# Books with Centaurs as Characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945 "2003-10-06T22:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/1 "2003-10-06T22:45:16Z")
Can anybody recommend any? I’ve read general Greek myths (nasty beasties they in those, other than perhaps Chiron), Updike’s book Centaur, and HARRY POTTER but was interested in others that use the animals for a paper I’m writing on the use of Greek myth in modern literature. Thanks S ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/2 "2003-10-06T22:58:22Z")
They make an appearance in at least one of _The Chronicles of Narnia_ by C.S. Lewis. Try _The Last Battle_. ---
**Author:** ![rickh57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@rickh57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rickh57)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/3 "2003-10-06T22:59:01Z")
There are Centaurs as characters in the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. Rick ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/4 "2003-10-06T23:00:20Z")
I think some of the Naria stories by CS Lewis has Centaurs…(I could be misremembering though) Villians By Necessity has one…but that’s such a dumb book I don’t think it’d really work with the whole modern literature thing. ermm nothing else pops into my mind. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/5 "2003-10-06T23:06:53Z")
Nessus (Ringworld) Larry Niven Glenstorm (Prince Caspian) C.S. Lewis and lots more here… [http://members.aol.com/usualspcts/namesem.htm](http://members.aol.com/usualspcts/namesem.htm) * * * SFworldbuilding at [http://www.orionsarm.com](http://www.orionsarm.com) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/6 "2003-10-06T23:34:26Z")
Phillip Jose Farmer’s _Maker of Worlds_ has centaurs, but they’re pretty non-standard. For instance, he tries to make them realistic. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/7 "2003-10-07T00:18:37Z")
In the first of Jack Chalker’s **Well World** series, some of the characters who pass through the zone gate are transported to a hex populated by centaurs and are themselves transformed. John Varley’s Gaean trilogy \*\*Titan, Wizard, Demon \*\* has a whole race of centaurs. Their mating habits (with genitals both fore and aft, so to speak) come in for a lot of discussion, as do their sometimes complex genetive schemes. The animated centaurs in Disney’s **Fantasia** have 1940s hairstyles, not surprisingly considering when the film was made, ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/8 "2003-10-07T00:22:54Z")
Diana Wynne Jones has 2 books with centaurs as secondary characters: “Deep Secret” and “A Sudden Wild Magic.” Her latest might as well; I can’t remember if one ever shows up. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/9 "2003-10-07T00:30:01Z")
The Xanth novels had plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/10 "2003-10-07T01:16:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny Bravo \* > \*\*The Xanth novels had plenty. \*\* Yes, there are tens of centaurs trotting through the Xanth novels. The main ones that come to mind are the first trilogy ( **A Spell for Chameleon, The Source of Magic, Castle Roogna** ), **Isle of View** , and I want to say **The Vale of the Vole** as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/11 "2003-10-07T01:16:07Z")
The Apprentice Adept series also had them, but I’d never recommend Piers Anthony to anyone I didn’t hate. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/12 "2003-10-07T01:20:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*The Apprentice Adept series also had them, but I’d never recommend Piers Anthony to anyone I didn’t hate. \*\* 😃 Now, now, **Sampiro** can use the Anthony novels as an example of _bad_ centaur usage/bastardization. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/13 "2003-10-07T01:20:37Z")
_The Faery Convention_ by Brett Davis featured lots of supernatural creatures, but centaurs were some of the main characters. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/14 "2003-10-07T01:25:04Z")
Marion Zimmer Bradley’s book _The Firebrand_ has “Kentaurs” but they’re not half-human/half-horse. They’re just guys who ride around on horses a lot. They’re also the sometimes companions to the also-mounted Amazons. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/15 "2003-10-07T01:49:35Z")
Harry Turtledove’s Thessalonica has centaurs. ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/16 "2003-10-07T03:21:06Z")
Ummm, I know it has already been mentioned, but John Varley’s **Titan, Wizard, Demon** trilogy is very worth reading. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/17 "2003-10-07T05:41:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SpazCat \* > \*\*Yes, there are tens of centaurs trotting through the Xanth novels. The main ones that come to mind are the first trilogy ( A Spell for Chameleon, The Source of Magic, Castle Roogna ), Isle of View, and I want to say The Vale of the Vole as well. \*\* Along with, if I’m not mistaken, **Centaur Aisle**. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/18 "2003-10-07T09:14:32Z")
[Christopher Walken]Dirty Centuars![/Christopher Walken] ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Alex\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_B)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/19 "2003-10-07T10:13:53Z")
_Dark Prince_ by David Gemmell, a sequel to _Lion of Macedon_, features some centaurs. The books mix Greek history with myth/fantasy elements. Alex. ---
**Author:** ![Newton\_meter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/57b2e6/32.png) [@Newton\_meter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newton_meter)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945/20 "2003-10-07T10:19:33Z")
There are centaurs in _World Enough, and Time_ by James Kahn (he of the book versions of _Poltergeist_, _Return of the Jedi_, and _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom_). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-centaurs-as-characters/205945.md?page=2)