Lise has a special destiny: to help a clowder of sentient cats save the world from an evil older than history itself. It is a terrible battle, but Lise and her feline comrades prevail, putting an end to war, poverty, ignorance and want. The world is a better place.
Or is it?
A century later, it becomes clear that something has been lost. The new civilization produces no artists, no musicians, no scientists, no philosophers. Inertia has taken hold. Lise, now at the end of her life, must join her cat-friends once more to restore the Spark of the Human Spirit, but the goal cannot be reached without sacrifice. Is there enough time left for them to save the world for future generations?
EXCERPT
Slowly, the
monstrosity revolved its luminescent mass until its eye, great and seeping, was
fixed upon Lise. She could see a flicker of consciousness as it registered her
presence. Then recognition was replaced by raw fuming hatred as it burst from
its hollow with a barbarous scream.
“Cohabitor!"
It was Percy. He hadn’t run out on her after all. “Come! Now!" he ordered,
and this time, she complied.
Bounding across
the room and leaping through a gap in the plank wall, they tumbled over the
foundation into the dew-covered weeds outside. They didn’t stop there, but
streaked through the unkempt yard and up the footpath that led to the hill
park. Without slowing, Lise shot a glance back at Mr. McDorgal's shed. From
inside, a sickly greenish light oozed between the boards.
What was
that thing? But in her mind, Lise knew. It was corruption—blatant and
deadly. And it had to be stopped before it swallowed the earth and everything
on it. She knew also, no matter how much she tried to deny, that it would be up
to her. That was the reason she had been brought into this wild new World.
