How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck if a Woodchuck was a 15 year old fantasy novel?

October 14, 2010 10:15 AM

Help me identify this book. It's a fantasy novel with a medieval setting that had a lot of references to woodchucks in it. The characters were not anthropomorphized animals, but there was a running joke about the word woodchuck with apostrophes in it, and I believe there was a picture of a woodchuck in a family crest or something like that on the cover. My sister remembers it too, so I am pretty sure it exists, but we can't remember any further plot details and google is not being helpful. Any guesses?
posted by bq to Writing & Language (10 answers total)

There's a mention of woodchucks in Record of Lodoss War, which is a fantasy anime and manga. Would this be it?
posted by Hanuman1960 at 10:54 AM on October 14, 2010

Response by poster: Prett sure it's not Lodoss.
posted by bq at 2:08 PM on October 14, 2010

This question is eating at me. I have googled everything I can think of, and unfortunately it comes back with either links to Lodoss War, Woodchuck press links, or children's picture books.

No chance you or your sister remembers anything else? A smaller time window when it might have been published, another character name (or type - a king or a knight)?
posted by routergirl at 4:10 PM on October 14, 2010

This is also making me nuts...I've been searching everything I can think of, and nothing...
posted by purlgurly at 5:33 PM on October 14, 2010

Response by poster: I called my sister for more details. Here is what she remembers:

Young (teen-ish) male protagonist who starts in our world and travels to fantasy world. Possibly becomes a king.

Early on, a scene in the book where there is a stampede in a city. With an elephant. Protagonist possibly rides the elephant.

Giant woodchuck (i.e. 12 feet-ish) encounter in fantasy world.

Chapter headings used variations of the woodchuck tongue twister - i.e. - 'How much ground would a groundhog hog....'

My guess is that I got the book around 1990.
posted by bq at 6:09 PM on October 14, 2010

The book that came to my mind was Grass by Sherri Tepper. I don't specifically remember woodchucks but there are some strange animals on a foreign world involved. Maybe it was this, or one of her other books?
posted by wwartorff at 6:17 PM on October 14, 2010

Response by poster: Ooo, I don't think so. I haven't read that one, and Tepper has a very different feel to me. This feels more like Alan Dean Foster or Gordon R Dickson.
posted by bq at 6:25 PM on October 14, 2010

Could it be Witch and Wombat?
posted by Malla at 6:25 PM on October 14, 2010

No, it's definitely not Grass. I read that one about a year ago and there was nothing about woodchucks in it.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:49 PM on October 14, 2010

Best answer: And we found it! I am pretty sure it is Seven Spears of the W'Dch'Ck by Lionel Fenn
posted by bq at 9:01 PM on October 15, 2010