The Navigating Fox is a fantastical fable of "knowledgeable creatures", in the vein of Brian Jacques's Redwall series but for adults, by Hugo and Nebula Award finalist Christopher Rowe
"Half fable, half caper, and a pure joy to read."—Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of Book of Night
"There's nothing like it; you have to read it." —Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of The Once and Future Witches
Quintus Shu'al, the world's only navigating fox, is in disgrace after guiding an expedition to its doom, leaving no survivors. One year later, Quintus is offered the chance to redeem himself: he will need to lead a motley, fractious team—both human and animal—all the way to the gates of Hell.
Reviews
"Half fable, half caper, and a pure joy to read. If I have to go to hell, this is the fox I want to take me there."—Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of Book of Night
"A modern Aesop’s fable . . . [and] a gentle story about one fox’s place in the world, a work that might bring to mind Neil Gaiman’s “The Dream Hunters.” A short, dreamy novel for a cold fall day."—The Wall Street Journal
"The Navigating Fox is something only Christopher Rowe could deliver: a twisty New Weird noir mystery that follows a bad priest, a pair of mapmaking raccoons, a bison queen, and a very clever fox. There's nothing like it; you have to read it." —Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of The Once and Future Witches
"A trip to Hell you're going to want to take: Christopher Rowe's The Navigating Fox asks the eternal question where do we come from? in a story that is completely charming, philosophical, enlightening, entertaining, and clever as, well, a fox."—Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor
"Whimsical, rakish, and touching—and also there are talking raccoons!"—Max Gladstone, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author
“As clever and daring as its eponymous namesake, The Navigating Fox is a rich, weird fable—stocked with a vivid cast of characters in a world that’s deeply peculiar, and completely fascinating.”—Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker and Flight Risk
"How mysterious is the Navigating Fox! But no more so than the bargains he strikes, the deceptions he weaves, and the paths he walks: geographical, political, ecumenical, and otherwise. The Navigating Fox is by turns charming, biting, enigmatic, languorous, and dangerous, and leaves the horizon just a bit more infinite than before."—C. S. E. Cooney, author of Saint Death’s Daughter
"The Navigating Fox is as charming a story as the fox himself is a narrator. I applaud this, the first, I hope, of many adventures to come."—Michael Swanwick, author of the Iron Dragon trilogy
"Effortlessly adept, Rowe's topographies guide us straight into the heart of an undiscovered country."—Richard Butner, author of The Adventurists
Rowe (These Prisoning Hills) builds a breathtaking world in this resonant tale of anthropomorphized animals . . . with perceptive descriptions enhancing the worldbuilding and taut, morally complicated action keeping the pages flying. Readers will savor this."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Quintus Shu’al is everything a hero should be—overconfident enough to get into trouble, while clever enough to get himself out. . . .Highly recommended for readers who love fantasies of talking, thinking animals but have had the misfortune to outgrow the “Redwall” series."—Library Journal, starred review
"Just as the story borrows from a rich variety of narrative traditions, this world is partly recognizable geography, partly medieval cartography, partly the story-space of legend and fable. Mostly, though, it’s a magical world of Rowe’s own invention, and, like The Navigating Fox as a whole, it’s not quite like anyplace we’ve been before."—Locus
"One of the finest and most humane writers of science fiction working today."—Kelly Link on These Prisoning Hills
“Meticulous prose, a generous heart, and a wild imagination—this is what we expect from Christopher Rowe, and this is what he continues to provide.”—Karen Joy Fowler on These Prisoning Hills
About the author: Christopher Rowe is the author of the critically acclaimed novellas The Navigating Fox and These Prisoning Hills, as well as a story collection regarded as one of best of recent years, Telling the Map. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Neukom, and Theodore Sturgeon Awards, as well as others. He lives in Kentucky, USA.