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Ah, that's an interesting point - I keep meaning to read the original but haven't got around to it, though obviously familiar with (a version of) the story through adaptations. I think part of me was programmed by the Just So Stories into associating Kipling with short stories and it slightly puts me off reading his longer works.The Oath of Protection, is reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling's truce of the water hole during the drought in the jungle book (and both are based on actual observed behavior by naturalists during drought and forest fires, when traditional predator/prey relationships are often suspended by the greater immediate peril).
Hmm, not sure, I'd have to re-read the bit in question to be certain.One slight prequel error I would point to is that whilst I'm not sure it's explicit that there had been other Assemblies before, the way the one Badger's father chaired is referred to as the last Assembly and the Oath is considered traditional gave me a strong impression that whilst they were certainly unusual, it was a pre-existing concept and I thus found it weird when they have to invent it in the prequel.
Though this is possibly just rose tinting and everyone there having grown up aware of that one, I guess.
This feels fairly "Owen-brand" in an indefinable way.I've also never actually watched the TV series.
Kipling's best work was short stories and poetry, but as with Williamson's work don't let his politics put you off. Puck of Pook's Hill, Rewards and Fairies, Plain Tales from the Hills...The only thing he wasn't very good at was comedy. His funniest stories "the Potter Prince" and "The finances of the Gods" are both retelling of original Indian stories, with "The Sending of Danu Da" as the exception that proves the rule.Ah, that's an interesting point - I keep meaning to read the original but haven't got around to it, though obviously familiar with (a version of) the story through adaptations. I think part of me was programmed by the Just So Stories into associating Kipling with short stories and it slightly puts me off reading his longer works.
Good article; I did enjoy reading about how the prequel is/was very good from a prequel point of view, but not necessarily from a reading point of view. That leads to an interesting dichotomy: which is more important in a prequel (or even a sequel) - consistency or fun? That's the sort of thing which gets discussed a lot for AH, if you substitute 'plausibility' for 'consistency.' I can forgive a lot if the story's good.
This seems a trickier one than the fun-versus-plausibility because the promise of a prequel is "this is consistent" and "this is relevant to understanding the story/character", whereas the book @Skinny87 reviewed a while back where Teddy Roosevelt hunts down Jack the Ripper isn't promising to be plausible (and you probably don't want it to be, you want to see the Bull Moose diss snobby Brits and punch Jack out or something).
That's fascinating - a good example of that period in the 90s where it felt like more labour-of-love effort was put into this sort of thing than at any time before or since, and it's hard to explain why or even define what I mean, but if you lived through that period you know what I'm talking about.I had the cassettes as a kid which manage to be an interquel as the animals - well, four for budget reasons - are telling the story of the first series to Fox's cubs, and then they were telling the story of the second series to Bold's son. Which not only fit the timeline well, they get around the limited cast by having the characters comment on the ones who aren't here (Owl sneers Mister Pheasant "was playing for sympathy" in his last moments) or do impressions of them (Toad desperately wants to do the farm dog, is allowed, does a terrible "My master wants you dead. Woof woof.") It's a great way of handling a small budget and cast.
How is the series so good at managing itself? I'm guessing part of it is that we're dealing with animals with short lives so logically there's something always happening to them and there's always new ones popping up and it's impossible to ignore the spectre of death.
That's fascinating - a good example of that period in the 90s where it felt like more labour-of-love effort was put into this sort of thing than at any time before or since, and it's hard to explain why or even define what I mean, but if you lived through that period you know what I'm talking about.