Frost Dancers: A Story of Hares

by Garry Kilworth

In the Highlands, Skelter the hare led a wonderful life - browsing among the heathers, taking in the scenery and chatting up females. Until one day he and several of his fellows are trapped in a net and transported south, for hare coursing.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Animals, Animal Fiction

381 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Garry Douglas Kilworth is a historical novelist who also published sci-fi, fantasy, and juvenile fiction.

Kilworth is a graduate of King's College London. He was previously a science fiction author, having published one hundred twenty short stories and seventy novels.

Reviews

[Mariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever clubbed a hare on its wonderful rabbity dreaming head, or wiped your satisfied mouth after some disgusting English delicacy (heathens), or were a Austrian farmer deforming a rabbit to giant proportions just so you wouldn't have to get your lazy ass up from the table for thirds, then you are a horrible person and quite monstrous. I hate you if you have ever thought yourself looking quite fine on a night on the town in your rabbit fur coat. What kind of a sick person goes about stuffing rabbits with whatever it is that hobbiest taxidermists use to decorate their apartments? Maybe you sleep with Jessica Rabbit while her poor cuckolded husband is away at work, like a certain goodreader I won't mention. Or races hares against dogs in a not that fair fight? Who? And why? What kind of a sicko are you, anyway? A sick fucking sicko, I say. You should be ashamed!

I promised one of the best goodreaders on all of goodreads, karen brisette, that I would post this one on my update feed so she could see it. But if you are one of those awful people I described above please don't read this review. You probably have something better to do like snapping rabbits necks after you let your sadistic five year old hold them over your bloodthirsty cat to nearly scare it half to death before you finished the job than reading my pleasant book review. You weren't even sick to your stomach as you ate grilled cheeses stuffed with rabbit meat. I am almost to sick to even finish writing this wonderful contribution to the goodreads canon.


How could you??? Yeah, you were just trying to feel its soft fur! You didn't MEAN to kill it, George. I'm not buying it! Sobs.

I wish it was MY calling to pen Watership Down rip-offs like it is Garry Kilworth's calling (there are more. I can't wait to read the fox one!). The other Watership Down read-alikes never could get it right. I had had this theory that it was because of the way that Watership Down was written. Richard Adams made up the story as he went along with his two daughters (for all that it really isn't a kids book, and if you refuse to read Watership Down on the grounds that it is a kids book then I secretly hate you). It had an excitement, a priceless sort of getting wrapped up in it quality, that stories you tell yourself with other people have. Anything could happen and it might happen on the air escaping from your words. I lived in Watership Down like I have never lived in another book. I would sell all of you to the great rabbit in the sky if only I could have another time like that one. He didn't recreate it in Plague Dogs or More Tales From Watership Down. Beak of the Moon, its sequel Dark of the Moon, Ramblefoot and Tailchaser's Song were all either too self concious or too moral of the story to really get in the animal world with what Adams called "dignity and animality". I never forgot about my horrible human self to be the rabbit that I know that I was meant to be. At least I'm a vegetarian. I wear eyeglasses because I have relinquished carrots to the rabbits. I will watch oranges fall from the trees and make damned sure that no worms want it before I sink my teeth into its mostly by now rotten fruity flesh. I may suck but I'm not as sucky as SOME people.

At the risk of making goodreads throw up in its mouth I will say that Frost Dancers (despite that shitty title) is like Watership Down with a little bit of the essence of my beloved Joy Williams (I know, shut up about her already). I'm talking the best ever Honored Guest Joy Williams that is the line between life and death before you finally cross over to the death side for good. If Yoda wasn't full of shit about the earth and life and if you gave enough of a shit you could sense it despite not having the time not to be a shitty human most of the time. If my man Dick Van Dyke were here right now he would draw some chalk drawings (but really good ones!) on the sidewalk for you of hares, rabbits, predators, horrible people (people suck! They really do) and prey and predator dropped over the shitty Earth where they can't see where the cracks are to avoid falling into them in time. The drawings would blur with the natural mountain dust where blue mountain hare Skelter comes from to running through the fields mud when the asshole men make him race against dogs to the weirdo rabbit warren rock to the snotty field hares snot from crying because when will you ever get to rest and just be a good old hare (or rabbit? Sure the hares look down on them some). We'd jump into them and then we'd move between each panel of the you're lucky if it ever works out right life. People, I mean animals, looking out for themselves. The good old not naturalness of nature. Skelter has dreams of ghost hares that lived thousands of years before. If you ever had any hope of anything mattering it's that tiny bit of you that lives on in those before you and after and why not in those loveable hares?

