The Taran books hold a special place in my heart. I read the first one when I was 12 and I immediately identified with the protagonist. I read the last one las

The Taran books hold a special place in my heart. I read the first one when I was 12 and I immediately identified with the protagonist. I read the last one last year for the first time aged 40, and like me the character had changed. I doubt I would have understood the message of that last book of the series when I was a kid, a message of the futility of violence and the importance of people. There are so many beautiful things in that book, what touched me most is: The epitaph on the tombstone of their greatest warrior is: “Here lies Coll, grower of turnips”, since he himself considered growing things his greatest achievement.