Duncton Wood

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Moles wander in and out of the plot, characters shift personality with no reason other than, literally, magic. Mind you, I also have books two, three, and four on my bookshelves which makes me wonder if I am ever going to get around to reading them, or whether they are going to be tossed out at the next Church Fete – we will see. Despite these issues though I'd still say Duncton wood is a must read for anyone who loves characterization, natural description and a sense of spirituality. This is probably not something that would be evident to readers upon a first reading, and only really occurs when going on to later parts of the series, however one other miner flaw in Duncton wood is that of pacing.

Rebecca loves life and brings joy to all she encounters but her father is Mandrake, the most feared mole in Duncton, a leader whose control is marked with blood. I would probably read this novel differently now than when I first read it, but my rating reflects my memory of Horwood's book as a life-changing experience. Just another Watership Down rip-off, I believe I said - and there's some truth in that accusation, but only in the sense that any novel with anthropomorphic animals set in the English countryside and in which humanity plays only a tangential role is published in the long shadow of Richard Adam's masterpiece. Accompanied by Boswell, the strange scribemole from Uffington, Bracken sets out to revive the ancient rituals and disperse the evil from Duncton. Duncton Wood - the first novel in the Duncton series - ranges among the all-time best phantasy novels of all time.Willows and if you’re one of those people who can’t help but well up when you hear Bright Eyes then this book will have you reaching for the cheap whiskey and razorblades. But along comes a hero: a young mole named Bracken who leaves to find himself and a way to win his fight against the evil of Rune and Mandrake while winning the paw of his love, Rebecca, Mandrakes daughter. the fact that Duncton Wood was published in 1980 does not date this or the others that followed they could have been written yesterday.

Art and nature, all brought together by Horwood's unique ability to pull you into this world he creates in such a way that you never want to leave. Horwood is an excellent author, with the ability to balance exposition and active storytelling almost perfectly, and to create amazingly believable mythology. This is in fact where Duncton wood always scores over watership down for me, since where watership down has a somewhat impersonal style which often emphasized the animalistic nature of the characters, (I don't want a long explanation of how rabbits can't count up to four when I'm just introduced to a new character), duncton marries the natural and the anthropomorphic flawlessly, where fights for food, territory and mates go hand in hand with very human relationships, despite the fact that the characters are moles. My verdict: Very well-written, and full of gems, but not recommended for any but the dedicated reader.Yeah I think part of the problem with Horwood’s novels being little known, is that they are thought of as kids or at the very best, YA novels, due to the fact that the characters are moles. A century after the great days of moledom described in the great Chronicles, Privet, a lonely female pilgrim from the north, arrives in fabled Duncton Wood. If you read it from the wrong mindset or point of view, I can see how it might not work as well, but for anyone who still holds out hope for a whimsical, powerful, unquenchable love, this book connects to your inner-most longings and brings them powerfully to life. This stinker is right up there with that terrible Erin Hunter series about dogs, and its going right into my recycling bin.

His son is still a little geeky and odd and I still love them and enjoy them as one of those series that I turn to too reread now and again just like a comfy old pair of jeans (new item of clothing! Darker and Edgier: While Duncton Wood had its share of of horror, Duncton Quest brings it up to eleven with the Disciples of The Word's massacre of the Uffington scribemoles. For example, there is a lazy "world building" technique that mediocre fantasy authors sometimes employ; they take something familiar and give it a different name.And there were parts of it that were beautiful: Cairn and Rebecca's story; the loving descriptions of Duncton Wood, which is near where the author lives; the first journey through the Chamber of Roots. I never once wanted to skim through any of the descriptive passages, and I really enjoyed the anthropomorphism (now that didn't touch-type quickly) - moles doing the things that moles do, but also interacting like humans in community. The writing is a pleasure to read and the author is not afraid to face the 'realities' of life for a small country mammal like a mole, with beloved characters being killed off with little emotion but a great deal of effectiveness. There also some parts of the system that are almost forgotten, and there are also some customs that have been forgotten as well, so that the moles are using their centre, the silence of the Stone at the centre of the system.

It is a genuinely powerful fantasy epic and it’s very well written (although Horwood could do with showing a bit more often and telling a bit less, particularly when it comes to character traits). I don’t guess that is generally a problem but it does feel like somebody is simply trying to copy an idea that was originally quite successful.THE DUNCTON CHRONICLES This series of six novels was published over thirteen years, starting with Duncton Wood in 1980. In short: in discovering Horwood avod readers discover a whole new wonderland of varied kinds of fiction, well worth pursuing. Furthermore, to emphasise the religious nature of the story, we even have the protagonists let one of the antagonists go free, namely because they do not see a reason to kill him, but also because the antagonist (who isn’t Mandrake by the way but one of his lieutenants), has become such a pathetic individual that killing him will simply make them no better than him.