It's just that it felt that with more confident handling and sharper editing, it could have been so much better. In modern etiquette, this book would have a trigger warning for those occasions when the red in the black \ white\ red morality fears it's head. 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). 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. The way it flows and how the world is shaped but just the most simple of things like a adjective here instead of there.

I am sorry to have to mention Watership Down again but in both these books the English countryside is depicted in such a beautiful way that it helps English readers like I realised what a lovely country we do live in. I know you're thinking "Sounds like a library, but for money", and you're right, but my school library was garbage and Singapore's public libraries were heavily censored. It is like a old sweater made new by the fact that you are wearing it after changing which washing powder you use. Sharon from Fylde coast, Lancs Something drew me to the first Duncton book many years ago and I have never regretted stumbling upon them despite the darkness one is asked to traverse amongst the many adventures in all six volumes!The characters are lovable, you will really care what happens to them and the world they inhabit underground is well developed to the point of fascinating. I remember first reading Watership Down, Shardik, and Maia, books I also got at the base library, during the times my husband was doing assignments in Sardinia and I was back in our little house with our cat. There were several parts where the characters seemed to be just hanging about waiting for something interesting to happen. I know it was Horwood's first book, so whether it was purposeful or a happy accident, he wrote Bracken and Rebecca's romance so deftly that if you hadn't felt some of those longings, rejections, misunderstandings, and elations in your own life well then you had certainly WANTED to! Many authors are somewhat weary to talk about characters "feeling love" or "hating" yet Horwood is able to use such emotive descriptions in a subtle and layered way which not only emphasizes the fact that as moles his characters probably do have a more primal method of expressing their emotions than humans, and also lets him explore some dark and subtle relationships from many angles.

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. However, Rune is simply biding his time under the leadership of Mandrake and swears to take his place. Dan from South Africa First off, loved Duncton Wood like I will probably not love another book in my lifetime. Of course, the main instance of this emotional subtlety is the book's central relationship, the abiding romance betwene Bracken and Rebecca, a romance that goes through many stages and gradations' from initial mysterious attraction, to sudden intimacy, to dismissive unspoken tension, to physical love and finally a rich, fulfilled contentment which, (after it's progressing), is all the more fulfilling to us as readers for seeing how it came about.All of Willocks' books are bloody great reading, but this is his first "Dogs" novel (his previous novels are about, let's see.

I read this series when I was in my early teens and it really struck me as one of those amazing fantasy series where the writing itself was part of the story, like with David Eddings, J.I can absolutely agree with the comments in Floresiensis review and those by others, that the writing, characterization and spirituality of the series are something truly staggering especially in a time when descriptive writing seems to have become a thing of the past and many books read essentially like modified film scripts. Not only does Horwood have a brilliant grasp of the natural settings of his books, from temperature to plant life, but also he does not ram this down readers throats, so that the "beauty" of flowers, rocks and hills is not overshadowed by their scientific nature or even their uses in the life of moles. Hulver, the elder who still believes of the old ways, keeps quiet under the threatening glare of Mandrake and Rune; however, he still feels that what Mandrake is doing is completely wrong. 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. It's popular enough in the UK though that I found all the rest in paperback at the WH Smith at Heathrow airport!

Bracken was born on an April night in a warm dark burrow deep in the historic system of Duncton Wood, six moleyears after Rebecca. An allegorical tale of a community in crisis where a maddened, dictator like autocrat treats the moles as pawns and redistributes them or kills them in his play for godlike, unquestioned power. Messianic Archetype: Beechen, although his teachings lend themselves more towards Buddhism than Christianity.

Duncton Wood is a truly breathtaking and enchanting read that reminds us how savage yet full of love the animal kingdom truly is. Myron Daniel Steinman from CA I found the first book Duncton Wood by Lawrence Horworth book of hope; I might rate it a 9, although I did not like how "persons" with disabilities are portrayed. Secondly, for all you avid Horwood fans out there, begging for just a bit more, I have this: The Wolves of Time is another of Horwood's epic stories and definitely a must-read for anyone who enjoyed the Duncton Chronicles. About 20 years later I discovered a copy of Duncton Wood at a book sale and re-read it Again, I sobbed and laughed and loved this story. Loved the writing style, I always enjoy William Horwood's descriptions of the countryside and the flowers, animals and landscapes.