Challenge 9: Read a story with anthropomorphic characters

If you happen to have seen movies like Cars, Toy Story, or A Bug's Life, you know how interesting and fun it can be watching non-human characters behave the same as we do. While those movies may be aimed at children, there are many examples of stories with human-like characters that aren't typical children's fare. The subjects of this challenge are two such novels with anthropomorphic characters; Traveller, written by Richard Adams, and Three Bags Full, by Leonie Swann.

Traveller, published in 1988, introduces us to civil war veteran Traveller, the favorite horse of Robert E. Lee, general of the Confederate army. Taking place in his stall on Lee's ranch after the civil war, we listen as Traveller relates his experiences to the family cat, from his early years as a pony all the way until shortly after Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865.

When we first meet Traveller he is awakened in his stall while having an apparent nightmare of an attack by the “blue men”, for whom he harbors a life long hatred. Traveller's story starts during his happy and carefree youth as an award winning gelding, first named Jeff Davis, to the exciting moment when everybody was cheering and ready to go to war. Poor Jeff, not understanding, can't wait to get to this war they are all talking about, imagining a paradise for the horses and humans alike. Eventually sold to an officer and landing in Lee's care not long after, he is surprised when Lee seems to understand him in a way most humans don't. Not long into their partnership Lee renames him Traveller, a name pleasing to both man and horse. Bonding on their way to this fabled war, Traveller has his first combat experience, enduring the extreme noise from rifles and cannons, carefully wading through the confusion of combat, and meeting other terrified horses and confederate officers. The horses he meets all have their own interesting personalities, from the mean spirited, short tempered Richmond, to the enigmatic Brown Sorrel, a psychic similar to Fiver from his classic novel Watership Down. Occasionally there is an interstitial between Traveller's story where Adams gives a brief update on the status of the war, and general Lee's army in particular. And while the parts of the book about the war and its battles were interesting, I was more interested in the other things, such as Traveller's impression of the other generals and their horses, or anecdotes about his experiences with Lee after the war ended. Traveller is written as being in his older and wiser days, done with “the blue men” and ready to relax and enjoy spending time with his man, whom he calls affectionately calls Marse Robert, apparently something everybody called him, from the slaves he owned to the troops he commanded. It's easy to imagine this story being told by a grizzled war veteran, leaning back and smoking a pipe while reliving a harrowing flashback of the smoke and chaos of combat or recalling a quieter moment with the general. It's no surprise that being in the confederate army, Traveller witnessed plenty of racism, but it mostly seemed misunderstood. He certainly understood the pride the southerners had for Lee, both soldier and civilian alike, and there are many interesting post-war moments between Lee and neighbors and passers by, where Traveller's devotion to “his man” is reinforced by the love showered on both general and horse.

The 2004 murder mystery Three Bags Full, by Leonie Swann, is a mystery novel that defied my expectations. While it's unmistakably a whodunit, the real fun comes from following the lives of the flock of sheep as they undertake a quest to find their shepherd's murderer. It has many key elements of a murder mystery, such as a victim with a dodgy past, a lengthy list of suspects, both human and animal, and protagonists determined to see that justice is delivered. But without a doubt what makes this book shine is the sheep themselves, from the brash rebel Othello to the always hungry Mopple the Whale. Author Leonie Swann put tremendous effort into making each of the main sheep a distinct and memorable character while still giving life and dimension to the humans, which seem part of the story only because their presence is necessary. Equally memorable is the lore shared by the sheep, like their belief that humans have no souls or small ones at best, or the idea that sheep who go over the cliff at the edge of their meadow turn into the fluffy clouds that drift over their Irish pastures. This wasn't the type of murder mystery meant to be solved by the reader, but that's okay. The wide range of personalities and sheep lore make for a roller coaster read as they go from being silly and scatterbrained one minute to clever and deductive the next. The shenanigans these persistent sheep get into as they try to get to the bottom of things, like eavesdropping or spying, accompanied by plenty of grazing and bleating, is a perfect mix of what I was hoping for from a flock of anthropomorphic sheep. Their interaction with the humans is icing on the cake, like the town drunk who gets ridiculed for suggesting the sheep that barged into the “county's smartest sheep” contest and staged some kind of play are trying to tell the townsfolk who the murderer is. Which is exactly what the sheep are doing.

Most books with anthropomorphic characters are aimed towards a younger crowd, but that didn't stop me from finding and enjoying these two and discovering several potential additions to my backlog of books to read. Interested readers can find lists of similar novels at shepherd.com and hemibooks.com.

D.G. Raymond