Shardik — (1974) Publisher: Shardik is a fantasy of tragic character, centered on the long-awaited reincarnation of the gigantic bear Shardik and his appearance among the half-barbaric Ortelgan people. Mighty, ferocious, and unpredictable, Shardik changes the life of every person in the story. His advent commences a momentous chain of events. Kelderek the hunter, who loves and trusts the great bear, is swept on by destiny to become first devotee and then prophet, then victorious soldier, then ruler of an empire and priest-king of Lord Shardik-Messenger of God-only to discover ever-deeper layers of meaning implicit in his passionate belief in the bear’s divinity. A gripping tale of war, adventure, horror and romance, Shardik, on a deeper level, is a remarkable exploration of mankind’s universal desire for divine incarnation.

The Girl in a Swing — (1980) Publisher: Who is Karin, of no past, so vibrant, so beautiful? And what is to become of Alan Desland, the unworldly Englishman who falls under her spell? This is the haunted story of Alan’s love for a woman beautiful and voluptuous beyond experience or even imagination, yet at the same time mysterious and disturbing as a pagan goddess. What darkness underlay the bliss and fear she inspired? Like a slowly intensifying August thunderstorm, the dark forces gather in a crescendo of terror.

The Iron Wolf: And Other Stories — (1980) In this volume Richard Adams has collected together nineteen enchanting folk-tales from almost as many parts of the world – from Europe to China and from Polynesia to the Arctic Circle. Each has a special magic, an aura that is sometimes beautiful and fascinating, sombre and frightening, or exciting and colourful. But what unites all these stories is the essential quality of folk-lore, something that transcends the boundaries of nations, of custom and time, that gives them their permanence and universality of appeal. ‘Authors need folk-tales,’ Richard Adams says, ‘in the same way as composers need folk-song. They’re the headspring of the narrator’s art, where the story stands forth at its simple, irreducible best. They don’t date, any more than dreams, for they are the collective dreams of humanity.’ In order to preserve as far as possible the immediacy and directness of authentic folk story-telling, each of the nineteen tales is presented as being told by an imagined narrator to one or more hearers at a particular time and place, sometimes past, sometimes present. However, the reader is never told the identity either of the teller or his hearers, but is left free to infer both them and the occasion solely from the narrator’s own words. This original technique adds a novel dash of piquancy to this fine collection.

The Unbroken Web: Stories and Fables — (1980) Gathers tales about the origins of things, the characteristics of animals, and encounters with magic, fear, and enchantment.

Maia — (1984) Publisher: Maia is a fifteen-year-old peasant beauty growing up in poverty beside Lake Serrelind. Seduced by her stepfather and betrayed by her jealous mother, Maia finds herself in the hands of slave-traders to be sold as a concubine. She attracts the attention of General Kembri who uses her to obtain information from her admirers and her adventures uncover a plot for civil war. Proclaimed as a heroine, she finds that one sinister result of fame is to have enemies in high places and Maia has to struggle for survival through treachery, cruelty, lost love and a final flight through a wild empire to escape a crumbling regime.

Tales from Watership Down — (1996) Return Again to the Warren for the All-New Adventures of Fiver, Hazel, BigWig, Dandelion, and The Legendary El-Ahrairah. In one of the most enduring classics of contemporary literature, author Richard Adams enthralled millions of readers by creating a glorious world of danger and discovery at once uniquely strange and strikingly similar to our own. Come back now to this remarkable society hidden beneath the tall grasses and open fields; to old friends and new heroes whose courage and tenacity are tested at every turn by predatory nature and the short-sighted cruelties of man. Come back to the excitement and enchantment, to the heartsoaring wonder of a place called Watership Down.