Anybody got a good reading recommendation to combat cabin fever? I can recommend "The Purification Ceremony", by Mark T. Sullivan. It's an excellent mystery about a remote hunting lodge where the hunters become the hunted and the main character is a trad archer.
"The Grail Quest" trilogy or "Agincourt" by Bernard Cornwell.
Read that years ago. It was a good read. Supposedly The Hunger Games (currently big with the 8th graders I teach, though many of the teachers have read it also) has a character that is an archer.
Louis L'amour "Last of the Breed" about a airforce pilot shot down over siberia that makes a long bow to survive and is tracked by a siberian indian.
Deliverance. Dah-dah-dah dit dah.
I second Mint - Last of a Breed is an all time fav!!!
The Doorway Buck, by CM Sackett
QuoteOriginally posted by maineac:
Supposedly The Hunger Games (currently big with the 8th graders I teach, though many of the teachers have read it also) has a character that is an archer.
yea it does. theres a girl in there that has to hunt to survive. then enters this arena and uses her archery skills throughout the book. it doesnt really focus on the archery itself though. i do like the hatchet series by gary pulsen. by the way this is comming from an 8th grader.
When I saw this thread,I was gonna recommend "The Purification Ceremony".I'll have to check out the Louis L'amour book,sounds good.Always liked his western novels...Thanks guys.
Ill 3rd Last of the Breed, also Hood by stephen lawhead.
Not fiction, but when cabin fever sets in I like to re-read Witchery of Archery. Or anything the Thompson brothers authored. The way they described their hunts and their surroundings is pretty cool.
Agree w/ _Last of the Breed_ and _Deliverance_.
If you like fantasy / science fiction, here's a list from rec.arts.sf.written when I asked a similar question:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/msg/166ea10607956168?dmode=source
Already put
Rackhir the Red (Michael Moorcock)
Legolas (Tolkien)
Aillas & Yane (Jack Vance's wonderful Lyonesse trilogy)
Susan (C.S. Lewis)
on the re-read stack.
My thanks to everyone who made suggestions (many of which I'd read and
already had --- drat that uncertain organic memory).
Something I though of later was Burroughs' Pellucidar books which
often feature archery, though not in an especially interesting
fashion.
Here's a list of (most of) what was suggested and by whom for
posterity's sake, along w/ some commentary:
Non-SF:
Last of the Breed by Louis L'Amour --- Norm D. Plumber
- I'd had this suggested (for other reasons) in the past --- got it
from the library over the weekend and read it and _really_ enjoyed it.
Thanks!
Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley --- Brenda Clough and Michael
Ikeda and David Goldfarb
- I read this back when it first came out. Spoiler --- I didn't like
that vg unq n Ebova Ubbq jub qrfcvgr qvyvtrag cenpgvpr, pbhyqa'g trg
orggre. But will add it to the re-read stack.
Tales of Rowan Hood by Nancy Springer --- PeterM
- will look for this (and most of the other things which were
suggested). Thanks!
The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan --- PeterM
The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson --- PeterM
Wild Cards --- PeterM
- I read most of these when they first came out, but didn't get all
of the new series which is kind of irritating since they've gone out
of print and tend to sell for a premium --- had forgotten about
Yoeman, but can now recall that the author had him putting together a
compound bow quickly, a task which normally requires a specialized
``bow press'' and turning down a lot of hex bolts (and is kind of
antithetical to training as a Zen archer --- a Bear Victor / Kodiak
Takedown would make much more sense)
Heralds of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey --- William George
Ferguson
- I read the first two series when they first came out. Re-read the
first trilogy over the weekend. Interesting things were hollow arrows
to hide messages in and the ``Herald's Code'' which communicates
information by damaging fletchings and the arrows. Will have to try to
track down the balance of the books written since then.
Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher --- Wayne Throop
Lord of Light by Roger Zelzny --- Wayne Throop and tphile
- that's been on my to-be-read stack for a long while, will have to
move it up.
Tarzan by Burroughs --- tphile
- read most of these of course as a kid, and re-encountered him when
reading the Pellucidar series --- lots of fun.
Afterblight Chronicles:Broken Arrow --- JohnFair
The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie --- Michael Grosberg
Discworld character Detritus --- Stephen Harker
- My wife reads those, but I've been unable to get interested in
them.
Hunger Games by Collins --- CCD Data Acquisition
- My wife and kids have been reading these books and really enjoying
them.
Beast Master by Andre Norton --- Robert Carnegie and tphile
Star Man's Son by Andre Norton --- W. Citoan
Spacehounds of the IPC by Doc Smith --- JohnB
- I've had this on my Sony ebook reader for a while now --- will have
to move it up in the queue.
Svaha by Charles de Lint --- Chris
- Another one I'd read and will have to re-read.
Conan by Robert E. Howard --- Chris
- specifically Subotai - excellent point.
Dies the Fire by Stirling --- Rich Clark and Larry
- got burnt out on post-apocalyptic stuff and was turned off by
reviews which described the ending of the series as nuking the fridge.
Crusader series - Andy Offutt --- Wes Struebing
- noted.
Naamah's Kiss / Curse by Jacqueline Carey --- Brian M. Scott
- I don't think I want to explain to the kids why I'm reading
something w/ a cover like that=85.
World of Time series --- Scott Lurndal
- Brigitte -
Middle Earth archers which I failed to note:
Bard --- Mike Schilling
Beleg Strongbow
Books which feature Robin Hood:
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott --- tphile
The Once and Future King --- Michael Stemper
Robin Rood F.R.S. by Arthur C. Clarke --- Robert Carnegie and H
Tavaila
Non-fiction:
Gary Paulsen's Hatchet --- PeterM
- interesting suggestion. My kids read it for school recently, but
archery never came up when discussing it w/ them. There was a nifty
new anniversary edition at a local bookstore which adds some lovely
art and insightful author commentary
William Tell --- tphile
Henry V --- Robert Carnegie
Mythology:
_The Odyssey_ --- Ted Nolan
Mahabarata --- Robert Carnegie
Movies/Video:
Kurosawa Throne of Blood and Seven Samurai --- tphile
Yoroiden Samurai --- Sea Wasp
The Archer --- Sea Wasp
Hawk the Slayer --- Sea Wasp
Star Trek:TNG --- Greg Goss noted the Robin Hood Q episode
Rocket Robin Hood --- tphile
The Adventures of Robin Hood --- tphile
The Osterman Weekend --- tphile
One of the best SF stories is: The Hunters by Jack Lovejoy. Great long bow story.
MAP
Another vote for Last of the Breed. The modern-day character doesn't just shoot a longbow, he survives by hunting with it.
The Change series, by Stirling, of which 'Dies the Fire' is the first in the series and was mentioned above. Really good, TEOWATAKI series with lots of archery stuff in it.
And another 'second', for Outlaws of Sherwood. Really good book on Robinhood but from the perspective of what probably happened to cause him to take to the woods; and how his 'gang' came about.
What Mint said. "Last of the Breed" is a fantastic read, as are most of Mr. L'Amour's books. I might add to that his early Sackett novels, particularly "Jubal Sackett", and his medievil novel "The Walking Drum". Neither of these are specifically about archery, but archery plays a notable role in each and the details are rather accurate.