The play of light and shadow, sea and sky; tropical breezes and the chill breath of arctic ice mountains; the mystery of Leviathan, greatest of all God's creatures, of endless undersea caverns, of krill beds stretching miles in all directions and hundreds of fathoms deep, of the Ice at the End of the World, of the haunting song of the humpback whale. And "sehnsucht," that insatiable longing wakened by the siren song of the sea, calling us back to its dark depths: these are the elements woven into a tapestry of wonder and enchantment by Robert Siegel.
Here is the story of Hruna the humpback whale, from birth marked for greatness by his size and courage. As days of carefree frolicking give way to adolescence, Hruna prepares for the Lonely Cruise, the rite of passage into adulthood, by visiting the Great Whale who lives on the ocean floor. There he learns the myth of origins and receives his true name in preparation for the swift adventures and narrow escapes that propel him into the ultimate challenge of leading his pod of whales in a desperate fight for survival.
**Acclaim for Robert Siegel and Whalesong**
"Whalesong is one of those rare and wondrous things, a book which is born a classic. Robert Siegel has become one with the great song of the humpback whale, and the reader is drawn into the song with him. Hruna's tale of birth and life and terror and sacrifice and joy has the quality of true myth. Whalesong is an utterly beautiful book."
-Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time
"I was enthralled by Whalesong. Robert Siegel's book is a short masterpiece of imaginative fiction that should be read by every American. It should be read by every whale, which is to say that Siegel has humanized these greatest of earthly creatures, has made them talk, feel, and act like us, under the aegis of their singing. This is a masterful work combining mythology, philosophy, and poetry in a story that is exciting and convincing."
-Richard Eberhart, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award
"Robert Siegel's accomplishment is breathtaking, astonishing. He has made the ways of our huge warm-blooded kin come utterly alive without condescension or anthropomorphism. It is through him that we can now not only understand but live the meaning and being of the 'deepest beast'."
-James Dickey, National Book Award Winner, author of Deliverance
"This is a marvelous whale opera. I enthusiastically recommend these lyrics and hope someone will write the music. Maybe it will be a humpback whale..."
-John and Toni Tilly, authors of Communications Between Man and Dolphin
"This beautifully written and epic tale of a great species' struggle for survival deserves to be widely read by adults as well as children. Its special ability to illicit empathy and provoke outrage from readers could prove as powerful of all the voyages of Greenpeace in assuring that the whales will continue to sing their song."
-John Ferell, author of Rain
"Siegel's tales have the magic of Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and the lyric majesty of Thoreau's prose. Highly recommended."
-Library Journal
"It is almost as if Moby Dick was scaled down and re-written from the viewpoint of the whale."
-Fantasy Review
"I've spent my entire writing career trying to capture the magic that Robert Siegel effortlessly captures in the pages of Whalesong. Be prepared to love this book."
-J.R. Rain, author of Moon Dance
Cover design by Susanna at:
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