Carnivores of Light and Darkness
THE SKY BEGAN TO DARKEN AND A VOICE BOOMED BEHIND THEM
It was the lament of something that was less than a beast and more than a natural phenomenon, the unnaturally drawn-out moan of a fiend most monstrous and uncommon. The fleeing travelers turned, and saw at last what had tried to ambush them.
It advanced not in the manner of a living creature but in the manner of sand. It had no arms and then a hundred, no feet but one as wide as the base of the advancing dune itself. Everywhere and all of it was dark red, like all the rust that had ever afflicted the metals of the world squeezed into a swiftly shifting pyramid of rage. The dune howled and moaned and bellowed like some sky-scraping banshee unwillingly fastened to the Earth.
And in the midst of all that geologic fury, two-thirds up the face of the oncoming mountain, were two eyes . . .
“This odd and engaging fantasy has an apparently African setting, but . . . owes far more to Grimm’s fairy tales. . . . It’s a wondrous journey.”
—Locus
“Top-drawer Foster, featuring a fast-paced mix of wry humor, high fantasy, and amazing new places and creatures.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Combines the flexibility of a picaresque adventure with the simplicity of a folktale. . . . This promising series opener belongs in most libraries.”
—Library Journal
“Etjole’s quest is reminiscent of
The Odyssey.
”
The Odyssey.
”
—VOYA
Also by Alan Dean Foster
ALIEN
ALIENS
ALIEN
3
3
THE DIG
THE I INSIDE
INTO THE OUT OF
THE MAN WHO USED THE UNIVERSE
MONTEZUMA STRIP
SHADOWKEEP
SPELLSINGER
SPELLSINGER II: THE HOUR OF THE GATE
SPELLSINGER III: THE DAY OF THE DISSONANCE
SPELLSINGER IV: THE MOMENT OF THE MAGICIAN
SPELLSINGER V: THE PATHS OF THE PERAMBULATOR
SPELLSINGER VI: THE TIME OF THE TRANSFERENCE
SPELLSINGER VII: CHORUS SKATING
TO THE VANISHING POINT
CARNIVORES OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS. Copyright © 1998 by Thranx, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
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ISBN: 978-0-7595-2045-5
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 1998 by Warner Books.
First eBook Edition: February 2001
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www.HachetteBookGroupUSA.com
.
For Absalom . . .
Who burned to know how to read.
Cape Cross Station, Skeleton Coast, Namibia
November 1993
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