Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles
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Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles is a trilogy of fictional young adult novels written by playwright and screnwriter Clem Martini and published by KCP Fiction. All of the main characters are crows, not so much anthropomorphic as simply animals of human intelligence who have their own culture, religion, and folktales. While the novels take place in the "real world," elements such as the quest-like structure of the plot and the existence of a prophetic crow guided by "the Maker" lie somewhere between the realm of reality, fantasy, and the supernatural. The first volume, The Mob, was published in 2004 with The Plague following in 2005 and The Judgement in 2006.
[edit] Major Themes
Bravery, hope, faith, and leadership of the flock are all strong themes in the novels, especially when they relate to defending those who are weak, misunderstood, or persecuted by those who uphold harmful traditions and laws against them.
A deep spiritual undercurrent runs throughout the series, mostly having to do with the crow's belief in the Maker (whom they refer to as a "she"), and who they believe is responsible for all creation. They also revere Great Crow, who lived long ago and communicated with the Maker (although wise, he is also a trickster and a survivalist). The crows place a great amount of importance on stories, and many folktales are recounted throughout the series. Often, retelling tales of the Maker and Great Crow help the heroes to continue on their journey and strive against hardships. Most of the conflicts in the novels revolve around those crows who believe that all the traditional laws and practices should be upheld, those who believe that some of those customs should be upheld while others should be dropped because they have become harmful, and those crows who disagree about which customs to uphold and which to abandon based on their own religious and philosophical interpretations. For example, Kyp, arguably the main protagonist, disagrees with some of the traditional beliefs of his flock, yet some of his enemies believe that the old law forbidding crows living in the cities of the humans and scavenging their food are outdated and that the Maker will forgive them for breaking that law because crows are the greatest of all lifeforms and should survive. On the other hand, one of Kyp's friends is able to speak some of the language of the humans and wants to cooperate with them to an extent, believing that that is the Maker's will.
Throughout most of the series, humans are antagonists, whether they are farmers protecting their crops or scientists who want to study crows.
Death is a common theme, as many of the crows lose their lives to other crows, predators, humans, and both natural and man-made obstacles or disasters. Sacrifice and death as a spiritual rebirth is visited during those disasters when great heroism is required to lead the flock to safety, but often death is portrayed as sad, bloody, and pointless.
Protection of the environmental is a minor theme, since destruction of habitat is one of the things that makes the lives of the crows harder.
[edit] Plot Summaries of the Three Volumes
[edit] The Mob (Book One of Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles)
Kyp, a young member of the flock, wishes to take revenge on a cat, and most of the other members of the flock accuse him of endangering the flock and breaking ancient laws. They are almost threatended by a storm. Other prominent characters besides Kyp are the other young crows Kym (a female) and Kuper. By the end of this book, Kuper is believed to have been killed by the cats. There is also the old Kalum, who is the narrator. Throughout the novel, Kalum explains many aspects of crow culture.
[edit] The Plague (Book Two of Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles)
While on an excursion with Kalum, Kyp and Kym prepare themselves for the next gathering of the flock, hoping that one of them will be chosen to succeed Kalum as the next Chooser, so that they can change those ancient traditions which have become harmful. However, a plague suddenly breaks loose, and both Kym and Kalum contract it. Kalum is then killed by a vengeful, crazed Kuper, angry that nobody attempted to rescue him or find out if he was really dead. He also believes that Kym, of whom he had feelings for, died of the plague. He tries to kill Kyp, believing it to be Kyp's fault and that Kyp didn't try to rescue him because he wanted Kym for himself. Kyp tries to tell Kuper that Kym has actually been taken away by the humans. Kuper, who was himself taken away by the humans after his battle with the cats, does not believe Kyp due to his maddened state.
Kyp escapes, injured, and spends a month recuperating in a burrow, despite the laws against it. He then meets Katakata when they fight over a fish. Katakata is a crow how was banished from his clan due because the new leadership enforced new religious laws which Katakata did not believe in. When Katakata learns that Kyp is headed looking for a female crow (Kym) who can speak with humans, he tells Kyp that he heard a rumor about such a crow from the east. Katakata joins Kyp in his journey, feeling that perhaps the Maker has brought them together for a reason.
Kyp remains reclusive and determined, occasionally straining his new friendship with Katakata. They are soon joined by a group of three crows, the talkative Kyf, her quiet brother Kaf, and her other brother Kwaku, a small crow who was banished from his flock due to his prophetic visions. Katakata takes a disliking to this group, but Kyp thinks that they are perhaps another gift from the Maker. Kwaku's visions appear to be helpful, but Katakata is stil skeptical. When Katakata eats some poisoned meat left out by the humans, a strange crow named Erkala who tests Katakata. Luckily, Katakata tests true, and is given the remedy. Erkala takes them to her rocky shoreline home, Where she tells them of how her mother died after they were driven out to sea in a storm and she made her own way in the world, even moving in with a family of rats. Erkala asks to join them.
The group then journeys on and meets up with a much larger flock of young crows in need of guidance. Kyp manages to guide nearly all of them to safety when they are attacked by humans with guns, thanks to one of Kwaku's cryptic visions. However, they then only narrowly escape once more when they are confronted by Kuper, now the Chooser for an enormous flock of disciples who believe his words of hatred towards the humans and follow him into the human cities to scavenge, believing that the Maker wants them to survive because they are the greatest of all creatures, and also wants them to change much of their old ways.
