It was time for my Watership Down reread! I used to love this book as a kid, and coming back to it, I can see why. I've heard it described as "Lord Of The Rings but with rabbits" and that seems apt to me - a touching epic with a cast you grow to love; deep in-world folklore explored in-character through poems, stories, and songs; fun stuff with linguistics, and unfortunate moments of the type of misogyny you often see in early high fantasy.

It's fascinating how anthropomorphism is handled in this book. Often, writers will take an "all or nothing" approach with animal characters, where at one end we have a civilized, Zootopia-style animal kingdom, and at the other - a completely allegorical depiction of the likes of Animal Farm. Here, the characters felt distinctly humanized while retaining the animalism that makes them, well, animals, and their adventures felt "scaled" to them.

Despite having their own culture, language, and religion (the linguist in me rejoices at this), the rabbits react to situations in a way that takes into account their instincts, position in the food chain, and primitive knowledge of the world. In this way, mundane or easy situations for humans become insurmountable challenges for the rabbits. A great example of this is Blackberry's realisation that wood can float, something that none of the others know or understand. Adams spins riveting tales and daring escapades out of occurrences like travelling through an open field, crossing a river, or encountering a cat. 

I'm biased. This book was my absolute favourite from the age of 7 to the age of around 13, and it's one I still hold dear despite its more dated aspects.