![]() ![]() ![]() There will be more to follow, but we will get the ball rolling with a few of my very favorite! Some of the books I enjoy reading most include dragons, so it is not surprising that many will appear here in my personal collection. ![]() Readers, almost universally, have fallen in love with dragons and I am no exception. Dragon myths are common, with ancient civilizations and tribes from all over the world talking, singing, and writing about these intelligent creatures. They are powerful creatures, often full of wit and magic, and can pose as a significant threat when angered. One of the earliest literary dragons is seen in Beowulf, an epic poem that may have been composed as early as 700AC. Photo Credit: fractalznet via Compfight ccįor this installment, and in honor of one of the most fascinating creatures in fantasy literature, I will be adding a few books that all have one major thing in common – dragons! These brilliant beasts have been used as popular devices in stories for hundreds of years. ![]()
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![]() ![]() When Willa’s discoveries make her question the padaran’s decisions, she must choose between subservience to her clan’s new ways or accept the consequences of defiance. The padaran convinces them, “There is no I, only we.” Willa is the clan’s best thief because those who don’t return to Dead Hollow with a full satchel are denied food or physically punished. He demands that the young ones steal from the day-folk. The Faeran dwindle under the strict rule of their deified leader, the padaran. The day-folk build unnatural dwellings from the carcasses of murdered trees and hunt the forest’s animals with their killing-sticks. The year is1900 and, in the Great Smoky Mountains, Willa’s world is changing. Though Willa’s streaked and spotted skin blends into natural surroundings, she is as real as any other creature. Their kind are called “the old ones” by the Cherokee and “night-spirits” by the white-skinned homesteaders. ![]() ![]() Willa lives with her mamaw, who teaches her how to communicate with plants and animals. In Willa of the Wood, a middle-grade fantasy novel, twelve-year-old Willa is one of the last woodwitches in her Faeran clan. ![]() ![]() ![]() Yet he finds himself returning home repeatedly, as if he can’t quite detach himself from the ‘thread’ that keeps him tied to his family. Denny Whitshank is a typically rebellious teenager, anxious to break out of the confines of his home. The dependence the Whitshank family have on one other is woven deeply in the family and the text, even subconsciously for some of the characters. One of the values I gained from this novel was the value of family. The fact that the story begins with emphasis on a ‘normal’ family shows that there is, in fact, no such thing. This beautifully written novel gently enthrals, coaxing the reader to wonder about the story behind each wonderfully individual character. A Spool of Blue Thread cracks open a window to peer into the sprawling, diverse lives of a ‘regular’ family. ![]() ![]() He is half, and because he is half he is always in anguish and tension he cannot celebrate. He has not been allowed to bloom in his totality. ![]() A humanoid is one who looks like a human being but is utterly crippled, paralyzed. ![]() In the past we were not able to create real human beings, but humanoids. That’s what has been the case in the past. You will become a battle-ground, a civil war. It will go on finding ways and means to overcome the part that you have imposed upon yourself. He can never be healthy and can never be whole, the other half that has been denied will go on taking revenge. Once you divide man in two, you create misery and hell for him. This is just utterly mad it is unbelievable. In three thousand years, five thousand wars have been fought. The whole past of humanity has been sick, unhealthy, insane. ![]() The old concept of man was of either/or materialist or spiritualist, moral or immoral, sinner or saint. On 1st January 1979, someone asked Osho what his message to humanity was and here are some excerpts from Osho’s answer to that question : ![]() |