I was surprised Frost Dancers was this good, really. I thought it was going to be lackluster like all of the other Watership Down rip-offs I tortured myself with. The main thing is that Kilworth took to heart the respect that Adams had for rabbits. He didn't set out to turn them into humans. They have art and tell stories and who is to say that rabbits don't have feelings before you stick them in a hutch for four years of their short lives for some dried up carrots and heavy petting? Kilworth didn't rewrite Watership Down's plot of looking for a home (Beak of the Moon had no life whatsoever of its own). Is it too much to ask for to get Watership Down again and not get Watership Down again? Why can't they do this one thing that I ask? For all my huffery and puffery in this review, the people suck but not all of the people suck. It's looking out for yourself and not bearing to be too sad about it when a fellow hare gets it from one danger or another. They are so downtrodden matter of fact about it that it is downright adorable. Everything from finding a mate, food, a home, dying- it is all "Well, ok... if you must." That does make me feel like my own state of being than another state of being like Big Wig being so damned awesome in Watership Down, though. Skelter is pretty freaking adorable anyway because he's not really defeatist so much as what else am I going to do? He would die if he got his hopes up too much and he would die if he just gave up. It is kind of how like the real blue mountain hares live. Unlike most hares, they do make some sort of enclosure to hide in from flying predators. They still don't go all the way under ground like rabbits do. One blue hare some where along the line probably died in front of another blue hare and the field hare down the line thought, "Thank god that was them instead of me." That kind of evolving and togetherness and once in a while a different kind of "Thank god that wasn't me". The badgers weren't so bad (even if they eat rabbits). There's hope!

The human the hares come into contact with the most is a mysterious tractor man with his own tragedy (through the edges of their vision he gets into a duel with another man over a woman. The other man and the woman die. The tractor man later takes his own life). Their not natural enemy, the flogre Bubba, was captured from his home and raised by his "mother" (the kind of man who would capture a South American harpy eagle and name him Bubba!). I know Bubba is really the bad guy to the hares and other creatures, but I kind of loved him too. He talks to the tower(s) he lives in! And it talks back to him! And the voice he hears of the tower will admit that they are just lonely together rather than having true company. I freaking loved that kind of honesty! His end of being captured as pet again and suspicious of the only nice dog in his captivity was too perfect. Kilworth knows, man. Stupid humans kidnapping wild birds from other countries and keeping them as pets. What kind of a sick fuck? (I didn't go into south america and kidnap Cortazar and Marquez, my birds. I know what you're thinking but they were born as pets. That blood on the hands is not mine. And my chihuahuas were domesticated even before the Aztecs. That ancient curse shit is not mine! What kind of a jerk goes about judging people on goodreads, anyway?)

I suck at describing why shit is funny. Frost Dancers had me doing a sad laugh in the cavity of my heart so many times. Like this one on page 41 after the hares in Skelter's home are taken:
For all they knew, the others had been killed and eaten by the time they were eventually lifted out of the truck, and placed on the concrete ready for collection by some human with a fierce hunger.
I don't know why but that kind of pessimism won me over. I liked that nothing was ever easy. Good things don't really happen that often in Frost Dancers. When they do they don't make a big deal over it either. I really liked that. Don't get your hopes up!


