Synopses & Reviews
The Katurran Odyssey is a remarkable visual achievement, filled with spectacle, fantasy, and wonder on every page. This epic tale of faith, hope, and selfless heroism is illuminated by the stunning illustrations of Terryl Whitlatch, the principal creature designer for the Star Wars prequels, and is brought to dynamic life by the storytelling of screenwriter and author David Michael Wieger.
Bo-hibba is a remote island in a faraway time and place that is populated by animals who are at once fantastic and startlingly real. The island's survival is threatened by the Long Winter, and not even the High Priest's ancient ceremony of renewal can put an end to the suffering from the hunger and the cold.
Katook, a small but courageous young lemur, lives in the village of Kattakuk. When he dares to enter a forbidden area on the island and witnesses a shocking act, the outraged priests banish him from the island forever. Forced to journey across the vast sea in search of a new home, Katook encounters great perils and marvels on his quest and undergoes profound tests of trust and friendship. At last, he finds the place where the secret of the Long Winter is revealed and where he must confront his greatest fear if he is to save his family and his island home.
Like such classic works of fantasy as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Rien Poortvliet's Gnomes, C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, Brian Jacques's Redwall series, and Brian Froud's Faeries, The Katurran Odyssey creates a mythic world imbued with beauty, adventure, and transcendent imagination.
Review
Brian Froud, coauthor of
Faeries; and
Wendy Froud, illustrator of A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale
Enchantingly told and masterfully illustrated, The Katurran Odyssey is a magical mixture of adventure story and potent myth that gives the reader a sense of having journeyed along with Katook. At the end of this journey, we, as well as the little lemur, may come away wiser creatures, changed by the magic and beauty of this world.
Review
George Lucas
creator of Star Wars
The Katurran Odyssey is remarkably beautiful. Terryl Whitlatch's boundless imagination is on full view here, and anyone who is lucky enough to spend time with The Katurran Odyssey will be richer for the experience. It's a lyrical, lovely, and vibrant book.
Review
James Gurney
author of Dinotopia
Terryl Whitlatch's animal drawings achieve that rare blend of accuracy and expressiveness which comes from a lifetime of direct observation of living creatures. To those gifts she adds a rich imagination that can create convincing characters without anthropomorphizing them.
Synopsis
Terryl Whitlatch is one of the premier creature designers in the world. Her creations have appeared in such films as Jumanji and Dragonheart, and she was the principal creature designer for Star Wars: Episode One. She now has created an enchanting illustrated fable to entrance every fan of science fiction and fantasy. Kattakuk, a village in a faraway time and place, is populated by lemurs who live in wicker dwellings hanging high in the trees. Katook, a small but courageous young lemur, has suffered with his neighbors through a seemingly endless winter. In spite of their prayers, the winter stretches on and on, for unbeknownst to them, the Hai-Hai priests have been secretly eating the votive offerings intended for the Great Fossah. Katook catches the priests in this shocking act of betrayal, but is banished from the village before he can report his discovery. What follows is an adventure-filled odyssey as Katook makes his way through the island, encountering both great peril and marvels until at last he discovers the secret of the Long Winter--and he must summon all his courage of perform the deed that will save the villagers of Kattakuk. Filled with dazzling art on every page, The Katurran Odyssey is a stunning achievement--a brilliant and original tale that reveals a credible, original three-dimensional world that is at once wholly different from ours and yet universal and recognizable.
Synopsis
In the grand tradition of Rien Poortvliet's "Gnomes," James Gurney's "Dinotopia," and Brian Froud's "Good Faeries/Bad Faeries" comes a masterpiece of fantasy artQa brilliantly original world that comes to life through illustrations of remarkable beauty and richness. One of the premier creature designers in the world, Whitlatch's creations have appeared in such films as Jumanji and Dragonheart, and Star Wars: Episode One. 0-7432-2500-7$29.95 / Simon & Schuster