{"id":5151,"date":"2017-04-14T13:50:05","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T17:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/?p=5151"},"modified":"2017-04-14T13:50:05","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T17:50:05","slug":"book-review-black-feathers-dark-avian-tales-an-anthology-edited-by-ellen-datlow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-black-feathers-dark-avian-tales-an-anthology-edited-by-ellen-datlow\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales: An Anthology edited by Ellen Datlow"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales: An Anthology<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>edited by Ellen\u00a0Datlow<\/p>\n

Pegasus Books,\u00a02017<\/p>\n

ISBN:\u00a09781861773216<\/p>\n

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition<\/p>\n

This anthology of avian-themed fiction, edited by Ellen\u00a0Datlow, presents a fantastic collection of short stories by some of the best authors in the horror genre.\u00a0Each story features, as the anthology title indicates, birds that act as\u00a0agents of death, sentinels, communicators, and more.\u00a0The authors present the\u00a0darkness the bird realm can represent, and present unique philosophical questions and uncomfortable answers in this collection.<\/p>\n

Datlow\u00a0has collected some of the best writers for this anthology.\u00a0Authors include\u00a0Sandra\u00a0Kasturi, Nicholas\u00a0Royle,\u00a0Seanan\u00a0McGuire,\u00a0Paul Tremblay,\u00a0Joyce Carol Oates,\u00a0Richard Bowes, Alison\u00a0Littlewood, Jeffrey Ford,\u00a0Mike O\u2019Driscoll, Usman T. Malik, Stephen Graham Jones, A.C. Wise, M. John Harrison, Pat\u00a0Cadigan,\u00a0Livia Llewellyn, and\u00a0Priya\u00a0Sharma.<\/p>\n

There is not a single story in this anthology that does not linger with the reader. A struggling academic studying owls gets too close to\u00a0his research subjects, much to his wife\u2019s concern, and ending in a deadly discovery. What happens to him will change his family forever. A young girl obsessively counts the types of birds she sees throughout the day, and\u00a0interprets the numbers to mean certain things will happen. She\u2019s never wrong.\u00a0A grieving widow\u00a0begins to relate to the herons on her property, who\u00a0help her deal with the death of her husband. The birds seemingly take care of her problems and provide her with a new sense of freedom. Rogue birds are being investigated by an occult group for helping humans cheat death. A twin\u00a0returns home after her father\u2019s death, reconnects with her sister, and\u00a0finds out the terrible truth about herself after\u00a0the funeral.\u00a0These tales are only a fraction of what this collection offers to the reader.<\/p>\n

While there is very little in the way of gore, there are definitely psychological horrors that the reader will encounter. Sometimes these can be more terrifying than any amount of blood and guts.<\/p>\n

Datlow has won multiple Hugo, Locus, and Shirley Jackson awards and has received several lifetime achievement awards, including the Bram Stoker Award.\u00a0She is adept at anthology selection, and I promise you won’t be disappointed with this collection. Highly recommended<\/p>\n

Contains: brief sex, abuse, psychological terror<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker<\/p>\n