They then journey to a large human city (New York, although the crow's don't recognize it by that name, of course). After living in Central Park for weeks, they finally find Kym in a building caged up with many other birds. The humans are taking their blood, and Kym suspects it has something to do with fighting the plague. Despite her interest in the humans, Kym wants to be freed. Erkala enlists the aid of the rats, despite the laws forbidding crows to go undergound. "The Maker's tests are never easy," she explains. Together, Kyp, Kwaku, Erkala, and Katakata journey up into the building to free Kym and the other birds. However, the building catches on fire at that moment. Kwaku manages to guide nearly everybody to freedom and safety, but he himself is engulfed by the flames and perishes. Katakata later has a dream in which he is seated in a tree with Kwaku, and Kwaku gives him and Kyp some final guidance before his spirit departs forever. When he recovers from the ordeal inside the burning building, Kyp leads the flock away from the human city in search of a land where they can live in peace and safety. The novel ends with some first-person narration from Katakata, as if he is telling the story many years after it happened. He ends with the line, "May the Maker bless the route we take and guide us to a safe route at the other end."
[edit] The Judgment (Book Three of Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles)
In addition to the ever present threat of Kuper and the "Collection", Kyp must face divisions within his own flock. Some accuse of him of not being a true Chooser and being selfish. Kyp's journey to become a true leader ends with him losing his eyesight but gaining greater understanding.
[edit] Characters
(Note: this list is incomplete.)
- Kyp (ru Kurea, or of the Kurea clan) is a rather hot-headed young crow who becomes more mature as the series moves along. During his childhood, he was treated as an inferior due to a physical handicap, but he grew up strong and overcame it. He fights against many of the traditional, hypocritical ways, but believes in keeping other traditions alive. He believes he is guided by the Maker in searching for a natural, safe place where himself and his flock. He is strongly attached to Kym, a young female crow.
- Kym (ru Kurea) is a gentle but outspoken young crow. She believes in diplomacy with the humans even if it goes against tradition, and can speak some of the human language.
- Kuper (ru Kurea) is a crow who is almost killed by the cats, and, after a period of captivity with the humans, becomes murderous and renames himself "Urku", which means "the Collector". He gathers a large group of disciples, whom he calls "The Collection". They follow his religious interpretations and rejection of certain customs.
- Kalum is the Chooser of the Kurea clan. He is wise but long-winded. He recognises the need for change.
- Katakata (ru Kamu) is a crow who first appears in the second book. He is a bit skeptical, as he has lived as a loner for much of his life after being banished from his clan (he refused to perform th prayer and purification after eating the forbidden scavenge from around the human settlements). He is a thief, believing that the Maker intends for him to be "resourceful". However, he also shows much kindness and bravery towards Kyp and his flock of outcasts.
- Erkala (ru Erkata ru Eru) is a female crow from across the waters, apparently of a different species as she has some white feathers that the others don't have. She is somewhat harsh, viewing nearly every situation as a test from the Maker, yet willing to risk her life to free the captive birds. She is on good terms with the rats, the only crow the others have ever seen who has made contact with that species. Erkala first appears in the second book.
- Kyf is a thin, prim, but slightly bedraggled crow who left her flock when her brother Kwaku was banished. She is talkative, and while not unkind, can be critical and gets on Katakata's nerves. She is very protective of her brothers. Kyf first appears in the second book.
- Kaf' is a quiet, bedraggled outcast, brother to Kyf and Kwaku. He rarely speaks, and seems very ordinary, with the exception of his loyalty to Kwaku (he also chose to leave the flock when Kwaku was banished). Kaf first appears in the second book.
- Kwaku is a very small, outcast crow who's feathers are all askew. He is, for the most part, quiet and introverted. He often has cryptic visions which often warn of some danger or challenge ahead. however he has no control over these visions. Kyf describes these visions as the Maker whispering in his ear. The others cannot agree as to what to make of Kwaku. But Kwaku proves to be kind, intelligent and brave.
- Kyrt is the leader of a large group of young, cautionless crows whose elders have all died of the plague. Kyp takes over leadership of the flock to some extent, but still respects Kyrt's role. Kyrt himeself is respectful and not particularly unintelligent or unkind.
- Kort (ru Kemna) is a "thin, retiring crow" who alerts Kyp of the Plague and Kym's disappearance. He also guides him to the dying Kalum.
[edit] Cultural References
In the second book, the terrible sickness referred to as "The Plague" is very likely to be a direct reference to the West Nile Virus.
[edit] The Family Kinaar
In the novels, the family Kinaar is divided into six clans, one of them being Kurea, Kyp and Kym's clan. Kyp's full name (Kyp ru Kurea ru Kinaar) states that he is all three of these things. It can be assumed that the Kinaar family is only made up of species living in North American, such as the American Crow. Erkala's full name is Erkala ru Erkata ru Eru, but she comes from across the sea and is quite obviously of a different species, and therefore an entirely different clan and family. However, it is stated in the novels that all the crows of this world are descended from Great Crow and his offspring.
