Unlike cats, bluebears have 27 lives, which can be very handy when one considers the manner in which the hero of this story repeatedly manages to avoid death only by a paw's breadth. The story describes Captain Bluebear's first 13 and a half lives.

From the author of the cult classic The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear comes another fantastical journey into Zamonia. This captivating story from the unique imagination of Walter Moers is astonishingly inventive, amusing and engrossing.

Walter Moers transports us to a magical world where reading is still a genuine adventure, where books can not only entertain people and make them laugh, but drive them insane or even kill them.

Living on the streets and dying of starvation, Echo the Crat - a multitalented creature resembling a cat - is compelled to sign a contract with Ghoolion the Alchemaster. This document gives Ghoolion the right to kill Echo at the next full moon and render him down for his fat, with which he hopes to brew a concoction that will make him immortal.

Over two hundred years ago Bookholm, the City of Dreaming Books, was destroyed by a catastrophic firestorm. Optimus Yarnspinner, who witnessed this disaster, has since become Zamonia's greatest writer and is resting on his laurels at Lindworm Castle.