Book picks similar to
Tomorrow's Sphinx by Clare Bell


fantasy
animals
sci-fi
historical-fiction

Starfire


Jennifer Lynn Alvarez - 2014
    The Guardian Herd: Starfire tells the thrilling story of a young foal, Star, who controls the fate of the land of Anok and the five pegasi herds that live there.Once every hundred years, a black foal is born, prophesized to either unite or destroy the five herds of flying horses that live in the land of Anok. He is fated to become the most powerful pegasus in all of Anok. Star is this black foal.Even though Star has malformed wings that make him unable to fly, the leaders of each herd will take no risks and want to execute Star before his first birthday. With the help of his friends, Star must escape the clutches of the powerful leaders, and his epic journey of self-discovery turns into a battle between good and evil that will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.A gripping new animal fantasy series!

Frost Dancers


Garry Kilworth - 1992
    Until one day he and several of his fellows are trapped in a net and transported south, for hare coursing.

Dolphin Way: Rise of the Guardians


Mark Caney - 2011
    The book is aimed at adult readers, but will appeal to young adults (teenagers) too.Dolphin culture evolved over millions of years so that they could remain perfectly attuned with their world, Ocean. Unlike man, they have created an almost utopian society without feeling the need to manipulate their environment, collect possessions or wage war. But the growing pressure of man’s activities become intolerable and in frustration one faction seeks an aggressive new path. They make a shocking departure from the Way — the ancient philosophy that has guided them so well through the millennia.Sky, a male dolphin close to becoming an Initiate in the Way, unwillingly finds himself caught up in the violent consequences. To save the lives of his closest friends he will have to risk the worst punishment his clan can inflict and must decide between the two females who challenge everything he believes in.

The Hunt for Elsewhere


Beatrice Vine - 2013
    Where they are greedy, he is generous. But for all that Saxton believes in honor and love, kindness and courage, other animals deem him no better than the moniker his kind is fated to bear: Lonely Thief.Meanwhile, Dante, a battle-worn wolf missing an eye and an ear, left his pack for reasons he keeps close to his chest. One too many bad memories has left him cynical, and yet he somehow remains faithful to a fault. His lonely life, plagued by misfortune and dishonor, changes forever the day he meets Saxton.Thrown together by fate, this unlikely duo travel across the North American continent, chasing trains, fighting hunger, evading man, and confronting their own inner demons— all while searching for redemption, family, and a place to call home.

Every Last Kiss


Courtney Cole - 2011
    Controlled by the Fates. Can Macy's love for her soul mate survive the bonds of time... and death?17-year old Macy Lockhart is as far from normal as any one girl can be. The problem is, she doesn’t know it yet.After a bloodstone pendant is mysteriously left on her door, Macy’s life begins to change in ways she’d never dreamed. And while she will eventually come to realize that nothing is ever what it seems, that her life is a tangled web of lies and the Fates themselves pull the strings, for now she is left with only the explanations that they offer her.Macy is led to believe that if she doesn’t return to a previous doomed life, one in which she served as Queen Cleopatra ‘s handmaiden, the fate of the entire world will be threatened in a way that would destroy history as we know it. She learns that she has lived thousands of lives, each one ending tragically…but none as tragic as this one.After returning to ancient Egypt, she is faced with heart-wrenching decisions. Unless she interferes with Fate’s plan, the very thing she was born to protect, her soul mate will die leading Marc Antony’s forces against Rome. Can she really stand aside and watch the love of her life die all over again?In this fascinating novel-length prequel to The Bloodstone Saga, Courtney Cole sets the stage for an epic journey that will have readers holding their breath until the very last page of the very last book has been turned.What would you do if you held Fate in your hands?

Time Cat


Lloyd Alexander - 1963
    For one thing, he can talk. For another, he's got the power to travel through time. And the instant he tells this to Jason, the two of them are in ancient Egypt, on the first of nine amazing adventures that Jason will never forget.

Callanish


William Horwood - 1984
    Creggan begins to lose his sense of freedom, as the cage curls around himself, cutting off access to the sky. An older female eagle who's been trapped in the cages for a long time gives Creggan the strength to survive, and the hope of one day escaping this man-made construct.

The Tygrine Cat


Inbali Iserles - 2007
    What Mati doesn’t know is that he is the last of a vital, age-old breed and that a mysterious feline assassin named Mithos is close on his trail. With his enemy nearing, can Mati learn to harness his ancient powers — before a deadly feline force destroys both him and his newfound friends and takes the spirit of every cat on earth?

Silverhair


Stephen Baxter - 1999
    Soon to be a mother, Silverhair looks to the future with hope. But even as her life begins, the world she loves is ending. A new menace, more vicious than any enemy, is descending upon the snowlands -- a two-legged creature that kills for joy. Desperate to save their kind, Silverhair and the matriarch, Owlheart, must travel across the glacial torrents, beyond the saw-toothed mountains. There they will seek help from the distant cousins who found their destiny in the sea, and from an enemy -- an ice-faced menace known as...the Lost.

