Boys, Books, and Dragons
I had to take my boys to the library today as Son#1 has completely run out of reading material and he now appears to be half insane. He takes after TGOO and I… we have a book with us wherever we go. In the car waiting in carpool line? I break out a book. Soccer practice? I’m reading. Doctor’s waiting room? Book. Oil change? Book.
Son#1 is the same way. So he has fallen in love with this book called, A Rumor of Dragons. I didn’t want to purchase the next one, so I thought we’d go off to he library and see if they had the next in the series. They did not. What they had, by the same author, was something called Dragons of Autumn Twilight. (The Dragonlance Chronicles.) It was in the adult section.
That made me nervous. Yes, I am proud that my son reads way above grade level, but the problem is… his reading level may not be age appropriate. I don’t need s.ex in his books. I know, I’ve had ‘the’ talk and it was pointed out to me in my comment section that he now probably thinks that people do it like donkeys, but at 9.75 years of age, he does NOT need to read about ‘other ways’ or foreplay or… or… or anything! So I’m a little freaked. I looked it up on Amazon and I think there is not gratuitous s.ex.
I really don’t want to read this book. I’m not a huge Sci-Fi fan. I prefer Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Pat Conroy. Nope, no Sci Fi authors in there. I’m feeling compelled to read this book while he’s sleeping, trying to stay a couple chapters ahead just in case, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY don’t want to.
Turns out, that this series of adult books is very popular and they are converting it into a youth addition. That’s what the first book was, a youth conversion of this series. So we’ll see where this goes.
If any of you have read this series, I would be greatly incredibly hugely appreciative if you can shed some light as to whether I need to be worrying.
posted by Bou | 7:51 PM
12 Comments:
I'm so glad he's reading this! It's my favorite softcore porn series.
Toluca Nole
Heh. Everyone's opinion matters but YOURS! I should have known. *grin*
I am also a reading fiend, always in the middle of at least one book.
I have read the series, but quite a while ago. Off the top of my head I can't remember any kinky stuff involving half elves and dwarves, but I'm not 100 per cent on that. If I wasn't in the middle of another series, I'd read it again and let you know!
Okay, so you got me. It may not be my favorite softcore series, but it's in my top five. :)
Toluca Nole
I know what you mean. My 5 year old reads at 2nd grade level and I'm constantly having to answer his questions OR explain bus/subway ads, etc. I can't imagine when he gets to your son's age. I agree with you about this.
Here's a site w/ an extended summary that might help:
http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/0786915749.asp
Here's a site with a detailed literary breaksown of elements:
http://www.allscifi.com/Topics/info_21247.asp?BSID=8079318
Have you gone to chat rooms where they discuss the book? It should be easy to find through google if they;re that popular.
Hope this helps and Good luck.
Michele in NYC
My husband loves these books and he was 15 when he started reading them, so he was older, but he doesn't seem to think they're a problem. "Adult situations" is probably a better descriptor, according to him, rather than s.e.x. Maybe you should scan the book (try seeing if the spine has a break in it-- always a dead give away for the s.e.x. pages) and see if you find anything objectionable for his age.
I've read some of this series, but not the particular book. No worry for s.x from them. The "adult" rating would be for fantasy violence -- some things get killed. That's about it. And they're all bad, evil things that get killed. They might also have rated it "adult" because there's that evil magic of fantasy there, too.
The Dragonlance books (or any of the Dungeons and Dragons novels) are comparable to a Star Wars movie in terms of content. Some themes might go over his head somewhat, but there isn't anything there I would worry about my 8-year-old daughter reading. I've been a big fan of the series and I've read the Chronicles several times over, and I've turned out ok! Well, maybe not "ok" as such…
I've read a lot of Dragon lance and Forgotten Realms books, there is very little S.E.X. if any. mostly kissy lovey stuff like that if it goes there. Now when you get into different series from the same Genre now you have problem, beware of Mercedes Lackey... She has a series of books that just comes across as Gay Pr0n with wizards. If all else fails, get him to read the Dark Elf and Icewind Dale Trilogy (As well as all the follow up books) by RA Salvatore. They are pretty good, My oldest is reading them now.
And I know, I'm a big loser, I'm going to go back to studying my D&D books now....
Has he read The Hobbit yet? He's around that age.
Toluca Nole
And the Chronicles of Narnia series are excellent, too.
God, don't submit him to Tolkien. That will turn him off from reading. That guy has to be one of the worst writers to ever get published and have a popular book. He had a great idea, but the books are so painful to read I'm still recovering from my trying to read the whole series 4 years ago. Also the editing is horrible.
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