Plagues kill in more ways than one.Merliss is no ordinary cat. She’s far more. She’s a young girl’s spirit trapped in a cat’s body. While the magic that banished her has snatched away her human speech, it has given her a life spanning millennia. For centuries she has lived with the cunning folk, assisting their efforts to heal the sick and ward off malevolent creatures. Now a bleeding sickness … bleeding sickness has thrown the community into chaos.
The cunning man and his apprentice are in danger from the disease. The life Merliss has worked so long to build is in jeopardy. Before she entered the cat, she had trained to be a shaman. Do her centuries of experience hold a secret to a cure? But disease isn’t her only nemesis.
A pair of malevolent creatures move into the neighborhood threatening more havoc. Merliss and her cunning partners face more challenges than they can handle. But the greatest threat to Merliss’s survival may be the ignorance of terrified people looking for a scapegoat.
The Great Contagion is epic fantasy from a cat’s eye view. A prequel to Cat Sidhe, The Great Contagion is a standalone installment in The Merliss Tales series.
Prowl with Merliss now.
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What do you get when you combine magic, a plague, superstition, uneducated townsfolk, and a cat who was once a girl? I’ll tell you; you get a very enjoyable story that is many instances will have you chuckling, and in others it might break your heart. Jannie Meisberger does an excellent job telling Jeff Chapman’s story – to the point that she had me refusing to stop listening until the final words were spoken. I received a review copy of the audiobook through StoryOrigin and chose to provide this review.
The Great Contagion
(The Merliss Tales #1) by Jeff Chapman
Narrated by Jannie Meisberger
I received a complimentary copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Merliss is a cat. But far from being an ordinary cat. She lives in the body of a cat and has lived a life that has covered many lifetimes. She lives in a time when, unbeknownst to people, magical creatures roamed the land in various forms and guises. Her spirit is bound to a cat, gifted with soul-sight, the ability to read another’s soul through their eyes, albeit cursed with not being able to communicate verbally with humans. After living with many ‘cunning people’, she currently lives with her herb-master, Hailaird, and his apprentice, Fendrel.
Unfortunately, a lethal illness is roaming the area, claiming all in its path. Hailaird and Fendrel are duty-bound to do their utmost to discover a cure before the populace is wiped out. Hailaird succumbs to the contagion while Fendrel is still an apprentice. Merliss must apply all her wiles, utilising her instincts to assist him and fulfil her oath in helping and healing.
The Great Contagion by Jeff Chapman is a prequel to Cat Sidhe. When I initially read that the protagonist was a cat, I couldn’t wait to discover how this was going to be portrayed. Merliss is described with such detail. She knows the secrets and the area she dwells in better than any other human or creature could remember. The author has created a novel of creative fantasy, of water goblins and enchanted forests patrolled by the Old Gods. With magical elements that include several scenes of a darker nature lending a sinister touch, Jeff Chapman has created an intriguing and enjoyable introduction to what will be a wonderful series.
The cover is striking and depicts Merliss perfectly. It gave me the urge to crack open pencils and colour it in!
In the audio version, Jannie Meisberger brings Merliss and her companions to life brilliantly! Her tone is beautifully descriptive, evoking sights and smells; her narrative indicative of intelligent cat behaviour.
Worthy of 5 stars and can’t wait to discover more!
Delightful Fantasy Adventure!
Merliss, our heroine, is a centuries old cat with the heart of a shaman girl trapped inside. Her unique talents aid the ‘cunning man’ and his apprentice as they try finding a cure for the plague that’s killing people. Mr Chapman has built a unique world blending magic, suspense, Fae legends, herbal medicine, heartwarming characters, unusual creatures, an evil sheriff and a twist ending into a totally captivating tale. I look forward to reading more of Merliss’s adventures. I received an audio book as a gift and am happy to recommend this book. Enjoy!
Pros: Gripping plot. Professional prose, production and editing.
Possible Cons: Loner, emotionally isolated main character. Many unpleasant supporting characters.
Jeff Chapman’s medieval fantasy, The Great Contagion, lies somewhat outside my usual reading preferences. But I do live with a skinny grey cat, so right of the bat, I was intrigued.
The novel’s main character is Merliss, the soul of a shaman-in-training possessing the body of a cat. She’s lived in the cat for centuries, assisting healers and training their apprentices, so she wears her possession comfortably, like an old shoe. And she’s seen plenty of drama in her long life, but nothing like The Great Contagion.
A plague descends upon the humans; they die in droves and/or behave rather badly. Concurrently, Merliss’s second home, the magical forest, faces unprecedented challenges. Attempting to help her animal, magical and human friends divides Merliss’s loyalties.
Liking Merliss was difficult at first. She read as a grumpy old lady. The initial chapter, a walk through the woods with an annoying young man almost lost me.
But the lovely prose kept me reading, then Merliss’s loyalty and bravery shone through her grousing, and the story grabbed me. In fact, I finished the book in two sittings, one lasting until one in the morning, an easy read given the book’s flawless editing and production, and high-grade prose.
My only quibbles are with the first chapter, as mentioned above, and the humans, who are by in large an uninspiring bunch. And she felt loosely bonded to her coworkers, the healer and his apprentice. The author lays out Merliss’s loyalties to the humans. But I still wondered why she bothered with them. In addition, most of her forest friends are ambivalent characters, mostly frenemies, but I suppose that’s a cat’s life.
The book’s Wind in the Willow’s vibe should appeal to readers of animal based fantasy, such as the Redwall series and possibly Hollow Kingdom.
I love cats! This book was amazing. Very sad was the part where they were killing and trying to down the cats…
The main character is a Girl who was turned into a Cat a VERY long time ago. She stays with various Cunning People throughout her life as a cat trying to help teach the various apprentices.
This is a world where there are a large variety of magical beings.