This was my favourite book as a child, and I've reread it since as an adult. It's a little dated now, but to me that adds to its charm.

Although I'm not a huge fantasy nut, I am a history and mythology nut, and I just love how these books are never cute or glossy - they are still gritty, and the characters get hurt, feel pain, feel loss, without falling into sentimentality. As a young kid, that had such a profound effect on me. ( )