Exciting news which will probably be of interest to only a few people (books)

[thistlechaser]

donnaimmaculata tagged me to explain about my LJ user name. In looking up a website to use as an example, I found good news for the fans of the series!

Thistle-Chaser is a character from a series of books called The Named (Ratha's Creature, Clan Ground, Ratha and Thistle-Chaser, and Ratha's Challenge). The series is set in a prehistoric world; there are no humans, large felines are the dominant species, and a few cats have evolved far enough mentally to have an awareness of themselves. This is demonstrated by their naming of themselves (the "Named") as opposed to wild, "normal" cats (the "Unnamed"). The Named cats herd animals, have fire, etc. They're also vastly outnumbered by the Unnamed, which leads to interesting conflicts and situations.

A few years ago, I wrote to the author (she lives in my state! Just a few miles away from me!) to see if she intended to write more in the series. Unfortunately she said she was not. However, I today found www.RathasCourage.com! (Apparently the site only works in IE, and as author-made sites sometimes are, it's a little rough around the edges.) The next book is coming out this year! Yay!

Anyway, back to my name. While Ratha is the main figure of the book, the name didn't have enough character for me to want to use it. I didn't like the Thistle-Chaser character much, but I loved that name. I figured that by using Thistle-Chaser people would make the connection to the book series, and that was good enough. (Those who remember it, anyway. The first book was published in 1983 and the last one in 1992!)

While I didn't like the Thistle-Chaser character much, there was one element about her that sort of matched me and so the name further fit. In the book, she got that name because she wouldn't learn (her mother was Named but her father was Unnamed -- pairings like that usually resulted in kits lacking "light in their eyes" -- an awareness of self). Again and again, young Thistle-Chaser would pounce thistles, never seeming to learn that pouncing prickly things hurts. I tend to not give up on painful things soon enough, too -- I often keep beating my head against a wall long after other people have stopped.

I've been using Thistle-Chaser as my online name for a good ten or so years now. It no longer feels like a name from a book, it just feels like me. :) And for FFXI people: Originally I was going to create myself as ThistleChaser, but was told that a shorter name was better, in case people had to type out my name for spells and such, so I shortened it to just Thistle.

I'm not going to tag 10 other folks. Do this or not, as you wish! :)

Edit: Link to the book on Amazon, for those who want it. And check out all the new cover art for the old books! Looks like they're releasing them all again.

Comments

[ellejayoh.livejournal.com]

Can't wait for the rereleases in October.. I loved that series and knew exactly what your name was when I first saw it. Good on you for making it your own. ^_~

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yay! So I think that's two people on my flist who might have heard of it. :P I'm tempted to buy new copies just for the cool new coverart. It'd be nice if they released them all in a set.

[ellejayoh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.. I didn't get to read all of them, so I can't wait to order them all at once and plow through them. Gotta finish George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series (rereading it) first and then the new Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Justice.. should take me up til October, but if not I have C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner series to help me last!

The cover art is so pretty. I'm excited!

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

I never got to read the last one myself. So excited!

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

I guess I better go look at the cover art. I was so excited I just threw them in my shopping cart without even looking. ;)

[quistie.livejournal.com]

So...did Thistle-Chaser ever learn to avoid pouncing on prickly things?

It's a pretty good exercise, though, explaining your LJ user name. I doubt my explanation would be as interesting as yours, however. :P

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

She did learn, but very slowly.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

So...did Thistle-Chaser ever learn to avoid pouncing on prickly things?

That was a large part of one of the books. Since Thistle-Chaser (and her brothers) all had an Unnamed father, their mother (the main character of the series) expected them to have no light in their eyes -- to just be worthless animals. Expecting that, she was way too hard on them and didn't give them a chance. Thistle-Chaser could have learned if her mother had taken it slower, but the mother had set ideas about how smart/good/perfect her offspring would be (she hadn't expected them to have an Unnamed father) and wouldn't/couldn't see that there was any potential in them at all. Thistle-Chaser was just starting to grasp the concept when her mother actually physically attacked her and drove her off into the wild.

And you should do your name, too! I bet it would be interesting. :)

[quistie.livejournal.com]

I could just say that my character/LJ name was named after Quistis Trepe of FFVIII fame. :P That's probably not that informative.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay! :)

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

SO exciting! I've been wanting the books, but I've seen them go for over $100 sometimes! I've actually been considering checking them out from the library and "losing" them, but a reprint is much, much better!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'm very sorry to say that I did that (for the one book in the series that they had). If it's any kind of an excuse, I was in high school at the time. I had searched and searched bookstores but couldn't find it and felt I had to have it. :/

That was pre-Internet, nowadays it'd be easier to search for stuff. I still feel bad about it though!

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

This makes me very glad that I didn't. Less money for new copies!

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I like that your name has such a background. I've never heard of the book, so there was no chance I would get the reference.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

They are good, you should read them.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

As soon as I finish the book I'm currently reading, I'm going to reread the series. Not only do I just want to read it again, I'd like to finish them up before the new book comes out!

They're totally worth reading. :)

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Maybe I will.

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

I had no idea your name was based on anything. Very interesting that it is. Guess I'll have to find and read.

I've had a great many pseudonyms I've used for the past 17-ish years (can't remember when I started getting online...back in elementary school, I think). My first is the only one that doesn't reference literature. It also has a reputation and had a brief run-in with the feds, so I'd rather leave that one out. Later, I used "Alberich" from Wagner's Ring cycle. Once I got into MMOs instead of MUDs (and made it through college), I started using "Nilych".

Nil is a tough one to explain. The origins are simple enough - The Possessed (or The Demons), by Dostoevsky. Alexei Nilych Kirillov isn't quite a main character in the story, but is an important one philosophically. Kirillov and Shatov are somewhat polar opposites- Shatov believes in God but has no faith, while Kirillov has faith but is an athiest. I did an extensive character study of Kirillov, of his quest for godhood (or to meet God, depending on how you view it), and his eventual suicide in an attempt to save his friends and liberate mankind from unhappiness.

I'm not sure I can recommend reading the book, though. It is Dostoevsky, and unless you're in the mood for it, it kinda grinds on the brain.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, interesting!