I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did--all the T&A and prurient innuendo on the cover saw to that. But I have greatly enjoyed some of Coney's writing, so I gave it a go.

Immediately, his writing caught me. He had a deft hand and a good mind. Yes, there is sexuality in the book, but there is much more.

For a while I was a bit thrown off by the viewpoint that would pull out of the immediacy of the characters' lives into a much longer, more cosmic view, but in time I relaxed into it and let the story be what it was--and it is good.

Some books start strong and peter out as their authors flounder for a resolution. Cat Karina gets stronger as it progresses. It will doubtless remain one of my favourite Coney books.

He was a quirky and inventive writer unlike any other. It is lovely to get to be in his company again. ( )

"It started with a few bards and minstrels . . . they used their eyes and ears, listened to rumors and legends and dying old men. And they used their imagination and their essential humanness. With these ingredients they created a whole new history of Mankind; a tapestry of events which was passed on by word of mouth - and so could never become dull, inflexible or accurate. It is called the Song of Earth."

This is a legend of future earth, set somewhere in Latin America at a time when the uneasy but stable co-existence of true humans and specialists (humans with animal genes) is threatened by the reintroduction of metal-working. Events are shaped by the machinations of Starquin, an imprisoned alien, who is using his knowledge of the happentracks (alternate futures) to try to effect his release. In this story Starquin is trying to ensure that Karina, a jaguar-descended felina girl, bears the child of a true human, since one of their descendants will play a part in his release.

I liked the descriptions of felina society, the sailtracks and the kikihuahua examples, but unfortunately I found that the continual reminders that Karina's story is one of the legends that make up The Song of Earth kept breaking the spell of the story ( )