General Woundwort attacks a dog, something no rabbit would do, but this makes sense given his characterization as a fascist madman and the fact the other rabbits flee from that same dog. However, Adams made sure that this was motivated by character and that it was acknowledged that rabbits generally would not behave this way. These necessitated the rabbits to behave in an unusual way for their species. In Watership Down, Richard Adams wrote rabbits with human concerns like politics and religion. But unless we're at Bugs Bunny levels of anthropomorphism, it should be clearer when the characters are behaving in a blatantly abnormal way for their species. I am happy to allow for a some anthropomorphism or inaccuracy in a book featuring talking animals, even if they don't do anything physically impossible for the species. So little attention is paid to biological accuracy that they could easily be replaced with humans. Think The Last Unicorn or The Hobbit, both of which I enjoy, but which are unsatisfying when I want an animal story. The cover blurb for this book promises a tale in the tradition of Watership Down or The Incredible Journey yet I found it to read more like a conventional magical quest story.
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