It is full pain, fear, hope and perseverance, just like the real world. Though described as a fantasy novel, there is nothing particularly ‘fantastic’ about the world of ‘Shardik’. In fact, ‘Shardik’ explores all aspects of the world that Kelderek inhabits and tells a tale within which one can find many religious parallels, especially to the stories of Jesus and Moses. The encounter sets in motion a chain of events that prompts the village to attack a nearby town, changing the land’s rulers and then prompts a meeting with slave owners, leading Shardik into a final bloody confrontation. He alerts his village and the High Priestess of their religion who come to believe that Kelderek is now a herald and disciple of Shardik. Kelderek believes that the animal is Shardik, a bear invested with the power of God. The bear saves Kelderek from an encounter with a leopard. Out in the forest, a fire has raged and driven a huge bear into his path. The novel’s size and scope reflects the eponymous beast itself, it is in places intense and cutting and at other points the story wanders, lost in the forest.Ī brief explanation of the story: Kelderek is our key protagonist, a hunter for his village who is known for his child-like qualities, a lack of maturity. Richard Adams’ second novel ‘Shardik’, published two years after the massively successful ‘Watership Down’, is a true beast of a book.
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