I think I can't hack it as a hare. Maybe I'll be an American cottontail rabbit because they live free in the wild. Rabbit tunnels would kill me. I am going to be a rabbit so stop laughing at me. Did I ever tell you about the time when I was six and obsessed with my faux rabbit coat? I would never take it off? One day in class a kid complains that it is too hot. "Me too!" I pipe up. "Of course YOU'RE hot, Mariel, you never take that stupid coat off!" That's what happens when I try to move about in society for some give and take. I know that's how I took it then (not MY fault). If I were a loner cottontail rabbit I would have it made. Not all hares like to live alone and some do. It can be a problem if you are one of the hares who wants some company some times (poor old Skelter).

At least the blue mountain hare does have it better. Did I mention this is the only Watership Down readalike (WD included) that isn't fucking sexist? I love that this isn't. The females and all the other creatures all have their own lives just like everything in Joy Williams short stories (subliminal message). Skelter may be the "hero" but the understated approach to making it through is everyone's chance. I don't know how to describe this conscious but not too conscious way of living as the animals in this book. That's the best I've got. It's not really totally Watership Down either because in that book you are living like you're one of them and your dogs start to look threatening after a while. Frost Dancers pulls back and you see the badgers and poor bad boy Bubba. That's really good. It's threatening but if it happens you could feel some of Bubba's hunger enough to make it sickly satisfying.

But still no Big Wig. Is that too much to ask for that I get to run away with Big Wig? Why can't I have that? All I want is a bunny rabbit to be my friend at all times. I can't hack it with the humans. They are going to eat me alive.

Oh yeah, the title refers to the mating stuff. I still don't think it is a fitting title for the book. Still, the romance is like back burner and a surprise when it happens, like any real life romance would be. Nice!

Kilworth wrote a Highlander novelization. It seems that it is also his calling to write novelizations of crappy movies about Scottish characters. So, I have a burning question that no one has ever been able to answer to my satisfaction. Why do they say in the film and tv show that they are something other MacCloud from the clan MaccCloud when Mac or Mc means clan? Why?!!!!! Why do people want to hurt bunnies who never did them any harm and why this? Please help me.

P.s. Even though Frost Dancers is really sad I did NOT cry because hares don't cry. It's too tough to cry. Chin up! Are you a man or are you a rabbit?

P.s.s. How could you cry when it is so funny that even the rabbits sell their souls like us shitty humans? I hate to laugh and I love to cry here. Frost Dancers is freaking awesome. I think maybe two people on goodreads (that I know of) will have any interest in this review or this book but for those people I say read Frost Dancers. It's damned good. Not that anyone listens to me because no one listens to me.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know what to think of this one...
For starters, it certainly isn't a bad book, that's for sure. And I must have enjoyed it to at least some extent, otherwise what's the point of finishing it?
But it's far from the best books I've read, heck, it's not even one of the better books I've read.

There are a few sections that are really good, and by that I mean the kind that want you to keep on reading until you realize it's 3 AM. But there are just a few of those sections, and short ones at that. The rest (like 80% of the book) felt more like some random filler.

I also don't see why people keep comparing this to Watership Down; of all the books that have some link to Watership Down, this certainly has one of the weakest links.

Maybe I'm just spoiled, and should have read this one first instead of Hunter's Moon and Midnight's Sun; I knew beforehand that those two were probably better than this one (in retrospect: they are better).
Bottomline: it's worth the read. It's a good story, talking animals are awesome, and of course it gets some kudos for not being cute or childish.

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frost Dancers е много интересна и сполучлива книга, сходна като тематика и качество с “Хълмът Уотършип”. Подобно на Ричард Адамс, Гари Килуърт разглежда ефекта от човешката дейност върху дивата природа, но макар да показва греховете на човечеството, не е изпълнен с чак такова негодувание към него. Интересен е акцентът в разликите между това, което наричаме див заек (hare) и обикновения (rabbit) – за разлика от българския, английският е доста по-прецизен и прави по-добре отликата между тези две животни, к��ито в действителност са толкова различни, колкото конят и магарето, ако не и повече.

Цялото ревю прочетете на линка:
https://citadelata.com/frost-dancers/

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frost Dancers is about a blue mountain hare named Skelter whose plucked from his highland mountains and forced to run a hare coursing event. He escapes and struggles to make do with finding a new community for himself among field hares. He briefly stays in a rabbit warren and we're treated to the prejudices and differences a lot of humans wouldn't realise were there. A coworker of mine accused me of lying that hares were even different than rabbits.

Frost Dancers wasn't judgmental or preachy that humans eat hares but rather the cruel way it is done for sport. Kilworth devoted equal time to other animals such as hedgehogs, stoats, otters and the hares adversary, Bubba. Bubba is described in the afterward as a harpy eagle.
The thing that came to my mind is Bubba was almost lucky to make it out alive after destroying the local population.
In Florida there is a huge problem with non native pythons and baracudas eating our local alligators. It wasn't fair that his selfish and cruel "mother" took him from his home and plucked him into a country where he didn't belong. People should have more responsibility not to introduce animals to habitats they aren't suited for.
Luckily for him he wasn't breeding or there'd be a rabbit issue like in Australia or when the parrots were killed in South Carolina.
I felt for poor Bubba while sympathising with Skelter and his friends.

The rabbits and Skelter himself moved from their original habitats but poor Bubba was the only one of his kind. He felt he was half man and half bird.

Frost Dancers is an entertaining but thoughtful book.
I enjoyed Beak of the Moon by Philip Temple but I appreciated that Kilworth did not impose human morality on these characters. He respected their cultures without an agenda. When he did have one it wasn't done in a heavy handed way.

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really don't like what happened to rushie. she was just used to further the plot line. it was evident she didn't really want to say goodbye to skelter but he was too numbskulled to realise she really wanted him to want her. they were each other's last connection to the highlands and had a long history together as close friends. then when he disappears she goes looking for him only to wind up dead searching for a boy who couldn't really give much of a crap about her. and what's more is she is killed by the flogre ONLY BECAUSE HE MISTOOK HER FOR SKELTER. rushie had guts and was the best character in the book (aside from jittie). i was really shocked how kilworth used her then tossed her aside. eyebright is a dimwit in comparison. skelter is a dumb boy in hare form who inadvertently killed his best friend and best potential mate. he wasn't particularly smart or brave. most of what he accomplished was via dumb luck or serendipity. he didn't even defeat the flogre. all his close encounters and escapes from the flogre right up until the end were all achieved with luck. nothing else.
by far the least enjoyable book of all of garry's stand alone animal novels.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd one. I’m usually a huge fan of Kilworth’s work, and his take on hares certainly isn’t a bad one, it just feels tonally off. I really wish he hadn’t felt the need to include such a bizarre antagonist as the harpy eagle (who you only know is a harpy eagle once you read the afterward - the narrative is intentionally vague on that). Very abrupt ending as well.

I liked it! Just not my favorite of his line-up.

[Suanne Laqueur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my God. I can’t even… I have no words. I’ve never read anything like this in my life.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

REVIEW WIP

I seriously thought for a while that the title of this book was "Frost Dangers" because those damn hare ears cover up the important lower half of the letter 'C' in the title. So I kept trying to google "Frost Dangers" (and I thought to myself, 'What a dumb title for a book'), and until I finally got a closer look at the cover and realized it said "Frost Dancers". Apparently, I'm not alone in this confusion. Had my sister, dad, and mom fooled too. ._.

-------------------

Also, I'd like to thank this awesome documentary (narrated by David Attenborough, no less) for introducing me to the awesomeness of hares. ----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQfXE8...

-------------------

This is the first book I've ever read by Garry Kilworth, and I must say, he has left an excellent first impression. It's not necessarily a break-neck pace, stay-up-all-night-even-though-you-have-work-tomorrow-but-you-gotta-read-one-last-chapter kind of read (at least not until the second half, when the action REALLY picks up speed!), but it's immersing and engrossing, grand and sweeping.
Kind of like this music. ---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XOV2L...
It's rather like Tolkien's fiction, in that you're not reading it for the non-stop action, but for the inspiring journey.