Caesar: The Life Story of a Panda-Leopard


Patrick O'Brian - 1930
    When he was fourteen years old and beset by chronic ill health, Patrick O'Brian began creating his first fictional character. "I did it in my bedroom, and a little when I should have been doing my homework," he confessed in a note on the original dust-jacket. Caesar tells the picaresque, enchanting, and quite bloodthirsty story of a creature whose father is a giant panda and whose mother is a snow leopard. Through the eyes and voice of this fabulous creature, we learn of his life as a cub, his first hunting exploits, his first encounters with man, his capture and taming. Caesar was published in 1930, three months after O'Brian's fifteenth birthday, but the dry wit and unsentimental precision O'Brian readers savor in the Aubrey/Maturin series is already in evidence. The book combines Stephen Maturin's fascination and encyclopedic knowledge of natural history with the narrative charm of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. It was published in England and the United States, and in translation in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Japan. Reviews hailed the author as the "boy-Thoreau." "We can see here a true storyteller in the making....a gripping narrative, which holds the reader's attention and never flags."—The Spectator

Dragon Champion


E.E. Knight - 2005
    Knight's all-ages fantasy series chronicling the adventures of a fledgling dragon, is a dramatic departure for the author of the bestselling Vampire Earth saga (Valentine's Rising, Tale of the Thunderbolt, et al.) -- an adrenaline-fueled postapocalyptic blend of military science fiction and Lovecraftian horror that chronicles the ongoing war between soul-sucking alien invaders and the last few remaining pockets of human resistance.Knight's fantasy debut concerns a rare, scaleless gray dragon named Auron. Born high in a mountain cave, he witnesses the slaughter of his parents at the hands of a band of dwarves and eventually matures into the last hope for the survival of his kind. Once above ground, Auron learns quickly just how dangerous it is to be a dragon. With dwarves, elves, and humans relentlessly hunting him, Auron finds friendship in the most unlikely of places -- but the young dragon's quest to find others of his kind may not lead him to the answers he hopes to find. The good news is that Knight has penned a highly entertaining novel with profoundly moving themes that should appeal to fantasy fans of all ages, especially those with a penchant for dragon-powered story lines a la Anne McCaffrey's Pern and Mercedes Lackey's Dragon Jousters trilogy (Joust, Alta, and Sanctuary). The bad news is that those who have already read Knight's brilliantly dark and addictive Vampire Earth novels and are expecting something similar will be sorely disappointed.

The Girl Who Could Fly


Victoria Forester - 2008
    Just like that. Easy as pie.Sure, she hasn’t mastered reverse propulsion and her loops are kind of sloppy, but she’s real good at loop-the-loops.Problem is, the good folk of Lowland County are afraid of Piper. And her ma is at her wit’s end. So it seems only fitting that she leave her parents’ farm to attend a top-secret, maximum-security school for kids with exceptional abilities.School is great at first with a bunch of new friends whose skills range from super-strength to super-genius. (Plus all the homemade apple pie she can eat!) But Piper is special, even among the special. And there are consequences.Consequences too dire to talk about. Too crazy to consider. And too dangerous to ignore.At turns exhilarating and terrifying, Victoria Forester’s debut novel is an unforgettable story of defiance and courage about an irrepressible heroine who can, who will, who must...fly.

A Taste for Rabbit


Linda Zuckerman - 2007
    They wear clothes, they fight, they elect corrupt officials. They eat all kinds of things, but only lower orders with limited brainpower. Like mice. Or rabbits. Now imagine that one day the rabbits disappear, and slowly develop their OWN society away from the foxes. What happens when the two societies once again collide? A TASTE FOR RABBIT is a brilliant, piercing look at Harry the Fox, Quentin the Rabbit, the price of honor, and the "animal" parts of human nature.

The Dark Portal


Robin Jarvis - 1989
    In the sewers of Deptford, there lurks a dark presence that fills the tunnels with fear. The rats worship it in the blackness and name it "Jupiter, Lord of All." Into this twilight realm wanders a small and frightened mouse-the unwitting trigger of a chain of events that hurtles the Deptford mice into a world of heroic adventure and terror.

The Mob


Clem Martini - 2004
    When the family converges for the annual Gathering, a mob mounts a revenge attack on a cat with disastrous consequences. The Gathering should be a time to rejoice. Instead, it becomes a time of fear, danger and uncertainty, when ancient laws and customs are tested. A tribunal passes judgment the instigator of the mob, the impulsive and charismatic Kyp, must be punished. Then, just when the Kinaars are divided over The Mob attack, an unexpected blizzard spells more trouble. They desperately need a safe roost. The family splits, leaving the Gathering Tree to seek shelter in forbidden worlds "