Must Reads

[Epona]

Watership Down is certainly not written for kids - although I first read it when I was about 8 or 9 and enjoyed every minute. It has many complexities and is as much comment on humanity as anything else. It's a very moving story and well written. I remember seeing the film which was quite good and at least in part managed to recreate some of the brooding atmosphere of the book.

Another Richard Adams book was also turned into an animation - Plague Dogs. I haven't read the book, but the film was very disturbing and gave me nightmares for ages - I have no idea why it was targeted at children, because it is about dogs that escape from a vivisection laboratory and they go through the most horrific psychological disturbance as a result of the experiments that have been performed on them. Absolutely horrific film. If you want to see something really disturbing, then see this, but only if you have a strong stomach.

------------------

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

Epona of The Laughing Hyenas

This is going to sound rather out of place in this forum but never the less I consider it a very! good book (if you like this sort of thing) I highly recomend Stephen Hawking's A Brief History Of Time. There are some excellent theories and fastenating insights by Hawking in this book.

------------------

"The beginning of eternity.
The end of time and space.
The start of every end,
And the end of every place."

Ooo I forgot to mention the Cleric Quintet by R.A Salvatore. Very well writen with some excellent characters..I think that the relationships and character reactions to certain things are more polished in this series than the Drizzt books...bit more belivable.

------------------

"The beginning of eternity.
The end of time and space.
The start of every end,
And the end of every place."

[Kaz]

Wheel of Time gets slower near the end, I think (still waiting for book 9 in paperback). I believe that is because Robert Jordan has difficulty killing characters (main or minor) while introducing new ones. It's still a great series, if you can keep track of all the characters! I also enjoyed the Redwall series, a bit like Watership Down in that it is about "cuddly" little animals, but the books are a bit bloodthirsty. Harry Potter is quite a fascinating read, I can't wait till book 5 comes out. "The Dragonbone Throne" by Tad Williams is very good. J.R.R. Tolkien has several flaws I think but is still a timeless read with a riveting storyline and interesting characters. Anne McCaffrey is very good too although frankly I don't like her scifi books as much as the Dragonriders of Pern. I also love... TERRY PRATCHETT!! His books are fantasy books too, if not like the others mentioned, but very funny ones. I think the books started out making fun of our world and gained personality and character on the way. "Good Omens" is hilarious, although it isn't part of the Discworld, my favorite. "Good Omens" is about the Apocalypse. Just don't read it if you're very religious

------------------


I am the great Kazara

Yes, pratchet is a must-read. Some books are better than others, but they're all a lot of fun. You should also try Ted Williams' "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" series and the Amber books by Roger Zelazny. Wim Gijssen has also written a number of good books (in Dutch), my favourite being "Rissan"

------------------
The last arrow of Legolas kindled in the air as it flew,
and plunged burning into the heart of a great wolf-chieftain.
All the others fled. -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings