How long does it take to read Shardik?
Shardik by Richard Adams takes about 10 hours 28 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
Part of Beklan Empire
Next: Maia
About 10 hours 28 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 1965. 571 pages, about 157,025 words.
21 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 17 hours 27 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 10 hours 28 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 6 hours 33 minutes |
The page count is the median across 38 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
"Shardik is a powerful work, dipping deep into old forms-allegory, epic, myth-resonating in the caverns of the readers' unconscious . . . It is an exciting story, the adventures compelling." (Los Angeles Times) "Grips with suspense, haunts with mystery . . . a memorable work, not to be read once only but to be reread as loved books are . . . a human saga." (The Wall Street Journal) Richard Adams's Watership Down was a number one bestseller, a stunning work of the imagination, and an acknowledged modern classic. In Shardik Adams sets a different yet equally compelling tale in a far-off fantasy world. Shardik is a fantasy of tragic character, centered on the long-awaited reincarnation of the gigantic bear Shardik and his appearance among the half-barbaric Ortelgan people. Mighty, ferocious, and unpredictable, Shardik changes the life of every person in the story. His advent commences a momentous chain of events. Kelderek the hunter, who loves and trusts the great bear, is swept on by destiny to become first devotee and then prophet, then victorious soldier, then ruler of an empire and priest-king of Lord Shardik-Messenger of God-only to discover ever-deeper layers of meaning implicit in his passionate belief in the bear's divinity. A gripping tale of war, adventure, horror and romance, Shardik, on a deeper level, is a remarkable exploration of mankind's universal desire for divine incarnation.
Subjects: Fiction, Bears, Prehistoric peoples, Fiction, fantasy, general, Beklan empire (imaginary place), fiction, Fiction, fantasy, epic
