bibliomancer – Looking on the bright side: 8 more lives to go!

  6. Tat Wood Says:

    ‘No, Gwyneth, no – not the vagina-scented candles!’

  7. Ray P Says:

    I don’t recall cats featuring much in The Lord of the Rings. Has Rivendell a pet hospital?

    P.S. Frodo sings of an ostler’s fiddle-playing cat at The Prancing Pony.

    The ostler has a tipsy cat/ that plays a five-stringed fiddle
    And up and down he runs his bow,
    Now squeaking high, now purring low,
    Now sawing in the middle.

  8. Tat Wood Says:

    @Ray P: What are the violin strings made from?

  9. JuanPaul Says:

    @Tat …Hobbit foot hair

  10. Ray P Says:

    When the cat found out, he took to his bed.

  11. B. Chiclitz Says:

    “There, there, Faragon, just drink your catnip tea and take a nap.”
    (ASIDE: Little does Faragon ken I’ve slipped a mighty philtre into his catnip tea. And soon he will be madly in love with me.)

    “Thanks.”
    (ASIDE: Hah. I know she’s trying to slip me a love potion mickey. That’s why I mixed it into the birdseed. Good luck, Lady Jane.)

  12. Tor Mented Says:

    @B.C.: Lol.
    That would require a “weird pecks” tag.

  13. B. Chiclitz Says:

    @Tor M— 😉

  14. GSS ex-noob Says:

    I’m thinking this is every cat’s dream. The whole bed to yourself with lots of nice wood to sharpen your claws on, a fancy rug to cough up hairballs onto, a hooman slave only when needed, nice window with birdie. If one of the bedside elixirs is concentrated catnip, kitty is indeed living the dream.* My cats only have most of that.

    How long did it take Gallardo to paint all those fiddly bits on the bedcovers and rug? He’s a dab hand at furnishings, not so much on cat or lady faces.

    This was so beloved by LOTR fans that I don’t remember ever hearing about it. And I am quite the cat fan (have only been without one about 10% of my life) and read extensively during this period (no cable TV, no internet).

    (googles) Bloody hell, that’s supposed to be an otter person! Explains why it doesn’t look like a cat. What do you expect from someone who can’t spell his own name, though?

    https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/the-completely-bonkers-world-of-niel-hancocks-circle-of-light/

    GSS to THX, fred (above link agrees with you), BC, and Tor

    * Presumably the litter box is hidden behind the bed; don’t want to show that on the cover. Likely just below the random ornate carving on the wall.

  15. Francis Boyle Says:

    Hint: if you’re going for faux-medieval at least try to make your damsel not look like Barbie’s anorexic cousin. (And of course don’t make your otter look like a cat.)

  16. Tor Mented Says:

    Good find, Ryan.
    There are many cover illustrations on this site that try to be creepy or disturbing. This cover is, to me, one of the most creepy and disturbing, though I don’t think the artist was trying to be.

  17. Bruce A Munro Says:

    So many good cat jokes wasted on an otter!

    They were able to find otter-sized slippers, but not a child-sized bed?

    For a while there every other fantasy series was comparing itself to The Lord of the Rings.

    For something that sold over a million copies, it really seems to have vanished down the memory hole. I read a couple of books in that series a long time ago: very little remains in my brain (I think the Evil Overlord was female?) although when I try word association the words “baroque” and “twee” show up. I dunno if the series came to a conclusion or not, and I have never really been interested enough to find out.

  18. Tat Wood Says:

    @Tag Wizard: does this therefore merit the rare distinction of the ‘otter people’ tag?

  19. Ryan Says:

    @Tor Mented: I also had never heard of this author or series before my eyes were assaulted by these covers lovingly displayed in a Tucson bookstore.

    Upon discovery that it really had sold millions of copies, research also revealed that the author wrote it with a Buddhist worldview to counter-act the Christian notions in JRRTolkien’s work(!). Wikipedia further indicates that the author used his experiences in the Vietnam war to inspire his writing, but assures us that none of the anthropomorphic animals wield automatic weapons or helicopters.

    Sadly, I did not purchase these books, even though they rested briefly in my very hands. No doubt the stories are incredible, but once again, the ridiculous covers deflected any purchase. Je regrette.

  20. B. Chiclitz Says:

    Otter, huh? And a Buddhist to boot? Fooled me, I confess. Really interesting backstory stuff, thanks all. I am left only to ponder whether kept otters also need litter boxes.

  21. A.R.Yngve Says:

    With his last dying breath, Simba cursed Disney for his fate.
    “They chewed me up and then they spit me out. Just another used-up animal. Damn them to hell!”

  22. Tat Wood Says:

    A missed opportunity for the blurbers: as the only Buddhist otter-themed fantasy* it is undoubtedly the most successful of its kind, justifying a comment along the lines of “Best-selling… fantasy series of all time”

    (* a few minutes online failed to reveal any others and it’s a pretty specific search-parameter.)

  23. Ray P Says:

    Well, I don’t recall otters playing a part in The Lord of the Ring of Bright Water.

  24. Tor Mented Says:

    “For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to – The Otter Limits.”

  25. Bruce A Munro Says:

    GSS, @Tor Mented!

    I think Mole and Ratty get transported there in one section of “The Wind in the Willows.”

  26. GSS ex-noob Says:

    @Tat: another vote for the “otter people” tag to be applied, stat!

    @BC: A quick google says you can kind of sort of try to box train otters, but not really. Because they excrete a LOT every day, all over. And they destroy everything, and need a large body of water, preferably running.

    So I don’t think an elaborate medieval bedroom is ideal for an otter.

    They don’t seem very Buddhist, either. Particularly not if they’re as baroque and twee as @Bruce remembers.

    @Ray P, @Tor: GSS!

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