Your Favorite "Talking Animal" Books (Redwall, Warriors, Watership Down, etc.)

[Abomine]

I'm reading this right now. The book is named after the titular bear character Shardik. It's pretty awesome so far, though I'm not really sure if this would qualify for this thread. I'm just trying to find a subtle way to bump this topic back up again. I'm not doing a very good job, am I?

I'm too lazy to provide the premise of the novel myself, so I'll just copy/paste the premise according to GoodReads:

Shardik is a fantasy of tragic character, centered on the long-awaited reincarnation of the gigantic bear Shardik and his appearance among the half-barbaric Ortelgan people. Mighty, ferocious, and unpredictable, Shardik changes the life of every person in the story. His advent commences a momentous chain of events. Kelderek the hunter, who loves and trusts the great bear, is swept on by destiny to become first devotee and then prophet, then victorious soldier, then ruler of an empire and priest-king of Lord Shardik-Messenger of God-only to discover ever-deeper layers of meaning implicit in his passionate belief in the bear's divinity.

What's especially cool about this book is that Shardik is supposedly the living incarnation of God (like if Jesus was a giant hungry brown bear instead of a nice young Jewish man), but in the end, you're still never really sure if Shardik really is Bear-Jesus, or if he's just an abnormally large but otherwise normal brown bear, and everything that happens to the people around him is just a string of strange coincidences.

By the way, if you hadn't noticed already from looking at the cover of the book, this is by the same guy who wrote Watership Down.

[Miles101]

I've never read Watership Down, which makes me sad because I really want to! I am, however, a huuuuge fan of Redwall. Warriors as well, though not as much due to the less-elegant writing.

BUT
LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH

You know the move "The Seret of NIMH"? That was based on a book. Now, I had the misfortune of reading the book before seeing the Don Bluth movie, which completely ruins the glory of the book. Seriously, though, it's my absolute favorite talking animal book and if you haven't read it, you should give it a try!

[Abomine]

Watership Down is awesome. Go read it as soon as you can. You will never look at bunnies the same way again. If you don't have the time to read the book, watch the movie (which is the next-best thing).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gFO8dm5QeDk

You're the second person so far to recommend Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I saw the movie and loved it, and if the movie was awesome, I can only imagine how mind-blowingly awesome the book is.

[Abomine]

Oh man! I can't believe I forgot this one!

The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams (who wrote Watership Down and Shardik)

Have any of you guys ever read this book? It's very sad and very gory, but it's a beautiful story with great characters. It also has a lot to say about humanity and compassion and how we treat our fellow animals.

Read this if you're in the mood for a good cry. It's not for everyone, though. Also, if you're going to read this, make sure it is NOT the first edition. The first edition has a very tragic, heart-breaking ending that ticked off readers so much that Richard Adams had to revise the ending and make it a happy one for all of the other edtions to follow.

It's also a movie. The movie, like the first edition of the book, does not have a happy ending.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBxfOvx7QmU&feature=player_detailpage

[Abomine]

Added a new book to my list:


Don't let the cutsey cover fool you. This is WAY darker and more intense than the Disney movie (and even the Disney movie could be pretty scary at times).