Kilworth has captured the often-overlooked nobility and resilience of the hare beautifully in this book with his lagomorphic hero, Skelter. At first glance, he seems like any other likable, everyman sort of character (with his own share of faults, like stubbornness, obliviousness, and a touch of racism against rabbits), but as the story progresses, he becomes a creature of grit, courage, and cunning worthy of The Fabled Hare. He and his kind live on the very cutting edge of survival, whose only defense is in their incredible speed.

I also appreciated the fact that animals in this world all spoke different languages, and under normal circumstances could not speak to each other unless they were multilingual (a concept that author David Clement-Davies would later come to use in his xenofiction books Fire Bringer and The Sight). Nope, never mind. Garry Kilworth did not invent this concept. We owe this one to the always inspiring Richard Adams.

The heroics of The Fabled Hare must always be counterbalanced by a wicked adversary of equal mettle, and Bubba, the monstrous harpy eagle who thinks he's a human being, is definitely a worthy foe (and worthy of making my list of top favorite literary villains). He is a terrifying, badass, and hideously twisted serial killer, but also tragic, evil not by nature, but by nurture. It is in this way that he is reminiscent of Mary Shelley's nameless Creature, a monster cut off from all of animal society by the "parent" who created him and forced forge his own destructive path, being neither wholly beast nor man. The ultimate tragedy of Bubba is that his plight is firmly rooted in the hideous reality of the exotic pet trade. I'm looking at you, ass-hat YouTubers who like to show off videos of your servals and wolfdogs so you can brag about how "badass" you are for having a wild animal as a pet.

Garry Kilworth has so far proven himself a very worthy xenofiction author. While he may not quite reach the same level as the venerable Richard Adams, he certainly comes close. I'll be keeping an eye out for his earlier, and more popular novel, Hunter's Moon. Because everybody loves foxes.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay read, but too obviously a reboot of Watership Down. I know this because there's even an homage to the previous book placed in the mouth of a rabbit. Also, the Kehaar thing is reworked here with the exotic bird as arch-nemesis, not only of the hares but of every animal within reach.

My biggest problem with the book is (like Adams' previous work) the tendency to over-describe nature, and to whack in as much pseudo-philosophy and pseudo-spirituality as possible--and to my taste, as weirdly as possible. Rabbits and hares "know" all about ancient human history, eh? So they can hear and smell the ancient battles because of the weapons buried oh so deep underground. They can "hear" the toads in a long-capped well. Another fault is linguistic. Adams was content with a word or two of rabbit language, and stating that different species had to work at understanding each other through a sort of hedgerow lingua franca. That's not enough for Kilworth; his badgers speak Anglo Saxon, the rabbits all speak French (which makes Hazel from WD into Le Noisetier and Fiver Le Cinquieme, which made me laugh because in my world it's the name of a TV channel), a bluejay chatters to itself in German (why?) etc. Not content with that, the raptor holds conversations with two stone towers!!

Kilworth's linguistic vagaries are not limited to worldbuilding, however. This was first released back in the days before direct download publishing sans trained proofreaders and editors really took off, and yet he misuses words right and left; particularly prepositions, but some phrases make little to no sense, and other words are used contrary to their actual meanings. Prime example: "to brook" does not mean "flout" or "stand up to" someone, but rather to tolerate or put up with something or someone. Yet one of Kilworth's rebellious hares "brooks his elders" to mean he flouts their authority. We are told of a new moon "thin as an orange peel"--would a wild hare from the isolated highlands of Scotland have seen an orange to know what it was?

Aside from that, the text rambles quite a bit. Unlike Hazel and Co, there is no clearly-defined journey or quest here, it just lollops along for far too many pages and comes to a rather unsatisfactory end. With better editorial advice, this could have been a classic to rival Adams' book. As it stands, it's just a hare tale.

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing ending.

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS was the book I thought I'd imagined for many years. I was off school sick with a terrible cold, and visited the TAFE library in town with my father. I read this during my time off school, loved it and my father returned it to the library. When I went back next, the entire fiction section had been sold off, and they had no records of what had been there (or they didn't have to tell a devastated ten year old) I looked at ever library after that. I spoke to second hand book shop owners. I asked every one I knew, and then by chance came across it. I had thought it was 'Frost Dancing' hence the inability to find it!

I read this last sometime in 2011, but I'd like to read it again. It's a brilliant animal book similar to Watership Down, so I'd recommend if you liked that then try this book :)

[Mythical Mishmash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 2.5 out of 5 stars.

This was a very mixed bag. On one hand there there were beautiful descriptions and bits of dialogue by characters I grew to love, but on the other hand I didn’t care a lot about the characters, there was a lot of xenophobia/racism towards rabbits and the characters I liked a lot were severely underutilised. Skelter as a protagonist came across as apathetic, dim and lacking in conviction in whatever he did, which is ironic as the story tries to build him up to be the great hero. The worldbuilding was quite scattered and uninteresting, to the point I skipped a chapter entirely about it.
Also you could’ve cut out half the story and nothing would’ve changed. As much as I loved some of the prose here, the descriptions are very long, repetitive and can quickly become tedious.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about hares a la Watership Down. Not as good as Watership but not bad either.

[Casimir Laski · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third of Kilworth’s novels in his shared mythic xenofiction setting, Frost Dancers tells the story of a hare captured from his mountain home for the purpose of coursing, who upon escaping must adapt to life among others of his kind in a strange environment. Featuring a more lighthearted, whimsical tone than either Hunter’s Moon or Midnight’s Sun, Frost Dancers still contains Kilworth’s trademark musings on cultural differences and existential philosophy, even if neither manage as much impact as they did in his first novel. [6/10]

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I didn't enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed Foxes of Firstdark, I ended up being a bit bored for whatever reason. I did quite like the villain though, and how he was shown/described throughout the book.

[Thapan Dubayehudi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary is my Facebook friend, and this is one of his fine works!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about hares. We follow Skelter as many misfortunes befall him yet he perseveres.
A great book for any animal lover and a refreshing change from the endless wolf or fox stories.

[Larry Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable read.

[STU · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book.
Stands up very well against Watership Down - which can't help comparing.

[Thistle · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I had a number of issues with this book, all in all, I liked it quite a bit.

I love "talking animal" stories, and this was a perfect example of them -- I believed every animal in the book as an animal, not a human in animal shape. More than that, each of his animal species were so different -- it was just so enjoyable to see how he handled otter characters compared to hedgehogs. Their speech patterns and personalities were just so different.

The main character was a hare, born in the highlands of somewhere in Europe (Scotland I assumed, though it's never named). He's captured in a... hare beating? Bunch of men banging drums to herd hares into a small area where they can be captured or killed. The story tells of his life after he's caught in that.

The book's antagonist was fitting for the story. (And "antagonist" is the only word to describe what he was: "a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary.") The book's antagonist was not a villain or a bad guy, it was a person bird who was made what he was by his environment. (Also, happily the greatest mystery of the book, just what kind of bird he was, was solved in the author's afterwards. I would have been highly frustrated if we had never learned what his species was.)

There were a number of things about the book that didn't work for me:

It was long. Very very long. My Kindle tells me how long it takes me to finish a book based on my reading speed. Most books take me about four hours to read. This one took me six and a half. The pages were not packed with story so much as lists. The author would do something like "And since it was spring, the hares ate... [three page list of all the plant that grow in the area]".

Somehow the writing was extremely dated. Before I had checked, I would have guessed that it had been published in the 30s-50s. It was published in 1992. I have no idea how one would even try to write in so dated a way...

It was in British English. Mostly this doesn't bother me in the least, but using single quotes for dialogue is distracting (and sometimes confusing -- what if there's a contraction or possessive in the middle of dialogue?). I had to use my Kindle's dictionary function on a number of words, and all of them turned out to be "chiefly British" or "archaic" words.

While it was about a hare's whole life, and it was an eventful life, it feels like the amount that happened in the plot no where matched how long it took me to read it. So all in all I enjoyed it, I just wish it had been a much, much shorter book. I'm very much ready to read something else now.

[Kat Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was scared when I picked up the book that this would be 'we have Watership Down at home' but it stands out as unique, compelling and tense. Its connected to the same universe as Hunter's Moon and uses the same languages, cultures and some character crossover so it was both a fun nod and a great expansion to the world.
It tackles topics like bigotry and racism within the animal kingdom, especially between hares and rabbits and it was a compelling display of how different cultures come together for a common goal. Also, thank god hare coursing was banned in the uk after 2005, because it was as graphic and disgusting as it was described in this book.

There are a couple of issues with the book. For one it follows the misconception that male hares box each other for a mate but that is inaccurate. Although this book came out in 1992 so that's not unexpected. I also felt mis sold on the premise as I thought it would be about how horrific hare coursing was/is, but that only happens in two chapters. It was only because the real plot was so compelling that I kept reading. Another issue is that the book takes until about the halfway point to really get going so it required a bit of patience.

I think the book needs an update for potential trigger warnings as out of nowhere, the tractor driver murders his wife and wife's affair partner and then after the bodies are discovered, blows his brains out in his tractor. It serves as a way to show that hares and rabbits do not have the concept of suicide and that they don't understand humans as much as they believe they do, but not everyone wants to read about that.

[Lorraine Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amongst the gorse and heather of his native highlands, Skelter the mountain hare enjoys an idyllic life – until he and several of his friends are trapped, netted and taken hundreds of miles to the strange lands of the south. There, amidst a hell of screaming men and howling greyhounds, Skelter witnesses the nightmare of hare coursing before making a miraculous escape. But it is an escape into an unfamiliar world. The local animals shun him and he cannot understand his habitat. But Skelter is a remarkable hare. Undaunted he becomes a local hero, earning the respect of others. His greatest test, however, is yet to come. For he must face up to the flogre, a vast flying monster intent on terrorising the countryside and eager for another kill.
A wonderful and magical book that is entertaining and moving - a brilliant insight to the world of a hare.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book because I am very fond of Watership Down by Richard Adams. I found it engaging, but not quite as intricate and engrossing as Watership Down is. It was a quick read. I learned a lot about hares. And I was dumbfounded to discover that the hare's biggest threat actually exists in real life, but not where mountain and brown hares are likely to reside. I was very disappointed that one "heroine" was dispatched with rather early. I liked her character and felt it could have been developed more.

It also wisely avoids preaching to humans about their callous treatment of animals (and each other). The senseless violence speaks for itself, as it should.

Conclusion, don't expect depth of this novel. But still a good read.

[Tamara Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a gifted reader this was my first 'grown up' book with topics that were a little more adult than the books in my school library. As a result I've read this book at least 50 times over the years, it's my go-to when things are going completely wrong, Skelter's indomitable spirit is enough to remind me that if a circumstance can't be overcome, adapt and improvise to make the best of it.

I would highly recommend this book for younger readers with an interest in wildlife so long as they don't baulk at a little death and destruction; Garry Kilworth tackles these topics with tact and grace but they are nonetheless present.

[Lone Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Frost Dancers' is an enjoyable tale of mountain hare Skelter, who finds himself trapped by humans and transported to the south for hare coursing. Having escaped, he must learn to live among the brown hares who inhabit the lowlands, and who are currently being terrorised by "the flogre" - a flying menace that is killing them off. The story is engaging and the facts mostly accurate (though there are a few errors, particularly in the author's note). If you like animal stories, you will most likely enjoy this.

[Alex T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5/5

Like yes, this is a good book. But also the ending is so unintentionally hilarious. Yeah, just throw your main villain into a jet engine. That's one way to solve the problem.

One of the top 10 most iconic deaths in animal xenofiction for sure.

Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...