Author: Roger Zelazny
Publisher: Sphere Science Fiction
Publishing Date: 1984
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

I found a second hand copy of this novel at an online book store a couple of weeks ago together with a number of other classics. It was mostly the native American theme in the book that caught my attention. It draws heavily from Navajo mythology and the book is dedicated to Tony Hillerman, who recently passed away. Zelazny is probably best known for his Amber books, of which I have read exactly one, but as I understand it this is one of his more appreciated novels. And rightly so. Zelazny manages to cram a highly complex main character into the 188 pages the novel is long. The spiritual experience Billy lives through is one that deserves many rereads.

Billy Blackhorse Singer is Navajo tracker and hunter. He’s spent most of his adult life hunting down extraterrestrial game to fill earth’s zoos. Like many Navajo Billy has a foot in the modern world as well as one in the traditional Navajo one. Recently Billy retired but found the Navajo lands changed from the one he remembered. Travel at speeds approaching the speed of light have extended his life far beyond that of the people he knew. Billy’s family is gone, the Navajo have adapted to changing circumstances. Billy is no longer at home.

Retired or not, Billy’s skills are still wanted. He is asked to stop an alien assassin. He soon figures out the only one who can help him with this job is Cat. One of his toughest opponents, the telepathic, shape shifting creature has resided in a zoo for the last fifty years. Since it’s capture Billy has had the nagging feeling he has locked up a sentient being. He turns out to be right. Cat has had fifty years to study human emotions and he has learned much. To hate for one thing. Cat will help Billy but for a price, once the job is done Cat will come after Billy. The hunt is on.

In this novel Billy faces two main challenges. The first one is to reconcile the modern world Billy and the traditional Navajo one. As the story and the hunt progress Billy retreats deeper and deeper into his Navajo past. Through the clever use of Navajo mythology Zelazny shows us how different that type of thinking is from what we are used to. It’s a very sharp contrast form the news headlines shows us at several places in the novel. I’m not sure how close Zelazny stays to the source material, a lot of it derives from Navajo oral traditions so there is probably not a definitive version of those tales anyway. From what I can tell it is a good effort.

The second challenge Billy faces is or course Cat. Cat is the physical manifestation of a chindi. This Navajo concept is almost always considered an avenging evil force, released wit a person’s dying breath. Billy feels guilt at having Cat locked up, deep respect for his ability. But to live Billy will have to defeat him again. Which brings us back to the root of all Billy’s problems, does he really want to adapt to the world he no longer feels at him in?

This novel is not the most accessible science fiction novel I’ve read. Zelazny uses a lot of different writing techniques, ranging from poetry to headlines, from dialogue to seemingly rambling sentences to describe the state of mind of a character. The author uses these to express the difference between the primitive Billy and the modern one, to show us the telepathic thought processes and describe the alien mind of Cat. Form is an important tool in this novel. It took me a while to figure it out but the way Zelazny uses these different techniques is masterful.

Eye of Cat is a considered a science fiction book. It does have some futuristic elements in it of course, it’s a way of explaining Cat for one thing, but most of the book is dedicated to Billy’s spiritual quest. This story would have worked in another setting. His use of native American mythology and the literary approach he takes should give this  book far wider appeal. Eye of Cat is a challenging read. I’d be very much surprised if I caught everything in this first reading. What I did catch was enough to be impressed however. I understand the quality of Zelazny’s writing differs quite a bit in the course of his career. I would not be surprised if this is one of his better efforts.

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Topics: Eye of Cat, Roger Zelazny, Sphere Science Fiction