Watership Downs
Every so often, I come across yet another book being described as “Watership Down for/with x,” where x is some kind of animal.
(People don't always use exactly that phrase; sometimes they make more indirect comparisons, like “If you liked Watership Down, you'll love this book.”)
It recently occurred to me to make a list. Note that I haven't read (or, indeed, previously heard of) most of these, and have no opinion myself about whether any of them are actually like Watership Down.
I suppose it's inevitable that if an author writes a book featuring an animal society, centering on one particular kind of animals, readers and reviewers will describe it as being like the one extremely famous animal-society book that everyone knows about. So it's not really surprising that these comparisons would be made; I just find it interesting.
Here's a table showing the half-dozen I had encountered before, plus a dozen more I found by doing a quick web search:
Title | Author | Animal |
---|---|---|
Empire of the Ants | Bernard Werber | Ants |
Anthill | E. O. Wilson | Ants |
The Cold Moons | Aeron Clement | Badgers |
Warriors series | Erin Hunter | Cats |
Tailchaser's Song | Tad Williams | Cats |
The Collectors | Robert Carter | Cockroaches |
The Roaches Have No King | Daniel Evan Weiss | Cockroaches |
Fire Bringer | David Clement-Davies | Deer |
Hunter's Moon | Garry Kilworth | Foxes |
Heavenly Horse series | Mary Stanton | Horses |
Mouse Guard series | David Petersen | Mice |
Duncton Wood series | William Horwood | Moles |
Guardians of Ga'Hoole series | Kathryn Lasky | Owls |
Redwall series | Brian Jacques | Squirrels |
Silver Squirrel | Daniel Ritchie | Squirrels |
Woodstock Saga series | Michael Tod | Squirrels |
Wolf Chronicles series | Dorothy Hearst | Wolves |
I'm sure there are lots more. Any suggestions?