This is the first book in a series (of two, at the time of this review) and I received a free copy through Netgalley.com of the second book. In order to be fair, I had to read the first one. Besides, I hate jumping in on a series in the middle.

The description doesn't share much, so possible spoilers may appear in my rambling. This is the start of an apocalyptic story that takes place in two different times. The more future side brings us to the way of the Keepers, their job being to bring the people to share in the Earth, and other environmental idealisms, as well as protect/share the knowledge of the Crowman, who happens to be basically the messiah of the times. In being a Keeper, they are to train the next one, in this case a female, seeming the first. In becoming one with the essence of the Crowman, this girl is charged with writing His story, which takes us back to a period of time similar to 50 years prior to our current time (a guess from what I recall reading).

The majority of the tale is of Gordon Black, a young man that was born into the world with seemingly bad omens. At a young age, the world has had some sort of major change, and a group called the Ward, have basically taken over the world, not being more in-tune with nature, and seemingly Nazi-like in how they run things. Gordon's family is taken, he luckily is able to elude capture, and in order to save his family, he seeks out the Crowman.

Interspersed in the telling of his story, there are bits of Megan (the female Keeper in training) and how she is coming in the ways of the Keepers, and revealing that there may be more to her than what any expected.

That all being said, as void of detail as I could, the book started off slow, but pulled me by making me want to know what is going to happen to both these main characters, and those around them. As soon as I finished, I started in on the second book, and have not been able to put it down in the small bit of spare time I have to read. It is more than just a "coming of age" story, but holds many similarities of self-growth, but also has some strong environmental idealism. Great read! ( )

Joseph D’Lacey’s Black Feathers is an interesting anomaly in the world of apocalyptic fiction. Instead of focusing on a dystopian post-apocalypse, as is the fashion nowadays, Black Feathers consists of two interlocking plot threads: one that starts in modern-day and continues through the fall of society, and one that follows a character hundreds of years in the future. It’s also the first part of a two-book series which continues in The Book of The Crowman (December 2013).

In the modern-day, Black Feathers focuses on the Black family, specifically their young son Gordon Black, who may be connected to a mysterious messiah figure named The Crowman. Crows seem to follow Gordon everywhere he goes. His mother and father are oftentimes accosted on the street by people with prophetic visions of a future where The Crowman heralds the beginning of the Black Dawn and Gordon’s part in it. The Crowman is an interesting combination of savior and destroyer, sometimes described as a demonic presence, a half-man half-crow who only wants to destroy the world and at other times as a healing presence with a deep connection to nature. The more we hear about The Crowman, the more unsettling and dangerous he seems, even as it also becomes increasingly clear that Gordon is deeply connected to The Crowman.

In the far future, Black Feathers tells the story of Megan Maurice, a young woman picked to apprentice with her village’s Keeper, a sort of combination medicine man and archivist tasked with keeping the story of The Crowman alive. Megan must travel along the Black Feathered Path to cement her destiny as the next keeper, a journey that involves visions of the past as well as harrowing encounters with The Crowman’s more animalistic aspect. Megan experiences visions of Gordon’s life and tasked with recording them in a special journal for safekeeping. One thing I really liked is that Megan’s world might be “post-apocalyptic”, but it doesn’t feel ruined. She has a comfortable life in a small village, and it is only when she ventures outside that safe place that she begins to encounter danger, all in the name of traveling on her path towards becoming a Keeper.

In fact, there are a lot of things I liked about Black Feathers; the portrayal of The Crowman was particularly nuanced and unsettling, and I also liked the juxtaposition between the modern-day and far future. I love the idea of a messiah who isn’t so black and white, simply because maybe the world needs a little destruction before it gets saved. The book’s true villains, the power-hungry Ward, were a bit more stereotypically drawn – the bloodthirsty corporate influence made flesh – but that didn’t make their methods any less terrifying.

My biggest complaint is with the book’s pacing. It took me a long time to make it past the first third of the book, and it was only when I decided to make a concerted effort to finish it that I finally started making progress. However, as I neared the end it became clear that Black Feathers wasn’t actually going to resolve anything major. Gordon and Megan both have some intense experiences as the book progresses, but these events seem relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. Black Feathers, sold as the first volume in a two-book series, feels more like the first half of one massive novel. I liked it enough to finish this first volume, but I’m honestly not sure if I’ll make the effort to pick up the second book later this year. ( )

I received this as a prize from the author and Kath at "For Reading Addicts" for winning a poetry contest. I'm not sure if it's really a "first-read" but I'm putting it there unless I hear otherwise.

I will say I was a little mislead, at first. I given the impression that this was a horror novel, but it was definitely more of a fantasy/ sci-fy like book. That's not to say that I didn't like it because that is by no means the case! It made me think, a little, of a combination of [b:The Lorax|7784|The Lorax|Dr. Seuss|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327879938s/7784.jpg|886002] and [b:Brave New World|5129|Brave New World|Aldous Huxley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1433092908s/5129.jpg|3204877]. I know that sounds odd, but it felt like D'Lacey was describing the destruction of a utopian society, and the possibility of fixing it at the same time. It was a nice change of pace.

This England is in no way an apocalyptic or a post apocalyptic world as most authors would normally paint for us. This seemed much more plausible, somehow. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seemed like a logical step instead of the extremes some authors go to. You get both sides as well. The terrifying times that lead up to the Black Dawn and the relative peace (still without technology from what I can tell) many years later after society has been resettled, for lack of a better term. The characters felt very relateable too. Maybe that paired with the idea that D'Lacey plants in the reader's head that things could change, and the future of the Earth will only be as bad as we make it stirs up these ideas and feelings. I can't say for sure, but it's more... hopeful, which is a pleasant change from the doom and gloom of most stories of this type.

The writing style in the book can get a little chaotic at times, but it allows you to understand how Megan feels, constantly moving through The Weave. You catch on pretty quickly, as it's sort of a slow transition into this chaotic state, giving you time to get used to it.

The only part I wasn't a huge fan of was the ending, which I won't give away; that'd be cruel. I will say, however that it felt more like a movie ending than one you'd find in a book, BUT it does set up the idea that this is part of a series very nicely. It just felt... not incomplete, per say, but just unsatisfying, I suppose would be the best way to put it. I'm definitely looking forward to the second installation, though. I want to find out what happens to Gordon and where his travels take him. I want to know what Mr. Keeper means when he says that Megan is the one they've been waiting for. I just hope it's available State-side. ( )

My full review is here:
http://wildersbookreview.blogspot.com/2013/02/black-feathers-by-joseph-dlacey.ht...
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http://ninecats.org/margaret/blog/2013/09/23/black-feathers-joseph-dlacey ( )