Bought this to read for a Book Release Challenge...read a genre you always avoid. This is "inspirational fiction" but since it is a National Book Award winner, too, I figured I would give it a go.

Walter Wangerin's profound fantasy concerns a time when the sun turned around the earth and the animals could speak, when Chauntecleer the Rooster ruled over a more or less peaceful kingdom. What the animals did not know was that they were the Keepers of Wyrm, monster of evil long imprisoned beneath the earth ... and Wyrm, sub terra, was breaking free.

I still haven't read more than a few pages. I think I'll pass on this now. Perhaps later....

it took a little while to get into the style of this book, but once i did i enjoyed it. kind of a strange hybrid of aesop's fables, various fairy tales, and a moral tale of good vs evil played out with simple animal characters.

strange, but an interesting read

RELEASE NOTES:

traded on bookrelay.com. now en route to its next reader

Arrived in the mail today as part of a book relay. Look forward to reading it!

Though Wangerin, in the afterward to this 25th anniversary edition, resists characterization of this novel as an allegory, it's difficult to read this "Beast Epic" without making comparisions between the characters found therein and Biblical counterparts. Because of the often overtly religious nature of this book, it may not be for everyone, but it certainly rings true in its observations and its ultimate battle of good vs. evil.

For anyone familiar with Walter Wangerin as a storyteller--which was my introduction to his work--the book will be an enjoyable read, even at its most difficult moments. He writes as he speaks, and the book flows with the cadence of his voice, which is sometimes the mournful cry of Mundo Cani Dog, the proud call of Chauntecleer the Rooster, the sad, sweet song of the Beautiful Pertelote, and the mysterious speakings of the elusive Dun Cow.