Ciprian Varga Varga itibaren Brakel, Almanya
These are absolutely fantastic books! They are supposedly for kids, but they are so smart and complex and utterly well written and told. I highly recommend these, even if you don't usually like fantasy (like I don't).
Epic fantasy at its best. The characters, politics, and the entire realm pulled me right in.
Overall this should probably get 3.5 stars, but that's not an option. However, there is one passage (that I'm unable to locate right now, but will find and post soon) that forces me to round up to 4 stars.
The plain chicken and chicken paprika were personal favorites.
A year or two ago I watched the TV movie adaptation with the lovely Keeley Hawes as Fancy Day, and I loved it immensely. I've got it on DVD now, too. After the first (or second) watching I thought I'd better read the book (as any good reader should!). I keep hearing it's one of Hardy's 'cheerier' works, and I've read Tess of the d'Urbervilles and that was incredibly tragic (and I kind of hated it). So Under The Greenwood Tree was refreshing and very, very funny. The scene with the bees sticks out in my mind in particular. My favourite quote is this: “Half an hour afterwards Dick emerged from the inn, and if Fancy's lips had been real cherries, probably Dick's would have appeared deeply stained.” It is so utterly perfect. It's precisely the reason I love 1900's literature, the way they subtly and innocently include a kissing scene into the text. So passionate, and perhaps sexier than the way people throw themselves onto each other in some of today's fiction. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys 1900's literature that is fairly light-hearted and funny, with a dash of romance and drama.