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Richard Adams's Watership Down was a number one bestseller, a stunning work of the imagination, and an acknowledged modern classic. In Shardik Adams sets a different yet equally compelling tale in a far-off fantasy world. 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 up 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.… (more)
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Although the story is basically about a man hunting a big bear, it’s also about worship, slavery, pride, humility, savagery, betrayal, forgiveness and contentment. It’s meandering and at times overflowing with flowery passages, particularly ones describing emotions, but it works. Although I prefer Maia the two novels complement one another, and I really enjoyed seeing the Beklan Empire from another point of view.
The concept is that God has come to earth as a giant bear / sent a giant bear as his
It falls into a lot of the cliches one would imagine a book written by a white Englishman in the 70s about a fantasy empire would. There are beautiful dusky priestesses, slavery, mystic rituals, etc etc.
It is also unbearably slow, after the sort of page turning YA fiction I've been whizzing through recently.
The only bit I remembered clearly from reading it as a child is the section where the hero is captured by the slave trader. It was one of the first and most striking books I'd read where the hero is completely subjected to someone Evil, and it's still powerful (if, with more critical eyes, slightly cliched slave-misery-lit)
But it is, in the end, a mostly-engaging fairy tale / allegory. The morals are a little heavy handed - people mess up when they pretend that their own desires for power are what God really wants, there is always forgiveness and a chance of redemption for those that seek it, what goes around comes around and what you inflict on others you will suffer yourself, and 'there isn't to be a deserted or unhappy child in the world. In the end, that's the world's only security: children are the future, you see. If there were no unhappy children then the future would be secure.' But they are good morals.
I loved this book for its detail, which helps the reader become absorbed in the histories and coming fates of the nations involved. The characterisation is for the most part well handled, but I felt that like Tolkien, there was a certain amount of descriptive work which could have been done without, and was merely reiterating character development which had already been covered. There were genuinely poignant moments, which I will not spoil for the reader, but overall I found the book a bit of a slog. More suited to the Lord of the Rings fan than a die-hard lover of Watership Down.
As I was reading it I was trying to remember
Some of the details, especially toward the end of the book, were almost too graphic to read. Adams certainly knew how to personify evil. And I felt so sorry for the poor bear! However, the secret message intended for Kelderek from Shardik and the message for all of the readers is certainly a valuable one. I'm very glad I finally took the time to read it.
Strong descriptive writing and a powerful evocation of nature shore up this book. Action set pieces are well done. The weakest element of the book is the depiction of the key characters who never seem real to me.
I listened to the Audible version, read by John Lee, which was well-done and added another wonderful depth to it.
It is effectively a straight-up fantasy novel with all the trimmings - action, adventure, intrigue - but it has never truly been marketed as such, for some reason. It does lack the quest motif, substituting a study of how religion guides us, or how it is used to manipulate others to do our bidding. Countless wars have been fought in the name of religion, and the actions of this fictional bear cult stand as metaphor for any one of them. Kelderick is portrayed as more given to rational self interest when the bear isn't around; this element is well done.
Adams' message seems to be "Woe betide those who believe they know the will of God", but the bear Shardik is a powerful symbol that leaves generous room for it to be interpreted in multiple ways. Whether it is a god's messenger on earth or only a titanic force of nature, it presents as "something greater than ourselves", and the story revolves around how people react to that, what they build around it, and what are the consequences. In my preferred view Shardik is merely a big dumb animal following its nature, and Bel-ka-Trazet knew what he was talking about. I'm impressed that I felt welcomed to read it that way and enjoy the story without a narrower view being forced upon me. I was neither spoon-fed nor gagged with one.