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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not without its charms, but this collection of mostly unconnected short stories surrounding the "Watership Down" rabbits (and their ancestors) is a far cry from the beloved novel that precedes it. It's more fascinating in that they read almost as traditional folk tales, sometimes complete with little morals. But anyone looking for a true sequel to "Watership" will be disappointed. It's a good, light read but completely inessential.
I read [b:Watership Down|76620|Watership Down (Watership Down, #1)|Richard Adams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405136931l/76620._SY75_.jpg|1357456] for the first time last year and I fell in love. It's such a good book. So I was really excited to be able to pick up a copy of these short stories at my local library.
I enjoyed this, but not as much as I enjoyed the original book. The stories are broken up into three parts. Part I are the stories about El-ahrairah that all rabbits know (including some that were alluded to in the original book). Part II are stories about El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle's journey home from their visit to the Black Rabbit of Inlé. Part III is a short continuation of the lives of the Watership rabbits since the end of Watership Down.
I feel like the longer the book went on, the more disjointed it started to feel. I liked Part I the best of the three parts. It felt like a collection of short stories and you can tell Adams had them thought out prior to writing them. Part II had a similar feeling of forethought, but because all the chapters build on one another, it can start to drag a bit. Part III felt like Adams didn't have a plan. The chapters seem more fantastical than what was in the original book. The whole part with Thinial seems like Adams striving for better female representation, but it doesn't serve a narrative purpose and only works half of the time. The idea of co-Chief Rabbits was a nice touch, but again, only works half of the time. Bigwig has randomly regressed to not believing in Fiver's abilities again and being kind of sexist towards Hyzenthlay, which made me dislike his character a bit. I didn't quite understand ending on the Campion chapter. The ending felt like it shouldn't have been the ending. I didn't really care about Efrafa or the Efrafan rabbits, so to end on one of them was a weird choice.
It was a pleasant visit to a cozy burrow, but with some weird choices. 4/5
Popsugar Reading Prompt: A book with a made-up language
I enjoyed this, but not as much as I enjoyed the original book. The stories are broken up into three parts. Part I are the stories about El-ahrairah that all rabbits know (including some that were alluded to in the original book). Part II are stories about El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle's journey home from their visit to the Black Rabbit of Inlé. Part III is a short continuation of the lives of the Watership rabbits since the end of Watership Down.
I feel like the longer the book went on, the more disjointed it started to feel. I liked Part I the best of the three parts. It felt like a collection of short stories and you can tell Adams had them thought out prior to writing them. Part II had a similar feeling of forethought, but because all the chapters build on one another, it can start to drag a bit. Part III felt like Adams didn't have a plan. The chapters seem more fantastical than what was in the original book. The whole part with Thinial seems like Adams striving for better female representation, but it doesn't serve a narrative purpose and only works half of the time. The idea of co-Chief Rabbits was a nice touch, but again, only works half of the time. Bigwig has randomly regressed to not believing in Fiver's abilities again and being kind of sexist towards Hyzenthlay, which made me dislike his character a bit. I didn't quite understand ending on the Campion chapter. The ending felt like it shouldn't have been the ending. I didn't really care about Efrafa or the Efrafan rabbits, so to end on one of them was a weird choice.
It was a pleasant visit to a cozy burrow, but with some weird choices. 4/5
Popsugar Reading Prompt: A book with a made-up language
I liked this little follow up to Watership Down. Although clearly intended as a companion book and not another journey-epic on par with the first, it was an interesting extention. I liked reading more about the trickster rabbit's exploits, although some adventures were a little odd and confusing, compared to the more traditional ones of the first book. The Watership Down warren stories were not especially exciting, but still fun little glimpses of the future.
My feminist side did appreciate Hyzenthlay being named co-Chief though. I always liked her. ;)
My feminist side did appreciate Hyzenthlay being named co-Chief though. I always liked her. ;)
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i loved watership down so obviously i had to read tales from watership down. this book really just consists of short stories regarding el-ahrairah in the first two parts and then the last part focuses more on events after the efrafan attack in the first book. it was nice to hear more about this universe and the rabbits within that i fell so in love with. some of the stories were odd, some were sad, but all were interesting. i especially loved the little doodles at the start of each part and may one day get them framed or tattooed. i truly just love these rabbits.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
I'm a Huge fan of Watership Down. I don't know what it is necessarily that speaks so much to me about it. I loved the fables and world building, how they were woven so perfectly into the narrative, the philosophical themes, and how the POV would switch to the most perfect characters to hold the tension of the story at the most perfect time.
Tales from Watership Down is definitely a fun addition to the series. It has plenty of big thought provoking stories worthy of the original book - however, the stories are definitely something separate from the original. It didn't beat you over the head with characters that you already loved, but used them as supporting cast to introduce you to more characters and stories. It's a happy medium of the right amount of new and old. I could tell that Richard Adams was telling these stories from a different time than the original - especially without inclusion of many female centric stories (my only complaint about Watership Down).
It's not something that can stand alone imo, but it's definitely worth checking out if you wanted to feel the same warmth intelligence and general vibe of the original.
Tales from Watership Down is definitely a fun addition to the series. It has plenty of big thought provoking stories worthy of the original book - however, the stories are definitely something separate from the original. It didn't beat you over the head with characters that you already loved, but used them as supporting cast to introduce you to more characters and stories. It's a happy medium of the right amount of new and old. I could tell that Richard Adams was telling these stories from a different time than the original - especially without inclusion of many female centric stories (my only complaint about Watership Down).
It's not something that can stand alone imo, but it's definitely worth checking out if you wanted to feel the same warmth intelligence and general vibe of the original.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
Considering how great Watership Down was, the sequel was a weak and disjointed effort. Lots of things came out of nowhere and made no sense (not even counting the Ghost and Speedwell's stories-apparently intentionally nonsense).
Overall, lacked charm and couldn't get me to suspend belief like the first one. Still mildly enjoyable (especially El-ahrairah's adventures), but the shortness of each tale made everything too abrupt.
Overall, lacked charm and couldn't get me to suspend belief like the first one. Still mildly enjoyable (especially El-ahrairah's adventures), but the shortness of each tale made everything too abrupt.
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated