Runt The Brave

Legends of Tira-Nor #1

by Daniel Schwabauer

This David and Goliath story pits mouse against rat as the underground city of Tira-Nor is attacked by an army of rats led by GoRec, and the city's last hope lies with a mouse so small and young even his family calls him "Runt".

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Fiction, Christian, Middle Grade

224 pages, Hardcover

First published December 28, 2000

About the author

Daniel Schwabauer, ThD, teaches English at MidAmerica Nazarene University and writes award-winning fantasy and science fiction novels. He earned an MA in creative writing under science fiction legend James Gunn and completed his doctoral work in semiotic theology with Leonard Sweet. He lives in Olathe, Kansas, with his wife and dogs.

Reviews

[Collin · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read: November 2008
Second read: October 24, 2012
Third read: March 11, 2016

[Janeen-san · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I must say--Thank you, friend Kendall, for giving me this amazing book! And, thank you Daniel Schwabauer for writing it...and in doing so, transporting me to another world.
The world of Tira-Nor.

A extraordinarily minuscule field-mouse by the name of JaRed (pronounced Jare-ed) resides in an underground city of mice along with his family, Mother, Father, the twins Berry and Merry...and HaRed, his brother who despises him.
In the city of Tira-Nor, he lives the life of a commoner, teased because of his size--and the only one in his family, indeed, in the entire city, who still believes in ElShua and the Great Owl. (ElShua is their God.)
Then one day, while out scavenging for food, he discovers a nasty plot whispered by RATS...they plan to seize control of Tira-Nor!
And thus JaRed, or "Runt", is plunged into an adventure bigger than in his wildest imagining--he kills a cold-hearted snake, and is claimed to become King of Tira-Nor (although there is already an heir to the throne), makes HaRed hate him even more...and is promoted into the King's fources--for "a war is coming. And it smells of rats."
And then the WAR begins.

This was an absolutely fantastic book! At first, it took me some time to "get into" it, if you know what I mean--not that the beginning wasn't SLOW,the story began with a blur of action and character background, which I love--but in the beginning my mind continued to halt, freeze up, wander...But then, that ceased and all was well...XD
I LOVED this book!
It was defiantly, brilliantly written; the chapters flowed into one another, and so did the characters thoughts...However, at times I DID wonder why it wasn't written in first person?
Well, Daniel Schwabauer did such a great job ANYWAY that it almost didn't matter, he seemed to get into the character's heads just perfectly...I also loved the chapter illustrations.
I will defiantly, most surely, be reading the next one!!

[Lance Banwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it is described in detail was switching between people at chapters and inducing there thoughts

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very good...it was also terrifying but veeeeery good.
It was a fight between good and evil (duh) And often the evil seems so strong that everything seems hopeless, but good is always stronger than evil, if you believe in it and do every thing right to conquer the evil.
I loved it....
It is still terrifying through the whole thing because it seem so hopeless in what they are fighting for.

[Patricia Kaniasty · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic adventure. Great for all ages.

[Alan Kimball · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books. Great read. Likable characters. Prose is tight and quick enough to get anybody to read....My writing teacher wrote this.

[Clare S-B · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book starts in the very middle of things. It is action packed all the way through. It is well written, the points of view switches flow smoothly and the characters are very real and likable. The book will transport you to another world or at least to the about to be besieged mouse city of Tira-Nor. I read the book in two sittings.....sleeping in between. The world building is good to. They didn't even give the mice weapons (except for a nail) They fought with tooth and claw. Finding out things about the way the mice of Tira-Nor lived was interesting and well thought out. It didn't feel like the mice were just small people but almost that mice are like that.

The story line also takes you back to an even older story, there are many parallels to a part of our own history, the life of David before he became king. I could not more highly recommend this book. I think people of any age would enjoy it. There is fighting but I don't remember it as being overly graphic... Blood did pour out of mice at times and both mice and rats died, but the pain in the story often focused on emotional pain not psychical. (for example, the emotional pain another character suffers as he watches a fellow mouse or even a rat die)

[Shadow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought, in the first pages of this book, that it would be a bit below me in age (which is fine, I have nothing against reading books below my maximum level). But as I read on my early suppositions were proved false.

Mr. Schwabauer spins a tale in a world of mice and rats. The land feels tangible and it's not hard to believe that it could even exist, overlooked, somewhere near you.

I love the generals and the specifics in this book. The characters, the lessons, the action, the differences in that world because it is different than ours (everything is smaller, mice are not biologically the same as humans, et cetera). Tira-Nor has specific defenses. The mice of aforementioned city have certain developed styles of combat.

In short, this is a book I definitely enjoyed reading. There is no language, though the action (read: injuries/deaths) could be too graphic and detailed for younger audiences.

And if you've decided not to read this book because it's got talking animals....no. No. Go pick this book back up and read it. (Or at least give it a chance.)

[Jaguar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am taking the OYAN (One Year Adventure Novel) Curriculum this fall for school and I was told to read at least one of Daniel Schwabauer’s book, as he might make reference to his books in the curriculum. I really enjoyed this book and it reminded me of the bible. I won’t tell any spoilers, but if you have seen the front cover for the paperback edition of this book, you will see a giant rat and a little mouse. That part in the book reminded me of the story of David and Goliath, along with the story of David and King Saul in the bible. This book was pretty action packed and Runt (JaRed) is a likable character. I really liked this book, and will hopefully be purchasing them in the future. The hard cover edition of this book is shorter than the paperback, and I don't know what is or isn't in the story of the hard cover book. I read the paper pack and really enjoyed it. I believe the paper pack is for older kids. But I don't know.

2014-Summer-Reading-Review

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son is interested in the writing curriculum called "The One Year Adventure Novel" (http://www.oneyearnovel.com/). Daniel Schwabauer is the author of that curriculum, so I thought I'd check out Mr. Schwabauer's novel. That my son learns to write well is very important to me; I wanted to see if Schwabauer could write and write well. I was in for a surprise.

You see, I didn't know that Runt the Brave is a retelling of an ancient story. I started to suspect this somewhere around chapter two or three. The story slowly unwrapped itself, revealing it's inspiration. I enjoyed the way Schwabauer accomplished this in a way that led the reader to recognize his inspiration without being too obvious.

And yes, Schwabauer can write. I wouldn't rank his wordsmithing with the great authors of our time or times past, but he writes well enough for me to give his writing curriculum another look.

[Jane Maree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. The story is well paced and changes from one thing to the next with a good balance of gripping excitement. I could hardly put the book down. I found the story well written and the world was excellently crafted. The mice of Tira-Nor were like real people and I could relate to them all quite easily. I can almost imagine that they are real and someday I might just meet JaRed in my backyard.
None of the fighting bothered me at all, there was just enough description for you to know what was happening but not too much. The whole allegory story thing made me really feel for David before he was king. It was an amazing read, I'd really recommend it to anyone.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an animal children's book, I really didn't think that I'd enjoy it (especially as I've grown up on Brian Jacques), but surprisingly I did. It had its own little twist that I didn't even think of. I've heard some people didn't like that it was based off of the Biblical story of David and Goliath, but that type of story line is found all over. I would highly recommend this book, especially for younger readers from about 8-10 years of age.

[Catherine L. Haws · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the cover I thought, "Ok, so this is going to be a cutesy little kid's book about mice. Quaint."
But I got roped in. I kept turning pages. I laughed out loud from surprise. Anger burned inside of me against the villain. Who knew mice could be so compelling?!
This book isn't just for kids. It's for you. I highly recommend it.

[Amy Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

#LitLife192021 "An 'Other-World' Book"
3.5 stars. A nicely done retelling of the biblical story of David and Goliath, or David when he was young. I really don't like the subtitle. It's misleading, and it made me not want to read the book for a while. It's really just a creative retelling of the biblical story, as I said, so bullying, while present, isn't worthy of being put on the subtitle.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author uses a war between mice and rats to depict the story of David and Goliath. It was very detailed and at times a bit graphic but the overall story represented the biblical account very well.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

almost like Redwall, but a lower reading level and not as good. :)

[Katie Robles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written; I enjoyed the story.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written children's parable of King David and Goliath that even adults can enjoy. I couldn't help but cheer for JaRed/Runt and chewed my nails during the final confrontation.

[Mariah Raichert · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was well done and it’s a very good book, it reminded me of Secret of Nimh as well as The Redwall series and it’s a great story against socialism