Thursday, January 25, 2007

LIT HITS
DAY FOUR: THE UNKNOWNS

Today I'm featuring two books (one adult, one children's) that are among my favorites, yet are relatively unknown. One is from the 80's, one from the 70's, but that's not where the differences end.









To the Vanishing Point by Alan Dean Foster
One of the few science fiction books I've actually enjoyed, I'm not quite sure why I latched onto this book. It's far from a literary masterpiece and much of the dialogue seems dated now, but I also find it to be one of the most imaginitive stories I've read. The book follows "all-American" family the Sonderbergs as they make their way to Las Vegas on a family vacation. Along the way, they pick up a beautiful hitchhiker, and everything starts to change. Reality begins to fall apart and the world becomes a strange series of nightmares and alternate realities.



The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren
Lindgren, the Swedish author most famous for her Pippi Longstocking books, gives us a more serious tale here. Nangiyala is a peaceful and happy land that your journey to after you die. The book begins with a death (an odd start for a children's book) and most of the action takes place in Nangiyala. But, the land is no longer as peaceful as it once was. It's up to the Brothers Lionheart to save it.

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