A review by ocurtsinger
Shardik by Richard Adams

2.0

I was excited when I first heard about this book (as a side note Robert Michael Pyle's writing about the forest ecosystem of the Olympic Peninsula). I have read Watership Down and Plague Dogs and enjoyed both very much, so I expected great things from this book that sounded like it was more developed than either of those two. While quite thick, the novel never presents a richness of detail that you would expect. The descriptions in Adams' prose rely on preconceived notions from other examples of fantasy novels, and never ignite any really uniqueness or creativity. Cool concept, long and thoughtful but lackluster delivery. I don't know why I stuck with it until the end.