The Book of the Dun Cow

Rating:
Summary: The best fantasy book ever
Review: "The Book of the Dun Cow" is easily the best fantasy book ever written, beating out even such great classics as "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia."

Walter Wangerin Jr., a minister, uses animals to tell a tale of good versus evil. Unlike Animal Farm it does not carry a political message; rather, this is a spiritual one. It is well worth it to read and discover the essence of the greatest and most dangerous war there ever was--the war between Chaunticleer the rooster and Wyrm the serpent, which symbolizes the real war humans wage every day in the battle of good versus evil.

If you read just one book this year, this should be the one.

Rating:
Summary: Poignant and Exciting
Review: I'm a pretty big fantasy fan. My favorites are usually the classics like Watership Down, Lord of the Rings, and The Neverending Story. The Book of the Dun Cow certainly stands with these masterpieces. In fact, The Book of the Dun Cow, in my opinion, probably surpasses them.

The fantasy is set in an animal kingdom around a chicken coop. Chauntecleer is the rooster of the coop, in charge of all of the animals in the surrounding forest. Chauntecleer is a strong and noble, though flawed, leader who guides the peaceful creatures who depend on him. The peace is broken when the Ultimate Evil tries to break through into dominion over this world. Chauntecleer's kingdom has to find the courage and strength the fight the evil forces of the part rooster, part snake Cockatrice.

This is one exciting book. There are such strong characters (such as Chauntecleer and Mundo Cani Dog) that you fall in love with. There are the exciting epic battles to be fought. The real greatness of this novel is its spiritual depth. In this battle between good and evil, Chauntecleer and Mundo Cani Dog and the others are only able to fight because of their faith and the spiritual exercises they practice. They are only able to fight back and do the right thing because of the strength offered them by the Dun Cow. This is an extraordinary novel that almost anybody would love.

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book
Review: If like me, you've thought Christian fiction really sucks, you need to discover Walter Wangerin (anong others). This is good thoughtful prose by anyone's standards. It is the antithesis of anything else you might find in the Christian fiction section. It is actually good. unlike a series of novels on the apocalypse that shall remain nameless.

Rating:
Summary: A Fable for All-time.
Review: THE BOOK OF THE DUN COW is a highly entertaining, yet serious thought provoking novel that uses animals instead of people to tell about the universal battle between good and evil that continues to this day. Though the characters of the book are animals, the story is more allegorical, like C.S. Lewis' CHRONICLES OF NARNIA rather than satirical like George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM. The characterization is deep and the actions believable. The book is full of Christian symbolism and dives deep into issues of faith. Yet, with all the multi-layers and profound meaning, the book is never weighed down by it's depth and proves to be a page-turning, great story that is hard to put down.

Rating:
Summary: Imagine animal farm with religion instead of politics.
Review: What Orwell's Animal Farm did for politics, Wangerin's Book of the Dun Cow does for religion. A previous reviewer commented on its place in the canon of animal myths, etc., but what he missed is the fact that this is a damn entertaining, don't-stop-turning-the-pages-until-the-fingers-are-blistered read filled with deeply flawed characters, believably-motivated action, and stunning language. Make sure you have the sequel/continuation The Book of Sorrows, handy. And, oddity of oddities, Wangerin has assisted in the creation of a musical theater piece based on The Book of the Dun Cow. It has yet to have a major production, but the workshop I saw indicated that his adapters are well on their way to helping this remarkable book reach a much wider audience