First of all, I've got to say I love the artwork on this book coevr. It's not the art I've got on my edition, but it's nice. That pensive look on Bear's face, with the claw/finger up to his nose. But Otter -- how is he keeping that cloak/coat thing on? I'm not sure.
No matter. Another fine book here from Niel Hancock. Buddhist derring-do, meaning it's more a pure game of good versus evil than most fantasy tales. If you ask me, anyone who takes on this grenre is very brave to do so, since there is a lot of good fantasy writing and even more bad fantasy writing out there. Hancock is closer to the apex of this particular pyramid than the base, which is good for him. And us.
This tale helps us get to know Bear and Otter much better than the first, leaving the humanoids as kind of secondary characters to this book. Since I'm much for anthropomorphism, that's good for me. Equally important, Hancock keeps pace with a tightly-written tale that is, as with many fantasy novels, a journey, one laced with magic and danger.
The next book in the series awaits on my shelf. I'm switching gears a bit, however, and going ton to read St. Augustine's "Confessions." We'll see how that goes.
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