possibly unpopular opinion

On the free Friday afternoon of Boskone, I hauled myself down basically to attend the "Turning Tropes Upside Down" panel, on which Nineweaving was a panelist. (and was pleased to chat with NEgothick in the lobby). In the discussion of the tediousness (?) of the boy hero's journey, people were willing to grant Taran the assistant pig-keeper a pass, as being worth reading. I had never read anything by Lloyd Alexander. Intrigued by the idea of an oracular pig (as opposed to Some Pig), I checked "The Book of Three" out of the library. Would I have liked it when I was eight or nine (about the time it was published)? I was mostly into the Bobbsey Twins at that age, I think, and simplified kid biographies. Did I like it now? No. It took me weeks to drag myself through it in little bits. I guess most epic heroes are irritating as people (Odysseus, Aeneas, King Arthur, depending on the telling), and Taran sure was. Brave enough, I guess, but didn't seem to experience any personal growth, although maybe that happens some time in the next four books. Hen Wen the pig loved him, though, which speaks well for him.
Now I know where a variety of SCA folks snagged their Welsh-like names.

Another book mentioned in the same panel was "Furies of Calderon" by Jim Butcher. The claim was that the reader really liked it for a while, and then threw it across the room. I will start it next. I am not a book thrower, but will feel free to quit at any time.