Strange Animals
A Novel
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- $199.00
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- $199.00
Descripción editorial
An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of supernatural creatures—and an unexpected home—in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut.
“One of the most fun and original books I've read in years. Excellent storytelling. See for yourself.”—Jim Butcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files
“A haunting and atmospheric urban fantasy populated by quirky human characters and fabulously weird mythical creatures . . . a wholly captivating tale of magic and nature.”—Publishers Weekly
Green trips on the curb, falls flat into the street, and sees the city bus speeding toward him. And then . . . blink. He’s back on the curb, miraculously still alive. A five-foot-tall crow watches him from atop a nearby sign, somehow unseen by the rushing crowd of morning commuters.
Desperate for answers and beset by more visions of impossible creatures, Green finds his way to a remote campsite in the Appalachian Mountains, where he meets a centuries-old teacher and begins an apprenticeship unlike anything he could imagine.
Under his new mentor’s grouchy tutelage, Green studies the time-bending rag moth, the glass fawn, and the menacing horned wolf. He begins to see past hidden nature’s terrors and glimpse its beauty, all while befriending fellow misfits—and finding connection and community.
Along the way come clues about the forces that set him on this path—and, most incredibly, a sense of purpose and fulfillment like nothing he’s felt before.
But Green’s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he’s already come to love.
Creepy, cozy, and beautiful, Strange Animals is a fantasy about home, belonging, and the fearfully wonderous nature all around us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Anderson (Something in the Woods Loves You) delivers a haunting and atmospheric urban fantasy populated by quirky human characters and fabulously weird mythical creatures. It kicks off with protagonist Green dying and coming back to life, his death having been stolen by a giant crow. After this bizarre encounter, he feels an inexplicable call to the Catskill mountains, where he's determined to camp while seeking fulfillment. On his first night at the remote Candle-Fly Camp, he barely survives a strange encounter with a glowing, translucent deer and a partially skinned horned wolf that addresses him as "not-man" before vanishing. Fortunately, Green's new, reclusive neighbor, Valentina, is a cryptonaturalist and expert in such unusual phenomenon and agrees to take him on as an apprentice. Thus begins Green's education in the unseen and unexpected, as Valentina introduces him to all manner of cryptids and helps him investigate why these creatures are appearing to him. She also reveals that the glass fawn, the technical name for the translucent deer, is said to bring death to all who see it, meaning Green's time may be running out. Anderson's worldbuilding is wonderfully bizarre, and there's an introspective bent to the ecologically minded narrative that gives Green's journey an intimate feel as he finds new friends, purpose, and home. The result is a wholly captivating tale of magic and nature.
