From: Denise I. Matulka <dimatulka>
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 15:49:00 +0800

Hello:

I disagree with the statement that if you read "Watership Down" you can skip "Fire Bringer" by David Clement?vies. I think Clement?vies created a rich HISTORICAL world, based on myth that is compelling and rewarding. That in of itself makes it unlike Adams's book, which has a modern setting. I have slowly come to love animal fantasy and found this deer saga as thrilling to read as "Watership Down" was. It is quite serious as opposed to say, Brian Jacques, whose Redwall novels I adore!

I must add, I find that I think I am drawn to fantasy because a single title either evolves into trilogy or was planned that way by the author. A trilogy or quartet is a chance to revisit a fabulous other world....again and again...

I qualify Cynthia Voigt's "Kingdom" titles (e.g. Elske, Jackaroo...) as stand alone novels because while Voigt makes illusion to earlier events and sets all the novels in the Kingdom, each book stands by itself as as an individual work. I really like the "series" and find Voigt's world fascinating to return to with each new novel.
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Denise I. Matulka Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign dimatulka at alltel.net matulka at uiuc.edu
(217) 332F22 Imaginary Lands: Promoting Children's Literature http://imaginarylands.org

She was a woman sawed in half It was done by a bad magician There was a point at which she just had to laugh You could appreciate her position

Her legs in one way, and her head another She just kept thinking about...walking away They tried to put her back together underneath the cover But her heart kept getting in, getting in the way

 From "Woman Sawed in Half" (1997) John Hiatt
Received on Tue 27 Nov 2001 01:49:00 AM CST