A primary reading series developed with UCL Institute of Education to help children become confident, independent readers.
From the Locus and Hugo Award-winning author Ray Nayler, this haunting novel blends history and speculative wonder into a story of survival, loyalty and the fragile beauty of life in the darkest of times.
Praise for Ray Nayler
‘first-rate science fiction’ – CORY DOCTOROW
‘masterful’ – SCIFI MIND
‘intelligent, ambitious and thought-provoking’ SFF WORLD
‘cerebral’ GUARDIAN
June 1941, Eastern Europe. As the German blitzkrieg tears across a divided continent, four young lives are thrown into chaos: Neriya, a young Jewish girl who dreams of becoming a scientist; Czesław, an underage Polish deserter fleeing the Red Army; Kezia, a Roma horse trader whose family is on the run from Soviet collectivisation; and a nameless,, abandoned boy who cannot speak.
Driven deep into the Lithuanian woods, they form an unbreakable bond with one another and with a flock of crows whose uncanny intelligence hints at a secret older and stranger than they could ever have imagined.
Praise for Ray Nayler
‘first-rate science fiction’ – CORY DOCTOROW
‘masterful’ – SCIFI MIND
‘intelligent, ambitious and thought-provoking’ SFF WORLD
‘cerebral’ GUARDIAN
June 1941, Eastern Europe. As the German blitzkrieg tears across a divided continent, four young lives are thrown into chaos: Neriya, a young Jewish girl who dreams of becoming a scientist; Czesław, an underage Polish deserter fleeing the Red Army; Kezia, a Roma horse trader whose family is on the run from Soviet collectivisation; and a nameless,, abandoned boy who cannot speak.
Driven deep into the Lithuanian woods, they form an unbreakable bond with one another and with a flock of crows whose uncanny intelligence hints at a secret older and stranger than they could ever have imagined.
Reviews
A brilliant . . . blend of history and fantasy
An impassioned paean to togetherness even in the midst of the chaotic isolation of war and to the power of storytelling to keep memory and hope alive
Roll over, George Orwell: This post-apocalyptic dystopia makes Airstrip One look like a summer camp. Nayler's sophomore novel is set in a familiar future world in which totalitarian orders rule, with recognisably Putinesque touches in what's called the (né Russian) Federation, not least an autocratic ruler who's been running the show for decades . . . A richly detailed evocation of a grim future that is, sadly, absolutely believable
Nayler's twisting, turning political thriller has spectacular surprises, grounded by realistic, complex characters who are determined to change their world, however hopeless it may seem. A bold, epic SF story and an inspiring tale about taking down all forms of authoritarianism
An intense, claustrophobic novel . . . a work of first-rate science fiction